Luke 2:19
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
A woman was doing her last-minute Christmas shopping at a crowded mall. She was tired of fighting the crowds. She was tired of standing in lines. She was tired of fighting her way down long aisles looking for a gift that had sold out days before.
Her arms were full of bulky packages when an elevator door opened. It was full. The occupants of the elevator grudgingly tightened ranks to allow a small space for her and her load.
As the doors closed, she blurted out, “Whoever is responsible for this whole Christmas thing ought to be arrested, strung up, and shot!”
A few chuckled and others nodded their heads or grunted in agreement.
Then, from somewhere in the back of the elevator someone said: “Don’t worry. They already crucified him.”
The Christmas season can feel overwhelming, but no one had a more overwhelming Christmas than Mary on that first Christmas.
Having a baby is stressful when you know where you are going to have the baby, when you know that you’ll be surrounded by great doctors and nurses, when you know that you’ll be surrounded by supportive family and friends, but Mary didn’t know any of that.
As she and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem, they didn’t know where they would be staying. As the contractions came closer and closer together, Mary didn’t know where she would deliver this baby.
Because there was no room in the inn in Bethlehem, Mary had Jesus in a stable, which was a pen or perhaps a cave where animals were kept, but Mary didn’t know if anyone other than Joseph would be there to help here.
And after Jesus was born some smelly shepherds ran in (because every first time mother loves to immediately have visitors after she’s given birth!)
Mary was surely overwhelmed.
But the words of the shepherds had only confirmed what Mary already knew: her Son, Jesus, would be like no other.
She had already been told by an angel named Gabriel that her Son, Jesus, would be great…
…He would be called the Son of the Most High…
…He would sit on throne of David…
…He would reign over the house of Jacob forever…
…and His Kingdom would have no end.
And now these smell shepherds were reporting that angels had appeared to them saying that Jesus was good news of great joy for all people…
…that Jesus was Savior and Christ the Lord.
The shepherds reported that many angels praised God because of the birth of Jesus, saying, “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased,” (Lk. 2:14).
A young girl, tired from giving birth, head already swimming with all that had already been revealed to her was certainly even more overwhelmed when she heard the report of the shepherds.
She humbly trusted the LORD, but perhaps she asked…
“What do all these things mean?”
“What do they mean for me?”
“What do they mean for my Son?”
Answers to Mary’s questions would come but not yet.
For now, overwhelmed by the magnitude of these things, Mary could only treasure all these things and ponder them in her heart.
Now, I know that you are a people that never get overwhelmed. You’re organized. You have it together. You’re never flustered or stressed. You never experience worry or anxiety. And I know that you certainly never experience any of those things during the Christmas season.
But if you did, I’d tell you to do what Mary does in Luke 2:19—I’d tell you to treasure and ponder the birth of Jesus so you can find peace in the overwhelming.
[TS] Let’s think about those two things things this morning…
…Treasuring all these things concerning Jesus…
…and pondering all these things concerning Jesus.
Major Ideas
Major Ideas
#1: Treasure all these things (Lk. 2:19a).
#1: Treasure all these things (Lk. 2:19a).
[LUKE 2:19a] “But Mary treasured all these things…”
[EXP] It’s interesting to think about how Luke knew that Mary treasured and pondered all these things. Luke told Theophilus (the one he was writing to) that he had complied an account of what Jesus accomplished just as those things were handed down by eyewitnesses and servants of the Word so that Theophilus (and we by extension) may know the exact truth about the things concerning Jesus (Lk. 1:1-4).
But who was Luke’s eyewitness concerning things like Mary’s treasuring and pondering? It was likely Mary herself.
Much later in life, after the death, resurrection, and ascension of her Son, Luke likely visited Mary and heard the details of what happened in the early days of her pregnancy and in the early days of Jesus’ life.
If Luke did visit Mary to hear her memories, he learned they weren’t vague, faint memories of a time almost forgotten but treasured memories engraved into her mind forever.
Some English translations say that Mary “treasured all these things” while others say that Mary “kept all these things.”
The idea is identifying something as important even if it isn’t fully understood.
There are some biblical examples.
