A Humble Arrival
Notes
Transcript
Humble circumstances for “great” people or events? (IMAGE)
Larry Bird…
Greatness - despite apparent humble circumstances
Next three weeks, take the familiar and realize the profound greatness of Messiah coming for us.
It’s not CUTE
It’s not SWEET
God With Us - It’s rather serious!
READ Psalm 13 (SLIDES)
How long, Lord? How long?
(Deliverance, help, OT concept of salvation)
The faithful Jews would be looking for the Messiah - knowing Daniel’s prophecy
“How long must we wait?” Good question
Today: Looking at the birth account in Luke 2
Focus on: Humble Aspects of Messiah’s Birth
1) A Humble Birth
1) A Humble Birth
While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth.
They were in Bethlehem, lowly Bethlehem, population 300-1000
The Messiah - Anointed one - Christ
Had rights to the most spectacular birth possible, the most splendor, the most comfortable circumstances
Luke will portray Jesus’ in all His humble humanity and servanthood
His birth, in a very ordinary, out-of-way place, obscure
And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
How should a king come?
For a powerful king to have a son - the whole kingdom celebrated
Parades! Festivals! Feasts! Only the best to celebrate the arrival
Public birthing, so there could be no doubt
BIG DEAL - Everyone knew!
For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.
The CREATOR - took on human flesh John 1:14
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The First Century House
A feeding trough for a bed - a manger of stone
His tiny, cute little life, laid in a trough of stone
EXPLAIN: no room for them in the “inn”
Word used = upper room of a house or dwelling place
Same word used for place where Last Supper was held - an upper room
(Later: Luke 10, Good Samaritan, that is an inn/lodging place)
The place they were staying (while they were already there) - no suitable place for a woman to give birth - so they used the place used by the animals
That’s where the Savior of the world was born
2) The Humble Witnesses
2) The Humble Witnesses
In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.
And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.
But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;
for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
(Explain about shepherds)
Low-lifes, demeaned, despised
“unclean” - not allowed into town
Jewish shepherds - akin to David
Lots of time out under the stars
Lots of time to pray, meditate, care for sheep, be reminded of what we know as Psalm 23
Recall - Herod, the earthly King of Israel at the time, has no idea, God doesn’t announce this to him
Pharisees, Sadducees, no idea, they are not told
Shepherds, the humble shepherds
That is who Yahweh trusts with the message, the important message of the Savior’s birth
The importance of witnesses
Establish truth
Spreading the message
Verifying an occurrence
The baby was born, they were told
They found Him, as they were told by God’s angels
3) His Humble Mission
3) His Humble Mission
The Savior had arrived!
“For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
This was a humanitarian mission - to save any and all
This humble baby, would grow to serve all mankind
His first followers would be humble commoners; they would be witnesses to His glory
This humble servant, once laid in a trough of stone
Would be laid, lifeless, in a tomb of stone
We can never separate the birth account from the crucifixion account
Satan and his angels - put on notice
The promises made were developing right in front of them
Yahweh - “Try and stop it! You have already lost.”
Jesus’ mission would face numerous attacks
Assassination attempt by Herod
Temptation by Satan
Agony in Gethsemane
Death by crucifixion
We know - Jesus resurrected, triumphant
HOW LONG?
Joseph, Mary, Shepherds - they got the answer
You may wonder when He will return…
The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
Maybe He is waiting for you
There are clearly more people needing to come to repentance
Is that you?
You do want to be on His side when He does return
READ Matthew 25:31–33 ““But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. “All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.”
This is NOT the rapture, this is the final judgment, for all eternity
2. Maybe He is waiting for you to tell someone
There are clearly more people needing to come to repentance
Christmas
Not just about the cute little baby in a manger
Come to grips with Who this baby was, why He came as He did
What His mission was
And how you are a key part of that mission
And Satan will attack you and your efforts, too.
The humble Servant
His humble birth
Witnessed by humble people
So people like you could be humble, in order to repent and believe the Gospel
So…how long?
It doesn’t matter - you have TODAY
Go live it like you love Jesus!
