Merry Moments: The Nativity Story

Opener:

Every time I read the Christmas story, the story of Jesus being born, I am reminded of God’s love toward us and how it’s demonstrated in so many details. God wasn’t confused about our condition, time didn’t sneak up on Him, He’s been working since the foundation of the world to demonstrate His love toward us through His Son Jesus Christ.

It’s safe to say that Jesus' birth is a BIG DEAL. Jesus' birth literally splits time in two. We have BC (Before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini, which means “in the year of our Lord”). There is no year 0. So if you’re wondering if Jesus' birth was a big deal, I would say that His story has quite literally made history. Whether you like it or not, we’re living “in the year of our Lord”.

Pray: (Pause 3-5 seconds)

Mary & The Angel

Passage: Luke 1:26-38 CSB

26 In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And the angel came to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was deeply troubled by this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be. 30 Then the angel told her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end.” 34 Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?” 35 The angel replied to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 And consider your relative Elizabeth—even she has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called childless. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 “See, I am the Lord’s servant,” said Mary. “May it happen to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

1. A Favored Woman
   1. Gabriel is the angel that brought the message to Mary and is mentioned throughout Scripture as a messenger from God.
   2. Nazareth was a small insignificant town. It was a village of a few hundred people, perhaps up to a thousand. Mary was young (probably a young teenager), poor, from an insignificant town, and female. From the cultural standard, she was unusable by God for any major task. But how many of you know God doesn’t base His promises and purposes on cultural standards?! God gave Mary one of the most significant callings in human history, to carry the Son of God and to be the mother of the Messiah!
   3. Application: You may feel insignificant. You may feel unusable. “I’ve made too many mistakes.”, “I’m too young.”, “I’m too uneducated.” Let me tell you today that God wants to use you for a great purpose! He loves you and has a magnificent plan for your life!
   4. “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.’” - Matthew 1:23
   5. Application: God is with you! He is Immanuel. Just as it brought comfort to Mary in Gabriel’s greeting it should bring us comfort today. We don’t serve a distant God, we serve an intimate God. Who is with us in every season!
2. Mary Believed What God Said About Jesus
   1. 29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean.
   2. Application: Have you ever heard a word from God and said “Ok God, how?” This is a legitimate question.
   3. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.
   4. This was foretold in the ancient Hebrew text by Isaiah, “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6
   5. Jesus' name means “The Lord Saves” “Jehovah is Salvation”
   6. 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!”
   7. This is no ordinary king. This is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The King that reigns forever!
3. Mary Obeyed Against All Odds
   1. 38 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.
   2. Mary had a humble commitment and a willing obedience.
   3. Mary was risking so much, and yet she was obedient despite the consequences. She trusted God and submitted to His calling on her life! What an example for all of us here today!

Joseph & The Dream

Passage: Matthew 1:18-25 CSB

The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together (had sex) that she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit. 19 So her husband Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly. 20 But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel, which is translated “God is with us.” 24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her 25 but did not have sexual relations with her until she gave birth to a son. And he named him Jesus.

1. A Man Of Grace

   1. “being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly.” V19

      1. Even though it must have looked to him like this woman committed adultery! Wronged and hurt him deeply, he still did not want to disgrace her. Even though it had appeared that she disgraced him, he did not retaliate.
      2. He was a righteous man. A man of integrity, a man of mercy, and a man of grace.
      3. How fitting for the God of grace to choose an earthly father of grace for his Son.

      4. Question: How do you respond when people hurt you deeply? Is your response “I’m going to get you for this!” Or do you show mercy and grace like Joseph?

         2. “But after he had considered these things” V20

      5. Joseph did not jump the gun and drag Mary into the streets. He pondered. He considered the circumstances. I can imagine that his mind and his heart were at odds with each other. He knows Mary. She’s a faithful Godly woman. He trusted Mary. He loved Mary. How could this be???

      6. In addition to that, we can’t know all that Joseph knew, but as a righteous Jewish man he would have heard the prophecies of old. That a virgin would conceive. That one day this Messiah, the Christ, would come to rescue His people. But what does this all mean??? Could it be true?

      7. Joseph believed what God said about Jesus

         1. “an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” V20-21

      8. Talk about a dream! This was no ordinary dream, this was an appointment with God. Joseph hears the news that he is going to be the earthly father to the Son of God, the Messiah.

      9. If you were going to convince anyone that Jesus is God, wouldn’t the family be the hardest people to convince? As we look ahead in the story, it’s not only Jesus' dad that believes, but after the death and resurrection, we see Mary standing with the brothers praying and declaring Jesus as Lord. (Acts 1:14)

         1. We also see in James 2:1, Jesus' own brother declare Him as “glorious Lord Jesus Christ.”
         2. They not only believed in the end, but they would go on to be leaders in the early church. And James is considered to have been martyred for his faith. 3. The weight of that responsibility had to weigh heavy on his mind and heart daily. What a calling!
         3. Joseph obeyed against all odds
            1. “When Joseph woke up, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her 25 but did not have sexual relations with her until she gave birth to a son. And he named him Jesus.” V24-25
            2. Joseph immediately obeyed in three specific ways:

      10. He married Mary

      11. He kept her a virgin till Jesus was born

      12. He named Him Jesus

          3. Joseph was reckless in his “yes” and put his reputation on the line. Maybe more than that… all for his love for God and Mary.
          4. Joseph continues to obey God in other texts. This was a pattern of his life.
          5. Application: He wasn’t a pastor. He wasn't a king. He wasn’t rich. He was an unlikely and ordinary man. And God looked ahead in eternity past and said “Him.”