When Joseph told his father, mother, and brothers about the dream in which they all bowed down to him, “his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind,” (Gen. 37:11).
When John the Baptist was born, his father, Zacharias, was literally un-muted and he praised God. When the people heard about John’s birth and all the things Zacharias said concerning his son both before and after his birth, the people “kept (these things) in mind, saying, ‘What then will this child turn out to be?’” (Lk. 1:66).
When Jesus was twelve, Joseph and Mary lost track of Him while on the way home in Jerusalem. When they found Him three days later teaching in the Temple, they scolded Him, but He said, “Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?” (Lk. 2:49). Luke 2:51 says that Mary once again, “treasured (or kept) all these things in her heart.”
One last example is dark, but it uses the word translated as treasured or kept in reference to John the Baptist when he was imprisoned by Herod.
Mark 6:20 says…
20 for Herod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. And when he heard him, he was very perplexed; but he used to enjoy listening to him.
Although John perplexed Herod, he was Herod’s treasured prisoner.
Although Mary was perplexed, not fully understanding these things concerning her Son, she treasured all these things.
She held them dear (MSG).
She kept them carefully.
She valued them highly.
[ILLUS] A man named Rob Cutshaw of North Carolina was digging for rocks in the 1960s. He found a big rock that he thought might have some value. He tried to sell it but couldn’t find a buyer. Cutshaw knew that it was worth something, but being no expert, he thought the blue rock might be worth about $500. He planned to sell if he had an emergency, so he tucked it under his bed. There it stayed for the next 20 years.
It turns out that the blue rock weighed nearly a pound and is today known as “The Star of David,” a 2,000 carat sapphire worth millions.
[APP] There are many people walking through this Christmas season thinking that Christmas has a little value as presents are tucked under the tree or decorations are stuck to houses, but many don’t understand the life-changing treasure of Christmas in the birth of Jesus Christ, the Savior, the Son of the Most High.
Mary didn’t understand everything concerning Jesus; how could she?
But she did understand enough to treasure all these things concerning Jesus.
Do you understand enough to treasure all these things concerning Jesus at Christmas?
Do you treasure what Mary treasured? Do you treasure what Gabriel and the other angels said about Him?
Do you treasure Him as Jesus, the Savior, the Christ, the Son of the Most High, the King on the throne of David over the house of Jacob forever, the King whose Kingdom will have no end?
We may not understand these things in full; how can we this side of eternity?
But we ought to treasure them, we ought to hold them dear, just as Mary did.
If we do, He will be our peace.
[TS] But Mary also pondered all these things in her heart.
#2: Ponder all these things in your heart (Lk. 2:19b).
#2: Ponder all these things in your heart (Lk. 2:19b).
[LUKE 2:19b] “But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.”
[EXP] To ponder is to meditate on or think about. Mary mentally chewed on everything that had been said to her about Jesus and everything that happened to her as she carried Jesus in the womb and gave birth to Him in the stable.
Mary rolled these things over and over in her mind trying to come to the right understanding of these things.
She weighed these things carefully.
Mary had likely heard Isaiah 11:1, which says…
1 Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
Mary knew that she was from the stem of Jesse, the father of David, and that she and Joseph had just come down from Nazareth, a place whose name means branch.
Could her Son be the Nazarene from Jesse’s roots that will bear spiritual fruit?
Mary had likely heard Micah 5:2, which says…
2 “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.”
Mary knew that she had given birth to Jesus in Bethlehem and that the angel said that He would be Ruler over the house of Jacob, i.e., Israel, forever.
Could her Son be the One whose goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity?
Mary had likely heard Isaiah 7:14, which says…
14 “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.
Mary knew that she was a virgin and had come to be with child as the Holy Spirit overshadowed her.
Could her Son be the One who was Emmanuel, God with us?
Mary pondered these things and others like them.
She thought Jesus, Jesus, Jesus as she tried to come to a right understanding of all that was taking place.
[ILLUS] M. A. Rosanoff was an associate of Thomas Edison. Edison is credited as the inventor of phonograph cylinders (a.k.a., records), but Rosanoff worked futilely for over a year to soften the wax of phonograph cylinders by altering their chemical constitution.
