Christmas
Passages
We’ve
already looked at eight different lessons from the Bible tonight - all pointing
towards or explaining the details of the birth of Jesus. Both from the Old Testament and the New
Testament, prophecies as well as recorded accounts of the actual events in and
around Bethlehem. And we could have
looked at even more! There are a number
of portions of Scripture that talk about the birth of Christ that we haven’t
even mentioned. For example that
wonderful prophecy in Isaiah 7 wasn’t on the list: “The virgin will be with child and give birth to a son and will call
him Immanuel.” We didn’t refer to
Galatians 4 where Paul looks back at the birth of the Savior and says, “When the time and fully come, God sent his
son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might
receive the full rights of sons.” We
didn’t even spend any time on the ninth chapter of Isaiah that contains one of
the most famous prophecies of Christ’s birth: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government
will be on his shoulders. And he will be
called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” There is just not enough time in one worship
service to cover all of the different passages in the Bible that refer to
Christ and his first coming. But out of
all these great Christmastime sections of Scripture, out of all the passages we
have to choose from, did you notice on p.10 of your bulletin what part of the
Bible our devotion is based on this evening?
It’s not a familiar verse from the prophet Isaiah. And it’s not a selection from Luke or Matthew
that describes the actual birth of the Savior either. The basis for our devotion tonight is taken
from the book of Genesis 49:10: “The
scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his
feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is
his.”
An Ancient
Prediction
Now why
would we go back to the very first book of the Bible and spend time on this
little known passage of Scripture during the great and grand event of Christmas
Eve? Why not a more familiar verse? What not a part of the Bible that lays out
for us the cute manger scene of Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus that we are
all so used to? We are focusing our
attention on Genesis 49:10 this evening because it not only predicts this
coming of our Lord, it also points to what would rightfully be his when he got
here. “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from
between his feet, until he comes to whom
it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his.” Jesus was the one who was to come. And because he would come from the family of
Judah, everything that belonged to Judah would be his.
The
people of Israel were divided up into 12 different tribes or families. And that was because of the 12 original sons
of Israel from which the rest of the Israelites came. One of these 12 sons was named Judah and the
Lord had made it clear that Jesus would one day come from his family. And so here at the end of the book of Genesis,
the promise is given that the scepter would not depart from his family “until
he comes to whom it belongs.” Jesus was
coming. Not for many, many years after
this prophecy of course, the people would have to wait for about 1700 years
after these words were spoken, but Jesus was coming nonetheless. And when he arrived the scepter would be his;
the ruler’s staff would be his; the obedience of the nations would be his; and
there would be no doubt that he was the King they had all been waiting for, he
was the Messiah that would rule on his throne forever. That’s why we’re going back to Genesis 49:10
this evening. It shows us who this baby
in the manger really is: the King to whom everything belongs.
Opening What is
His
Over the
past few weeks we’ve been getting packages in the mail from parents and
brothers and sisters that contained Christmas presents for our kids. And whenever a package has come, we have taken
out the wrapped gifts and have put them under the tree. Each one has a nametag on it of course and we
tell the kids that, although they are chomping at the bit to rip them open, they
cannot open them until Christmas morning.
In fact, they aren’t even supposed to touch them. They are just to leave them there undisturbed. But a couple weeks ago I walked into the room
where our Christmas tree stands and I saw our two-year-old, Seth, opening one
of the presents. And if that wasn’t bad
enough, the present he was opening wasn’t his, it was his older brother
Elijah’s. And so of course I immediately
stopped him, taped up the present, and told him, “You can’t open this. It isn’t yours. It’s Elijah’s. Don’t even touch it. It’s his.”
He hasn’t tried to open any other presents since then, but I’m sure as a
two-year-old he has a hard time holding himself back sometimes. Because a two-year-old doesn’t usually care
if it’s rightfully his or not, he just wants it regardless of whose name is on
the nametag.
