Make Known What God's Made Known
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Hook
Hook
Raise your hand if you would love to win the lottery!
People usually like to share when they win something big or find out some crazy good piece of news.
For example: me posting this pic and winning the BDR shirt and stickers
Bottom Line: Make known to others what God’s made known to you.
Look
Look
15 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.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
So have you picked up on the key phrase phrase? It is, “made known.”
The question is:
What was made known to and by the shepherds?
So we are going to break into groups right now at the beginning because I want you to find for yourselves the answer to this question.
NOTE: NEXT SESSION REVIEWS THE QUESTIONS WITH LARGE GROUP AFTER SMALL GROUPS
9 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. 10 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.
What is one word in the Bible that means these two words in 2:10, ‘good news’ ?
English Standard Version Luke 2:10
good news
euangelizomai, the verbal form of “gospel.”1
1 Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 1948
Based just on Luke 2:8-14, what are the titles that are the three titles given to Jesus?
English Standard Version Luke 2:11
Savior
English Standard Version Luke 2:11
Christ
English Standard Version Luke 2:11
Lord
Three very big titles.
They represent the full gospel message, that Jesus brings victory over sin and and entrance into a new kingdom over which He is LORD.
What do the three titles (Savior, Christ, Lord) tell us about the angel’s message of good news?
Savior: from what? (See Luke 1:77)
The ESV Study Bible Luke 2:21
The name “Jesus” (Gk. Iēsous) is the equivalent of Yeshua‘/Yehoshua‘ (Joshua) in Hebrew, meaning “Yahweh saves” or “the Lord saves.”
Christ: (anointed/chosen one) for what?
Anointed/chosen one with the implication of for a royal office, king.
Lord: of what?
English Standard Version Luke 2:15
Lord
Interestingly, they use the same word ‘Lord’ (kyrios) for the source of the message as the title the angels give to the one in the manger. It most likely did not dawn on them the connection that this was God, but the truth is there all the same.
The craziest part of it all is the following description of the form the Lord took. For each amazing title, is a descriptor of the humble the humble state Jesus is in.
What are the three descriptors of the arrived Savior, Christ, Lord?
English Standard Version Luke 2:12
baby
English Standard Version Luke 2:12
swaddling cloths
English Standard Version Luke 2:12
in a manger
The baby savior
The anointed King in diapers
The Lord lying in a feeding trough.
How do the three descriptors contrast with the three titles?
Look: Large Group
Look: Large Group
And yet...
On Luke 2:14
God’s gift of “peace” will come not to all humanity but to those whom God is pleased to call to himself.1
1 Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 1948.
English Standard Version Luke 2:17
they made known
“one early manuscript and related later witnesses have “they made widely known.”1
1 Rick Brannan and Israel Loken, The Lexham Textual Notes on the Bible, Lexham Bible Reference Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014), Lk 2:17.
So what is the good news? Jesus is here? Why doesn’t that feel like that great of news? Because there is more to the story! If we stop at the telling of the baby we haven’t actually told people anything!
English Standard Version Luke 2:20
as it had been told them
Scholar Quote: The fact of the child was news. The function of the child was gospel.1
1 Trent C. Butler, Luke, vol. 3, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), 30.
Took
Took
15 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.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
The angels leave them the message of the messiah in 2:8-14, but what will the shepherds do with it? The hastily go to Bethlehem, where they witness the baby, and testify to all what they have seen and heard of Jesus.
English Standard Version Luke 2:15
the angels went away
Angelic presence does not last forever. Angels leave. People must respond1
1 Trent C. Butler, Luke, vol. 3, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), 30.