Bethlehem, Prophecy, and Humble Birth

The true Christmas story is far more powerful—and far more personal—than the version we often see wrapped in sentiment and tradition. Through Luke 2, Pastor Greg looks at how Christmas has been romanticized and even sidelined, yet the real story remains explosive: God stepped out of Heaven and into human history.

Notes:

Taking Christmas Back

Luke 2

 

The real Christmas story is explosive.

That’s because the gospel is the power of God unto salvation.

 

Christmas has been hijacked.

 

Christmas has been emptied of its meaning.

 

Portland, Oregon just had its annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony.

 

Christmas has perhaps been far too romanticized even by well-meaning Christians.

 

The beauty of the true Christmas story has explosive power.

 

The night when God Himself came to this earth.

 

The first Christmas is when God stepped out of Heaven and entered history.

 

Mary was living in Nazareth, a town known for its wickedness.

 

Mary was a nobody in a nothing town in the middle of nowhere.

 

The angel Gabriel had announced to Mary that she would be the mother of the Messiah.

 

Luke 1:28–30 (NLT)

Gabriel appeared to her and said, "Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!"

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

"Don't be afraid, Mary," the angel told her, "for you have found favor with God!

 

Read Luke 2:1–7

 

Joseph is the unsung hero of the Christmas story.

 

God’s selection of Joseph was just as significant as His selection of Mary.

God, the Father in Heaven, chose Joseph to be a stepfather or father figure on earth for Jesus.

 

Jesus grew up in many ways like any other child.

 

We are in danger of becoming a fatherless society in America.

 

That’s why Joseph matters.

 

Hearing that Mary was pregnant, Joseph was willing to simply “put her away quietly,” to break the engagement.

 

But the angel of the Lord came to Joseph, too.

 

Matthew 1:20–21 (NKJV)

But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins."

 

Luke is very meticulous in his reporting.

 

Luke was not an eyewitness to the life of Jesus.

 

He carefully researched and had first-person interviews with the principal characters of the story.

It was his desire to bring a historical and accurate record of the life of Jesus.

 

These are not fairy tales or legends Luke invented.

Luke 1:3

 

Caesar Augustus was the first real Roman emperor.

His real name was Caius Octavius.

 

The Roman Republic was now the Roman Empire.

 

One inscription that was found called Augustus Caesar “the savior of the whole world.”

 

Luke 2:11–12 (NKJV)

"For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger."

 

The angel was saying, “Augustus is not the savior of Rome, Jesus is.”

 

In a time when man wanted to be God, God became a man.

 

God incarnate born on the dirt floor of a filthy cave.

 

God became a fetus. Deity in diapers.

 

Babies are so amazing and so helpless.

You have to cradle their heads.

 

“It was clearly a leap down— as if the Son of God rose from his splendor, stood poised on the rim of the universe irradiating light, and dove headlong, speeding through the stars over the Milky Way to earth’s galaxy . . . where he plunged into a huddle of animals. Nothing could be lower.” — R. Kent Hughes

 

This symbolized Jesus’s whole life on this earth, from the cradle to the cross.

 

2 Corinthians 8:9 (NKJV)

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.

 

Luke 2:7 (NKJV)

And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

 

That phrase became emblematic of Jesus’s life and ministry on earth.

 

Christ said, “In my Father’s house are many mansions.”

 

We didn’t have any room for Him, but He has many rooms for us.

 

We effectively lose Jesus at Christmas.

 

We say things like, “I would like to go to church, but I’m just too busy.”

 

When Mary and Joseph got back home, they realized Jesus was gone.

 

This can happen to us, too.

Not that we lose our salvation, but we can lose sight of Jesus.

 

It’s not about Christmas presents but His Christmas presence.

 

The message of Christmas is, “let us worship.”

 

We need a savior because we are sinners.

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