A man born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble…
Born1 {adjective}
1. a. Brought forth by or as if by birth b. Native [Belonging to a particular place by birth] c. Deriving or resulting from
2. a. Having from birth specified qualities b. Being in specified circumstances from birth.
3. : destined from or as if from birth
1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town.
4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger because there was no place for them in the inn.
- Luke chapter 2 verses 1 - 72
In the passage above the physician known as Luke recorded the literal birth of the baby Jesus. This is a passage that tells of the conditions into which, the king of a kingdom that is not on earth, was born. Like every single child ever born on earth born, Jesus was born into trouble. When he was a toddler Mary and Joseph had to flee Bethlehem [a suburb of the capital city of Jerusalem] and spend time in Egypt because the baby’s life was in danger. Essentially Herod the Great an appointed king over Jerusalem via the will of Rome, saw the birth of the baby Jesus as a threat to his throne; they stayed in Egypt until his death. Even when they returned to Israel they did not go back to Bethlehem, but instead settled in Nazareth a town nearly 100 miles north of Bethlehem, because the son of Herod was reigning in his place. We have records for days concerning the birth of Jesus and the birth of many of history’s most notable persons for thousands of years.
In America, we have a process for when a human is born on earth. Essentially upon being born, you are assigned a number, you get a certificate, and they make foot and handprints using something related to being booked for the committing of a crime. From that time forward people in your life celebrate your birth on that day perpetually, it’s a big deal. When a child is born we know that we can rely on our method since it’s something that has been happening for quite some time.
Let’s test this hypothesis using the internet’s favorite gossip column, Wikipedia, they don’t tell the whole picture but they are usually spot on for these general facts.
In what year was Abraham Lincoln born? Per Wikipedia “Honest Abe” was born on February 12, 1809, and he was born in Hodgenville, Kentucky. We even have a record system for when someone dies, and our records are meticulous, especially for important figures, well at least most of the time. Using Wikipedia we find the date that the 16th President of the United States died, which was on April 15, 1865. At the risk of driving home the point much too finely I will continue to reduce to the ridiculous. This means that Abraham Lincoln was alive for 56 years 2 months and three days, we know this because of records that were kept from the people who came before us, and essentially this goes unchallenged; Period. In the case of Christ, we have an undisputed moment in history that even people who do not have faith in Jesus believe to be true. There was a man named Jesus and he was called “The Christ” he was crucified on a cross and was buried in a tomb thereafter. Using Wikipedia once again let’s look up Jesus, and in doing so we see that he was born 4 BC [To be fair ancient history is a bit more complicated when tracking historic events because there is typically an accepted window of time in which something was expected to have happened. Like in the case of Jesus, we have a window for his birth sometime between 6BC - 4BC; any time within this window is widely accepted.] We know that man was born and lived and we definitely know that he died; Jesus’ death might be the most widely conversed death ever in history.
Webster defines Death3 as 1. Permanent cessation of all vital functions. Instance of dying
2. a) The cause or occasion of loss of time b) A cause of ruin
3. : the destroyer of life; represented usually as a skeleton with a scythe.
4. : the state of being no longer alive
John one of the disciples of Jesus gave us an account once they found Jesus guilty it is a bit lengthy, but I feel it clarifies something vital; namely the death of Jesus.
16 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus, 17 and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. 19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 20 Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. 21 So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” 23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic.[a] But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, 24 so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” So the soldiers did these things, 25 but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. 28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” 29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19:16 -304
It turns out that the three English words “It is Finished” were at least in Aramaic (The language Jewish people commonly spoke in Jesus’ day) one word and that word is Teleo. Teleo means to bring to an end, to fulfill; properly to consummate. Jesus as his last word is saying in an English equivalent phrase “Case Closed”, “Completed”, or my personal favorite “Paid in Full.”
Jesus’s Timeline:
Jesus is born via Mary in what is effectively a barn in Bethlehem.
Jesus and his family must flee to Egypt because the current king Herod, believes there was a baby born, who would have the right to challenge the throne in Jerusalem.
