Treasure and Ponder

https://www.dailypainters.com/paintings/143617/Treasures-woman-on-street-Just-a-bit-to-ponder-/Linda-Apple

Welcome! As promised last week, today a Jewish kid is presenting to you a Christmas message. Back when I actually was a kid, you can be sure that I did not remotely imagine the possibility that such a thing could happen. Indeed, such an outcome to my teenage mind would be as shocking as anything we will read from the Scriptures today. My plan for today is to first talk about what I celebrated this time of year as a kid, second, talk about Hanukkah as it relates to the Scriptures, third, talk a little about the history of Christmas, and fourth, spend some time in Luke 2 looking at what it means to treasure and ponder.

Our family, as you might guess, did not celebrate Christmas. We celebrated Hanukkah instead. It wasn’t until near the end of my teenage years that I learned that some Jews celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah – but the Christmas they celebrate is only the non-religious part, the part involving Santa Claus, and gifts, and TV specials that were really old even when I was a kid.

My parents gave me and my sister gifts, but they were not excessive. My grandparents on my Mom’s side, on the other hand, were pretty excessive in their gift giving, at least in terms of how many boxes we got to open. But generally, most of the gifts were either toys we didn’t really want or – even worse – clothes. In my mind, clothes weren’t really gifts at all, because our parents’ job was to clothe us; that is, we were going to get clothes anyway. Giving us clothes seemed more like a gift to our parents than to us.

On my Dad’s side, my grandmother gave us some cash, but this didn’t seem like a big deal because she gave us significantly more cash for good grades. What did I do with the cash? Well, I was a pretty nerdy kid (no surprise). I had a stamp collection, and used some of the cash to add stamps or supplies to my collection, and starting when I was around 13, I got a video game player, one in which you buy cartridge games (the old Atari), and so I would buy more games. But a fair amount of the cash I just saved.

We would celebrate Hanukkah by lighting one candle on the first day (plus the shamash, the candle the lights the other candles), two on the second, three on the third, and so on, up to the 8th day. The candles were on a stand called the menorah; the shamash was in the center, and there were places for four more candles on each side. There was a short blessing in Hebrew that we would say before lighting the candles. Then we would light them and sing a song called Ma’oz Tzur. I remember it as a long song, with six verses. When we were younger, we would then turn off the lights and stare at the candles for a while. Speaking from experience, it is possible to kind of hypnotize yourself if you stare too long or too intently. As we got older, at least I tended to think two things – one, that I wanted to just get over with this as quickly as possible so I could go back to whatever I was doing (probably watching one of those old Christmas TV specials), or how proud I was of myself that, thanks to four years of Hebrew school, that I could mostly understand the Hebrew words in the blessing. I don’t think I ever bothered to look at trying to translate Ma’oz Tzur. Those are the first two words of the song; the first entire line is Ma’oz Tzur Yeshu'ati, lekha na'eh leshabe'ah. Together they mean “Refuge, Rock, my Salvation, it is pleasant to sing Your praises.” There’s a lot of irony here. I didn’t think it was pleasant at all. Also, the third word, Yeshu’ati, is based on Y’shua, which is the Hebrew name for Jesus (which means “He Saves” or “He Who Saves”).

If you are wondering what Hanukkah is all about, it really commemorates two reported miracles: the Jewish people’s defeat over Antiochus IV and his Greek Army and what is called the miracle of the oil. The background to the oil is that pretty much the entire Temple (this is the Temple) was defiled by Antiochus’ men. Reportedly there was only one drop left of pure oil in the Temple. Miraculously, it is reported that this drop of oil when burned lasted for eight whole nights. Details of the defeat of Antiochus can be found in the Apocrypha books I and II Maccabees. (The Maccabees were the Jewish people who led the revolt.) Although these books are not considered Scripture by Protestant Christians, there is no reason to consider the histories inaccurate. The earliest direct mention of the oil miracle is in the Mishna, rabbinic writings that were written about 600 years later.  Because of this, I am suspicious this second miracle is just a legend. The word “Hanukkah” is based on the Hebrew word “chanuch” which means to dedicate; “Hanukkah” means dedication. This refers to the idea of rededicating the Temple, re-sanctifying, making it holy again, after reclaiming it from Antiochus.

