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Beliefnet is pleased to present the first 7 days of devotionals from Max Lucado's "3:16: The Numbers of Hope" (Thomas Nelson, 2007). This is Day 3 of the week-long devotional. If you missed the previous days, stay subscribed to this feed to start over at the end of the week.

DAY 3--JOSEPH, CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE

"When Joseph woke up, he did what the
angel of the Lord had commanded him
and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no
union with her until she gave birth to a son.
And he gave him the name Jesus."
--Matthew 1:24-25

Matthew describes Jesus's earthly father as a craftsman (Matt. 13:55). A small-town carpenter, he lives in Nazareth: a single-camel map dot on the edge of boredom. Is he the right choice? Doesn't God have better options? An eloquent priest from Jerusalem or a scholar from the Pharisees? Why Joseph? A major part of the answer lies in his reputation: he gives it up for Jesus. "Then Joseph [Mary's] husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly" (Matt. 1:19 NKJV).

With the phrase "a just man," Matthew recognizes the status of Joseph. Nazareth viewed him as we might view an elder, deacon, or Bible class teacher. Joseph likely took pride in his standing, but Mary's announcement jeopardized it. I'm pregnant.

Now what? His fiancée is blemished, tainted . . . he is righteous, godly. On one hand, he has the law. On the other, he has his love. The law says, stone her. Love says, forgive her. Joseph is caught in the middle.

Then comes the angel. Mary's growing belly gives no cause for concern, but reason to rejoice. "She carries the Son of God in her womb," the angel announces. But who would believe it?

A bead of sweat forms beneath Joseph's beard. He faces a dilemma. Make up a lie and preserve his place in the community, or tell the truth and kiss his reputation goodbye. He makes his decision. "Joseph . . . took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son" (Matt. 1:24-25 NKJV).

Joseph swapped his Torah studies for a pregnant fiancée and an illegitimate son and made the big decision of discipleship. He placed God's plan ahead of his own.

From 3:16: The Numbers of Hope, by Max Lucado (2007). Used with permission of Thomas Nelson Publishers, Inc.

Beliefnet is pleased to present the first 7 days of devotionals from Max Lucado's "3:16: The Numbers of Hope" (Thomas Nelson, 2007). This is Day 2 of the week-long devotional. If you missed the first day, stay subscribed to this feed to start over at the end of the week.

DAY 2--MARY CRADLES GOD

"And she gave birth to her firstborn, a son.
She wrapped him in cloths and
placed him in a manger, because
there was no room for them in the inn."
--Luke 2:7

God had entered the world as a baby.

Yet, were someone to chance upon the sheep stable on the outskirts of Bethlehem that morning, what a peculiar scene they would behold.

The stable stinks like all stables do. The ground is hard, the hay scarce. Cobwebs cling to the ceiling, and a mouse scurries across the dirt floor.

A more lowly place of birth could not exist.

Near the young mother sits the weary father. If anyone is dozing, he is. He can't remember the last time he sat down. And now that the excitement has subsided a bit, now that Mary and the baby are comfortable, he leans against the wall of the stable and feels his eyes grow heavy.
Wide awake is Mary. My, how young she looks! Her head rests on the soft leather of Joseph's saddle. The pain has been eclipsed by wonder. She looks into the face of the baby. Her son. Her Lord. His Majesty. At this point in history, the human being who best understands who God is and what he is doing is a teenage girl in a smelly stable. She can't take her eyes off him. Mary knows she is holding God. She remembers the words of the angel: "His kingdom will never end" (Luke 1:33).

He looks like anything but a king. His face is prunish and red. He is absolutely dependent upon Mary for his well-being.

Majesty in the midst of the mundane. She touches the face of the infant-God. How long was your journey!

--Max Lucado

From 3:16: The Numbers of Hope, by Max Lucado (2007). Used with permission of Thomas Nelson Publishers, Inc.

Beliefnet is pleased to present the first 7 days of devotionals from Max Lucado's "3:16: The Numbers of Hope" (Thomas Nelson, 2007). This is Day 1 of the week-long devotional.

DAY 1: AN EXTRA-ORDINARY NIGHT

"Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host
appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace to men on whom his favor rests.'"
--Luke 2:13-14

There is one word that describes the night he came--ordinary.

The sky was ordinary. An occasional gust stirred the leaves and chilled the air. The stars were diamonds sparkling on black velvet.

The sheep were ordinary. Some fat. Some scrawny. Common animals. No history makers. No blue-ribbon winners.

And the shepherds. Peasants they were. Probably wearing all the clothes they owned. Smelling like sheep and looking just as woolly.

