Christmas Details

Details are extremely important to me. I have a slight touch of OCD and it honestly drives me crazy when things are out of place. A good example is when we were hanging the wreaths this week, There were a couple ornaments hanging below the wreath. Most of you wouldn’t have noticed, but I would have noticed and it would have really bothered me especially when I am preaching this morning. I quickly grabbed the ladder and moved the ornaments that were out place.

When I wash my truck, it drives me crazy if I miss a spot. In fact the other day I washed and detailed my truck and as I was driving there was a smudge of the windshield. I couldn’t even wait to get home to get the smudge off so I pulled in to an Advance auto parts to purchase some glass cleaning wipes to get the smudge off.

Details are very important to me. This morning, I want to take a look at the Birth of Christ and some of the key details surrounding the story. These details are so important for understand the story and if we miss them, we may miss the miracle of Jesus being born.

Turn to Luke 1:26-30

Detail 1: Angel Appearing to Mary

Luke 1:26–30 ESV

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

A story is incomplete without understanding characters in the story. It always helps to have background to a story to understand what exactly is happening.

We read in that an angel named Gabriel was sent to a woman named Mary to deliver some news to her that would change her life.

When looking at this passage, there are a few things that are important for us to understand:

1. Gabriel was sent by God: We can read all throughout Scripture of some of the miracles that God performs in and through his people and this story of the birth of Jesus Christ begins with a miracle itself. God sent an angel to Mary to tell her the news that she was going to bear a son.

In fact, notice Mary’s reaction in V. 29 “Bur she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this may be.”

Any of us would be completely astonished if an Angel appears to us with any type of news.

Here, you have this young girl who was greeted by an angel. Before the angel gave Mary any type of news, she was afraid but also in awe that the angel was there speaking on God’s behalf.

2. A city of Galilee named Nazareth:

The other interesting background piece to the story here is the fact that Mary was from Nazareth. Nazareth was never mentioned in the Old Testament. It was a small, forgotten town off the beaten path that really had no credibility in the eyes of those who knew how small it was.

Fast Forwarding the story, Jesus was made fun of for being from Nazareth. Due to Nazareth being a small town, many doubted that a man who was from there really was the savior they had heard about.

In John, we read about Jesus calling his disciples and he finds Philip and says’ “Follow me.” Philip then goes to Nathaniel and says “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote , Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

Nathaniel makes an interesting statement that will explain the significance of Jesus being from Nazareth. In “Can anything good come from Nazareth.”

Nazareth was not a major city but it is the city where the story of Jesus begins and it’s important for us to realize that God can use anything, anyone, any place to accomplish His plan. He chose to use a woman from a little town of Nazareth.

3. Mary was betrothed to a man:

We also read in V. 27 that Mary was betrothed to a man named Joseph. The process of getting married during this time was a two step process. If you have a daughter you might want to write this down because it would probably be a good practice to use today.

The first step was initiated by the father of the groom. The father would seek out a bride for his son and meet with the Bride’s father and agree upon a purchase price in exchange for the woman’s hand in marriage. So at this point, there was a contract and the man and woman were considered husband and wife, but they lived separate for a year.

Step two the man and woman moved in together. So Mary and Joseph were in that in between period where there had been a contact in place between the Bride and Groom’s fathers for them to be married. We will look more at why this is important in a minute.

4. The Angel calls Mary the favored one.

We know that Mary was a faithful follower of God, but we must not overlook the phrase that Gabriel tells her. “O favored one, the Lord is with You.”

Mary is the receiver of God’s grace, not the other way around. Although Gabriel is telling her she is the favored one, the angel is preparing her for what he is about to tell her. He wants her to know that God chose to use Mary as an instrument in his perfect plan to bring about a son that would be the Savior to the world.

God could have used anyone to bring his son Jesus to the world, but he sovereignly chose a young girl from a small town in Galilee called Nazareth.

Let’s read on in to see the second big detail of the birth of Christ.

Detail 2: Virgin Birth

Luke 1:31–35 ESV

And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.

Luke 1:

Gabriel continues his announcement to Mary that she will bear a son and his name will be Jesus. One of the greatest miracles of the story of the birth of Jesus is the truth that Jesus came to earth born of a virgin.

The virgin birth is a detail in the story of Christ’s coming that is essential for us to not only understand but to uphold as an essential doctrine.

Out of all the questions Mary could have asked Gabriel after hearing of Jesus being born, she asks: “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

Think about this situation Mary was about to be put in. She was a young girl who was engaged to a man and now was going to be pregnant with a baby, but not just any baby. This baby was going to be King and salvation belonged to this King.