Ironically, Hanukkah is not mentioned in the Old Testament at all (which is not surprising because it commemorates something that occurred during the time between the Old and New Testaments), but it is mentioned in the New Testament. You can find it in John 10 described as the Festival of Dedication. That is, it commemorates the rededication of the Temple after defeating Antiochus’ men. Here is the passage:

Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” – John 10:22-24

Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in My Father’s name testify about Me, but you do not believe because you are not My sheep. My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” – John 10:25-30

Again His Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone Him, but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone Me?” “We are not stoning You for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because You, a mere man, claim to be God.” – John 10:31-33

There is irony here because the battles that Hanukkah celebrates all started because Antiochus took over the Temple, defiled it by sacrificing a pig on the altar, and then declared himself God. He made the Jews use coinage that said this, and he also sent troops from village to village to proclaim this news and tell the Jews that their males could no longer be circumcised and that none of them would be allowed to observe the Sabbath ever again. When this was proclaimed in one particular village, a number of Maccabees revolted, killing both a Jew who said their town would comply with the orders and one of the soldiers, and in this way the war began.  And so, in some ways, the Jews’ response is somewhat understandable – here on Hanukkah, another man is claiming to be God! Of course there is a great difference – this latter man is doing miracles and teaching with the very authority of God. Antiochus did none of these things; he didn’t fulfill prophecies regarding his birth or anything else. He was just a tyrant.

Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, I have said you are “gods”’? If He called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be set aside—what about the one whom the Father set apart as His very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse Me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? Do not believe Me unless I do the works of my Father. But if I do them, even though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.” Again they tried to seize Him, but He escaped their grasp. – John 10:34-39

We could go in depth explaining why they wanted to still take Jesus, and why His words infuriated them even more, but I want to focus on the phrase “whom the Father set apart as His very own and set into the world.” The Greek word used for “set apart” (translated as “sanctified” in the KJV) is “hagiazo” which means to be sanctified, and to be dedicated. As Jesus likely had this conversation in Hebrew or Aramaic, the word he used was likely the very word for Hanukkah! Jesus is the one whom the Father Hanukkah’ed as His very own and sent into the world!

And this should be our focus in this Christmas season, the Father’s sending His Son, dedicated for this purpose, into the world as a frail human baby to grow up and live without sin so that He, as the true God-Son, could do what the great impostor Antiochus could not even imagine, giving Himself up to die as a sacrifice for our sins, so that we could be forgiven and ultimately live with Him forever.

Just as it is ironic that Hanukkah is not in Jewish scriptures but is in Christian ones, I suppose it is also ironic that Christmas is not in the New Testament either. Indeed, we don’t actually know when Jesus was born. The whole idea of celebrating birthdays of anyone was foreign to the Jews at that time (although the Romans did it). Neither do we see evidence that the early church celebrated Christ’s birth.

In the 300s AD, we do see signs of celebrating Christ’s birth. Christians in the East most often celebrated it Jan. 6, while Christians in the West tended to pick Dec. 25. The Dec. 25 date corresponded with Saturnalia, the festival of the Unconquered Sun (S-U-N, not S-O-N). It was close to the date in which the days stopped becoming shorter and began becoming longer again, and as such, was celebrated with greenery and candles. When Constantine, who was at a minimum a nominal Christian, became Emperor, he stopped the persecution of Christians and declared Christianity the religion of the Empire. Shortly thereafter, he declared Christmas an official Roman holiday. In the 500s, the Roman Catholic Church declared Advent (the four weeks preceding Christmas) a time to devotionally prepare oneself for Christmas.

