TRUTH CLAIMS. John 1:1-3.

Every religion or philosophy claims truth.

Even those who believe in nothing insist their view is right.

Agnosticism pretends to make no truth claims but merely to demand proof from others. Yet devotion to skepticism is a truth claim of its own, taking the rash words of Doubting Thomas at his lowest moment and erecting a belief system around them: I won’t believe it until I see it.

There comes a moment when a man driving a car must admit he is lost, turn around, and retrace his path.

Thomas knew when to yield–when to stop doubting. When Jesus spoke to him, he dropped his plan to examine the Master’s wounds. Thomas saw Jesus and fell to his knees.

The apostles SAW EVERYTHING. They are EYEWITNESSES. Even a court of law could not deny their testimony. Jewish law required that all facts be established by not one but TWO eyewitnesses. That law was satisfied.

“What was from the beginning, what we have HEARD, what we have SEEN with our eyes, what we have OBSERVED and TOUCHED with our hands concerning the Word of life—that life was revealed, and we have SEEN it and we testify and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us—what we have SEEN and HEARD we also declare to you, so that you may have fellowship along with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ” John 1:1-3.

Consider the beliefs around you. Were there eyewitnesses to corroborate the claims of Buddhism, Hinduism, or Islam? Are there witnesses to today’s Western belief in nothing, usually walked out as ‘we evolved from an amoeba, when we die we will push up daisies, and in between we should try to be good (but we secretly know it doesn’t make much difference)’?

Only Christianity is based in historical fact and the testimony of multiple eyewitnesses. Only Christianity can withstand judicial scrutiny. This is a belief system—more accurately, a PERSON—in whom you can place ALL your faith.

Doubting Thomas knew when to yield–when to stop doubting. Do you?

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The Family of JESUS. John 1:29-31.

Being born in a stable allows the lowliest of people to know that Jesus understands their hut or dirt floor or jungle situation. And Jesus was rumored to be a bastard child—a heavy burden in most cultures.

But Jesus was from a good family. Mary was a descendant of David’s son Solomon, and Joseph was a descendant of David’s son Nathan. Jesus had an uncle, Zechariah, who was acting in his role as priest when an angel appeared to him and told him his wife would bear a son, John.

And when Mary came to visit her aunt Elizabeth, both women being pregnant—though Elizabeth did not yet know about Mary—the unborn John leaped for joy in his mother’s womb, because he was already filled with the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit gets excited about anything that gives GLORY TO JESUS!

And it gets interesting. For a short few years, John was “the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord” (Isaiah 40:3 and John 1:23). He was the prophet preparing Israel for the Messiah. And his life’s work would be fulfilled quickly. (When Herod had John beheaded, his ministry would be cut short just as Jesus’s would two years later.)

Surely John had no memory of leaping in his mother’s womb. Nor, I believe, did his mother tell him. Because though the Messiah was his own first cousin, John did not know it. Anne Rice wrote a novel about the boy Jesus called JESUS THE CHRIST, in which John spends a lot of time staring quietly at his cousin Jesus, saying very little. It makes the reader wonder.

But I suspect John and Jesus were like any cousins—playing, wrestling, doing what cousins do. Years later, when both of them were 30, their paths crossed, Jesus asked John to baptize him, and John fell to his knees, realizing for the first time who this cousin of his really was.

“John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!… I DIDN’T KNOW HIM, but I came baptizing with water so He might be revealed. I watched the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He rested on Him. I DIDN’T KNOW HIM, but … I have seen, and tell you He is the Son of God!’” John 1:29-31.

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THE TRINITY. John 1:32-34.

Is the Trinity in the Bible?

Historically, some have argued Christians are pantheists because we do not worship “One God,” but three. But Christian scholars call God “Three-in-One.” The point is, God’s very nature is RELATIONSHIP. Nothing is more important than relationships. God possessed relationships before there was anything outside Himself.

Critics point out that the Bible does not use the word, “Trinity.” And even our best analogy is not Biblical, but Irish: Saint Patrick used a three-leaf clover to demonstrate that God is “three persons with one essence.”

But the Bible DOES offer evidence of the Trinity. All four gospels include stories of Jesus being baptized by His cousin, John the Baptist. And when He emerges from the water, “the heavens suddenly opened for Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on Him. And there came a voice from heaven: This is my beloved Son, in whom I delight!” Matthew 3:16.

John reports the same:

“I watched the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He rested on Him….He who sent me … told me, ‘The One you see the Spirit descending and resting on, He is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and testified that He is the Son of God!” John 1:32-34.

Do you see each Member of the Trinity?

(1) The Father speaks, and identifies

(2) His Son, and

(3) the Spirit takes the form of a dove and lands on the Son’s shoulder.

