Introduction

Luke 1:26-38

26 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”

34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God.”

38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

“The Word of God came to Mary and her life was changed forever.”

Our stories:

• Some of us were raised in the church and have known of Christ all of our lives
• Some of us came to know Christ later in life
• Regardless - what kind of belief do we have?
• What has changed in our lives, in my life because of Christ

Why study the people that were touched by Jesus?

• We claim to be part of Christ - the body of Christ.
• God’s Word gives a record of those that were touched by Jesus and how their lives were affected by Him.
• Jesus changed their lives, He should change ours.

Goal - To be reminded of the wonder and the power of God’s story - God in heaven and God on earth.

Who was Jesus?

Physically

Matthew 1, Luke 3 - Genealogies

Some of those in Jesus’ past:

Judah - had a son by his daughter-in-law who he thought was a prostitute (Genesis 38)

Rahab - a Canaanite woman, harlot (Joshua 2)

Ruth - a Moabite woman

David - “a man after God’s own heart” yet an adulterer and murderer

Solomon - an idolator (I Kings 11)

Wicked kings: Rehoboam, Abijah, Jehoram, Ahaz

Good kings: Asa, Jehoshaphat, Uzziah, Jotham, Hezekiah

Spiritually

Seven “I am” statements from John:

• John 6:35, 48 – “I am the bread of life.”
• John 8:12 – “I am the light of the world.”
• John 10:7, 9 – “I am the gate (door) for the sheep.”
• John 10:11, 14 – “I am the good shepherd.”
• John 11:25 – “I am the resurrection and the life.”
• John 14:6 – “I am the way and the truth and the life.”
• John 15:1, 5 – “ I am the true vine”

John 8:58 “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”

I am - I exist, it is I, was

John 8:59 At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.

Exodus 3:13-14 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”

Colossians 1:15-20

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

John 1:1-5, 14

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

·         Verse 1 reflects directly back to what? – Genesis 1:1

·         Verse 1 links Christ directly to creation

·         Jesus is not a created being – Jesus is the creator

·         “The Word” (vs. 1) – Logos – a universal term

o        Greeks – spoken word, unspoken word, mental word – reasoning – the rational principle that governs all things

o        Jews – how did God create? – verbally - the Word by which God created and the law, the Word fulfills the purpose of God

·         “In him was life” (vs. 4) – life is used 36 times in John

·         “The light of men” (vs. 4) – spiritual illumination as opposed to special knowledge, Jesus said he was the light of the world (John 8:12)

·         Put these thoughts not only in perspective of John writing to combat false teaching, but also in the perspective of John writing about the man that he followed and that was his dear friend

I John 1:1-3

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched —this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

What kind of world did Jesus come into?

“at just the right time”

• God knew the time He sent Jesus into
• God knows the time He will send Jesus again

Romans 5:6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

Galatians 4:4-5 But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5 to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.

Ephesians 1:9-10 And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment  —to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

History of Israel

Patriarchs - 1800 BC

• Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
• Land of Canaan promised to Abraham’s descendants (Genesis 12, 13, 17)
• Enslaved in Egypt (Exodus 1)
• Led out of Egypt by Moses (Exodus 12)

Mosaic Law - 1312 BC

• Law given on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 20)
• Building of the Tabernacle (Exodus 36)
• Roaming in the wilderness for 40 years
• Joshua leads the conquest of Canaan
• Judges rule the land through a series of unfaithfulness and repentance

Israel’s Golden Years - 1000 BC

• Saul becomes king (I Samuel 10)
• David becomes king (II Samuel 2, I Chronicles 11)
• Solomon becomes king (I Kings 2, I Chronicles 29)
• Solomon builds the temple (I Kings 6, II Chronicles 3)

The Division - 921 BC

• Israel and Judah become separate kingdoms (I Kings 12, II Chronicles 10)
• Years of wicked kings and good kings
• Years of idolatry and unfaithfulness, years of repentance and restoration
• Temple repaired by Joash (II Kings 12, II Chronicles 24)

