Jesus Revealed

John 1:14 NIV

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Luke 2:4–20 NIV

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Luke 2:4-

Introduction: I want to talk about Big Revelations, and How those big revelations are shared are important. - In the AZ Desert on April 23, 2017 a border patrol agent wanted to to reveal the gender of his soon to be born baby with legal explossives. Blue Smoke would be mean boy, and pink would mean a girl. When the explosives went off it started a fire, the famous sawmill fire of 2017 that burned 42,000 acres of land and cost $8billion dollars of damage. This was an explosive revelation.

Our scripture today also describes an explosive revelation, but in a quite different way.

27 - God reveals himself to ordinary people.

Progression of Revelation by means of Angelic Declaration in Luke - Zechariah, Then Mary,

By means of the Holy Spirit - Elizabeth and then Mary, and the Zechariah

By means of Angelic Declaration - Shepherds

By means of the Holy Spirit - Simeon and Anna

Revelation is God showing Himself to humanity - Story of my meeting my best friend - Revealed that there was a boy in the neighborhood named Justin. Then I met Justin and our relationship as I got to know him, he revealed more about himself to me through the years.

Questions???

-Why would God send Angels to the Shepherds?

-Why not announce it to the world?

-Why do this in such a humble way?

-How Can we verify this story, if Jesus actually did come in this way?

Answers.

- It was their job to authenticate the sacrificial lambs, The message is one to be passed on person to person – They shared with the people what the Angels said.

- The world thinks in power structures – This is a subversive kingdom to the power structures (frightening). Eye-Witness testimony. Third to protect the Baby from being killed, so that he may fulfill his mission (the rest of the good news), So that it is not with compliance, but by decision.

- Contrast to the world’s ways, that God uses the ordinary to do the Extraordinary. God does not need the powerful to do his work for him.

- There is a lot of Trust – Mary is the one who is telling this story, yet Jesus is well attested as living, Early Church Father’s like Justin Martyer claimed to see the actual sensus registry of Jesus. – Then there is the Resurrection.

Application Point: Do not believe God can not reveal himself to you.

Application Point: Do not believe God can not reveal himself to you.

You are saying that the Angels are revealing God, but it seems like their message is about Jesus.

28 - Jesus reveals God to us.

Caesar - 'But the birthday of the god was for the world the beginning of tidings of joy on his account.'- The Prienne Inscription Dated 9 B.C. – Tidings (Gospel) Announcement sent throughout the Roman Empire.

- Jesus is literally God made flesh (). Jesus was not just a good teacher among many other teachers. He is God. “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg—or he would be the devil of hell. You must take your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us” (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity [New York: Touchstone, 1980], 56).

- There have been many heresies concerning the nature of Jesus over the history of Christianity. One of them is called docetism, the idea that Jesus didn’t really have a human body, just the appearance of one, and was indeed only a spirit (http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2015/october/historys-biggest-heresies.html). This heresy undermines Jesus being born as a God-Man, as well as his physical death and resurrection. It may seem impossible to some for the Son of God to actually dwell on the earth as a baby. He had to have his diaper changed, his nose wiped, his fingernails and toenails trimmed. But it was this willingness to humble himself and to take on humanity’s weaknesses that made Jesus’s victory over death possible (see ).

- Usually the term “one and only” is reserved for romantic interests. But here in John that name is reserved for Jesus. Our belief in Jesus’s uniqueness as God’s only Son and the only way to the Father is essential not only for our relationship with him, but also for our ability to show the world the glory of the living God.

Application Point: Pursue Jesus and you pursue God.

Christmas is the time we celebrate the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus.

29 - Jesus reveals God in his Birth.

Application Point: Implications of the Incarnation.

a. Jesus is fully God and able to be sinless

b. Jesus is fully human, embraces all that is human, empathy, to redeem every facet of humanity

c. Jesus empties himself of Godly Power, in order to be Holy Spirit empowered, showing us the way to live.

d. Jesus comes as a humble servant-king

e. The Word became Flesh – entered our neighborhood, walked miles in our shoes.

This means we are called to do what the Shepherds do, share the good news with others.

Chair Sponsorship praying - Praying for your neighbors.

Invite them to the Big Day - January 13th, invite them on Sunday, or Christmas Eve.

Be a part of a Missional Community - Enter into the neighborhood.

Conclusion: The Shepherds were chosen for to have Jesus revealed to them and to reveal him to others by means of their special task of being shepherds whose job it was to know the sacrificial lamb, but they were themselves considered ordinary men. John, was an fisherman who saw the Word become flesh and dwell among us and saw him and knew him, but he shared the good news of Jesus. What they revealed was explosive. We are ordinary people as well. If we pursue Jesus, He will reveal God to us, and we to can share what we have seen and heard to others.

Reference the Reformed Confessions: The Reformed Confessions are statements of faith written to clarify the Gospel at times when the Church was in crisis. Heidelberg Catechism: Q&A 17-18, 29, 33-36, 122 Belgic Confession: Articles 2, 10, 18 Canons of Dort: Head III & IV, Articles 6-7