The Story of Christmas
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
I. A Birth
I. A Birth
And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.
This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.
So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.
Ceasar Augustus and Quirinius are in power by the authority of the Roman empire.
God’s people, the Jewish people, have been oppressed at many times in their history, and they are still under Roman rule. This is why so many of the Jews thought that Jesus was going to come as a warrior instead of as a child to die for the sins of the world.
However, even in times when it seems like the powers of the world are in full control, at times in your life when it seems like the circumstances are in control, you have to know, because of God’s word, and because of the promise that He has made, that He is in authority.
What these governors thought was a command from power and authority, a plan hatched to take a census for the purposes of taxation, is the beginning of the miracle birth that was predicted all throughout the Old Testament.
Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,
to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.
There are two cities called “Bethlehem” in the Scripture. The first one that comes to mind is the Bethlehem in this story of Christ’s birth. The other Bethlehem was found in northern Palestine. The reality that Micah 5:2 predicted the exact location of Christ’s birth is not a coincidence, but it God’s signature that His plans are always completed.
“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.”
When there is doubt in our lives, when we are weak and afraid, when we think that our God is powerless, we must always remember that our God transcends time and space, and that He is working in ways that are simple to understand but miraculous to see. He is a God that is not bound by human timeframes, but a God Who has seen the end.
God has seen the end of this age. He has seen the new Heavens and the new earth. He has seen the end of your circumstance, and He has seen the end of your struggle.
Jesus Christ was part of God’s divine plan to make right all the wrongs of this world…and if you can trust God with your salvation and your eternity, then you can trust God with the circumstances of life.
So, don’t fight against the plans of the Lord, embrace them and be encouraged that God is a God Who has won the victory in your life.
So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered.
And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Over the years, people have described this scene many different ways.
Some make it out like Mary and Joseph traveled all over the area and looking for a room at every hotel, and everyone turned them away.
Others have said that Mary gave birth to Jesus in the basement of a house where the barn animals were kept.
The reason that there is much confusion whether Jesus was born in a barn, in a stable, or in a basement, hinges on that last word in v. 7, the word “inn.”
Relation:
Relation:
When Elizabeth and I were first married, we had nothing. I turned 19 years old on September 21st of 2013, and we were married on September 28th of 2013. Because we didn’t have any money, the only place that we could afford to live was in this guy’s shed (pause). I wasn’t about to bring my new wife home to live with my parents, so I rented her a shed. We knew this man, and before I was married I asked him if we could rent it and he rented it to us for a whopping $400/mo with water and power included and I took it. Now, while it could be called a shed, it was actually a building detached from his house. Part of the building was a studio apartment, and the other part of the building was his shop. So, based on how we use our language, there can be a lot of different interpretations, which is why there is so much confusion on the inn.
The word “inn” does not mean hotel. It also doesn’t mean basement or barn. Neither does it indicate that Joseph and Mary couldn’t find a hotel room, because no where in Scripture does it indicate that Joseph and Mary were turned away by any hotels or by any motels.
Because this was Joseph’s hometown, he would have likely made arrangements to stay with family. The word “inn” literally means “guest room.” It was an upper loft in a home that could be accessed by an exterior staircase. This was a common thing in that day, so that others would have a place to stay as they were passing through.
Because of the large crowd that would have been staying there, there was no room in this upper loft, so they moved to the ground level. The ground level of these houses were the common living spaces.
So, I hate to shatter your Christmas spirit, but many of our traditions and understandings around the birth of Jesus are biblically incorrect.
Could you imagine if your niece, nine months pregnant, comes to your home and you say, “sorry, there’s no room in the house, you’ll have to stay in the barn.” That’s outrageous.
Well, why the manger? Because, in that day, it wasn’t uncommon for the barn animals to occupy the living spaces. When Mary goes into labor, and because the home wasn’t prepared to receive a child, they made a crib out of a feeding trough.
And of all the crazy assumptions we’ve made about the Christmas story, the craziest might be that a 15 year-old boy was the mid-wife for Mary that night. Can you imagine?
Application:
Application:
Now, there is Jesus…born in a manger. Maybe not as humbly as the nativity makes it out to be but certainly a very humble birth.
The thing about God is that He operates so differently than this world does.
We think that luxury and ease of living is what makes us acceptable, makes us royalty, or makes us important, but it was this humble experience in the manger that we see the heart of God.
