The Miracle in a Manger
Tony Schachle
The Miracle in a Manger • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 11 viewsOver 2,000 years ago, a miracle took place in Israel in the little town of Bethlehem. A young virgin named Mary gave birth to a Son named Jesus, wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger – a feeding trough for livestock. However, even though Jesus was born under the humblest of circumstances, His birth was no ordinary birth, and He was no ordinary baby. He was the miracle in a manger!
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Transcript
SCRIPTURE
SCRIPTURE
1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Beth-lehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)
5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
Over 2,000 years ago, Jesus was born in a stable in Bethlehem. God clothed Himself in human flesh and blood. Heaven came down to earth. We call it the incarnation. And Jesus became the fulfillment of thousands of years of prophesy. In fact, there are some 456 prophecies in the Old Testament concerning Jesus Christ. Here are just a few examples concerning His birth:
Born of a Virgin
14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.
God Incarnate
6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
From Bethlehem
2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.”
What are the odds of all of the prophecies concerning the Messiah in the Old Testament being fulfilled in Jesus Christ? Well, a professor at Westmont College and some 600 university students set out to find out.
Out of the 456 Old Testament prophecies, they only looked at 8 of them. What they found is that the odds of one person fulfilling these 8 prophecies is 1 in 10^17. That’s the number one with 17 zeros after it! 100,000,000,000,000,000 (one hundred quadrillion).
Let me give you a picture of 1 with 17 zeros. If you had 1x10^17 silver dollars, you could cover the entire state of Texas to a depth of two feet. 1 in 10^17 would be like marking just one of those silver dollars, mixing them all up, and then trying to find it again.
That’s just 8 prophesies being fulfilled in Jesus! But they took it a step further. What about 48 prophesies? That would be 1 in 10^157! That a 1 with 157 zeros after it! If you were to start counting from one to 1x10^157 a called out one number per second, it would take you a little over 3 billion years to finish!
10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.
And we can say conservatively that Jesus has fulfilled at least 300 prophecies!
The professor concluded, “Any man who rejects Christ as the Son of God is rejecting a fact, proved perhaps more absolutely than any other fact in the world.”
Jesus is the Son of God! Jesus is the Messiah! And His birth, life, ministry, death, burial, and resurrection is nothing short of a divine miracle of God! Jesus is THE MIRACLE IN A MANGER!
MESSAGE
MESSAGE
But it is not just the mathematical odds of Jesus fulfilling the Old Testament prophesies that makes Him THE MIRACLE IN A MANGER! Jesus is THE MIRACLE IN A MANGER because of who He is and what He came to earth to accomplish!
There is not enough time to explore all the depths of the riches of Jesus and what He means to us! But I want to share a few important truths with you this morning and why Jesus is THE MIRACLE IN A MANGER!
The Lamb of God
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
The prophecy of Migdal Eder (Tower of the Flock).
8 And you, O tower of the flock, The stronghold of the daughter of Zion, To you shall it come, Even the former dominion shall come, The kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.”
Migdal Eder was a watchtower located in the northern part of Bethlehem that was built to protect the Temple flocks.
During lambing season, the sheep were brought there from the fields, as the lower level functioned as a birthing room for sacrificial lambs.
Priestly shepherds would wrap the newborn lambs in swaddling clothes and place them in a manger until they calmed down in order to keep them from defects and suitable to be sacrificial lambs for the sin of the Israelites.
In fact, it could have been the very same shepherds that heard the announcement of the birth of Jesus from the angels that were raising lambs without spot and without blemish for sacrifice.
If so, they would have been familiar with using this particular location for birthing sacrificial lambs, but may have been confused why there was a baby boy wrapped in swaddling clothes and laying in a manger instead of a lamb.
Jesus is the once-for-all sacrificial Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world that takes away our sins!
Jesus is THE MIRACLE IN A MANGER because He is THE LAMB OF GOD!
The Bread of God
32 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”
35 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.
Bethlehem means “House of Bread.”
The manger was a feeding trough for livestock.
The shepherd wall always keep a fresh supply of fodder in the manger for the livestock to eat.
Jesus is our spiritual food, our spiritual bread.
There is always a fresh supply to those who hunger after Him.
Jesus is the true manna from Heaven!
We cannot survive spiritually without Jesus!
Jesus is THE MIRACLE IN A MANGER because He is the BREAD OF GOD!
The Anointed of God
17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.
21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
The baby Jesus in the manger was the Christ.
The word Christ is from the Greek word Christos, which means “Anointed One.”
Jesus was, is, and will always be God.
Jesus never ceased to be God, but He temporarily allowed Himself to veil the fulness of His divine nature in human flesh so that He could die on the cross for our sins.
And Jesus was empowered by the Holy Spirit at His baptism.
And Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit for His earthly ministry:
To preach the Gospel.
To heal the brokenhearted.
To proclaim liberty to the captives.
To proclaim recovery of sight to the blind.
To set at liberty to those who are oppressed (bruised).
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord (the year of the Lord’s favor - Jubilee).
Jesus is THE MIRACLE IN A MANGER because He is THE ANOINTED OF GOD!
CLOSING
CLOSING
Jesus is THE MIRACLE IN A MANGER because of who He is and what He has done for us. He left heaven, came to earth, was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died a sacrificial death on the cross of Calvary, was buried in a borrowed tomb, but He rose from the dead on the third day. Fifty days later He ascended into Heaven and sat down at the right hand of God the Father. And He is there right now making intercession for us.
Jesus knows what you need. He came to earth to provide everything you need.
If you are not saved, He is THE LAMB OF GOD.
If you need spiritual nourishment, He is THE BREAD OF GOD.
If you need deliverance, He is THE ANOINTED OF GOD.
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