Behold
“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14 (KJV)
What an astounding “Behold” that was. Virgins do not conceive, and the scripture does not tell how the virgin would conceive. The other astounding part of this “Behold” was the name she was to call him, “Immanuel.” “Immanuel” meant “God with us” to Israel, so they were being assured that their God, Jehovah, was with them and would be with them. They would not be swept away. No matter what the struggle, even if it were as a mighty river, Israel would be preserved.
Centuries later several more “beholds” would not only shed light on this passage of scripture, they would announce the actual appearance of this Emmanuel child. First, a young woman, a virgin, was espoused but not yet married, so a child was not to be expected. She was visited by an angel that gave her a startling message from God. We find it in Luke 1:28-31, “And the angel come in unto her, and said, ‘Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women.’ And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, ‘ Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. And, “behold,” thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father, David.’” Mary explained the impossibility of this because she “knew not a man.” The angel explained that the Holy Ghost would come over her and cause the conception. Wow, what a thing for a young teenage girl to hear. She kept this conversation secret for a while.
Mary’s husband-to-be was concerned about this unexpected pregnancy but wasn’t sure what he should do when he got a surprise visit from an angel. Matthew 1:20-21 relates this conversation, “But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.’” Okay, now we have two quite amazed people.
We have one more “behold” to discover. This one occurred months later and was given to individuals who had no connection at all to Mary and Joseph. This “behold’ was given to a group of shepherds. They, too, were surprised as an angel appeared to them out in the fields. Luke 2:10-11 relates the report: “And the angel said unto them, ‘Fear not; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, A Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.’”
Three “beholds,” one to a young girl, one to a perplexed husband-to-be, and one to anonymous shepherds that announced the arrival of the Savior of the World. There is never been a more important announcement than this, and it was given to relatively unknown and “unimportant” people. I believe that this indicates that our Savior, Jesus Chist, came to serve and to save. He will come later to reign. Behold, the King is coming. What a great “behold” that will be.
Behold
“Ah Lord God! Behold, thou hast made the heavens and the earth by thy great power and stretched arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:” Jeremiah 32:17 (KJV)
“Behold” is a strong word used often in the Bible. It shows up most often in the King James Translation, and we don’t use it much today, but it has great importance in the Word of God. Perhaps today’s best interpretation of the word is, “Pay attention!” or “Listen up; this is important!” I believe that God says the same thing in creation without words, but by the beauty He created. For example, I might say, “Behold the mountains of Olympic National Park.” God got our attention by creating this beautiful block of stark splendor. It catches our attention, and, to me, it says, “Hey, look at this and enjoy it. I created it just for you. See it as a symbol of my strength.” It draws me to our Creator.
One very important “behold” is found in Isaiah 65:1, which says, “I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not; I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name.” According to Matthew Henry in his commentary on this and following verses, this is the “calling in” of the Gentiles. This makes this “behold” of paramount importance to us for now salvation is made available to us. God is now moving His boundary to include those who are not members of the nation of Israel.
In Revelation 3:20, Jesus says, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear my voice , and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” What would I do if Jesus knocked at my door? He has, he has knocked at the door of my heart, and to my great eternal joy, I invited Him in. He is still here. He will never leave. He and I will have fellowship throughout eternity. Jesus knocks at the door of every man’s heart. It is entirely each man’s choice to let Him in or to deny Him entrance. Graciously, Jesus will wait as long as there is a possibility that the door will be opened, but there is a time when that is no longer possible--death. No man can change His mind once death closes the door.
Revelations 21:3 speaks of what happens to those who have invited Jesus in. “And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.” The chapter goes on to say that there will be no more death, pain, sorrow, or crying for they have been eliminated forever. What a great “behold” that will be. I am looking forward to it with great anticipation.
Come back next time for more “Beholds.”
Jesus Loves the Little Children
And He Loves Me, Too
“For God so loved the world , that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 (KJV)
Absolutely, Jesus does love the little children. He told His disciples once to let the children run up to Him and talk to Him and hug Him. Well, small children are really cute and loveable, and most of us enjoy picking up a small child and hugging him or her. But Jesus goes further; He promises them eternal life if they believe in Him.
