A Friend in Low = Places

The Chowchilla News Pastor’s Commentary by John Parker for January 3, 2007

We have a friend in low places! <= o:p>

Although greatness was centered i= n Rome, Athens, and J= erusalem God saw to it that his son, Jesus, was raised in low, undesirable, and reje= cted places such as---Nazareth, Bethlehem, Egypt, and back to Nazareth again!

NAZARETH: This remote village in northwest Isr= ael was a center for Roman soldiers who occupied Israel at the time. Jews living there were suspected by their fellow countrymen of being friendly with the evil Roman oppressors. <= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Nazareth was not a desirable place to live.

But God thinks optimistically, and sends, “the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph...” (Luke 1:26)<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>

BETHLEHEM: Located just six-miles south of= the glorious Holy City of Jerusalem, this poor country village was a working center for = lowly shepherds and common folks. A= lthough the religious scholars accurately inform the eastern magi that Bethlehem is the prophesied birthplace = of Messiah, they seem disinterested in going there with them. Bethlehem was not a desirable place to = visit.

But God thinks optimistically, sa= ying: “‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rul= ers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” (Matthew 2:6; Micah 5:2)

EGYPT: This is the country of political as= ylum for the toddler, Jesus, and his folks. In a dream Joseph is told, “&#= 8217;Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to = Egypt…this was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I= called my son.’” (Matthew 2:13-15)

Egypt, the land of former bondage for = the Jews, is an unpleasant reminder of their current “enslavement” = under the iron-fisted rule of Augustus Caesar’s Roman Empire!

But God thinks optimistically, de= claring, “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.”= (Hosea 11:1) Like Moses and Joshua o= f old, Jesus, the World’s Mightiest Deliverer, will come “out of Egypt&#= 8221;---out of vicious oppression and into overwhelming victory!

NAZARETH, AGAIN: “But when = Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, = saying, ‘Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought = the child’s life are dead’…And he went and lived in a city ca= lled Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled: ‘He shall be call= ed a Nazarene.’” (Matthew 2)

In Jesus’ day it was derisi= vely said of his hometown, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46)

Yet God, thinks optimistically, a= nd unabashedly proclaims of his son, “He shall be called a Nazarene!”

Nazarene! Bethlehemite! Egyptian!= ---All lowly, undesirable associations by conventional wisdom yet the very places chosen for raising Jesus!

Jesus, became fully human, fully = lowly, and lived among us! (John 1:14, Matthew 11:29) Letting go of any divine rig= ht to be God he took the lowly position of a slave being born as a human being. (= Philippians 2:7-8)

You’ve got a friend in your= low places. Jesus understands any= low place you’ve come from or are in now!

If you look for him in high place= s you’ll probably miss him! Quit all y= our anxious climbing. Just let go. Then hear him say into your low places, R= 20;Come unto me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.R= 21; (Matthew 11:28)

He is “Emmanuel! God with u= s!” (Matthew 1:23) And “He = will never leave us nor forsake us.” (Hebrews 13:5) “He is a very present help in times of trouble.” (Psalm 46:1) “He is faithful! He will do i= t!” (1 Thessalonians 5:24)

Happy New Year! John Parker---Pastor of ChristChur= ch Chowchilla (see ad below)