Initially, all records had to be recorded live on soft wax records, but no matter how hard Rosanoff worked on the problem, he couldn’t get it to work.
Rosanoff later said that he thought about the problem night after night trying to ‘mentally cough up’ every theoretical and practical solution.
He said, “Then is came like a flash of lightning. I could not shut waxes out of my mind, even in my sleep. Suddenly, through headache and daze, I saw the solution. The first thing the next morning, I was at my desk; and half an hour later I had a record in the softened wax cylinder...This was the solution! I learned to think waxes...waxes...waxes, and the answer came…”
Mary learned to think Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, and the answers eventually came to her as well.
Mary didn’t understand everything, but treasured all these things and pondered them in heart.
At one point she and the rest of His family though Jesus had lost His senses (Mk. 3:21, 31), but by God’s grace she came to see that her Son was truly the Son of God, her Savior.
[APP] If we truly ponder these things about the birth of Jesus in our hearts, I believe that by God’s grace the truth about Jesus will come to us as well.
We will see Him and trust Him as Immanuel, God with us; as Jesus, who has saved us from our sin through His death and resurrection.
But will you make time to ponder these things this Christmas season? Will you make yourself meditate on these things?
A great way to do that is through this “Jesse Tree” advent devotional that is available in the foyer.
Every day has an ornament, which you can find on our very own Jesse Tree here in the sanctuary; it also as a memory verse, Scripture readings, and related hymns.
With each day we see that the whole Bible is about Jesus.
It was through Him that the heavens and the earth were created in Genesis 1:1 (cf. John 1:1-3).
He is the seed of the woman who will crush the head of the serpent in Genesis 3:15 (cf. 1 John 3:8; Rev. 20:10).
He is the ark of salvation from the wrath of God in Genesis 6 (cf. 1 Peter 3:20-21).
He is the descendent of Abraham through whom all the families on earth will be blessed in Genesis 12 (cf. Gal. 3:8).
He is the Lamb of God who dies in our place in Genesis 22 (cf. John 1:29).
He is the house of God in Genesis 27 (cf. John 1:51).
He is the favored Son whose betrayal brings salvation for God’s people in Genesis 37 and Genesis 50 (cf. Matt. 3:17; 27:18; Rom. 8:28).
He is the fulfillment of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 (cf. Matt. 5:17; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:22).
He is the true Israel who comes out of Egypt, is faithful in the wilderness, and conquers the Promised Land in Exodus 13-14 (cf. Matt. 2:15; 4:1-11, and following).
He is the descendant of Ruth and Boaz and their son, Obed, in Ruth 1-4—the shoot that would spring forth from the stem of Obed’s son, Jesse, through the womb of a virgin just as Isaiah prophesied (cf. Matthew 1:5; Isaiah 11:1; 7:14).
Now, I’ve caught you up. Begin this Jesse Tree advent devotional tomorrow and ask yourself this question every day: How does this point to Jesus?
It’s all about Him.
Will you ponder these things this Christmas?
If you do, He will be your peace.
[TS]…
Conclusion
Conclusion
[ILLUS] The evangelist Luis Palau tells of a wealthy European family that decided to have their newborn baby baptized in their enormous mansion.
They had apparently not been taught that baptism is for believers only, but in any event dozens of guests were invited to the elaborate affair, and they all arrived dressed to the nines.
After depositing their elegant wraps on a bed in an upstairs room, the guests were entertained royally.
Soon the time came for the main purpose of their gathering: the infant’s baptismal ceremony.
But where was the baby?
No one seemed to know. The child’s governess ran upstairs and returned with a desperate look on her face.
Everyone searched frantically for the baby.
Then someone recalled having seen him asleep on one of the beds.
The baby was on the bed buried beneath the pile of coats, jackets, and furs.
The object of that day’s celebration had been forgotten, neglected, and nearly smothered.
We might do the same thing with Jesus at Christmas if we bury Him under presents and traditions and busyness at Christmas.
But by treasuring and pondering as Mary did, the object of the day’s celebration will bring us peace even in the overwhelming.
[PRAYER]