Jumping to the 1600s, the English Puritans and other Reformers in Europe sought to peel away all non-Biblical Catholic traditions, and they tried to ban Christmas but with limited success except in purely Puritan colonies. By the 1830s, Christmas was back everywhere, and by 1900, most of our modern traditions including the tree were firmly established.

I give you this history not to kill Christmas, but so that you have an accurate understanding of its history.  Christmas, and Advent, if celebrated in such a way that they cause one to draw closer to Christ, to seek Him more fervently, to worship Him, to make Him even more Lord of your life, is a good thing, a very good thing. And all these things are what I pray that each of us will do this season. Towards this end, let’s turn to Luke Chapter 2.

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register. – Luke 2:1-3

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. – Luke 2:4-7

And so here we have Mary and Joseph and the baby. Joseph, to his great credit, believed God and believed Mary when she said that her pregnancy was a miracle, not the result of an illicit relationship with another man. But I doubt many others believed this story. No doubt Mary and Joseph were talked about behind their backs and even perhaps to their faces. Mary was likely seen by most people not only as a “sinner”, by which they meant those who were not morally pure in their relationships (a term also used for prostitutes), but also as a liar, and a poor and fanciful liar at that. And now, they have to travel while Mary is in her last trimester of her pregnancy, and then she goes into labor while away from home. On top of that, they were unable to find a proper guest room, but had to stay in much more meager surroundings, to say the least.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” – Luke 2:8-12

There are many complete sermons in these few verses, and one would focus on why God would choose to reveal this incredible message to lowly shepherds. The short, short answer is that God loves to lift up and honor the lowly. It is profoundly shocking that the angels did not bring their message to the king, or to the high priest, or to the other religious leaders. The message was not brought to those that would “receive Him not,” but to those who would receive Him.

Notice the three titles the angel gives: Savior, Messiah, and Lord. Savior – one who would save people, not this time from some outside threat as with Hanukkah, but instead from their own sins, Messiah – the prophesied one in Isaiah 53 who would suffer and die and yet live forever, and Lord – a word that most often referred to God. And thus, in those three short words were hints, really more than hints, of His purpose, His death and resurrection, and His divinity.

And then, without even being asked for any kind of proof, the angel provides one. I don’t think they needed any more proof; the terrifying nature of the angel himself, along with the shining glory of the Lord around them, was probably more than enough. But the angel tells them something ridiculous: you will find this amazing baby with these three superlative titles in town lying in the most meager arrangements, in a manger. In a manger? Ridiculous! Not even the poorest of the poor do that! If such a baby really was in Bethlehem, that would be quite a miracle.

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” – Luke 2:13-15

If the shepherds were terrified at the one angel, it is hard to imagine how they responded to this “great company”, perhaps of hundreds or thousands or more angels. And then the angelic host left. What about the shepherds?

They decided to go check it out. Did they all go? Did some stay behind to watch the flocks? We don’t know. But in any case, the ones that went had to do a little sleuthing to find the baby. They first had probably a few km walk to take to get into town, and then they probably had to ask around.

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen Him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.– Luke 2:16-18

Here I think we see the first evangelists, the first witnesses, in the New Testament. We aren’t told exactly who the shepherds spoke to, but I suspect it was people they knew, simple, humble people, down-to-earth people who would listen to the fantastic story of a shepherd and believe it because the teller, the shepherd, was an honest, good kind of person. It is fascinating to me that higher society looked down on shepherds so much that they weren’t even allowed to testify in court proceedings; that is, their testimony was not considered reliable. Given this fact, it makes it even more remarkable that God would choose to reveal His message to them and to them alone.

How did the people respond? With amazement. Amazement is good, as far as it goes. But amazement can be experienced watching cat videos, or Star Wars sequels, too. Amazement doesn’t necessarily “stick.” It doesn’t necessarily have a lasting impact. Compare this to the next verse.