Do you think maybe Mary was a little worried about what Joseph would think? What about her father? Her father would have already made a contract with Joseph’s father for him to take her in marriage, what if Joseph and his father thought Mary had been unfaithful?

We can’t imagine the fear and uncertainty that was going through Mary’s mind, but we know that she was perplexed by the fact she was about to give birth to a son.

We can affirm that God works in mysterious ways and that he accomplishes his purpose and plan in ways we often to not understand.

The virgin birth of Jesus is just another one of those miraculous acts of God that proves He is a God of miracles and a God who works in ways that are higher than we can ever think.

After Mary questions the angel on how is it possible for her to give birth, the angel answers in

35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.

Gabriel explains to Mary that the Holy Spirit will produce the child and due to this miraculous act, the child will be called “Holy”

The term “Holy” as it appears in this passage is an adjective used to describe Jesus and has the meaning of being anointed or set apart for a particular task.

There are some major implications for Christians when we look at the Virgin Birth:

The Virgin Birth explains that God was both fully man and fully God.

That’s what makes Jesus the perfect savior is that he has two natures:

Fully God: Due to Jesus being fully God, he is the adequate Savior. Our salvation is complete and secure due to the fact that Jesus was fully God.

Fully Man: Jesus experienced the same things we do. He can identify with us more intimately. Our savior can sympathize with us because he walked the earth as a man.

Believing in the virgin birth is such an important detail in the birth of Jesus.

A controversial book was written in 2012 by a Pastor who was involved in the Post Modern movement. This Pastor affirmed the Virgin Birth but wrote that if evidence was found that Jesus had not been born of a Virgin that it would be like if a Spring were taken out of Trampoline and that you could still jump of the Trampoline without that Spring.

He couldn’t be further from the truth. The fact we read in Luke that Jesus was born of a virgin is an essential detail in the coming of Jesus.

The book is filled with bad theology but one of the statements this pastor made was that the Virgin Birth

Albert Mohler who serves as President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisvile, Kentucky wrote an article of the essential belief in the Virgin Birth. He says:

Implications, indeed. If Jesus was not born of a virgin, who was His father? There is no answer that will leave the Gospel intact. The virgin birth explains how Christ could be both God and man, how He was without sin, and that the entire work of salvation is God’s gracious act. If Jesus was not born of a virgin, He had a human father. If Jesus was not born of a virgin, the Bible teaches a lie.

If Jesus was not born of a virgin, who was His father? There is no answer that will leave the Gospel intact. The virgin birth explains how Christ could be both God and man, how He was without sin, and that the entire work of salvation is God’s gracious act. If Jesus was not born of a virgin, He had a human father. If Jesus was not born of a virgin, the Bible teaches a lie.

God’s Word is perfectly inspired and all the stories and the miracles we read happened the way God wanted them to. The virgin birth is another miracle of God to bring forth His son to the world and we must hold to that truth.

The Virgin birth is part of the story of Christ being born we must hold to and celebrate because it shows how marvelous and mighty God is that He can bring about the birth of his son Jesus in a way no one had every been born before.

The virgin brith reminds us that Jesus was in fact special and is the only person who qualifies to bring about salvation to the world.

This man named Jesus would be great and called the Sons

Detail 3: Shepherds Declaration

Luke 2:8–17 ESV

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a 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 among those with whom he is pleased!” When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.

Luke

Why Shepherds?

We see the Shepherds in the manger scenes we set up in our home, we even sing about them in hymns, but what is the significance of the Shepherds in this story?

This is not the first time shepherd’s are mentioned in Scripture.

The Lord is my Shepherd.

John 10:11 ESV

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

John 10:10 ESV

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

We read the examples of how God is our Shepherd and that gives us a picture of who God is, but there is something very interesting in the fact that God chose Shepherd’s to reveal the birth of Christ to first.

In fact, Shepherds were in the lower class in society. They weren’t around people because they were tending to their sheep. The Pharisees looked down on Shepherds because they could not keep the Sabbath because sheep needed constant protection.

As an angel appears to Shepherds in the field to tell them of the birth of Jesus, we must pay close attention because Shepherds were an unlikely character for God to send an angel to make this proclamation.

God sent the angel to proclaim Jesus not to those that had studied Scripture all their life, he didn’t send the angel to proclaim Jesus’ Birth to an elite class, but he sent the angel to proclaim the birth of Christ to the least likely of recipients.