      13. God doesn’t call the qualified. He qualifies the called. Don’t discount yourself in the economy of God! “But God I have nothing to offer!” God, “I’m all you need.”

      14. God's sovereign plan unfolds through the faithful obedience of a few… What is God calling you to do? How will you respond?

The Wise Men & The King

Passage: Matthew 2:1-12 CSB

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men from the east arrived in Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star at its rising and have come to worship him.” 3 When King Herod heard this, he was deeply disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 So he assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people and asked them where the Christ would be born. 5 “In Bethlehem of Judea,” they told him, “because this is what was written by the prophet: 6 And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah: Because out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.” 7 Then Herod secretly summoned the wise men and asked them the exact time the star appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you find him, report back to me so that I too can go and worship him.” 9 After hearing the king, they went on their way. And there it was—the star they had seen at its rising. It led them until it came and stopped above the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11 Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another route.

1. Men Of Wisdom

   1. Went on a journey without all the details

      1. How much money is it going to cost? IDK. How long will it take? IDK. Who’s leading the way? A star.
      2. They stepped out on a journey not knowing where it would lead, but knowing who they would find
      3. We don’t know much about these wise men. Tradition says that they were from Parthia, near ancient Babylon.

      4. Question: How many wise men were there?

         1. We don’t know. But it’s highly unlikely that there were only three

         2. It’s believed that there was a caravan. So much so that the people of Jerusalem became fearful when they entered. 5. Question: How did they know the star represented the Messiah?

         3. They could have been Jews who remained in Babylon after the exile. They would have known the prophecies pointing to this time.

         4. They may have been eastern astrologers who studied ancient manuscripts from around the world. They would have had Jewish manuscripts because of the exile centuries earlier.
         5. They had a special revelation from God directing them to the Messiah.

         6. Some suggest they were heirs of what Daniel taught Babylon’s wise men more than 500 years earlier. If so, what a legacy he left. Are you in a crew? Are you discipling someone? 6. Some scholars believe that the wise men represented different tribes, thus bringing all the world together to worship Jesus

         7. Aren’t you grateful today that Jesus is for the world. He’s not for a select group of people, but for all people!

            2. Jerusalem & Bethlehem
               1. Bethlehem is a tiny town 5 miles southwest of Jerusalem.
               2. Jerusalem was obsessed with wealth and power, but it would ultimately be destroyed. But out of a tiny and insignificant town called Bethlehem, the King of Kings would reign forever more!
               3. Application: God takes what seems insignificant and makes it extraordinary. He takes the small things, and moves in big ways!

         8. Worshiped the King of Kings

            1. The Child & The House
               1. This may blow your mind a bit, but it’s unlikely that Jesus was still an infant when the wise men came on the scene. Herod’s order covered boys two years old and under (Matthew 2:16), so Jesus may have been anywhere up to two.
               2. Also, they are no longer at the manger. They were in a house when the wise men showed up (Matthew 2:11).
            2. The Gifts
               1. They gave the best they had to offer

         9. Are you giving your best? Or are you giving just enough? Or are you giving at all? 2. The gifts were providential, and Christians have long seen them as prophetic too 3. I believe they were providential because they likely provided the resources they needed to escape Bethlehem and retreat to Egypt. 4. Gold: A Gift For A King (King)

         10. The paragraphs on gold and frankincense are from William Barclay, The Daily Study Bible: The Gospel of Matthew, on Matthew 2.
         11. In Parthia it was the custom that no one could ever approach the king without a gift. And gold, the king of metals, is the fit gift for a king of men.
         12. Jesus was born, King. But he was to reign, not by force, but by love; and he was to rule over men's hearts, not from a throne, but from a Cross.
         13. We do well to remember that Jesus Christ is King. We can never meet Jesus on an equality. We must always meet him on terms of complete submission.
         14. JESUS IS NOT ON OUR LEVEL! 5. Incense: A Gift Of Worship (High Priest)
         15. It was in the Temple worship and at the altar of incense that the sweet perfume of frankincense was used. The function of a priest is to open the way to God for men. The Latin word for priest is pontifex, which means a bridge-builder. The priest is the man who builds a bridge between men and God.
         16. That is what Jesus did. He opened the way to God; he made it possible for men to enter into the very presence of God.
         17. “Every priest stands day after day ministering and offering the same sacrifices time after time, which can never take away sins. 12 But this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.” - Hebrews 10:11-12 CSB 6. Myrrh: A Gift Of Death (Savior)
         18. “And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds.” - John 19:39 NKJV
         19. You normally don’t give a kid a coffin.
         20. Jesus came to die.

Closing:

• They all acted in grace and humility
• They believed what God said about Jesus
• They all responded in obedience against all odds

As we look at the people involved in the nativity story and all the details surrounding the events that led to the Savior of the world coming to earth, let it cause us to worship. Let it cause us to remember how much God loves you and me! Let it draw us closer to the true meaning of the season!