As Was Supposed

Re:Verse passage – Luke 2:4-7; 3:23, 31-34, 38 (day seven)

[…] as was supposed, the son of Joseph […] Luke 3:2

We know that the “supposed” signifies that Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus. Though not biological, Joseph still passed the test of historical lineage that would be necessary for the earthly father of the Christ. Joseph and Mary both could trace their lineage through the accounts of the Old Testament, all the way to Adam. Joseph gave Jesus the legal lineage that would connect the Messiah through the entirety of the Old Testament, and namely, an heir to the throne of Israel.

Yet, this “supposed” also shows us something else beautiful and poetic in the life of this family. Joseph adopted Jesus, and everyone around them supposed that Joseph was Jesus’ father. Joseph became the father that Jesus needed to guide Him through the beginning of His earthly life. He took Jesus in, mentored Him, discipled Him in both carpentry and the Law, and showed Him what a Godly human life looks like. Joseph adopted the Son who would make it possible for you to be adopted by the Father.

The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. Romans 8:16-17

Waiting

Re:Verse passage – Luke 2:4-7; 3:23, 31-34, 38 (day six)

Scripture insists that God is never late, even when it feels like He is. What we often experience as delay, Peter reminds us, is not indifference but mercy (2 Peter 3:9). God’s timing is shaped by love, not haste. Paul puts it this way: “When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son” (Galatians 4:4). Long before Bethlehem, God’s redemptive plan was already unfolding, moving toward its appointed moment (Ephesians 1:9–10).

That truth is both comforting and challenging. History is heavy with suffering, violence, and loss. We’re left wondering: why wait so long? Why allow the world, and our lives, to become so painfully broken? Some of you may feel that tension personally right now, stuck in a season of waiting, exhausted, questioning God’s goodness.

Christmas doesn’t deny the pain. It declares that God enters it, at just the right time, to redeem, restore, and make all things new.

Second Advent

Re:Verse passage – Luke 2:4-7; 3:23, 31-34, 38 (day five)

“Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David,”

By traveling to Bethlehem and giving birth there (probably a week-long journey), Joseph and Mary fulfilled a prophecy from hundreds of years earlier. “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, [Too] little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.” Micah 5:2.
Yesterday concluded our celebration of  Advent (waiting for the birth of the Christ). The town whose name means “the house of bread” was fittingly where the Bread of Life was born.

If you read Micah 5:2, we now realize we are waiting (second Advent) for the Christ to come again and rule over all creation.
“so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.” ‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭9‬:‭28‬

Heritage

Re:Verse passage – Luke 2:4-7; 3:23, 31-34, 38 (day four)

This lineage isn’t placed here just for the bookkeeper’s reference. As Danny said last week, Luke doesn’t waste words. This lineage is placed here to show that the birth of Jesus to Mary and Joseph, the very thing we celebrate today, was not haphazard. These events were lovingly planned in God’s omniscience. He didn’t suddenly realize the world needed a savior and begin looking around for the closest faithful couple. Jesus, born to this couple at this time with this heritage, was God’s plan from the beginning. The center point of all of history is located in a real family because he truly is Emmanuel, God with us. The eternal entered the temporal. The omnipresent entered a specific family line at a specific time.

This infant is the fulfillment of all of time, seen in the prophecies of Isaiah 11:1,

“Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse,
And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.”

And in the prophecies of Jeremiah 23:5-6,

“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord,“When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch;
And He will reign as king and act wisely
And do justice and righteousness in the land.
6 “In His days Judah will be saved,
And Israel will dwell securely;
And this is His name by which He will be called,
‘The Lord our righteousness.’

When we celebrate the birth of Jesus today, we do so as those who participate in this heritage, grafted in by God’s power. When we celebrate the birth of Jesus, we celebrate that God keeps his promises.

Merry Christmas, church family!

Margins

Re:Verse passage – Luke 2:4-7; 3:23, 31-34, 38 (day three)

Joseph also went up from Galilee…

Joseph seems to get pushed to the margins of the nativity story. From where he stood, he surely didn’t feel marginalized. Stunned by news of his betrothed’s pregnancy, visited by an angel in that troubled hour, facilitating a grueling journey with the pregnant Mary, visited again by an angel warning of a murderous Herod, undertook a perilous flight to Egypt, living as an immigrant for several years, making a return to his homeland, finding himself in yet another conversation with heaven providing geographical guidance for the continued safety of the child. Is this the portrait of a minor character? An extra on the set of a Biblical epic? When you look at this person’s experience, you see the indispensability of his life. What awaits as you look at others with the same curiosity?