Three important reasons why God chose to reveal Christ’s birth to the Shepherds:

1. God revealed the birth to the Shepherds to shame religious leaders.

Listen to the words of

27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,

2. God revealed the birth to the Shepherds to bring them joy.

The angel revealed to the Shepherd’s in V. 10 that the good news of great joy will be for all people” implying that this savior would bring hope to all people whether Jew or Gentile but then the angel makes it personal in V. 11 “for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord”

3. God revealed the birth to the Shepherd’s for Mary and Joseph’s sake.

Remember that Mary and Joseph had been visited by angels to receive the news that God was going to give them a child and the child would be the savior to all people.

After the Shepherd’s visited Jesus and had seen for themselves the savior, “Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart” V. 19.

This provided affirmation to Mary and Joseph that what had just happened was in fact from God and that there was something special about this child and it proved that God is exactly who He says’ he is and gave them encouragement.

The Shepherds play a key role in the story of Christ’s Birth because God uses unlikely characters to reveal the news to and to use as instruments to share the good news with others.

However, Shepherds were chosen by God to be the first to hear the news and there was a reason for this.

This shows us that God can use whoever he wants to accomplish his purpose.

However, Shepherds were chosen by God to be the first to hear the news and there was a reason for this.

As we’ve talked about so far, God uses unlikely people to accomplish His great and Sovereign plan.

Detail 4: Visitation of the Wise Men

Matthew 2:1–12 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.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: “ ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ” Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, 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. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

When we think of the wise men we think of the character’s in the story that brought gifts to Jesus. That is correct but we must look at the significance of the gifts and the actual characters who brought the gifts.

The wise men played political and religious roles and would have been prominent in the area they were from.

In the story of the birth of Christ, the wise men show up to Jesus’ house when he is around 2 years old.

We see three reasons why the Wise Men are important to the story of the birth of Christ:

The wise men sought Jesus. V 1-2 After the birth of Jesus, doing research proves that this came about two years after jesus was born in Bethlehem.

The wise men worshipped Jesus. V. 11 tells us that they entered the house Jesus was living in and they fell down and worshipped him.”

Their response is crucial for us to model because they immediately humbled themselves before Jesus and bowed down to worship Him.

3. The wise men gave gifts to Jesus V. 11 “They opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”

It is amazing that the wise men would bring gifts to Jesus but it’s even more amazing to see what each gift meant because that is a significant point in the story.

Gold: Royalty, this gift recognized the Kingship of jesus.

Frankincense: This was used as an incense by priests to worship God in the Temple so when this was presented as a gift it represents the fact that Jesus would serve the priestly role of connecting sinners to God.

Myrrh: Myrrh had multiple uses but the Old Testament used Myrrh to describe joy and festivity.

The gifts that the wise men gave to Jesus are significant but what’s even more significant is that the wise men were another unlikely character that God used in the story of his son coming to earth.

Magi were astrologers from the royal court of the king of Persia. Part of their job description was to make the king of Persia look good, but here they come to promote another king.

The fact we see the wise men or Magi come and worship Jesus gives us strong evidence that God can redeem and save anyone he pleases. If he can use astrology to turn the wise men’s focus to Jesus and cause’ them to come and worship Jesus, He has the power to save sinners no matter their background.

The wise men are important to the story of Christ being born because it reminds us that God is in control and He is working in ways that we often do not understand.

Conclusion

One of the most glorious truths we have this Christmas is that the story of Jesus begins in some of the most improbable ways we could ever think of.

An angel appeared to Mary, Mary became pregnant as a Virgin, After Jesus’ birth the Shepherds were told about Jesus and came to visit him, then a couple years later the wise men came and worshipped Jesus.

Each detail of this narrative was given for a reason and when we read and study the birth of Christ, it’s amazing how God uses these things to accomplish the birth of Christ.

We can’t explain these miracles other than the fact God accomplished the coming of his son Jesus they way He wanted to. It wasn’t the prettiest or most put together story as far as the characters he used, but it is perfect because it’s the exact way he wanted Jesus to come into this earth.

We tend to get so wrapped up in details around Christmas and want everything to be absolutely perfect, but look at the birth of Christ.

Look at how God used people and situations that weren’t perfect at all to accomplish the coming of a perfect savior.

God shows his power and his might over and over again throughout the story of Jesus.

In all the small and big details of this wonderful story of the birth of Christ, the most important truth for us today is the truth that Jesus was born exactly

Focus on the glorious details of the birth of Christ this Christmas and don’t get discouraged when all the details of your Christmas don’t pan out.

The only appropriate way we can respond to Jesus this morning is to fall down and worship Him like the wise men did when they saw him the first time.

Is Jesus the center of your Christmas. He is to be the center of our lives’ but especially during this time of year.

His mission on earth began in a miraculous way. God sent his son for us.

He is the perfect savior.

May our hearts and minds focus on the glorious Savior this Christmas and may we enjoy genuine worship with Him as he desires us to.