All four gospels—three books that are not as similar as you might think—include this story. Yes, God is a Trinity. He exists in an eternal relationship that began before us and is complete without us. But He loves us infinitely—otherwise, He would not have become one of us and punished Himself for our sins. God is all about relationships, and invites us into a joy-filled relationship with Him. You were born from God’s Joy:

“You were born out of the laughter of the Trinity.” German theologian Meister Eckhart, 1260-1328.

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NOT AN EASY LIFE. Luke 2:34-35.

When I was a child, I decided everyone gets an equal amount of hurt and happiness—that our pleasures and pains balance out. My parents told me I was crazy. Both of them went on about how much worse some people had it. What if no one loved you? What if you were paralyzed? What if you got cancer as a child and spent years in pain then died before you were ten years old?

They were right. Our lives do not even out. There is no real justice on earth. Justice comes in heaven, where God’s grace makes all things new.

One person who had a harder life than most was Jesus. Consider this prophecy:

“This child will cause the rise and fall of many in Israel. In the end, He will lay bare the secrets thoughts of many hearts. He will be a significant person whom many will oppose. Mary, a sword will pierce even your own soul” Luke 2:34-35.

Why would people oppose Jesus? They thought he was conceived out of wedlock. Many were jealous when He had so many followers. Others were angered by the things He said publicly. Still others were angry He did not do enough to oppose Roman rule.

But these verses indicate “He will lay bare the secret thoughts of many hearts.” People hated Jesus because His life and words proved them to be frauds and hypocrites. They could not stand that. So they killed him.

Even Mary would suffer: “a sword will pierce your very soul.”

But Jesus was a truth-teller. It was because of His integrity that He suffered: He had the courage to speak the truth and He was hated for it.

We will also be opposed when we speak the truth. We must use wisdom and love in our speech, and sometimes we should ask for godly advice before saying something that will make enemies of friends.

But we must speak truth—even if it causes us to face opposition. Be a truth-teller.

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PARENTING FAIL. Luke 2:44-52.

Every parent has them: moments of failure you wish you could get back. I’ve made mistakes. Still, there are fails I have not committed. For example, I have never lost one of my kids … like, you know, Mary and Joseph.

The “Holy Family” lost Jesus! The Godly couple that was chosen to raise the Messiah—they LOST HIM!

“Assuming He was in the traveling party, they went a day’s journey. Then they began looking for Him. When they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem. After three days, they found Him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening and asking questions. And all those who heard Him were astounded at His understanding” Luke 2:44-47.

What do you think Mom and Dad said? Maybe: “Yeah, yeah, he’s great with the Bible stuff… whatever, we’re going home now, young man!”

No, of course not. They were raising a different type of child—one who never disobeyed His parents. In fact, that was probably why they lost Him—because He was so reliable, they did not check on Him the way they would any other 12-year-old boy. And instead of fussing, they would also have been astounded, if not by His brilliance (which they were used to, perhaps) then by the reaction of the “professional” Bible students and teachers.

Jesus said, “Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know that I had to be about My Father’s business?” Luke 2:49.

Jesus went home, and “His mother pondered these things in her heart” Luke 2:51. Parents should pay attention to what God may be doing.

“And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man” Luke 2:48-52.

Pray about the deep wisdom here:

God, give parents grace in failure, grace for our kids, and help us watch and think hard about what You are doing in their lives. Help us to be “about Your business” for us and to go ALL-IN with You to fulfill Your will. Only then will we truly grow in wisdom and in favor with God and man.

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Mary pondered these things in her heart. Luke 2:18-19

One interesting line in the Christmas story is the conclusion in Luke 2:19: Mary treasured these things and pondered them in her heart.

What does that mean? This line comes after Luke narrates the well-known events of Luke chapter 2: Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem to pay taxes, she gave birth, laid Him in a manger, shepherds arrived with an astounding tale about a sky filled with angels who announced the birth of a Savior who is Christ the Lord or “the anointed one who is God.”

“And all who heard about it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart” Luke 2: 18-19.

Again, what does it mean that Mary “pondered things in her heart”—and is that something we should do?

Other translations use other phrases, writing that Mary treasured these things—

  • meditating on them
  • trying to understand them
  • wondering what they meant
  • always thought about them and kept on thinking about them
  • thought deeply about them, turning them over in her mind.

“Pondering these things in her heart” appears to mean that Mary thought about these things and kept on thinking about them all the time.

And isn’t that what she should do? I mean, if God shows up in your life and sends angels to foretell your future, shouldn’t you pay attention? You should pay attention like never before! If God ever, EVER gets involved in your life, there is NOTHING more important than that. (Of course, you need to be 100% certain it is God—pray and beg Him for clarity.) But once you know it is Him, you must absolutely pay attention, and then spend the rest of your life reflecting back on it, remembering it and thinking about it and pondering it all the time forever. (You may have noticed that your mother and I always return to the same set of stories about things God has done in our lives.) The acts of God will become the most significant stories you will ever tell. Henry Blackaby writes that you should write them down, making a written list of the “spiritual markers” in your life. Pay attention! If God did it, nothing will ever matter more.

