As this is Christmas Eve I thought I’d share some recovery insights from the Christmas story as told in the bible. Hopefully we’ll find something in the two parts that will at some point help us in our personal recovery. In part one we’ll look at the story as it is told in Matthew. In part two we’ll look at Luke. I’ll also include some commentary at the end of part one as to the prophecies used by Matthew in his telling of the Christmas story. I hope that you can find hope and peace through what the prophecy said about the birth of Jesus.
18 This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. 20 As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: 23 “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” 24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. 25 But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus. (Matt 1:18-25 NLT)
Recovery Insight
Shock! That is what Joseph experienced when he found out Mary was pregnant. His reaction to the implications of Mary’s pregnancy was to break off their engagement. Joseph was a man of principle and his reaction was well intentioned. The Jewish law of the day an engagement was a legally binding contract requiring the couple to marry. Adultery or divorce could only break the engagement, and the law allowed a man or a woman who violated the engagement contract to be stoned to death. Joseph had many options but decided to break the engagement quietly. He did not want her stoned to death and he did not want her publicly humiliated. Joseph decided to end the engagement silently.
An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph and explained to him the child was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Joseph did as the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife.
Pretty heavy stuff to be laid on a young man. It is apparent that Joseph had turn his life over to the care of God and listened to God when he spoke. Had he made the decision based upon his own judgement it would have turned out entirely different. He did not have a clear understanding at first of the situation and probably thought that Mary had cheated on him. Attitudes and decisions based on incomplete understandings are significant problems to relationship and can affect our recovery. Patience, honesty, and perseverance in communication with others and our higher power are crucial to preventing far-reaching mistakes such as broken relationships.
When we turn our lives over to the care of God we must seek God’s direction in our relationship with Him and others. We do this through prayer and meditation. God will speak to us but we must listen for His voice. This is accomplished by asking God for his help, prayer, and then meditating on His word, the bible, and listening to others we know that are truly in a relationship with Him. This is how we learn what God truly wants for us and we begin to see God’s heart and His love for us. Out of God’s love for us we will begin a journey that will allow us to share God’s love with others, we will begin to see the truth and leave our past behind, and begin to enter into real relationships with others.
1 Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, 2 “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.” 3 King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem. 4 He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?” 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote: 6 ‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not least among the ruling cities of Judah, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’” 7 Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. 8 Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!” 9 After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! 11 They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.
13 After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” 14 That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, 15 and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “I called my Son out of Egypt.” 16 Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance. 17 Herod’s brutal action fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: 18 “A cry was heard in Ramah—weeping and great mourning.
Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted, for they are dead.” 19 When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. 20 “Get up!” the angel said. “Take the child and his mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead.” 21 So Joseph got up and returned to the land of Israel with Jesus and his mother. 22 But when he learned that the new ruler of Judea was Herod’s son Archelaus, he was afraid to go there. Then, after being warned in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee. 23 So the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what the prophets had said: “He will be called a Nazarene.” (Matt 2:1-23 NLT)
Recovery Insight
King Herod had learned how to get people to do the things he wanted. Maybe that is why he was king. Herod was also a tyrant and could charm and manipulate others to do his dirty work. Herod thought he could find out who this baby really was and find out exactly where the baby Jesus was by manipulating the wise men. By showing an interest in and a desire to worship the baby Jesus Herod thought he could get the wise men to report back on where they found him.
Once again we see God speaking to the wise men and Joseph. In both cases the warnings were heeded and Joseph left with Mary and the baby Jesus to Egypt. The wise men like wise returned going a different way than they came. When Herod found out he was furious. So angry that he had been tricked that he ordered all the babies under two years old to be slaughtered.
Frequently we meet people who come into recovery with abusive or oppressive personalities. In the early stages of recovery they will ‘play along’ with what they learn by pretending to work the steps and telling us what they think we want to hear. Later they will try to manipulate us, hoping to crush any resistance to their control over their own lives and the lives of others. We need to learn a lesson from the wise men and Joseph and be careful to avoid such people.
Conclusion:
Most of us in recovery have come to grips with our need for a higher power and most of us believe in the God of the bible as that higher power. However some of us may struggle with the fact that the bible claims Jesus as the Son of God. Let’s look at some of the proof that we can find in the passages that have been used in this article. The two passages used make claims as to the prophets and what they said about Jesus’ birth. The references from the passages are listed below:
“Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” Isaiah 7:14
‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not least among the ruling cities of Judah, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’ Micah 5:2
‘I called my Son out of Egypt.’ Hosea 11:1
‘A cry was heard in Ramah—weeping and great mourning. Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted, for they are dead.’ Jeremiah 31:15
‘He will be called a Nazarene.’ Isaiah 9:1
The preceding passages from their perspective writers, Isaiah, Micah, Hosea and Jeremiah, are all referred to as prophecy. Simple put, they foretold the future. There is much argument as to the textual reliability of the bible as a historical document but there is much archeological evidence to support the accuracy of the bible. As far as textual accuracy goes the bible has been translated several times for Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek so it’s easy to see how it may not be as accurate as it was when it was originally written. Archeologists have found proof to it’s accuracy by dating relics found that reinforce what the bible says. Assuming dates and events that have been discovered let’s assume that the bible is a historical document, and it is reliable, then we can say the birth of Jesus was foretold some 300 to 700 years before His birth. The one fact we do know is the dates of the documents are accurate. That means that these prophets hit the nail on the head in their prediction of Jesus birth. They also foretold of other events in Jesus life including His death and the way he would die. Pretty amazing if you think about it.
The first three of the prophecies are pretty clear as to their meaning. The second two require a little explanation.
In Jeremiah 31:15 Jeremiah makes reference to Rachel sorrow when Joseph’s brother’s sold him into slavery in Egypt. Likewise it reflects the sorrow of all the mothers who lost children when Herod ordered they be killed. It also makes reference to Jesus’ dad, Joseph, who took the baby Jesus to Egypt.
Isaiah said in Isaiah 9:1 ‘Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory.’ The meaning behind this passage is that Galilee of the Gentiles,…will be filled with glory. The town of Nazareth was located in Galilee, hence Jesus was called a Nazarene. Also of note is the fact that it says ‘Galilee of the Gentiles’. Anyone who was not Jewish was considered a Gentile. Hence, all of us if we are not Jewish are Gentiles. Interesting that when the Jews rejected Jesus and He died on the cross, He died for the Jews, as well as the Gentiles.
The point I wish to make and for everyone who does not have a relationship with God’s Son, Jesus, is to consider that these prophesies about Jesus pretty much add to the authenticity that Jesus was the Son of God. Jesus is ‘God with us.’ Jesus was God in the flesh, who came as man, walked on this earth, taught His ways and loved everyone. He loved everyone so much that He took the sin of the world upon Himself, that whoever believes in Him will continue to live once our mortal life on this earth is done. All it takes is to enter into a relationship with Jesus. If we have already turned our lives over to the care of God then shouldn’t we really have all the blessings that God has for us? All Jesus asks us to do is to have a relationship with Him, follow His ways and love everyone as He has already loved us. Make Him our master, our teacher, and follow His ways as outlined in His gospels.
Part 2 will look at Mary and the Shepherds and what insights we can gain from the Christmas Story in Luke. Until then, have a Merry Christmas Eve…..
An Everyday Freedom 