Jesus' first and most basic invitation was “Come and Look.” Come and See. Come and Consider. In Psalm 34:8 we're invited, "Taste and see that the Lord is good. How happy is the person who takes refuge in him!” Our faith journey always begins with a degree of doubt or at least uncertainty. But it also begins with a degree of curiosity and personal initiative. “Come, Taste, Look” aren't passive, but rather active commands.
In Matthew 7:7-11 Jesus says, “Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Who among you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him.”
Whenever I've struggled with seasons of doubt, these verses have always been an encouragement to me—just to know that if you are sincere about seeking God, he will surely meet you in the darkness and shine his light upon you. Last week we saw how Mary, Joseph, the wise men, the shepherds, Simeon, Anna… John the Baptist and the first followers of Jesus… had the curiosity to LOOK UP. And what they saw left them speechless, it would change their lives and world forever.
The best gift you can ask for and receive this Christmas is God himself. If you ask God to show himself to you, will he give you a snake? If you ask to know the bread of life, will God give you a stone? We're not going to upstage God. He gives good gifts to those who ask him.
Jeremiah 29:12, “Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.” James 4:8, “Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” Matthew 5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” Revelation 3:20, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”
You put out cookies for Santa Claus. You invite everyone else. What if God himself dropped by—would you hear his knock, would you invite him in, would you eat with him? This Christmas God invites us to LOOK UP… why? Because he has made it possible for us to KNOW HIM! John 5:20, “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know the true one. We are in the true one—that is, in his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”
Can you think of anyone this season who needs to hear the words, “Look Up?” Lakeside is great space for people to explore faith if you'd be faithful to invite them to our table to taste God's goodness.
Well this morning, I'm excited to explore another dynamic of Jesus' invitation to “Come and Look.” I believe right along Christ's invitation to “Look Up” is his invitation to “Look Back." Last Sunday I think I demonstrated that Christmas is all about looking up, and seeing Jesus. But just as soon as a person begins to look up they are taken back (not backwards), but back into history.
Let me share a several examples in the Christmas story. Matthew 1:1, how does Matthew introduce Jesus? “An [historical] account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham…” Abraham beget Isaac beget Jacob beget Judah… then eventually Boaz beget Obed beget Jesse beget David.” Come on Matthew can't I know Jesus without rehearsing his family tree? Maybe not?
Matthew 1:22. When the angel announces to Joseph that Mary is pregnant with God's child. If I’d experienced an angelic visit, I would have taken the angel’s word on authority. But this isn't what happens. Matthew editorializes, “22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel, which is translated “God is with us.” If you really want to see Jesus, don't just look forward to his birth 9 months from now… look back over the thousands of years God promised this moment would happen!
Okay what if you take some hard-core outsiders, like the magi; or what about an evil king like Herod, or what if you took people who'd prove to be religiously hostile to Jesus like the chief priests and scribes? Yep, you guessed it, it wasn't enough for them to look for Jesus, they too had to look back!
Matthew 2:1-6, “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men from the east arrived in Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star at its rising and have come to worship him.” 3 When King Herod heard this, he was deeply disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 So he assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people and asked them where the Messiah would be born. 5 “In Bethlehem of Judea,” they told him, “because this is what was written by the prophet: 6 And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah: Because out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.”
As Herod began to hunt for Jesus, and massacre innocents in the process, Joseph was terrified for his life. Matthew tells us, however, that nothing really surprising is happening. For if only we'd “look back" we'd understand that God was orchestrating his sovereign plan. Matthew 2:14-15, “So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and escaped to Egypt. 15 He stayed there until Herod’s death, so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled: Out of Egypt I called my Son.”
And what of all those mothers who lost their children, as Herod massacred the innocent children in effort to kill Jesus? God knew those mothers in their inconsolable grief… and knew those babies by name… their loss would not be in vain. Matthew 2:16-18, “Then Herod, when he realized that he had been outwitted by the wise men, flew into a rage. He gave orders to massacre all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, in keeping with the time he had learned from the wise men. 17 Then what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “18 A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; and she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.
When in fear (after Herod’s murderous campaign) Joseph settled down in Nazareth, instead of Bethlehem where Jesus was born, Matthew 2:23, “Then he went and settled in a town called Nazareth to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.”
Let me state the obvious. If you really want to bolster your faith this Christmas. If you really want to see and know the Living God—you shouldn't just be thinking about raising your eyes, and looking up into the sky for the star David. You should also LOOK BACK. You should pour over the Holy Scriptures. There are 39 books in the Old Testament giving specific testimony to the person, work, and divinity of Jesus Christ.
-There are stories, narratives, typologies, and symbols that perfectly foreshadow Jesus.
-There are laws and commandments and sacrifices that point not just to Jesus' righteousness, but to our need for one to justify us because of our lack righteousness!
-There are promises galore, starting with Eve after she sinned, that a child would come to crush the head of Satan. Promises like that made to Abraham, that a child would come through whom all nations on earth would be blessed. Promises made through Moses, that there would be one coming like him, to lead God's people. Promises made through David, that one would come and establish God's Kingdom and Throne for eternity. There are prophecies galore… and the prophecies declare that God would anoint a Messiah, a Christ figure, to save God's people (and world) from their sins.
When John the Baptist comes announcing Jesus, Matthew is like, yep, Isaiah the prophet already told us a messenger would come before Jesus. Matthew 3:1-3, “those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near!” 3 For he is the one spoken of through the prophet Isaiah, who said: A voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way for the Lord; make his paths straight!”
Now if you like, you can jump over to Luke's Christmas narrative and conduct exactly the same exercise. But let me just give one example from Luke 1:67-79. When Zechariah is finally able to speak, after birth of John Baptist, listen to how he LOOKS BACK in order to bolster our understanding of Jesus:
“Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: 68 Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited and provided redemption for his people. 69 He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, 70 just as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets in ancient times; 71 salvation from our enemies and from the hand of those who hate us. 72 He has dealt mercifully with our ancestors and remembered his holy covenant—73 the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant that we, 74 having been rescued from the hand of our enemies, would serve him without fear 75 in holiness and righteousness in his presence all our days. 76 And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, 77 to give his people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins. 78 Because of our God’s merciful compassion, the dawn from on high will visit us 79 to shine on those who live in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
I think it’s awesome, that when people hear his name, they get excited about the person of Jesus. But the depth of the man, Jesus, is first understood by Looking Back. Jesus wasn’t just some cleverly invented story, or Christmas fable. Jesus wasn't made up and pulled out of the thin air of the North Pole. Jesus wasn't some unexpected guest at the table of history. We knew how and why he was coming—we just didn't know exactly when. But when Jesus came the world was awaiting God's Christ, God's Messiah, The Son of David, the Son of Man. God was acting in concert with all he'd ever spoken whether through Eve, or Abraham, or Moses, or David, or prophets, or angels. Muhammed. we know who you say you are, but God never told us you were coming. It was, Oh Yea, Jesus… we've heard all about you. Come and eat with us!
By the way, I'm already working on the Acts teaching series for January. Every time the apostles preach Jesus, every time Luke or some author in the New Testament invites people to see Jesus… they take them on a journey of LOOKING BACK. Look Back my friends and be amazed.
[2 Peter 1:16-21]
16 For we did not follow cleverly contrived myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; instead, we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased!” 18 We ourselves heard this voice when it came from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain. 19 We also have the prophetic word strongly confirmed, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you know this: No prophecy of Scripture comes from the prophet’s own interpretation, 21 because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.