But I think there is a second truth to be learned from Mary. She pondered these things, but she did not draw conclusions. We love to draw conclusions. We love to look at one thing God did and plan our entire future based on that. For example, God helped me succeed in algebra after many failures, so maybe God was calling me to be a math teacher. (I never fell for that outrageous notion, but you get the idea!) If God gives you success with children, do you automatically conclude you will be a children’s worker? If God gives you success with sports, must you then conclude you will work in sports? If God helps you to be a peacemaker, does that mean He is calling you to work for the US State Department? If God makes you the class president, does that mean He is calling you to a life of politics? You can see how drawing premature conclusions is often an error.

Mary did not draw conclusions.

She knew the child came from God. So would He be an earthly king? If so, why did Simeon prophecy to her that “a sword will pierce even your own soul”? And though God had blessed her and Joseph and performed an amazing miracle of the virgin birth, could she conclude that her life was now going to be easy and trouble-free? How could she make that assumption? From the beginning, everyone—EVERYONE—would assume she had sinned with Joseph. They would heap deep shame on both of them and their child. Would even her own parents believe her? That shame would follow their family for the rest of their lives. Then the baby was born in a barn full of manure, surrounded by the smell of urine-soaked hay. Then Herod wanted to murder their baby and they had to run away to Egypt, refugees without a homeland, raising the Messiah in a pagan land full of sun-worshipers. How was Mary supposed to feel about that?

I don’t know. And Mary did not know.

In THE TWO TOWERS, Sam Wise Gamgee asks, “I wonder what sort of a tale we’ve fallen into?”

And Frodo answers, “I don’t know. And that’s the way of a real tale… The people in it don’t know.”

Following God often means not knowing where your story is going.

It means not knowing the future. It means walking into a dark future BY FAITH, not by sight. You watch what He does. You get involved and work at serving Him wherever He leads you. You pray and say, like Mary, “behold the bondservant of the Lord, be it done unto me according to Thy word.” And you let God do His work.

And you do not draw conclusions. The story remains open-ended. We do not know what God will do. But we do know what He has already done, and so we treasure those things in our hearts, and we ponder them and think about them all the time. Because the things God has done will give perspective and insight as you move into the future. Your past may guide you—but it will not predict your future.

Pray. Dear God, thank you for loving us enough to get involved in our lives. Thank you for speaking to us, leading us, and working in us. Thank you for using us—what an AMAZING privilege. Help us to watch you at work, to remember every detail. Remind us to write down the works of God in our lives—to record our spiritual markers. And help us ponder them like Mary, reflecting on your work and being led by it. But remind us to be open-minded, to avoid drawing false conclusions. We are open, God. We give you free reign. Do your work in our lives. Do your will—whatever you want to do, we are available. We love you. We are here to serve you. We trust you with the dark, unknown days of the future, just as Mary did. We too want to pray, “Behold, the bondservant of the Lord; be it done unto me according to Thy word.”

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CARNAL KNOWLEDGE: Sex is not an Action But a Knowing. Luke 1:34.

The phrase “carnal knowledge” has a negative connotation, being a euphemism for sex. But literally it means knowledge of the flesh. The Bible always speaks of sex in terms of KNOWLEDGE. “Adam knew his wife, and she conceived a son,” for example. 

In our culture, people speak of sex as a happening, an event. It is a thing that a person DOES, then it is over. But Biblical language conveys something more like a thing a person BECOMES, and after that, they are forever changed. 

Consider what Mary says to the angel who informs her of her coming pregnancy–

“How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?” Luke 1:34.

She speaks of that knowledge in the present tense. It’s not, “I have not known a man previously,” but “I do not presently KNOW a man.” That’s because in Mary’s world, a marriage unites two people to each other, making them ONE for life. And as a virgin, she is not yet bound to a man that way, that is, she does not presently KNOW a man.

This is a deeper and wiser view of sex, or of the deep bond God creates in a marriage. The act of sex is not the point, as though life were some candy store and the goal is to consume the sugar. Sex is an expression of a much deeper, more personal connection—it means UNDERSTANDING the candy store. Two married people are tied, knit together on a soul level. They are ONE, bound by an ongoing connection. They do not “know” each other during moments of their marriage, but they know each other always and forever, till death parts them. 

It’s not about the event, but about the commitment and the oneness. 

And THAT is a picture of the way we will know Christ in heaven. On earth, we are His betrothed. In heaven, He will marry his bride. We will see him, know him, and be one with him. 

Dear God, deliver us from a secular view that makes sex no more valuable than a drug trip or a roller coaster ride. Help us understand it is not primarily a physical pleasure, but an intimate connection with another soul. And give us insight into what it means to be your Bride.