An ordinary night with ordinary sheep and ordinary shepherds. And were it not for a God who loves to hook an "extra" on the front of the ordinary, the night would have gone unnoticed. The sheep would have been forgotten, and the shepherds would have slept the night away.

But God dances amidst the common. And that night he did a waltz.

The black sky exploded with brightness. Trees that had been shadows jumped into clarity. Sheep that had been silent became a chorus of curiosity. One minute the shepherd was dead asleep; the next he was rubbing his eyes and staring into the face of an alien.

The night was ordinary no more.

The announcement went first to the shepherds. Had the angel gone to the theologians, they would have first consulted their commentaries. Had he gone to the elite, they would have looked around to see if anyone was watching.

So he went to the shepherds. Men who didn't know enough to tell God that angels don't sing to sheep and that messiahs aren't found wrapped in rags and sleeping in a feed trough.

--Max Lucado

From 3:16: The Numbers of Hope, by Max Lucado (2007). Used with permission of Thomas Nelson Publishers, Inc.

Beliefnet is pleased to present the first 7 days of devotionals from Max Lucado's "3:16: The Numbers of Hope" (Thomas Nelson, 2007).

Introduction

The story of Jesus reads a bit like a scrapbook. Headline clippings. Newspaper photos. Jesus's favorite stories and lesson outlines. Here's Luke's snapshot of Jesus riding in Peter's boat. Matthew took this group photo when the seventy followers met for a party after the first mission trip. (Jesus is the one seated cross-legged in the center of the first row, smiling like his troop captured the Boy Scout Jamboree trophy.) John pasted a wedding napkin from Cana in the book as well as a funeral program from Bethany. He was the contributor who lamented, "There are so many other things Jesus did. If they were all written down, each of them, one by one, I can't imagine a world big enough to hold such a library of books" (John 21:25 MSG).

Flipping through the scrapbook leaves the reader with this impression: Jesus was, at once, common and not; alternately normal and heroic. One minute blending in with the domino players in the park, the next commanding the hell out of madmen, disease out of the dying, and death out of the dead. He conversed with kids and fishermen yet spoke with equal ease to waves, wind gusts, and demons. Who was this man?

No question matters more. I've collected a few scrapbook entries to help us find an answer. Having dedicated "3:16: The Numbers of Hope" to the deep drilling of one of Jesus's statements, I want us to conclude with a flyby read of his entire life. Consider reading one entry a day, from the Bethlehem manger to the vacated tomb. Keep in mind that the final entries are yet to come, including the snapshot of you and your Savior at heaven's gateway.

--Max Lucado

From 3:16: The Numbers of Hope, by Max Lucado (2007). Used with permission of Thomas Nelson Publishers, Inc.

Beliefnet is pleased to present the first 7 days of devotionals from Max Lucado's "3:16: The Numbers of Hope" (Thomas Nelson, 2007). This is Day 7 of the week-long devotional. If you missed the first day, stay subscribed to this feed to start over at the end of the week.

DAY 7--GOOD-BYE, NAZARETH

"Jesus went into Galilee,
proclaiming the good news of God."
--Mark 1:14

Jesus's obedience began in a small town carpentry shop. His uncommon approach to his common life groomed him for his uncommon call. "When Jesus entered public life he was about thirty years old" (Luke 3:23 MSG). In order to enter public life, you have to leave private life. In order for Jesus to change the world, he had to say good-bye to his world.

He had to give Mary a kiss. Have a final meal in the kitchen, a final walk through the streets. Did he ascend one of the hills of Nazareth and think of the day he would ascend the hill near Jerusalem?

He knew what was going to happen. "God chose him for this purpose long before the world began" (1 Pet. 1:20 NLT). Every ounce of suffering had been scripted--it just fell to him to play the part.

Not that he had to. Nazareth was a cozy town. Why not build a carpentry business? Keep his identity a secret? Return in the era of guillotines or electric chairs, and pass on the cross. To be forced to die is one thing, but to willingly take up your own cross
is something else.

I wonder, what kind of love is this? When you come up with a word for such a love, give it to Christ. For the day he left Nazareth is the day he declared his devotion for you and me. According to Peter, our lives were a "dead-end, empty-headed" (1 Pet. 1:18 MSG). But God, "immense in mercy and with an incredible love . . . embraced us" (Eph. 2:4 MSG).

Jesus left Nazareth and brought us to life.

--Max Lucado

From 3:16: The Numbers of Hope, by Max Lucado (2007). Used with permission of Thomas Nelson Publishers, Inc.