But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.– Luke 2:19

The Greek word for “treasure” means to keep within one’s self, to keep in mind so that it is not forgotten. The Greek word for “ponder” means to gather things together, to bring together in one’s mind, to confer within oneself. So what was Mary doing? She was thinking about each miracle, each amazing statement about her Son, reflecting on them so as to keep remembering them and to think about what it all meant when put together. She wasn’t forgetting the angel who visited her in Luke 1, who told her that she was highly favored, that she would give birth to a son and call Him Jesus, that He would be great and called the Son of the Most High, that God would give Him the throne of David, that He would reign over Jacob’s descendants forever, that His kingdom would never end, and that the Holy Spirit would cause her to conceive, and that her Son would therefore be called the Son of God. She didn’t forget the visit with Elizabeth, and Elizabeth’s baby leaping in her womb. And she didn’t forget the prophetic song she spoke to Elizabeth. She thought about all these things. She treasured them so she wouldn’t forget them. And she pondered them as she thought about what it all meant.

This behavior, of treasuring and pondering, didn’t just stop when Jesus was a baby. Later in Luke 2, when Jesus was twelve, and He stayed behind in Jerusalem while His parents left, thinking He was with their caravan, they went back to find Him teaching in the Temple and amazing the people there with His wisdom and the depth of His answers. When they asked Him why He hadn’t come with them, He said He had to be in His Father’s house. What does the passage say next? It says that Mary treasured up all these things in her heart.

Although the Roman Catholic Church has erred significantly by praying to and worshiping Mary, I do think it is appropriate to admire Mary for her treasuring and pondering. We would do well to do the same. There is no such thing as thinking too much about God. There is no such thing as reflecting too much on the Scriptures. There is no such thing as hungering for God or seeking God too much. Indeed, the more we treasure and ponder, the more we will be changed, the better we will know God, and the greater we will love Him.

Each holiday season I have tried to carve out some time for this purpose. I typically spend more time listening to Christian music. In my quiet times, I try to actually read less at a time and think more about what I am reading. I try to treasure and ponder. Now some of my choices are admittedly not for everyone, or maybe not for most people. But this year for the first time I listened to Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. Years ago I used to listen to Handel’s Messiah each year. More recently I have been trying music new to me, both things written recently and classical music.

What really strikes me about Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, which is really music for six consecutive church services in the Christmas season, is how it was written precisely to treasure and ponder the Scriptures. I hope you can indulge me as I try to explain the structure. The six works roughly each are composed of  (1) recitatives, which are usually sung by a narrator, in this case, called the evangelist, because what he narrates is straight-up Scripture, and are sung solo to minimal accompaniment, (2) arias, which are sung by a few soloists to a moderate amount of accompaniment, and (3) choruses or chorales, which are big works with full choirs (traditionally a men’s choir and a boys’ choir for the higher parts) and full accompaniment.  For example, the beginning of Luke 2 is sung as a recitative up to “And while they were there, the time came to give birth.” This is followed by two arias (although one is technically more a recitative) both written from the perspective of entering the story and encouraging Mary, and not just Mary, but all of Israel. One reads in part, “Now, my dearest bridegroom, now the hero from the race of David for the consolation and salvation of the Earth, shall at least be born. Now the star that comes from Jacob shall shine, its rays already burst forth.” And from the second, “Make yourself ready, Zion, with tender desires to see with you soon Him who is most beautiful, most dear!” And after this comes a chorus, addressed not to the people in the account or to Israel at that time, but instead to us: “How should I receive You, and how should I meet You? O longing of the whole world, O adornment of my soul! O Jesus, Jesus, place Yourself Your lamp by me so that what gives You delight I may know and understand!” I apologize for the somewhat stilted translation, but Bach wrote in German; this is a pretty literal translation.

Now I am not necessarily telling you to go listen to Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, although it is wonderful music. As it is in German, unless you know German, you would need to also look at a translation so that you can treasure and ponder with the other listeners. (The website www.bach-cantatas.com has translations.) I get that this may not at all be your cup of tea, and that is fine.