Jesus promises me eternal life, too, but I am not easy to pick up and hold on His lap. And I am not always lovable, but He loves me anyway. All that lovable cuteness I had as a small child has disappeared and has been replaced by what we like to call reality. I don’t mean that I don’t love Jesus, but somewhere along the line I have picked up worries and concerns about the vicissitudes of life. “What will the doctor say?” “Will prices ever stop going up?” “Will the money make it to the end of the month?” “How much will my car repair cost?” “What did Joe mean by that remark?” “Do my friends really care?” You get the idea. As we grow, we experience all the changes and problems of life, and it takes away some of our child-like trust and joy and replaces them with adult responsibilities.
Guess what! Jesus still loves me because I am a “whosoever” who believes in Jesus, and that’s who Jesus came to offer eternal life to. He will never forsake me no matter how tied up I become with the problems of life. He is always just a prayer away. A very effective prayer is, “Jesus, help me!” Another very effective prayer is, “Jesus, I love you!” He always responds to both of those prayers.
Maybe I can’t picture Jesus picking me up and sitting me on His lap, but I can picture my Father God doing just that. I am loved by God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit all day, every day. God, forgives me for all my sins if I will just ask Him.
Jesus showed just how much He loves me by accepting the inhumane treatment He was given two thousand years ago--scourging, beating, mocking, and finally crucifixion. Then shortly after that He showed me how much He loves me by bursting out of the tomb and declaring victory over sin and the grave. Yes, Jesus loves the little children, and He loves me, too. He loves me just as much as He loves you. Thank you, Lord, for your faithfulness.
Jesus Loves the Little Children
“Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.’” Matthew 19:14 (NIV)
There’s a song that goes like this:
“Jesus loves the liitle children
All the children of the world
Red and yellow, black, and white
They are precious in His sight.
Jesus loves the little children of the world.”
It’s a great song with beautiful lyrics that speak the truth of the love of God for ALL the little children of the world. I have one disagreement with the lyrics. Jesus does not see the children as “red and yellow, black, and white.” He sees them as little children—all alike to Him, and He loves them all. Loving Jesus through the heart of a little child is special. They love unconditionally, and they love completely. They trust the one they love without reservation. As they grow older, our society insinuates little twinges of doubt and small acknowledgements of differences between people, and these begin to affect their love for Jesus and trust of Him. They begin to wonder if Jesus really does love everybody the same, and if he can always be trusted. Well, He does love everybody the same and He is completely trustworthy. That’s His nature and He never changes.
For me to live the best possible life as a Christian with the greatest amount of peace I can have, and with the maximum joy in my life, I have to go back to being a little child in my love for and my trust in God. Have you ever seen the look of love and trust in the eyes of a little baby as he or she looks at his or her mother’s face? That’s the kind of love I need to have toward my Lord and Savior, Jesus. That’s the kind of love I intend to have for my Lord and Savior, Jesus, and my life will be more fulfilled. I can never love Jesus as much as He loves me, but I can love Him like a baby loves, without doubt or reservation, but with great joy. Let’s all return to that “baby love” for Jesus.
Overcoming the World (conclusion)
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19,20 (NIV)
Fulfilling this mission given to His disciples as He was to ascend to heaven is the ultimate overcoming of the world. The Good News has been taught, those who are going to accept Him have accepted, and the end of the age has arrived. But we are not there yet, so we still have work to do.
We’ve been given the gifts, tools, and abilities that we will use to do the work we have been assigned. We are the “salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13a),” we are the “light of the world” (Matthew 5:14-16), we are to love one another as He has loved us (John 13:34,35), and we have received power when the Holy Spirit came upon us at salvation (Acts 1:8). With these tools we can bring the Kingdom of the Lord to earth.
We have talked about “salt of the earth” and “light of the world,” and John 14:24,25 contains a strong and convincing tool, love. “A new command I give you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” The bond of love shown by a group as diverse as the disciples of Jesus shows how to accomplish a task as complicated and important as the spreading the Word around the world. In Acts 1:8, we were told that we will not be left alone to accomplish this task of our lifetimes. “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Okay, we’ve been given everything we need to spread the Good News and to make disciples for Jesus. We shall witness to what we have read, heard, seen, and experienced within the Kingdom of God. Even when we do so with all the fervor we can muster, some will reject the message and spend eternity away from the presence of God. That will be discouraging, but I know that the Lord will appreciate our life-spending effort and will express his appreciation to us. “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Matthew 25:21a)
Let’s spend our lives doing the will of the Lord,
