Sermon Tone Analysis

A CHRISTMAS JOURNEY-- IT BEGAN IN NAZARETH

Spring Valley Mennonite; December 7, 2021; Luke 1:26-28, Matthew 1:18-24, 2:19ff.

One of the best-known daily devotionals is a volume entitled "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers.

I find this quote instructive: "Jesus Christ was born into this world, not from it.

He did not emerge out of history; He came into history from the outside.

Jesus Christ is not the best human being the human race can boast of-He is a Being for whom the human race can take no credit for at all.

He is not man becoming God, but God Incarnate-God coming into human flesh from outside it.

His life is the highest and the holiest entering through the most humble of doors.

Our Lord's birth was an advent-the appearance of God in human form.

This is what is made so profoundly possible for you and for me through the redemption of man by Jesus Christ."

"Advent" means "arrival".

Jesus Christ arrived on earth, born of the virgin Mary; God the Son, the second Person of the Trinity, took on human flesh; He is the only begotten of the Father.

From His birth until Jesus returned to heaven comprised His First Advent.

So, at Christmas we celebrate and remember His first Advent, and we anticipate and look forward to Jesus' second Advent.

The season of Advent for the believer is a time of heart preparation, a time of contemplation about the wonder of God the Son leaving the glories and holy presence of heaven to enter this dark and sinful world.

As we continue our journey toward Christmas, we find ourselves in Nazareth, for Nazareth was the home of Mary and Joseph, and the environment in which Jesus grew up.

I. WHY NAZARETH?

We have heard much about the country of Haiti in recent weeks.

Haiti has the dubious distinction of being the poorest country in the Western hemisphere.

Much of the country is controlled by criminal gangs, and violence is a way of life.

We would be very surprised if a great and respected statesman gifted in leadership would arise from Haiti.

We would question, "Can anything good come out of Haiti?" Nazareth was regarded much like we would think of Haiti.

To say 'Nazareth was not highly regarded by the Jews of Judea' would be an understatement.

Remember the response of Nathaniel when Philip wanted to introduce him to Jesus? "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"

But Jesus was to be the Savior of the whole world, not only of the Jews, so God selected a place where Jesus could grow up and be exposed to the predominant culture of the time.

At the time of Christ, Nazareth was a small and insignificant town of perhaps 400 people.

Its location lay about halfway between the Sea of Galilee and the Mediterranean.

It was greatly overshadowed by Sepphoris, a much larger city only three miles to the north.

Sepphoris was an important Greco-Roman city of 30,000 residents who enjoyed streets lined with majestic columns, an imposing theater of 4000 seats, a gymnasium, baths and ornate villas and palaces of limestone and marble.

This city was undergoing an expansion during the period when Jesus was growing up, and laborers were conscripted from the neighboring villages by Herod Antipas, Herod the Great's son.

I have little doubt that Joseph and Jesus spent time laboring in Sepphoris.

It is ironic that Nazareth survived the millennia, while Sepphoris deteriorated into dust.

One can imagine the temptations for young Jewish men living so close to a pagan city.

What does this have to do with Mary and Joseph?

Simply this: God did not pick some sheltered and safe place for His Son to be raised; instead, He picked a location and a godly set of parents who would live near, yet not be a part of the predominant culture of the day.

Mary and Joseph, growing up near this Greek and Roman center of pagan influence, had each personally dealt with living with, but not yielding to the worldly influence of Sepphoris.

Isolation from temptation is not always God's plan.

We parents have the responsibility to guide our children and model a godly lifestyle in the midst of a wicked and perverse culture.

II.

A MAIDEN FROM NAZARETH

Let's consider for a moment this maiden from Nazareth whom God chose to be the mother of Jesus.

Mary was a simple Jewish girl, living in a small town far from the religious center of Jerusalem, yet in the shadow of a major Greco-Roman city.

Her life became much more complicated when something extraordinary happened in her life.

Read with me the account of Mary's visit by the angel Gabriel; We find this account in Luke chapter 1, beginning in verse 26 (read through v. 28).

We are left with very little information about Mary other than the facts that she was unmarried, although engaged; she was from Nazareth, and of the tribe of Judah, and of the family of King David.

We must piece together information about her from studying the culture of the time, but much about her is left to speculation.

Young Jewish girls could become betrothed-engaged-when they were as young as 12 years old, yet we don't know for sure how old Mary was.

