Wednesday-December 14
What happened when He came? To answer that question we must ask ourselves what happened "to whom"? We see that three groups meet Him after He came, shepherds, Simeon and Anna and the magi. There were also individuals who are mentioned in the story before He came, such as Elizabeth, Zacharias, and John. We have not examined their story as of yet. We have looked at Joseph and Mary who were the first to interact with the baby. When the groups, pre-present, and post birth, are examined there is an overlaying theme that is seen. There is movement or a response by people, and that response is often described as a joyous reaction.
The theme of joy and rejoicing is expressed in a variety of ways. Matthew writes the following concerning the wise men:
Matthew 2:10 (KJV 1900)
10When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
The verbs of the sentence are "they saw" and "they rejoiced." When parsing a verb one of the important consideration is the "kind of action." The most common are either the active or passive tense. When it is the active the subject, the wise men, are doing the action of seeing the star. But the word "rejoiced" is in the passive tense meaning that the action is being done to them. The rejoicing and the desire to rejoice came to them when they saw the star! Hope, faith, and trust came upon them. It entered into their minds which caused their hearts to be filled with intense joy! The rejoicing was over the top! It was with "exceeding great joy"!
Matthew 2:11 (KJV 1900)
11And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
Here Matthew uses three pairs of participles and verbs to describe their actions when coming into the presence of the child. A participle is a word that is formed from a verb which can be used as an adjective.[1] In this verse, the three participles are describing their initial like actions and then what they do after that action.
1. And when they were come (participle) into the
house, they saw (verb) the young child with Mary
his mother and
2. (and when they) fell down (participle) and (they)
worshiped (verb) him
3. and when they opened (participle) their treasures, they presented (verb) unto him gifts; gold, and
frankincense, and myrrh.
The gifts will become the finances that will allow Joseph, Mary, and the baby to travel to Egypt to escape the hand of Herod and back to Nazareth after Herod dies. The gifts are used for the work of God!
This pattern will happen though out the life of the Lord. The Gospel records many incidents where individuals come into the presence Jesus and their response are to fall at His feet (Mark 5:22-23, 5:25-34, 7:25-29, 9:20-27; Luke 5:1-11, 12-16, 17:11-19; John 11:32). Other times it is recorded that Jesus is worshiped! This supports the belief that Jesus is God because He allows the worship and does not stop them even though He knows the scripture that states
14For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God: (Exodus 34:14 (KJV 1900)
If He was not the only God, that is Jehovah, then He would not allow any worship to Himself! Thus He is not another God neither the second God in the triune Godhead. Mary does not stop the Wisemen from worshipping the child when they come into His presence. This moment of worship becomes the starting point for Jesus being worship by many throughout the His time on earth. (Matthew 8:2; 9:18; 14:33; 15:25; 18:26; 20:20; 28:9, 17; Mark 5:6; Luke 24:52; John 9:38).
This pattern will continue after His resurrection and ascension. When we read the apologetic writings of John in Revelation 4:10-11 the same pattern is seen as at the birth of Jesus.
1. The four and twenty elders fall down before him that
sat on the throne,
sat on the throne,
2. and worship him that liveth for ever and ever,
3. and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
11Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and
honor and power: for thou hast created all things,
and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
honor and power: for thou hast created all things,
and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
These three underlined words are verbs. As verbs, they give the actions of the elders. As at His birth, the elders join with the wise men fall down and worship Him (Jesus). The elders also cast their crowns toward Him. There is an important detail to understand concerning the parsing of the verbs. The verb fall is in the future tense meaning it will happen in a future time. The verbs worship and cast are in the present. The present tense is where the writer portrays an action in the process or a state of being with no assessment of the action’s completion.[2] That means that the worship of the Lord and the casting of crowns will have a time that they start, but there will be no stopping of the worship to Him either the honoring Him by laying down of their crowns before Him. The reason the elders even have crowns is that of the action of the Savior working through them. Thus they are His crowns from the beginning. The laying down of the crowns is the same as the wise men laying down their gifts before the baby! The gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh were His from the beginning since He is the creator of the earth. All these gifts come from the earth itself like the gold or from what the earth tree produces like the frankincense and myrrh.
As we summarize our thoughts we see that the proper response when we are in the presence of the Lord is to:
1. Fall down. This is the visible action that shows the
inward attitude of humility and submission to the
Lord.
inward attitude of humility and submission to the
Lord.
2. Worship Him.
3. Present our gifts to Him. This is the treasures of
time, talents and finances that are given for the
work of God.
time, talents and finances that are given for the
work of God.
This is learned from the past actions of the wise men to the future actions of the twenty-four elders.
Your Response:
Take time to slowly read and meditate on the thoughts that you have been reading. Examine yourself. When you are in the presence of God, do you humble yourself? Do you submit to His commands? Do you worship Him? Have you given Him the talents that you possess? If you answered yes to any of the above questions, make a change. When you are in a church service and are sensing the presence, do these actions. If you are in a time of prayer and you sense His presence begin to do these actions. As you continue to follow these steps you will find that God's presence will stay lingering with you.
Are you seeking God with all of your heart? Do you desire Him more than anything else? Search the scriptures for they speak of Him (John 5:39). Make a plan to read the Bible through in 2015. Notate in a journal the thoughts He gives to you! Join with a family member or friend and make each other accountable to read the Word and pray daily.
Mark 5:22–23 (KJV 1900)
22And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet,
23And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.
Mark 5:25–34 (KJV 1900)
25And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,
26And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,
27When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.
28For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.
29And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.
30And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?
31And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?
32And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.
33But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.
34And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.
Mark 7:25–29 (KJV 1900)
25For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet:
26The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter.
27But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.
28And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs.
29And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter.
Mark 9:20–27 (KJV 1900)
20And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.
21And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child.
22And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.
23Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
24And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
25When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.
26And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.
27But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.
Luke 5:1–11 (KJV 1900)
1And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,
2And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.
3And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.
4Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.
5And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.
6And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.
7And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.
8When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
9For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken:
10And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.
11And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.
Luke 5:12–16 (KJV 1900)
12And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
13And he put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him.
14And he charged him to tell no man: but go, and shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing, according as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.
15But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him: and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities.
16And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.
Luke 17:11–19 (KJV 1900)
11And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.
12And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:
13And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
14And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.
15And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,
16And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.
17And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?
18There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.
19And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.
John 11:32 (KJV 1900)
32Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
John 18:3–6 (KJV 1900)
3Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons.
4Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye?
5They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them.
6As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground.
This statement of an extremely heightened joy is typical in a context of messianic fulfillment (cf. Luke, who uses much more of this kind of language in the nativity narrative; cf. Luke 1:14, 44, 46; 2:10 [χαρὰν μεγάλην, “great joy”], 14, 20).[3]
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