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BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE. Luke 1:6-7; Romans 8:18.

Consider the elderly parents of John the Baptist. They did not deserve to be barren:

“They were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commands of the Lord. And they had no child because Elizabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years” Luke 1:6-7.

I watched a 40-minute video of Ed Young, Jr., and his wife. Their daughter of 34, who has battled depression, recently discovered alcohol and would drink till she got alcohol poisoning. She had seizures beginning the first time she drank. She went to rehab and wanted to do well. She worked at her father’s church in Dallas and she loved the Lord. But after her first taste of alcohol, she was hooked. She only drank a few times but always drank too much. And she drank a lot recently, came home. Mom and dad knew and kept an eye on her, but she had a seizure and died. 

It was a huge blow, a shock. Just that day she told her mom “I want to live. I want to get better.” But she did not. And the parents went to God and searched their hearts and wanted answers, saying “God, we tried, we raised her in the church, we loved her, gave her a warm home… Why God? Why us? We were virgins when we got married…” 

Like any parent, they said “Why us, it’s not fair…”

But this life is not fair. More importantly, this life is not the end. Never forget heaven, your REAL home. In heaven, we won’t ask those questions. In heaven, we will be overwhelmed with the good things. In heaven, we will ask WHY ME about the blessings that come to us.

“For I am convinced that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that is to be revealed to us” Romans 8:18.

Hang in, no matter what. Great things may lie ahead in this life—just as Zechariah and Elizabeth had a delightful son, John.

But even if nothing great were to come in this life, remember heaven, your REAL HOME.

God is going to bless you so amazingly that nothing you endure on earth can even be compared with it!

Think of a scale. If earthly sufferings were on one side of the scale, and heavenly blessings on the other, the blessings will not slowly tip the scale, the brass drifting down like a leaf in the breeze. The blessings of heaven will drop that side of the scale like a brick. BOOM!

No matter what we suffer on earth, it cannot be compared to heaven’s blessings!

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DIFFERENT GOSPELS FOR DIFFERENT PURPOSES. Luke 1:1-4; John 1:1-5.

What a contrast between Luke and John. One is all business, the other all poetry.

One writes like a lawyer, lining up each piece of evidence in perfect order. The other takes a more creative approach, speaking in figurative language. 

“Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are believed among us, even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, that thou mightiest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed” Luke 1:1-4.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not” John 1:1-5.

Which do you prefer?

John is the poet/philosopher, speaking of Jesus only as WORD and LIGHT. His approach is my preference, but barely. I love a thorough history, reported carefully and in perfect order. HOWEVER, once you understand that history, you MUST graduate to the metaphorical level. That is, if the facts Luke reports are TRUE, then it’s time to understand what John has to say: What is the “Word made flesh”? And the “Light of the world”? Do you see what John sees? Do you know Jesus as the LIGHT that LIGHTS UP your life? Does His light defeat the darkness around you? 

I find John’s words challenging. Could I have written them? Do I see the Risen, Eternal, Son of God as clearly as John does? 

Do you? Why not? 

God, help us master the facts like Luke, and see the deeper truths like John.

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PARENTING IS SACRIFICE. Luke 1:38; 2:35.

God uses children to make us less selfish. Because what can yank you out of your self-absorption faster than a fussy baby or a screaming child?

All parents make sacrifices for their children. But God calls some parents to unusual and difficult sacrifices.

Mary was engaged when the angel Gabriel showed up and said, “Hail, favored one. The Lord is with you. Do not be afraid, for you have found favor with God…. You will conceive and give birth to a son… He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High” Luke 1:28, 31-32. The angel explained everything and Mary knew that for the rest of her life people would gossip that she did wrong and conceived a bastard child. The scandal would dog the family forever. How did she respond?

“Behold the bondslave of the Lord. Be it done unto me according to thy word” Luke 1:38.

Joseph had a similar experience. Mary told him the news and he decided to quietly divorce her. Someone else could raise the bastard child of whatever loser Mary had hooked up with. But an angel came to Joseph and told him the news. He obeyed, married Mary, and kept her a virgin until the child was born.

Both parents were asked to make a sacrifice—to be reputed as “sinners” for the rest of their lives, and to raise a son who would be born under a cloud of suspicion. In the early days, even their families would have doubts. Others would have doubts for the rest of their lives. But so what? So what if the enemies of God think ill of you? Your job is to obey and please God, not to please His enemies.

Dear God, give us the courage as parents and future parents to make any sacrifices to which You call us. Make us self-less parents and self-less people, believers who live to serve You and to serve others. Thank you for the courage of Mary and Joseph. Help us to be as brave and obedient as they were, to face not only scorn and mockery, but even the agony of watching our children suffer, as Mary watched Jesus and “a sword … pierced her soul,” Luke 2:35.

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