Know Jesus (2025)

Introduction

How many of you have had this situation: Someone greets you and starts talking with you as if you know who they are, but you have no idea who they are.

It could be that you met the person at an earlier time but forgot. But, of course, you aren’t going to admit that the initial meeting with that person was so uninspiring that you don’t even remember that they existed.

Or, maybe you remember meeting that person, but for the life of you, you can’t remember the person’s name. You don’t want to ask their name again an show you forgot, especially if you’ve been talking to the person for more than a few minutes. In fact, the longer they talk, the worse it would be to ask them for their name!

I struggle with this in particular because it doesn’t sit well with people when the pastor forgets their name!

Maybe the person has changed in a significant way and you just don’t recognize him? You don’t want to say, “Yes Jim, I remember you when you didn’t weigh as much as a Mac truck.” “Yes, Darla, I remember when your hair wasn’t dyed an off-blue-adjacent color!” (Don’t say either one of those!)

And, truth be told, we are all getting older and the memory doesn’t quite work the way it used to. We can remember unnecessary trivial facts about nonsense, but we see someone we should know and suddenly our brains go into lockdown mode and all we can manage is to make mumbling sounds from our face-holes!

But, even when we recognize and know a person, do we really know that person?

Many of the relationships we have aren’t much deeper than surface level. And even deeper relationships are sometimes guarded.

In fact, most of us are afraid to really be transparent with many people because we are afraid to be seen completely, warts and all.

Because of this, we find ourselves knowing people, but not really knowing those people.

It can be true of the biblical stories as well. In fact, look at one of the most popular in all of the NT:

Read Luke 2:1-20…

How many of us are familiar with this story?

How many of us are so familiar with this story that we could probably quote it, or at least parts of it?

How many of us can explain various details of the story to others so they would have a better understanding of it?

How many of us can honestly say this story, and those that follow it, has completely changed the direction, purpose, and focus of our life?

This morning we going to look at this story that tells us about Jesus, but we are going to ask ourselves something even more vital:

Do I really know Jesus?

Body:

Three things we are shown about Jesus in this passage:

Jesus was born into humble circumstances.

This isn’t an introduction into the world that one would expect for the single most important person in human history!

There was no room for them in the normal places, so Mary was relegated to having the Savior of the world in a place where animals were kept!

Nice hospitals today…

As for Mary, there was no room for her to give birth in the “inn”…

Mary gave birth to Jesus in the lower level of a home, where animals were kept…

If that wasn’t enough, they laid him in a feeding trough!

When she was a baby, if I laid Elizabeth in our dog food bowl, April would not be happy!

But that’s all they had.

See, Jesus had a humble birth in spite of being the most important person ever born. In doing this we learn two things:

Christ Jesus can identify with us

Us, the unworthy, lowly common folks of this world.

One of the knocks on modern politicians are that most of them don’t come from the places we come from. Most are wealthy before they enter into politics, and even more are wealthy when they leave politics!

Every four or six years they like to pretend like they identify with us, the common folk, but we know that they don’t.

Last week I went to a Portland Trailblazers game with Phoebe. At one point they showed the players “walk-ins” on the big screen. This is when the players were walking into to Moda Center before the game. And then comments were made about the clothes they were wearing. One player, walked in sporting some strange looking sweatpants and I wondered how much they cost him. I looked it up and they were just a shade under $2500. For sweatpants. My entire closet full of clothes doesn’t cost $2500! They don’t live like us!

Unlike modern politicians or athletes, Jesus can identify with us.

He knew what it was like to struggle to make ends meet, to live on just enough to get by, to work hard daily without any fanfare.

He knows our struggles!

The other thing Jesus humble birth reminds us is:

The important things are not what we can gain, but in what we do for others .

I love Christmas movies...

But most Christmas movies miss the real reason for the season. They say it’s about love, family, giving, hope, goodness, kindness, etc…all wonderful things, but all things that are byproducts of the real reason for the season.

The real reason for the season is that God sent the Savior into the world to save sinners from eternal damnation. Because He did this, we can be saved from our sins, which is the only way to truly have all of those other things abundantly both in this life and the next.

That’s what He did for us. So what can we do for others as a result of the greatest gift of all?

Jesus was glorified by the highest and lowest of beings.

To be praised by a choir of angels and lowly shepherds at the same time is a wonderful dichotomy.

On one hand, exalted servants at the call of God whose greatest purpose is to bring glory to God.

On the other, shepherds, who were so looked down on by the society they lived in that they couldn’t participate in worship or even testify in court!

It’s really wonderful bookends: the great to the least all worshiped him who was and is greatest of all!

Why?

Even at birth, Jesus is Savior, Christ, and Lord.

Look again at what the angel of the Lord says: Read vv. 10-11.

He says three things about Jesus: He is Savior; He is Christ; He is Lord. Let’s understand the significance of all three:

Savior – from chapter 3 of Genesis, throughout the rest of the OT we learn that humanity has a problem…a sin problem!

Paul sums it up nicely for us in Romans 3:23

Romans 3:23 ESV

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Mankind, needed a Savior. Only Jesus fits the bill!

Romans 3:24-25…

Romans 3:24–25 ESV

and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

Jesus would fulfill this at the cross, yet it was so assured that even at birth he could be called the Savior!

Christ – The Jews had long looked for a Messiah; a leader who would throw off the chains of their oppressors and reestablish Jewish sovereignty over Israel.

Jesus was and is this Messiah, though many of the Jews rejected him not seeing that it wasn’t the Romans he came to overcome, but sin, death, and Satan!

Lord – This word means more than “master,” though master is fitting too.

The Bible of the day for most Jews was the LXX, the Greek version of the OT.

The word translated as LORD in the LXX was always used in reference to God.

Here, the same word is used, purposely, showing that Jesus is exactly who the angel told Joseph he would be: Immanuel, God with us!

Key Question: What difference does that make?

For many here, everything I’ve said is familiar...

But here’s the kicker…what difference has that made in your life?

See, you can know about something or someone, but never really know them, at least know them intimately.

Many today have a least a little knowledge about Jesus. Others have a decent amount. And others have a whole lot of knowledge about Jesus.

There is nothing wrong with knowledge; but knowledge about Jesus cannot save you!

Knowledge about Jesus doesn’t necessarily make you a follower of Jesus.

Illustration: I know a lot of info about boxing…but I’ve never once fought anyone (nor have any desire too!)

I understand the history of professional boxing better than a lot of people, but that knowledge isn’t something I put to use, outside of talking to other boxing fans.

I know about boxing, but it doesn’t make me a boxer!

It makes me a fan of boxing, not a truly committed boxer.

What does it mean to be a truly committed follower of Jesus Christ?

First, you need to believe that Jesus is the only way to be saved from the eternal punishment for your sins and put your faith in Him.

Second, you must abide with Him consistently; in His Word, in prayer, in putting your faith into tangible actions, in worship with other believers, with your behavior towards others, with your finances, with proclaiming Him to others, and with your service.

So What?

Very simple challenge: Do you know about Jesus, or do you really know Him?