"Salvation From a Manger" Christmas Dec 14 2025

Intro & Scripture Read

Good morning friends

This morning we are taking a break from The Psalms

And we will look at the birth of Christ

We will not be here next week - and I wanted to do a Christmas message

Today, I want to look at some of the people around the narrative of the birth of Jesus

The true meaning of Christmas is God about inserting himself into humanity - when his Son came in human form

God was with us - and is with us

Have you ever meditated on that fact?

That the God of the universe, took on human form in his Son, Jesus

And we will forever be with his resurrected, glorified human body in heaven

We will be raised from the dead and our bodies will be glorified with him

The event we call Christmas happened in a manger in Bethlehem

Think about it - salvation for the world came from there

God provided a way to save us, and to redeem us, and to forgive us

It all started in a most unlikely place: a lowly manger

Today, Christmas is offensive to the world

Overall, Christmas is the biggest and most popular holiday in the entire world

And I realize that many countries completely reject the story of Jesus

But overall - there is no other holiday that comes close to Christmas

Even in a world that often rejects Christ, the global calendar still measures time from his birth

But there are many places in the US where the preferred greeting is “Happy Holidays”

That’s because Jesus is offensive to the world

The world doesn’t like to hear that salvation came from a manger because the world doesn’t want to admit that it needs salvation

That’s why it’s offensive

When you read the narrative in the gospels about Jesus being born, many people were affected in many different ways:

Joseph & Mary

Elizabeth

Zechariah

Even King Herod

This morning I want to share three stories surrounding the birth of Jesus

The first story is about the wise men

Then we’ll look two other stories, each about senior citizens

Today’s reading of scripture will come first from Matthew, then from Luke

Matthew 1:21–23 ESV

She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

Take note that is says he will save his people

Luke 2:30–32 ESV

for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”

Notice again, another message about salvation

(Pray...)

The Wise Men

I want us to learn from the wise men in the Gospel of Matthew

First, I want to establish that:

Jesus is real - and that he must become real to every one of us

He had to be a perfect one of us to die for us

He was fully God, but also fully man when he came to Earth

All four Gospels show large portions to the last week of Jesus' life before he died on the cross and rose from the grave The last eight chapters of Matthew do this

Very little is written about Jesus as a young child - but today we’re going to look at a few stories

Let's go back to chapter One of Matthew

Most of us can recall the story of the wise men

It comes from the 2nd chapter in Matthew

Matthew 2:1–2 ESV

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

So, these men come into Jerusalem - looking for the “king of the Jews”

King Herod hears of this and gets upset to hear there is a baby who many consider the “king of the Jews”

King Herod was assigned “king of the Jews” by the Roman government - it was a political position

He gathers the experts together and asks where this Christ was to be born

Now Herod should have known his Bible - he should have known all of this - apparently he didn’t

So the experts simply opened the book of Micah and read right there that he will be born in Bethlehem of Judea

Herod tries to trick the wise men - “Go into Bethlehem and find this baby - because I also want to worship him”

Yeah right

The wise men, or Magi were priests, or court advisers And other than what's written in the book of Matthew – and some other historical books, we don't know very much about them

We generally think of Christmas when we think of the wise men

Jesus was probably not a newborn baby when they came

For one, verse 11 says they went into the “house,” they didn’t find Jesus in the manger

But it looks to me the way Matthew wrote this account that Jesus was most likely very young

We don't even know if there were three wise men – the Bible doesn't say three guys – it just says there were wise men with three different kinds of gifts

It is thought that they were experts in astronomy and astrology

They were led to the Holy Land by a star

In verse 2, they refer to the star as “his star” That means it would have had special meaning to them, as they were experts in the stars

My only explanation is that the Holy Spirit opened their hearts to that star – and to them, that star became “his star”

They were not Jews, but it looks like they were the first ones to worship Jesus

The Bible says they went into the house and they “saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.”

They came and worshipped the baby Jesus

I believe the Holy Spirit put on their hearts that he was the Messiah

And they found them because of his star

It pointed them to Christ

What pointed you to Christ?

Who pointed you to Christ

Growing up in the church, I remember what I refer to as “the great men of faith” at my church...

And let me ask you this – Are you pointing others to Christ? Are you a shining star to others?

Does your life point to Jesus? Does your life lead others to him?

Do you live a life that points others to Jesus? Are you “his star” that shines on this Earth?

The Holy Spirit guided the Magi, but he specifically used the star to direct them to Jesus

The Lord wants to specifically use you to illuminate the way to Jesus

My prayer is that the Lord will use you to direct others to Christ - that we may be bright, shining stars in this dark world!