Jesus gets baptized by John “the Baptist” and John calls him the “Son of God”
Jesus starts teaching, performing miracles, and doing signs and wonders; at this time he acquires the twelve disciples and many followers.
Jesus begins to claim before his death that he came to die and that somehow this is the master plan of his father, who is literally God.
The governing legal system arrested Jesus and request Rome to execute judgment for the claim that he is the “Son of God”
Rome via Pilate the Governor over the province of Judea where all this took place, aka Jerusalem, put Jesus on trial and ultimately found him guilty.
Pilate, not wanting to be personally responsible gave the people the option of choosing Jesus or Barabas to endure the unimaginable torture of crucifixion and promising to let the other go free. [ He seemed to think the people would choose Barabas to be crucified]
The crowd chose Barabas to be freed and choose Jesus to be executed Pilate consented to the will of the mob.
Rome fulfills the execution of Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified for being the King of the Jews.
Jesus died on the cross
Jesus gets buried in an already existing “cave tomb”, one made especially for a wealthy member of the Jewish community.
Rome seals the tomb, so no one tries to robe the body of Jesus, and then places two guards to make sure the tomb stays closed.
There are many days that are said to be the exact day for the death of Jesus of Nazareth, but most people settle on Friday, April 7th 30 AD, or April 3rd 33 AD, while there are other days for his death most of them reside within a 30-day window of time and this seems to be what even Wikipedia claims.5 We know that Jesus lived 33 years, he was born in Bethlehem, he lived in Nazareth, and he died outside of the city of Jerusalem on a hill called Golgotha when translated into English it means “ the place of the skull.” Let’s leave this for just a moment so we can define a couple of things in general, so that we can come back and really understand what the life and death of Jesus mean.
Hold on tight folks…
Time {noun}
The measured or measurable period during which an action, process, or condition exits or continues: Duration.
A non spatial continuum that is measured in terms of events which sucked one another from past through present to future.
The point or period when something occurs.
An appointed , fixed, or customary moment or hour for something to happen begin, or end.
An opportune or suitable moment.
A historical period.
A division of geologic chronology.
Conditions at present or at some specified period-> usually used in plural.
The present time….and it just goes on basically days, minutes, seconds, hours, months, weeks, and years.
You’re almost through these definitions… I promise it will be worth it, just keep reading!
Space {noun}
: a period of time
a. limited extent in one, two, or three dimensions: Distance, Area, Volume
b. an extent set apart or available
c. the distance from other people or things that a person needs in order to remain comfortable
: one of the degrees between or above or below the lines of a musical staff.
a. boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events occur and have relative position and direction.
b. physical space independent of what occupies it
: the region beyond the earths atmosphere or beyond the solar system
a. blank area separating words or lines
b. Material used to produce such blank area especially: a piece of type less than one inch in width
: set of mathematical elements and especially of abstractions of all the points on a line, in a place, or in a physical space: especially a set of mathematical entities with a set of axioms of geometric character.
This definition degrades into other things like linage, broadcasting, vehicles, self expression, and privacy…
Whew… Now, let’s jump back into the conversation that we were having before!
After his death, Jesus walked out of the tomb and started appearing to and speaking with his friends and family, and disciples. After appearing to tons of people and after one last chat with the Disciples and then he ascended into the sky and disappeared out of sight. Jesus exists outside of time and space; before his birth he was alive, and after his death he is alive, this is the claim of Jesus and his disciples. This is the culmination of that ancient initial prophecy given to Adam and Eve by God; Jesus is the anticipated messiah of old testament fame, the “Seed”.
As Human Beings, everything we know about life operates inside of time (Birthdays, Weekends, Holidays, dates of death) and space (Los Angeles, California, USA, North America, Western Hemisphere, Earth, Milky Way Galaxy….on and on until we get to space where all of the living, organic, and inorganic things are present.) Time and space, are the longitude and the latitude of our existence and if we are not in time or taking up space then we are no longer living; on earth, when someone is no longer alive, we call that dead. This is the reason why people turn to Jesus and become disciples of his teachings; the ability to live even after death.