Sometimes
we can act like two-year-olds with the things that rightfully belong to our
Lord. Remember that the scepter is his,
the ruler’s staff is his, and the obedience of the nation is his. And so that means all power and authority,
all control and supervision belong to our Lord Jesus and no one else. He gets to call the shots; he gets his way;
he gets to make the final decisions. But
we try to rip open that present and keep it for ourselves anyway, don’t
we? Because sometimes we aren’t too
thrilled about the decisions he makes.
Sometimes we aren’t too happy about “his way.” Sometimes we get so frustrated that we try to
take things into our own hands and sort things out by ourselves.
But that
box is not yours to open. Your name is
not on that nametag. And neither is
mine. I’m not even allowed to touch what
has been reserved for my Lord even though I like to grab that scepter from time
to time; I like to tear off the wrapping paper and hold that staff in my hand
and put that crown on my head and attempt to control things in my life -
regardless of my limited knowledge and my inadequate abilities. As if I could do a better job! As if I actually knew what was going on in
this world and had the power to do something about it if I did!
Of
course, whenever I or anyone else attempts to open up what rightfully belongs
to our Lord, that demonstrates a serious lack of trust in what he has
promised. It shows how thin our confidence
in him actually is and how judgmental we are of what our God does and how he
does it. And the Lord knows! It’s not as if we are sneaking around behind
his back! He is aware of every time we
try to take what is his.
Gifts for Us
But
whenever our Lord walks in on us - once again opening up what belongs to him
alone - he doesn’t yell at us. He
doesn’t lash out in anger or even punish us like we deserve for trying to take
the scepter away from the King. Instead,
he gently instructs us to put back what is his and points us to another box
under the tree, to another package that has his name on it. “Look,” he says. “This is the one that should catch your
attention. Because not only does this
one also belong to me; this one is from
you.”
And sure enough, there’s your name written on the “From:” line. But it’s not your handwriting - it’s far too
neat - it’s wrapped in black paper and you don’t even remember giving anything
to the Lord in the first place. “It’s
because I took it,” Jesus says. “I took it. I wrapped it.
I signed your name. I addressed
it to myself. Because it wasn’t
something that you could give to me on your own even if you wanted to. It’s filled with your sins. All of them.
The big ones, the little ones.
The blatant ones, the secret ones.
And every consequence that your sins have earned. They are mine now; you do not have to be
burdened by them any longer. In fact,
you don’t ever have to mess with them again.”
And then
he leads you around to the front of the tree and shows you three others presents,
gifts with your name on them this
time: the first wrapped in straw-colored wrapping paper, the second wrapped in a
dark red - almost the color of blood, the third wrapped in paper so white it
hurts your eyes. And you know what they
are before you open them: the first is the manger where Jesus was born, the second
is the cross where Jesus was sacrificed, the third is the empty tomb where
Jesus used to lay. “I know,” the Lord
says, “I know that I gave you the same things last year - and the year before
that and the year before that. But
there’s nothing better. And there’s
nothing else you need. Those boxes over
there filled with power and authority, glory and honor, praise and respect -
those are mine. And I forgive you for
trying to take them for yourself. But that’s
why these gifts of my manger and my cross and my tomb are yours to keep. And with these gifs in hand I will allow you
into my heaven that they have earned for you.”
My
fellow Christians immersed in the sights and sounds of this Christmas Eve night,
keep in mind that your God has created everything. He owns everything. He claims everything. All things are his. But the best of what is his, that which he
has emptied himself for, that which he has sacrificed himself for, that which
he has proven himself victorious for, those are the very gifts he has given to you. The gifts of salvation and forgiveness and
eternal life. What an interesting gift
exchange, isn’t it? The worst of you he
has taken for his own. The best of what
is his has been given to you. And you
will be able to enjoy these gifts for the rest of eternity.
Amen.
“The scepter will
not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he
comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his.” - Gen. 49:10
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