Life is not about luxury and it’s not about our status on this earth. This life is about bringing glory to God.
Matthew Henry commented on this verse and this is what he said,
Jesus well knew how unwilling we are to be meanly lodged, clothed, or fed; how we desire to have our children decorated and indulged; how apt the poor are to envy the rich, and how prone the rich to disdain the poor. But when we by faith view the Son of God being made man and lying in a manger, our vanity, ambition, and envy are checked. We cannot, with this object rightly before us, seek great things for ourselves or our children. 1
1 Thabiti Anyabwile, Exalting Jesus in Luke, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2018), 43.
That’s not to say that we cannot have nice things, but simply that living for things and experiences is a shallow existence.
Here’s what Jesus teaches, Mark 8:36
For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
It’s neither wrong nor holy to be rich, it’s neither wrong nor holy to be poor, it’s neither wrong nor holy to be middle class, but it is wrong to make that the focus of our life.
God has a divine plan for this world, and Jesus is that plan. God has a divine plan for your life, and Jesus is that plan.
The plan is to seek Him, to worship Him, and to rejoice in Him.
transition:
transition:
That’s exactly what the story of the shepherds is meant to show us.
II. A Sign
II. A Sign
Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.
Exalting Jesus in Luke Glory in the Highest (2:8–20)
These are out at night keeping watch over their flock (v. 8). This is not glorious work. This is not the best shift. Shepherds had bad reputations. The nature of their work meant they could not observe Israel’s ceremonial laws. They were considered unreliable and could not give testimony in the law courts. They were a despised class of people.
Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
You would think this announcement would be made in the place of royalty, but instead the announcement was made in the place of those that were despised.
Last week I preached and I mentioned that that God responds to the least of these. He has already used this girl from Nazareth, and now He is making the announcement of kingship to these lowly shepherds.
Why does God keep doing this?
Because, He needs us to understand that the entire world is important. From the greatest to the least, God is no respecter of persons.
There may be nothing more arrogant than to despise what God says that He loves.
Now, God says that He loves the poor, God says that He loves the incapable, God says He loves those that can give nothing in return…and yet, we think that if we earn favor with those that can repay us, then we are doing ourselves a favor.
But, let me ask you this question…
Did the lowly birth place of Jesus Christ diminish His deity? Did it diminish His royalty?
Did the announcement to the lowly shepherds in the field instead of to the kings in the highest courts diminish His power and His status?
No…
Because God is not primarily concerned with what you have or where you are from, God is primarily concerned with who you are.
We spend so much time focused on the outward things. How we look, what we eat, what kind of luxury that we can have, but God desires that we be inwardly cleansed, inwardly holy, and inwardly presentable.
We get into the places in our lives when we think that we are somebody and that we hanging around other people that are somebody, all the while we’ve missed the most important Somebody that has ever lived.
And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
This verse contains the very essence of Who God is. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-sufficient, ever-present, and yet He is just as approachable as a little baby in a manger.
What kind of a person approaches a new-born baby without reverence? What kind of a person approaches a new-born baby loudly and inappropriately? No one. Babies are something, aren’t they? Our whole world revolves around them.
They are so precious and important that we would protect them with our lives. They are so delicate and beautiful that they bring us sincere and wholesome joy. They are so worthy of our respect that we wouldn’t dare neglect them.
No wonder Jesus came as a little baby.
The sign is that He would be there, wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a lowly manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
“Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
This little Baby is our peace.
How Has God Given us Peace through Jesus?
How Has God Given us Peace through Jesus?
He has made us right with God
He will destroy sin in the final days
He will reign forever
And it all begins with this sign…the King of Kings, wrapped in swaddling cloths in a manger lay.
So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.”
And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.
Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child.
And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.
Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.
1. A Search for Truth
1. A Search for Truth
v. 15 The sign was delivered, the truth was given, and the shepherds went and sought out that truth.
v. 16 This search was done in haste.
2. A Confirmation of Truth
2. A Confirmation of Truth
v. 16 When we begin to search out the truths delivered to us in God’s word, we will find them.
v. 17 When those truths begin to take root in our heart and in our life, we cannot help but to tell others about the truth that we’ve found.
3. The Life of Truth
3. The Life of Truth
v. 18 The Christian life is not a burden, the Christian life is a joy. Life is hard whether you’re a believer or a lost person, the only difference is that those who have believed on the Son of God have hope.