Jesus is the king of an Eternal Kingdom, and king of a dominion that exists, literally outside of time and space. He was alive before birth and alive after death, in short, Jesus is immortal. While he was on earth he claimed that he came to reconnect man to God, his father, and he offers the hope of eternal life; devoid of suffering, pain, sickness, shame, disease, hate, and sin. There is an expectation that upon becoming one of his disciples you will receive access to his family and become a part of his kingdom.
The way into the Immortal Kingdom of the Son is by saying “Jesus is the leader of your life” and by believing in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead. - That’s how Jesus’ adoption plan works!
Once you do those two things you get saved: healed, preserved, rescued, and delivered out of danger into safety. The all-access pass into Jesus’ kingdom is built on belief. Believers want to be like Jesus and thus become disciples, disciples are living like Jesus and they demonstrate the kingdom of heaven on earth about God and his Son. This propels people to believe in Jesus and leads them to salvation from the reality of earth.
What is the Reality of Earth?
The reality is that everyone born on earth will die on earth and we all have a sense that something happens after we die but no one knows exactly what. None of us know how to guarantee a good afterlife experience and so we are largely just concerned with what we can taste, what we can touch, what we can smell, what we can hear, and what we can see. We are concerned with eating and drinking we are concerned with friendships and members of our family, where we are from, and where we live. The jobs we attain and how much money we make, our dream homes and dream vehicles; the lifestyles we live end up becoming our everything. We climb the social ladders, we build core and vital long-lasting friendships, and we fall in love with one we’ve been waiting for our whole lives.
We try to live fulfilling lives, but at some point, one thing starts happening that we have no control over, and at first it seems unthinkable. It’s the first time it happens to a person you are close to, or work with, or someone you remember fondly from childhood. That person turns into several people over the course of time, the frequency with which this happens becomes unavoidable and so you try to block out the realization, but one day all of a sudden the moment happens and you realize, there will be a time when it will happen to you too. One day you will go the way of all humanity, and you are going to die. There will be a time when you stop breathing and you will no longer exist on earth; that is a daunting thought. Sons and daughters losing moms and dads, brothers and sisters, relatives and relations, best friends and acquaintances all at some point the separation is coming. We all have friends, family, and dear ones, and every last one of those human beings will at some point eventually die, and this is the terrible reality of earth. Every human being has a death sentence placed upon them at birth. No one knows when or where or how or why that sentence will be carried out upon them and no one knows what happens next, but we all have this internal hope in what happens after. Certainly, the reality of earth is the longer you live in a given space and exist in a given instance of time, the closer and more definite the day of your death becomes. Death is the reality of earth but life is the reality of the kingdom of Heaven.
Eternal Life
Perfect, Flawless, Peak-Humanity, Undying, Part of the Family of God; Adopted into his family because of the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. This is why people from every nation, every country, every hemisphere, and people of every language and all kinds of societies have been for over 2,000 years excepting the reality of Jesus. Eternal Life; life is the reality of the Kingdom of Heaven, and the question at hand is…
Are you ready for what happens next?
Remember while you are here on earth it doesn’t matter if you are stuck in a tiny town or a big city, it doesn’t matter if you are in another country, it doesn’t matter what your current worldview is or what faith you were born into. Your Government, your President, your Supreme Leader, not even your nation’s King has any power over you; social norms do not have to dictate your mind, your will, or your emotions! Understand, your friends in grade school and college your co-workers, your boss, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Apple not even Google have any power over your free will. Choose the path to live that few humans find, the path that leads to Heaven. Heaven is wherever the king of that kingdom is and it is possible for that king to live in you. Therefore it is possible for you to live in heaven right now, and to become an ambassador of heaven on earth; an ambassador of God and Christ. Jesus is coming back soon, so now is the time to choose, so choose life so that you can live.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/born
https://biblehub.com/esv/luke/2.htm
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/death
https://biblehub.com/esv/john/19.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus