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Two Faces of Time

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Today marks the beginning of the end – that is for 2024. Around the world, new beginnings from a new year symbolize a fresh start encouraging people to set goals and begin again. But where did all of this originate? As far as we know the first culture to celebrate the new year was Mesopotamia which began around 2000 B.C. – near the end of March. But Emperor Julius Caesars’ solar-based calendar (46 B.C.) helped to introduce our practice of January 1 – as New Years. January 1 being chosen for its dedication to Janus – the god of two faces, the god of gateways and beginnings. It was believed he could go back in time and move forward in the future (January also being named after Janus).

The practice of watching the ball drop at midnight in Times Square (a tradition begun in 1907) actually hearkens back to the tradition of the sailors use of “time balls” or chronometers for setting their timepieces. Through a spyglass, they would navigate the harbor and find balls thrown into the water at specific periods.

Navigating time seems to sum up our practice of looking forward and backward to chart a new direction for our life’s voyage. Which causes another interesting detail from the birth of Jesus to surface. When the Wise Men stopped in Jerusalem to ask for directions Herod sent them in the wrong direction. They would have gone backwards rather than forwards. Two Scriptures point out that when the Wise Men arrived to worship Jesus He was already around 18 months old and living in His own house: Matthew 2:11 And on going into the house, they saw the Child with Mary His mother, and they fell down and worshiped Him. And Matthew 2:16 Then Herod, when he realized that he had been misled by the wise men, was furiously enraged, and he sent and put to death all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that territory who were two years old and under, reckoning according to the date which he had investigated diligently and had learned exactly from the wise men.

The Apostle Paul stated that the goal of his life was to forget what was behind and strain toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the [supreme and heavenly] prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward. (Php. 3:13-14) From all of these things you could surmise that your goal as a follower of Jesus is to be mindful of not getting lost looking for Jesus in the wrong direction, seeking to be free of being two faced, and charting out a new direction for your life through pursuing Jesus’ call. Ultimately the question begging to be answered is: How can you follow Jesus if your focus is on what’s behind you rather than the One Who is directly in front of you? Could you conclude that since God exists outside of time that the only thing truly two-faced is time – since you were created to exist in eternity – outside of time?

The Black Spot

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In the book written by Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, pirates are presented with a “black spot” to officially pronounce a guilty verdict. The black spot consisted of a circular piece of paper, with one side blackened while the other side bore the message into the hand of the accused. It was a source of great fear because it meant the pirate was to be deposed as leader, by force or else killed. In the book, Treasure Island, Long John Silver receives the black spot, torn from a page in the Bible and taken from Revelation 22:15: “Without are dogs and murderers.” On describing the “black spot” Stevenson adds the following: The printed side had been blackened with wood ash, which already began to come off and soil my fingers; on the blank side had been written with the same material the one word “Depposed”.

Which brings to mind another interesting detail that’s often overlooked when we read or hear the story of Christ’s birth, and the facts which surround it. Luke 2:7-8 records: And she gave birth to her Son, her Firstborn; and she wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room or place for them in the inn.8 And in that vicinity there were shepherds living [out under the open sky] in the field, watching [in shifts] over their flock by night.

These two verses alert us to a small detail often ignored, swaddling clothes. Why was this detail significant? Luke 2:12 records the message of the angel: And this will be a sign for you [by which you will recognize Him]: you will find after searching] a Baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.

Why was a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes a sign? The researchers for One Path Research state the following: These shepherds weren’t ordinary shepherds…they had a special task that was critical to the temple and the sacrifices made to God. You see, when people came to the temple and made a sacrifice you were to bring a lamb without a spot or any blemish. If you did not have such a sacrifice, you could purchase one from the temple which the shepherds would provide.

Their task was simple. When a lamb was being born, the shepherds assisted with the birth as the lamb could not touch the ground until they were cleaned and examined thoroughly.  If they found that it had a “spot”, or physical defect, they would then put it on the ground so it could mix with the other lambs. It would not be suitable for a sacrifice as only the best could be offered to God.  If the lamb was spotless, or physically perfect, then it was their job to ensure that it did not get hurt in any way and possibly get a “blemish”, which is a small cut, wound, bruise, or any other small flaw from the time it was born to the time it was sacrificed. To make sure that the spotless lamb’s feet didn’t get cut on the rocks, they would wrap the lambs’ feet with clean “swaddling clothes” that were already there for that purpose. Only after the lamb’s feet were wrapped up would they place the lamb on the ground to walk. 

When the shepherds came….where Jesus was laid in the manger, they saw Him wrapped in the same swaddling strips used to cover the spotless lambs to prevent them from getting a blemish and they understood immediately that Jesus was indeed the “Lamb of God” (John 1:29) who came to be sacrificed at Passover, and hence providing a means by which the relationship between us and God can be reestablished for those that accept His gift of salvation and continuously be led by the Holy Spirit as we serve the Lord.

Why is this detail significant for you and me? We are all called by Scripture to “examine” Jesus for spot or blemish. Luke 2:15 states: “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” Even Pilate, in the Gospels of Luke and John, declares: I find no fault in Him. Yet when it comes to examining the claims of Jesus for ourselves we often take someone else’s word for it and forsake the examination. But when it comes to finding fault, examining others as if they were Jesus, we can do nothing but find fault. In fact it seems this is our predisposition. If you are one who is prone to make New Years resolutions, remind yourself that Jesus was and still is examined – in order that you and I could pass the cross examination and receive the “not guilty” verdict from our Holy and Righteous Father. And add to your New Years resolutions: Extend grace and mercy – not looking for the black spots in others lives.

The Birthing

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John 16:21 When a woman is in travail she has sorrow, because her hour has come; but when she is delivered of the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a child is born into the world.

Paula reminded us on Wednesday that in the midst of the hardest of times, God’s ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. It reminded me that before our daughter gave birth to our newest grandson – we were told he was breeched. A procedure was performed in an attempt to turn the baby. Many were praying. For a while it seemed to have worked but our daughter’s follow up visit revealed the baby had returned to the breech position. We were all very sad and disappointed that our prayers had not been answered. But when I received the news my thoughts turned to all the people praying. The first thing out of my mouth was, God knows best. When the C-section was performed we discovered our grandson had the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. We realized if the procedure, which had been performed earlier, had of been effective there was a very good chance his birth would have been a tragedy rather than a time of celebration. 

When the angel announced, to an unwed teenage girl, that she was pregnant – it couldn’t have been worse news. The event was scandalous. Can you imagine the shock and terror her parents must have experienced? But what does Mary do after being shuffled off out of town to her aunts home? And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.

Before the birth of Jesus – Mary gave birth to thanksgiving and praise. What are you giving birth to?