Did you Receive Him Well?

I got this gift a while ago, but I am reminded of it every year. I don't think I've ever greatly appreciated a gift like this one. But even though I remember it all the time something makes me think I haven't received it well. I think it might be in reflection of a few people...

Case Study #1: Mary, the Mother of Jesus.

Have you ever wondered how scary it must have been for Mary, Jesus' mother, to have a baby as a teenager, afraid of what people may think, running away from a King who is hunting down the baby you never really asked to bear, having to give birth in a stable, never having experienced this kind of pain before, perhaps even wishing she could have just had a normal pregnancy? I think when we finally put ourselves in those shoes, her words to the messenger angel Gabriel become all the more astounding:

"Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." (Luke 1:38)

Notice how the angel can depart from her at the end of that same verse. She does not argue. She receives the news. Because of this, the angel can depart in peace and Mary can begin bearing the Savior of the World.

But the angel departs in peace and Mary's statement (1:38) is not the only sign that Mary has received the gift well. That's like getting a gift at Christmas that you did not want but saying thank you out of obligation. The other person is content with your response, but is your heart in the right place? I don't doubt Mary's attitude because of this second sign: she sings a song of praise (Luke 1:46-55). Out of the abundance of her heart, she sings to Elizabeth:

"from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name" (Luke 1:48-49)

She praises God. From her response, I don't even think she gives me the permission, many generations later, to say she is anything but "blessed". She says all of us should call her blessed. She later looks at the past: what God has done and what He continues to do. For that reason, she "magnifies the Lord" (1:46).

Imagine if we sang a song every time we received the greatest gift at Christmas. Turns out, we already have received it. I think you know what (or who) it is. So have we received Him well?

Case Study #2: Simeon, Devoted (Luke 2:25) to Jesus

This post would be lacking without a look into Simeon. He knew that "he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ" (Luke 2:26). I compare this to Abraham and many of the other patriarchs who had been promised by God various things. God, in Genesis 18, promises Abraham a Son saying:

"I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son." (Gen 18:10)

And it was in faith that Sarah (Heb 11:11) and Abraham (Heb 11:17) trusted in God to provide and protect this son of theirs. But they waited. And they had to wait in faith on the Lord. Have you ever, then, wondered how much faith Simeon must have had to have been revealed these things by God's Spirit, but then have to wait till he was older to even have them revealed? He is of those who "obtained promises" (Heb 11:33) and yet was blessed to the extent that he saw it with His own eyes.

And he does not simply look at Jesus when he was "brought in" and say "Hello, what a cute baby you have," then turn around and continue his temple business. That would be like getting a toy from someone at Christmas, looking at the toy, throwing it off to the side, and playing with the old toy instead. But because Simeon "came in the Spirit into the temple" (Luke 2:27), he put aside what he was doing and responded to God's gift. He "blessed God" (2:28), saying

"Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation" (Luke 2:29-30)

He received Jesus well. This was the "consolation" (2:25) and "glory" (2:32) of Israel. How could he put it aside?

Imagine if we blessed the giver every time we received a gift at Christmas. Turns out, we already have received it. I think you know what (or who) it is. So have we received Him well?

Case Study #3: Mary, Friend of Jesus

I could speak of Elizabeth and Zechariah, or Joseph. I could tell of John the Baptist and how he prepared the way for the coming Messiah. Surely they received him well. But my mind wanders to a passage that has had me asking this question of reception this whole semester: the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38-42.

If you're like me, you can get caught up in the busyness of Christmas and forget to receive Jesus. It's not that I don't love Him, nor that I am not saved. I'm just a bit of a Martha. I suppose that's like calling a tissue a Kleenex: it's the brand name for someone who is "anxious and troubled about many things" (Luke 10:41). I suppose that makes Mary the competition: someone who "has chosen the good portion" (10:42).

If you're a Mary, you get the best gift at Christmas and receive it with great joy because you know it's the best gift. It's the attitude, I would argue, that all three case studies have displayed. They have seen that "one thing is necessary" (10:42), and so they have "sat at the...feet" of the gift, rather than getting "distracted with much [blank]" (10:40). In Martha's case it was "much serving". But if it was Simeon's case, he would have put aside temple business and blessed God. If it was Mary's (Jesus' mother) case, she would have put away her dreams of a typical Jewish woman's life with her simple marriage to her husband Joseph and normal kids and praised God to be bearing His Son. If it was Mary (Jesus' friend), she would have received what Jesus had to say, rather than letting her sister distract her from what was "necessary" (Luke 10:42)

If you were the case study, are you receiving Jesus well?

There is a great theme that each case study seems to have. All three receive the gift of Jesus well. But look even closer: all three look in faith and trust in what God has said. It's like appreciating the whole gift one gets. We don't just appreciate that Jesus exists, but that Jesus exists according to what was planned, what was purposed from the beginning, what truth He speaks, and what glory He deserves. It's the whole package deal.

And part of that package deal is receiving the gift not just of Jesus, but of what Jesus offers. It's like unwrapping a Christmas present that keeps giving! What is He offering? A salvation from the sin that we bring to Christmas every year that the Christmas tree and all its dressings cannot fix. No gift can be unwrapped and received from those around us that can cure the brokenness of our hearts. It hurts me every Christmas to think that I could ever find true joy under that tree.

But the knowledge of my sin and brokenness enables me to receive Him well. Jesus' mother talks of her "humble estate" (Luke 1:48), and Simeon calls himself a "servant" (Luke 2:29), Mary sits in humility (Luke 10:39). A gift is always better received when we realize we don't deserve that gift, nor that we earned it. Similarly, receiving Jesus well means understanding that the gift of Him, along with the truth He speaks and the salvation He offers was never something we deserved. Yet He freely gives it to us.

So I ask, did you receive Him well this Christmas? Sing, Bless, Sit, but, for the glory of Lord, receive from the Lord and glorify Him this day (and all your days).