24 December 2021
Emperor Augustus commanded a census, and so everyone had to go to their hometown. Joseph’s hometown was Bethlehem. He was descended from David. David was probably the greatest King of Israel and Judah, next to Jesus, of course. Do you remember how it came to be that David became king? It’s important to remember, because the birth of Jesus cannot be understood without remembering the anointing of Joseph’s ancestor David.
Once upon time, hundreds and hundreds of years before Joseph, Mary, and Jesus the Hebrew people insisted that they needed a king. So God made Saul the king, and Samuel was the prophet and the king-maker. But things didn’t go so well for Saul, and this made the prophet Nathan very sad. One day God spoke to Samuel and said, “How long will you grieve for Saul?” Get up and go to the house of Jesse the Bethlehemite. Go to Bethlehem. So there Samuel went, to Bethlehem, and when he got there, everyone was terrified. Samuel was a great prophet who had the ear of the king. They wanted to know what he was up to. He said that he came in peace and asked for a heifer to make a sacrifice to the Lord. This would have cheered everybody up, because sacrificing a heifer to God, meant basically that the whole town would get to have a giant carne asada, or barbeque. Keep in mind that only a few pieces of the cow would be burned up completely, the smoke rising up was understood to be a smell that was pleasing to God, and then all the meat, the steaks, would be shared with everyone. It was a big deal!
But there was a twist. While everyone was focused on the sacrifice and the feast that would soon follow, no doubt accompanied by delicious Bethlehem wine, Samuel would take the opportunity as directed by God to anoint a new king, and it would be someone in Jesse’s family. You can imagine the people gathered to watch the sacrifice by the famed prophet. You can also imagine the stomachs begin to rumble as the meat was cooked over an open flame. While everyone is busy making preparations for the celebration to follow the sacrifice Samuel askes Jesse to bring forth his eldest son Eliab. Samuel is convinced that Eliab is the man but the Lord told Samuel, “Do not look on this appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:8. It bears repeating: for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.
After Eliab, there was Abinadab, then Shammah, then four more for a total of seven sons oldest to youngest and God said, “no” to each one. Samuel begins to wonder what is going on. The people are restless and ready for their steak. Samuel questions Jesse, “Are these all of your sons?” Jesse tries to brush off the question, explaining that the youngest boy, the eighth, is little David who was out shepherding. Samuel digs his heals in and says that they won’t sit down to eat until David is brought forth. You can imagine all the seven older brothers and all the neighbors throw up their hands in exasperation, and at the same time everyone shouts: David! Meanwhile David is just over the hill diligently watching the sheep, hears the summons, sees his brothers running for him and quickly hurries to meet the strange prophet Samuel. As soon as Samuel sees David he knows that he is the one. He anoints David, and the Spirit immediately fills David. David was a boy, the youngest of his brothers, small in stature, but: for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.
So hundreds of years later and after countless generations Joseph was descended from David. He takes his family to Bethlehem to his hometown to be counted in the census. And there Jesus is born, and Jesus is the next king. Also small in stature. But it was important that the king should come from Bethlehem from the line of David. There’s one problem: Joseph wasn’t the biological father of Jesus. We don’t know who Mary was descended from. How can we say that Jesus, the next king was descended from David? The answer is simple. He was adopted. Joseph adopted Jesus and raised him as his very own son. Joseph chose Jesus to be his son, and that makes all the difference in the world. Why? For the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. Joseph, a man of God, didn’t look at Jesus’ appearance to see his son, he looked at his heart. Just as Joseph adopted Jesus to be his son and bring him into the line of David, so God adopts us too to be God’s very own daughters, sons, and children. That is what Christmas is all about. The Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. The Lord does not look at your appearance. The Lord doesn’t look at your achievements. God doesn’t consider your car, or your house, your job, your family, your education, your politics, not even your religion. God looks at your heart! And for some beautiful and strange reason when good looks at your heart, God finds someone worthy to live and die and for. God just can’t help but loving you unconditionally, for no other reason, than for what is in your heart. So open up your heart, and let Christ come in, let God adopt you as a beloved child. And nothing, nothing will ever separate you from the love of God!
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