And that’s the story of the wise men

Simeon

When Jesus was still young, the Law of Moses commanded new parents to enter the temple and offer sacrifices

We see that the parents of Jesus held to this command in Luke 2

Once they came to the temple they encountered a devout Jew named Simeon

This meeting with Simeon had been arranged by the Holy Spirit

Here’s the background to that story

In verse 22, we see that Jesus was brought to Jerusalem by his parents for purification - and to be presented to the Lord

This would be done at the temple

According to the Law, Jesus would be 40 days old at this time

For this purification, Jesus’ parents could offer their sacrifices

In any case, Joseph and Mary have entered the temple - with Jesus, who is 40 days old

So, they were - all there in the temple

And there was a man there - Simeon

Not just some guy

The Bible says he was, “righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.”

He was expecting to see Jesus

And it says that the Holy Spirit revealed to him that he would not die until he saw him

And it says he walks into the temple, filled with the Spirit

So, here is this devout man of God

Led by the Spirit

Having been given a promise by the Holy Spirit that he wouldn’t die before seeing Jesus

He wouldn’t die until he laid eyes on the Messiah

And he walks in - and there is Joseph and Mary with their 40-day-old baby Jesus

This is a divine appointment

I know what my first thought would be - my first prayer would be, “Okay Lord, does this mean I’m going to die?”

So, here’s this devout man of God who has been waiting to see the Messiah - and there he is - little baby Jesus

The Bible doesn’t say he looked at the parents and said, “Can I hold him?”

It just says he picked up Jesus - almost as if he grabbed Jesus out of the arms of Mary

And here’s what the Bible says:

Luke 2:28–33 ESV

he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him.

The Holy Spirit led Simeon into the presence of baby Jesus, so he can lay eyes on him

And that’s the story of Simeon

I think the story is about how Simeon confirmed who Jesus is

An older man

Who worshipped the Lord

Who was righteous, devout, and was waiting on the Lord

Do you confirm who Jesus is to others?

Anna

And then there’s the story of Anna

She was also there in the temple

Here’s her story:

Luke 2:36–38 ESV

And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

She was an 84 year old prophetess

She was there in the temple - the Bible says she never departed the temple

And no doubt, she was probably well-known to everyone in that temple

Here’s what we know about her:

v. 36:

She was a prophetess

She was old

She had been faithful to her husband until he died

v. 37:

She was faithful to God and to the temple (never marrying again). This means her devotion was focused on the Lord.

Her way of worship included prayer and fasting - which she displayed night and day

v. 38:

She gave thanks “that hour” - presumably when Jesus was presented

This specific Greek verb for being thankful is only found here in this story in Luke- it includes confession

She was confessing all to the Lord

“and to speak of him to all” - this makes her perhaps the first person - ever recorded -

to teach others about Jesus since his birth

With the exception of the shepherds who seem to evangelize others

I can’t think of another person from the Bible who explicitly taught about Jesus before Anna did

So we have the wise men from the east - who were guided to the home of Jesus by “his star”

And we have two elderly people who loved the Lord - and served the Lord - who personally encountered the baby Jesus

And this is my encouragement for you:

That you worship him

Devote your life to him

Teach others about him

Confirm him

And light the way to him

Most of the time, when we think of serving God, or doing ministry for the Lord -

We think of something grand, like mission work to a foreign country

Or, going out and feeding the poor, etc

We always think of something very visible

But - every one of you can serve the Lord!

Your prayer life could be your mission world

Like the wise men,

Worship him

Like Simeon,

you can confirm who Christ is

be a devout follower and worshipper of the Lord

Like Anna,

you can be faithful to God

be worshipful every day - and pray every day

be thankful to the Lord - and confess your sins to the Lord

teach others about Jesus

Close

That was my three stories, but I lied -

I want to read to you one more quick story from a pastor

One of the most unusual people I have ever met was a gentleman I knew when I was a college professor. He was an elderly man, and had served for decades as a foreign missionary, until age and infirmity made it necessary for him to retire.

He decided, however, that he still wanted to have a mission of service to God, and even though he was infirm and almost totally bedfast, he committed himself to working for Christ for eight hours a day.

Those eight hours were spent in concentrated prayer. He couldn’t walk; he couldn’t give messages; he was almost blind and consequently couldn’t write; all that he could do was to offer service to God through a ministry of prayer.

What a saint he was! Whenever I spoke with him I couldn’t help but think of the statement of James, that ‘The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much’ (James 5:16). And if there was anybody that I wanted to pray for me, it was this old, retired missionary, because he knew how to pray.

[R. C. Sproul, A Walk with God: An Exposition of Luke (Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications, 1999)]

Your life has purpose!

It’s not over

God would have you serve him and devote your life to him

It doesn’t matter your age or circumstances -

all of us can and should have our own ministry for God

(Pray...)