I would speculate she was in her late teens, but that is only my opinion.

What was there about this girl that moved the Heavenly Father to choose her?

We know that Mary was from a religious home and was well versed in the Holy writings of the Old Testament.

In the Magnificat, the words of Mary to Elizabeth recorded in the first chapter of Luke, we find 15 discernable quotations from the Old Testament.

While it is wonderful how God can take sinful human beings at any time in their lives and transform them into His choice servants, it has been my observation that those who have been brought up in the Christian faith have much a greater likelihood of being chosen as the ones to take on great roles in the Kingdom of God.

Note that I am speaking in generalities, to which exceptions abound, but children who become believers early in life and are surrounded by Christian love, example and biblical teaching are at the head of the pack when it comes to God's choice of leaders.

Good training and modeling are essential, but we all know that is not enough.

God has no grandchildren; each child and individual must choose to follow God on his or her own.

Mary had done that for she had found "favor with God." Literally, "favored one" means "full of grace."

Mary had personal integrity as a teenager.

While life as a teenager is much different today, the challenges faced are much the same.

There is the increased responsibility, the challenge of continual obedience to parents, and of dealing with the new emotions which come with a maturing body.

Yet Mary weathered these storms without losing God's favor.

There is encouragement here for parents of preteens who worry about the challenges to come: with God's grace, both you and your teen can survive it, and they have a great chance to come through it as did Mary.

Next, we turn to Joseph, God's choice to protect and guide Jesus in His early years.

III.

JESUS' PROTECTOR AND TRAINER

As a character in the Christmas story, Joseph pretty much stays in the background, but his importance is undisputed.

Have you ever wondered why God selected Joseph?

What was there about this simple carpenter that qualified him to have such a significant part in the life of our Savior?

My Dad worked as a carpenter for a number of years, but Dad's role was very different than that of a first century carpenter.

For starters, there were no lumber yards around the corner.

If you were a carpenter, you first went to the forest, cut down a tree, sawed it into usable lengths, carried it back to your shop or job site, sawed it into planks, and planed it smooth; only then could the carpenter make it into whatever was needed.

His vocation was extremely labor intensive.

He not only helped construct houses, but also the furniture in those homes.

He also would make wooden plows and other farm implements.

Remembering that Jesus didn't begin his ministry until the age of thirty, our Lord most likely spent 15-20 years working in the carpentry trade.

When Jesus visited Nazareth and spoke in the synagogue, as recorded in Mark 6:3, the people remarked, "Is this not the carpenter?"

As the oldest son, Jesus would have been the first among his brothers to learn the trade.

Jesus was born neither into affluence nor poverty, but he came from a blue-collar family where He learned to work.

Jesus had calloused hands and worked in a vocation that required physical strength.

He became a skilled craftsman before He began his ministry.

Jesus' training by Joseph enabled him to relate to the common, working-class people who were attracted to His teachings.

This tells us how God considers good, honest, and hard work.

Jesus' years as a carpenter lends nobility to work!

Returning to Joseph, the most important thing about him was not that he was a carpenter.

Often we assign worth to a person according to his or her vocation.

And while our vocation or job is important, we are much more than just what we do to earn a living.

The most important thing about us is our character-what is inside.

This is especially true of we who are followers of Jesus Christ.

I am a full-time Christian and a part-time anything else.

So, what kind of person was Joseph?

What kind of man does God select to be the guardian, protector and teacher of His Son?

And what can we learn about becoming and living as a person God chooses to use significantly in His Kingdom?

All we read about Joseph is contained in three chapters of scripture; Matthew 1 and 2 and Luke 2. Turn to the first chapter of Matthew's Gospel, and follow along as I read, beginning in verse 18 (read through v. 23.)

Note in verse 19 that Joseph is called "her husband."

A betrothed couple was considered to be married, although they did not yet live together.

Like Mary, Joseph was of the house and lineage of King David, as verse 20 states.

We must remember that his family background had nothing to do with Jesus' bloodline, which came through Mary.

However, because Joseph was of the tribe of Judah and of the family of King David, when the edict concerning the census went out, Joseph had to go to Bethlehem, the ancestral home of King David.

Micah 5:2 had clearly stated that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.

God moved the heart of the Emperor, Caesar Augustus, to require this census and taxation.

It was Joseph's family ties which moved the holy family to Bethlehem, for Joseph was of the family of David.