Forlorn

Today we are continuing our series “This will be a sign for you.” Carl opened the series three weeks ago with a message titled “Foretold.”  In it, we looked at the opening events in Matthew and Luke, particularly Mary and Joseph’s experience in their separate encounters with the angel of God preparing them to become the earthly parents of the Son of God. The next week, Tim explained in his message titled “Forerunner” how God’s prophets were forerunners, announcing the coming of the Messiah/Deliverer, what He would be like, what He would do, and how His life would be an offering for sin. He focused on the portions of Luke 1 regarding John the Baptist’s miraculous birth. John would be the last of these forerunners, the one who came according to Isaiah 40:3 as “the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”

Then last week John spoke on “Foretaste.” Unlike foretold and forerunner, the word foretaste is not actually found in the Bible.  John told us that a foretaste “implies an actual though brief or partial experience of something forthcoming” and mentioned that a foretaste can be either a noun or a verb. The noun form definition is a pledge or down payment. The Holy Spirit is given to us as a pledge when we ask Christ to become Lord of our lives and put our trust in His finished work on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins.  The verb form of foretaste is the action to taste beforehand or to anticipate.  John said we need to take the action of foretasting.  He cited the word foretaste in the first stanza of the hymn Blessed Assurance: “Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine; Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!” and he also discussed the words in the last stanza “Watching and waiting, looking above” describe part of the verb action of the word foretaste.

Today’s message is titled Forlorn.  I am going to show a short video clip that begins with the verb action of foretaste (watching and waiting and looking above), and the sound track also contains the word forlorn. “By and by they find a little nook, In a stable all forlorn, And in a manger cold and dark, Mary’s little Boy was born!” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkq4AlQyIkA

Like the word foretaste, the word forlorn is also not actually found in the Christmas story portion of the Bible. Additionally, is also a very old word in English, and in fact it comes from the Old English word forlesen which means "to lose completely.”  When someone is forlorn it means that they not only feel miserable but simultaneously desolate because they also believe they are alone. Synonyms for forlorn all have fairly dark sad meanings: unhappy, sad, miserable, sorrowful, dejected, disconsolate, wretched, despairing, pessimistic, despondent, abandoned, down, downcast, dispirited, downhearted, crestfallen, depressed, melancholy, gloomy, glum, mournful, despairing, doleful, down in the mouth, down in the dumps.

So why would the title for today’s message be sad in a Christmas series? The answer will become clear when we read Matthew chapter 2:

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

“‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.’”

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

“A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”—Matthew 2:1-18

Judah was not one of Rachel’s children, but Benjamin was and Ramah is in the territory of Benjamin.  I found a map that shows Bethlehem, Jerusalem and Ramah.  Bethlehem is 5.7 miles south of Jerusalem and Ramah is 5 miles north of Jerusalem.  I drew a circle with a radius of 5.7 miles starting at Jerusalem, and so of course Ramah falls into that circle.  Perhaps King Herod was so furious he had all the children living in a five to six mile radius of Jerusalem who were 2 years and younger put to death on the off chance that the child was living there.  No one knows for sure, but for a maniac king like Herod that is not too far out of the question.  According to history he had someone put to death almost daily.  Nor is it out of the question that his son who succeeded him would do the same.  We do know from the later scriptures in Matthew 14, Mark 6, and Luke 9 that a later King (Herod the Tetrarch) even had the forerunner John the Baptist beheaded.  But for now, let’s get back to today’s passage; picking back up at verse 19 we read:

After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”

So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: “He will be called a Nazarene.”—Matthew 2:19-23

Joseph’s fears were not irrational.   In fact, what he feared probably would have come true had he not been warned in a dream. This last warning set up the fulfillment of our last sign in this series: “He will be called a Nazarene.”

John Farmer said last week that even though he has done the Christmas service for many years, he still finds things in the Bible that he has not seen before.  I have found that to be true for me also.  What about you?  How well do you think you know the simple Christmas story as it is written in the Bible? Would you be willing to take a quick 10 question multiple choice quiz to help you get a feel for how well you know the Christmas Story as it is written in the Bible and as was discussed in this series?  Don’t worry I am not going to collect your answers or grade your quiz.  I think this will be fun.