Bloodline

Re:Verse passage – Luke 2:4-7; 3:23, 31-34, 38 (day two)

…the son of God. v. 3:38b

Merry Christmas Eve-Eve! I am hopeful that each and every one of you are blessed sharing the blessing of the season with those close to you.  The message and hope of Jesus is meant to be shared, because it is our purpose to help everyone recognize they were created to love and serve the Lord. To see the lineage of Jesus is an incredible testament that reminds us that families matter. More than that, we are reminded we have all been grafted into the family of God to be made joint heirs with Jesus. The hope of Jesus is not limited to those in his ancestral bloodline. We can all claim that heritage because of his shed blood. This week, may you celebrate the child, and may you rejoice in your place in the family.

Monday Re:Vlog – 12/22/25

Re:Verse passage – Luke 2:4-7; 3:23, 31-34, 38 (day one)

Join us as Senior Pastor Chris Johnson, Associate Pastor Aaron Hufty, and Associate Pastor Bryan Richardson walk us through Luke 2:4-7; 3:23, 31-34, 38  in our Advent Re:Verse Series: “Luke: Long-Expected.”

v

Two Turtledoves

Re:Verse passage – Luke 2:21-38 (day seven)

and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.” Luke 2:24

In the words of Kevin McCallister in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, “I never knew that. I thought they were just part of a song.” Kevin was given his turtledoves to become a token of eternal friendship, but the two turtledoves in the Bible were actually the Offering of the Poor.

Leviticus 12:8  “But if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, the one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for her, and she will be clean.”

The King of Kings stepped down into poverty. We would expect a coming King to be born in a palace or to be followed with grandeur (Wisemen have not yet arrived), but our King needed to sympathize with us. He came to be the God for the poor, not just for the rich. He showed us that He is the God for all of us. The faithfulness of Mary and Joseph to bring Him to the temple shows us their heart. The humbleness of Mary and Joseph to admit that they couldn’t afford a lamb shows us their character. Little did they know, they brought the Lamb that would atone for their sins and the sins of the entire world. Jesus is the Lamb of God and our friend for eternity!

Found

Re:Verse passage – Luke 2:21-38 (day six)

There was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. Luke 2:36

Luke doesn’t waste words. Every detail matters. Anna’s lineage is not incidental; it is theological.

The tribe of Asher was one of the lost northern tribes, scattered during the Assyrian exile centuries earlier. These tribes were never fully reconstituted as a people. Many assimilated into surrounding nations; others quietly migrated south into Judah. By the time of Jesus, Asher existed mostly as a memory, fragmented, overlooked, and seemingly beyond restoration.

And yet here she is.

Anna stands in the temple, faithful, prayerful, and waiting. Luke names her tribe to signal something deeper: the Messiah has come not only for the obvious heirs of promise, but for those history seems to have forgotten. In Anna, we glimpse the Messiah’s redemptive reach and the heart of God’s Kingdom, a Kingdom that gathers the scattered, restores the overlooked, and remembers what the world has written off.

Caught and Taught

Re:Verse passage – Luke 2:21-38 (day five)

The Luke narrative gives us a few glimpses into the context and culture of Jesus’ earthly family. What we learn and see early on (particularly in our Re:Verse text this week) is that even though poor (sacrifice of turtledoves or pigeons), Mary and Joseph were righteous and faithful. No excuses. They did what the law instructed. There’s a lesson here for parents, future parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. Our regular rhythms and practices express our faith maybe more than any speech or sermon ever could. Reading/Studying the Scriptures. Worshipping. Serving others. Intentional Community.

My son learned this lesson from my dad (grandparent). Just days after mom died he asked Marshall to go to church with him (Bible Study and Worship). When Marshall questioned “why,” so close to this traumatic event (thinking maybe one Sunday off would be a good idea), my dad adamantly responded, “We go to church because that’s who we are and that’s what we do.” Sometimes lessons like these are caught more than taught. Marshall still tells this story.

This Advent Season, may we be mindful to teach and model regular rhythms and habits. Others are watching and learning (especially children and grandchildren) and will learn what matters most to us.