What I am saying is to find a way to treasure and ponder for yourself, to open yourself up freshly, emotionally to Christ, to love Him with your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Pray. Interact. Think. Reflect. Respond. Treasure and ponder God.

If you do this, you are doing something very good for your soul. I promise you that if you do this, it will deepen your walk with Christ. But I don’t want to stop here. In addition to treasuring and pondering God, I would suggest that you should also treasure and ponder what God thinks of you (not of people in general, but of you personally), and treasure and ponder what God has already been doing specifically in your life, and treasure and ponder what God seeks to do in your life going forward. Do you think Mary treasured and pondered on these things? I am certain she did. After all, the message of the angel to her in Luke 1 wasn’t just some general information on the theology of God; instead, it was all about how her life would intersect with God. Now, none of us are going to be the Mother of God, but God has plans for all of us. He made us not just to pass time on Earth until our time is up, not just to go to school and get good jobs and maybe get married and maybe have a family and then retire and die, but He made us for deeper purposes. He may want you to do all of these things I listed, but the deeper question is what he wants to do through you as you do all these things. God thinks about you, you personally, all the time. God watches you. He knows you, better than you know yourself. And He has plans for you.

How amazing are your thoughts concerning me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. – Psalm 139:17-18a

These thoughts are what He sees in you, what He plans for you. Treasure and ponder this. Ask Him what He wants to do with you next. Ask Him to show you what He wants to do. He may not give you the big future picture, but instead He may lead you moment by moment. But ask Him, because He may show you some things that will encourage you and help you powerfully, He may give you a glimpse. As you treasure and ponder what He is doing and what He wants to do with you, you may find yourself opening up areas of your life to Him that you have not done so previously. Good! For me, recently, that area has been my health and what I eat. I think perhaps previously I somehow made this area off limits to God because I felt it was too secular or something. But if an area of your life is “secular” to God, then that is precisely because you are closing that area off to Him! Let Him in!

What does God plan for you? More than you can imagine. I think of Eph. 3:10-11:

His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to His eternal purpose that He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Eph. 3:10-11

Do you grasp what this is saying? God wants to use the church (that is, you) to reveal God’s manifold wisdom to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms. That is, He wants to use you to teach truth to the heavens! This is just one example.

My point is to treasure and ponder all Scripture, and spend time thinking about passages that apply to you. Far more of Scripture applies to you than you may think. Mary is a great example of this today. It’s not just that she did a good thing by treasuring and pondering. It’s that she is an example of something that if we did the same as she did, we too would be doing a great thing.

The shepherds marveled. That’s a “head” operation. But Mary treasured and pondered. That’s a “heart” operation. Can I give you one recent example from my own life?

As most of you know, I have recently been diagnosed with coronary artery disease, with multiple 75% blockages. In response I am taking medication and also completely changing my diet to one that is proven to stop progression of the disease and in many cases reverse the damage. But it is a difficult diet, radically different from what I had in the past. It’s been tremendously difficult to follow it this week because I think I have been reacting to some foods and getting a horribly itchy rash. But I have held to a verse (one of about 5) I have treasured and pondered for the last month:

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. - Psalm 73:26

I am admittedly taking this verse a little more literally than in its original context, but I believe the verse is so general that it also applies to specific conditions. For me it is my literal flesh and my literal heart that my fail. But God is the strength of my heart (the more important heart) and my portion forever. It is easy to have head knowledge about a verse like this, to marvel at it and say, “Wow, that’s really cool,” or “That’s a neat play on words, as it looks like a contradiction.” But spend time with it, treasuring and pondering, and you will move past talking “about” the verse to realizing that God, the God of the universe, is the strength of my heart and He is my portion forever! The more time you spend with it, the deeper your “ownership” of the verse becomes.

This Christmas season I encourage you to treasure and ponder God and to treasure and ponder what God is doing and will do with, for, and through, you.