Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro

Luke 2:1-20 NLT At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. 2 (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census.

4 And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home.

He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee.

5 He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child.

6 And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born.

7 She gave birth to her firstborn son.

She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.

8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep.

9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them.

They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them.

“Don’t be afraid!” he said.

“I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.

11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

15 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem!

Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

16 They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph.

And there was the baby, lying in the manger.

17 After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child.

18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, 19 but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.

20 The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen.

It was just as the angel had told them.

I read this for Christmas Eve year after year and it never gets old for me.

There is something about hearing this Christmas account as it is recorded in the word of God that is special.

The whole story...

A young couple on a journey to the place Jesus would be born.

The adversity they faced as they traveled and the fact that there was nowhere for them to stay and it just so happens she goes into labor.

Then there is the manger scene.

Don’t forget about the shepherds and the angel the appears and spoke to them.

And if you have been here the last several weeks you know that we have been talking about this moment in time and how it is the single most significant moment in history.

The moment God would come into his creation to fulfill a promise to restore everything that sin had destroyed.

But this evening as we consider the magnitude of it all, I want to take some time to also consider how this whole night started, and it was the result two people, Joseph and Mary and their unwavering faithfulness that led to this moment that are celebrating tonight.

Power in the Text

I mean what was so special about Mary and Joseph anyway?

Why pick them?

You may recall how it all started.

Remember Mary and Joseph were an engaged couple, they weren’t married quite yet.

Luke 1:26-38 NLT 26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, 27 to a virgin named Mary.

She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David.

28 Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman!

The Lord is with you!”

29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean.

30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.

32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High.

The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David.

33 And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”

34 Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen?

I am a virgin.”35

The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.

So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.

36 What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age!

People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month.

37 For the word of God will never fail.”

38 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant.

May everything you have said about me come true.”

And then the angel left her.

So we need to remember that Mary at this point was not a married woman.

She was engaged to be married but she wasn’t married yet.

And now she finds that she is going to be pregnant.

And not just with any child, but the son of God.

You need to understand that this was not 2021.

It isn’t uncommon to see women pregnant out of wedlock like it is today.

At this time, especially because she was engaged, Joseph would have been within his legal rights to have Mary stoned to death.

Though they weren’t married, an engagement at this time carried the significance of a marriage without the intimacy piece.

In other words, she could have been charge with adultery.

So this is Mary’s experience.

An angel appears, says all of these things and now she is left to face Joseph who let’s face it, isn’t likely to believe she is pregnant as a result of the Holy Spirit and not another man from her village.

But let’s look at Joseph’s experience.

Matthew 1:18-24 NLT 18 This is how Jesus the Messiah was born.

His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph.

But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit.

19 Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.

20 As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream.

“Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife.

For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit.

21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

22 All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: 23 “Look!

The virgin will conceive a child!

She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’ ” 24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife.

So we see that just as one might suspect, Joseph believed Mary to have been unfaithful.

But he doesn’t want to see her punished or disgraced publicly.

So instead he was just going to end things quietly.

However, like Mary, Joseph had an encounter with an angel, this time in a dream and he explained everything.

Joseph accepted this truth and went forward with marrying Mary.

Big Idea/Why it Matters

Now, we read this and we think alright, they lived happily ever after and everything was better for everyone, wrong.

Remember, people knew Mary and Joseph were engaged, but not married.

They also would have seen that she was pregnant.

So they would have begun to put two and two together and accuse the two of them of being intimate outside of marriage, which would have been a violation of God’s word.

Joseph and Mary would have had to defend their honor and reputation on more than one occasion.

There would have been no escaping it.

Yet despite all of it, they remained faithful.

I asked this at the beginning.

What was so special about this couple anyway?

For the most part they were a couple of nobodies.

They had no influence and family name to rely on.

They didn’t have a ton of money, nor were they important figures in their community.

For the most part Mary and Joseph were just two normal people, living two normal live, who had it not been for Christmas would have faded into the annuls of time, never to be given a second thought again.

But one thing they were was ordinarily faithful.