1. According to the Bible, Mary’s husband Joseph was originally from what city?
A. Bethlehem.
B. Nazareth.
C. Hebron.
D. Jerusalem.
E. None of the above.

2. According to the Bible what did the innkeeper say to Mary and Joseph?
A. “There is no room in the inn.”
B. “I have a stable you can use.”

C. “Come back later and I should have some vacancies”.
D. Both A and B.
E. None of the above.

3. What is a manger?
A. A stable for domestic animals.
B. A wooden hay storage bin.
C. A feeding trough.
D. A barn.

4. According to the Bible where was Jesus born?

A. In a manger.
B. In a stable.
C. In a cave.
D. In a house.
E. None of the above.

5. According to the Bible which animals were present at Jesus’ birth?
A. Sheep and cows only.
B. Sheep, cows, and donkeys.
C. Sheep only.
D. Various barnyard animals.
E. None of the above.

6. According to the Bible who saw the star in the east?
A. The Shepherds.
B. Mary and Joseph.
C. The three kings.
D. Both A and C.
E. None of the above.

7. According to the Bible, how did Mary and Joseph get to Bethlehem?
A. By Camel.
B. By Donkey.
C. They Walked.
D. Joseph walked and Mary rode a donkey.
E. None of the above.

8. According to the Bible how many wise men came to see Jesus?
A. There were three wise men.
B. There were six wise men.
C. There were nine wise men.
D. There were twelve wise men.
E. None of the above.

9. According to the Bible why did the wise men stopped in Jerusalem?

A. To inform Herod about Jesus.
B. To ask where is the one who has been born king of the Jews.
C. To ask about the star.
D. To buy presents.
E. None of the above.

10. In which of the Gospels do we find the story of Jesus’ birth?
A. In the Gospel of Matthew.
B. In the Gospel Mark.
C. In the Gospel Luke.
D. In the Gospel John.
E. Only in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark.
F. Only in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.

G. Only in the Gospels of Mark and Luke B and C.
H. Only in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

I. In all four Gospels.

Here are the correct answers:

1. A: Matthew 2:3-4 indicate that Joseph was originally from Bethlehem.

2. E: The Bible does not mention anything the innkeeper said to Mary and Joseph.

3. C

4. E: Although mangers are normally located in a stable, they can be located elsewhere such as a cave or a field or a house.  The Bible doesn't say exactly where Jesus was born, only that he was born in Bethlehem.

5. E:  The Bible does not mention that there were animals present at Jesus’ birth.

6. E:  If you chose C the three kings you are incorrect because the Bible doesn’t say that the wise men were kings.

7. E:  The Bible does not say how they got to Bethlehem, only that they went up in order to register for the census.

8. E:  The Bible does not really say how many wise men came to see Jesus.  People have speculated that since three separate gifts were given, that there were three wise men but that is just plan speculation.

9. B

10. F

Well how well did you do?  Did anyone get them all correct?  If you missed any of the questions about the animals and the nativity scenes, don’t feel bad.  It is easy to confuse the traditions of Christmas carols and nativity scenes with the actual story as written in the Bible.  (Just for your information, St. Francis of Assisi is credited with staging the first nativity scene in the year 1223 AD.  The only historical account that we have of this nativity scene comes from the Life of St. Francis written by St. Bonaventure, who was born five years before St. Francis’ death.) Additionally, many children’s Bibles also have pictures in them to help the children envision the story.  Hence you may see pictures of sheep, cows, donkeys, oxen, goats, or other animals at the nativity scene.  These representations are not necessarily bad, they are just not completely accurate according to what is written in the Bible.

The two takeaways of this message today are:

1. Not all of the signs were joyful signs.  Some signs were very dark.

2. The birth of Christ should be our main focus during this Christmas season and not the wise men, kings, stable, barn, cave or animals around the manger.