Defeat of Israel - 721 BC

• Israel defeated and carried into exile by the Assyrians (II Kings 17)

• Some historians say that over 27,000 Israelites were deported
• Some modern Samaritans claim to be descendants of those not deported and therefore true Israelites
• Other records (II Kings 17, Josephus) indicate that people were brought in from other nations to inhabit the land

2 Kings 17:7 - The Israelites sinned against the LORD their God, who brought them out of Egypt and rescued them from the power of Pharaoh (the king of Egypt). They worshiped other gods

2 Kings 17:14 - But they refused to listen. They became as impossible to deal with as their ancestors who refused to trust the LORD their God.

2 Kings 17:16 - They abandoned all the commands of the LORD their God: They made two calves out of cast metal. They made a pole dedicated to the goddess Asherah. They prayed to the entire army of heaven. They worshiped Baal.

2 Kings 17:18 - The LORD became so angry with Israel that he removed them from his sight. Only the tribe of Judah was left.

2 Kings 17:23-27

Finally, the LORD turned away from Israel as he had said he would through all his servants, the prophets. So the people of Israel were taken from their land to Assyria as captives, and they are still there today. 24 The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in the cities of Samaria in place of the Israelites. They took over Samaria and lived in its cities. 25 When they first came to live there, they didn't worship the LORD. So the LORD sent lions to kill some of them. 26 Then someone said to the king of Assyria, "The people you took as captives and settled in the cities of Samaria don't know the customs of the god of that country, so he sent lions. Now the lions are killing them because they don't know the customs of the god of this country." 27 The king of Assyria gave this command: "Bring one of the priests you captured from there. Let him go back to teach them the customs of the god of that country."

Defeat of Judah - 587 BC

• Judah defeated and carried into exile by the Babylonians (II Kings 25, II Chronicles 36)
• Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed (II Kings 25, II Chronicles 36)

2 Chronicles 36:15-21

The LORD God of their ancestors repeatedly sent messages through his messengers because he wanted to spare his people and his dwelling place. 16 But they mocked God's messengers, despised his words, and made fun of his prophets until the LORD became angry with his people. He could no longer heal them. 17 So he had the Babylonian king attack them and execute their best young men in their holy temple. He didn't spare the best men or the unmarried women, the old people or the sick people. God handed all of them over to him. 18 He brought to Babylon each of the utensils from God's temple, the treasures from the LORD'S temple, and the treasures of the king and his officials. 19 They burned God's temple, tore down Jerusalem's walls, burned down all its palaces, and destroyed everything of value. 20 The king of Babylon took those who weren't executed to Babylon to be slaves for him and his sons. They remained captives until the Persian Empire began to rule. 21 This happened so that the LORD'S words spoken through Jeremiah would be fulfilled. The land had its years of rest and was made acceptable again. While it lay in ruins, the land had its 70 years of rest.

The Return - 538 BC

• Cyrus, king of Persia, allows groups of Jews to return to Israel and to begin rebuilding Jerusalem and the temple (Ezra 1)
• The temple was completed and dedicated (Ezra 6)
• The wall of Jerusalem was completed (Nehemiah 6)

Intertestamental Period - 400 BC

• 332 BC - Alexander the Great conquers Jerusalem introducing Greek culture and ideals (Hellenism)
• 175 BC - Antiochus IV takes the throne, increases the Hellenization of Jerusalem, threatens to annihilate Judaism, desecrates the temple
• 167 BC - The Maccabees revolt against Antiochus, recapture Jerusalem, and purify the temple
• 63 BC - Palestine comes under Roman rule
• 37 BC - Herod the Great begins his rule of Judea

o       Herod is a tyrant - executing many opponents and even relatives

o       Herod begins reconstruction of the temple

·        4 BC - Jesus Christ is born in Bethlehem

After Christ

·        66 AD - Jewish revolts against Rome begin, led by Zealots

·        70 AD - Titus begins the siege of Jerusalem eventually leading to its destruction

o       Judaism becomes a religion of dispersed people (Diaspora)

o       Jews will not regain their homeland until the 20th Century