Luke 2:1-20
The Advent of the Event
The word ADVENT means coming. This is the coming of THE event. We
have been leading up to this message for several weeks. First, we saw
the darkness in which Israel and all of mankind had abode for 400
years, even longer. We saw the breaking of the day, not the sunrise,
but the first light that precedes the sunrise. This came when God
sent an angel to Zacharias and then gave John the Baptist as the
forerunner of the Messiah. Then we saw the first glimmer of the sun’s
beams, still not the sunrise itself, but the bright yellow and orange
rays as the sun was just slightly below the horizon. This occurred
when an angel was sent to Mary and Joseph to tell them that the Son
rise was at hand. But now, in this text, we see the actual sunrise as
the SON bright and full edges over the horizon to scatter the
darkness, and His light will get only brighter and brighter until
sadly—it is extinguished upon the cross of Calvary some 30 plus years
from now.
Some recognized what was happening even as it occurred for Matthew
wrote:
Matt 4:16 The people which sat in darkness
saw great light; and to them which sat in the
region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
So we are reading of the event, the birth of Christ. As Caesar… (Tell
the story.) Traditional route traveled by Mary and Joseph would
have been around 100 miles and taken maybe 8 to 1o days.
What does the birth of Jesus show us? Many things. Let me list a
few.
I. Christ’s birth shows man’s great need.
A. I do not like to make statements that I cannot prove
although I know I do so often. However, some things seem
to be so to me.
B. It seems to me that God does not like to interfere in
the affairs of mankind.
1. I know that He has.
a. Those events are called miracles.
b. However, the number of times God has interfered
are really quite limited.
c. You can’t count creation because that was God
creating man, but after that, you can count the
seasons from the Bible that God has performed
miracles on two hands.
2. There was….
a. Noah and flood
b. He worked in the lives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
and Joseph. But even in their lives, He mostly
spoke to them, blessed them, and guided them.
c. Sodom and Gomorrah
d. Moses and the Egyptians
e. Jericho and claiming the land
f. Samuel, Saul, and David
g. Elijah and Elisha
h. Jesus
i. Apostles
j. Of course has performed miracles that are not
recorded in the Scripture and still does to this
day, but the point is, God seems to want to stay
out of man’s affairs on the grand scale.
3. It seems to be that God like to give man enough room
to make decisions and to see the natural
consequences.
4. I think that is why God doesn’t do more miracles
either in the Bible or in our lives.
C. It seems that when God does interfere in the affairs of
man, His interference is directly related to His
determination to accomplish something.
1. God worked big in the days of Moses. Why? He wanted
to make the children of Israel understand He was God.
That was a big task and it required some massive
miracles.
2. God worked big in the days of Elijah and Elisha. Why?
God wanted the nation to understand that they had
turned from Him and that if they did not repent, they
would be created with the negative consequences of
the covenant they had made with God.
D. But the biggest miracle that God ever performed was in
bringing Jesus to this world!
1. That miracle broke the laws of biology, physics,
and every concept of reproduction known to mankind.
2. Why did God interfere so in the affairs of man? I
believe it was because man’s need was so great!
E. Man was separate from God, damned to hell, and without
any hope.
1. Sin had separated us.
a. We were first separated by Adam and Eve’s sin.
b. But we were further separated by our own.
2. Because of our sins, God had judged us.
a. Hell may seem like a unjust punishment but for a
people determined to separate themselves from
God, hell is a just place to spend eternity.
(1) It is a place with no mercy for you do not
want the God of mercy.
(2) It is a place with no love for you do not
want the God of love.
(3) It is a place with no second changed for you
do not want the God of second changes.
(4) It is a place with no water, no food, no
comforts at all for you do not want the
God of providence.
b. I do not know whether God actually adds torments
to this place or not but if you want to be
separate from God for all eternity, hell is the
logical place for you.
3. There was not a thing we could or ever would be able
to do about it.
F. So God stepped in.
1. I don’t just mean that He stepped in to help.
2. He stepped into flesh so that He could help.
3. What we needed was a payment.
a. The only payments allowed were the guilty paying
for their own sins or else a sinless substitute.
b. Jesus, God’s Son, stepped into flesh to be our
sinless substitute.
c. God broke ALL of the natural rules of the
universe for Jesus to do that.
d. What does that show you? It shows you that our
need must have been exceedingly great!
II. Christ’s birth shows God’s great power.
A. God had done miracles before but never had done anything
like this.
1. This Child in the manager was not just a miraculous
birth.
a. He was a miraculous conception.
b. There was no earthly father!
c. The Scripture says that the Holy Ghost and the
power of the Highest would produce this Babe.
2. Nothing like that had ever happened before nor will it
ever happen again.
B. But that wasn’t the only display of God’s power.
1. God used angels to announce His plan and to set things
up.
a. Zacharias
b. Mary and then Joseph
c. Shepherds
d. Joseph - flee into Egypt and to return
2. God got into the minds of people.
a. He gave visions - The wise men were told not to
return to Herod in a vision.
b. The Holy Spirit spoke:
(1) Simeon had been told by the Holy Ghost that
he would not die until he saw the Messiah.
(2) It must have been the Holy Ghost who gave him
the understand that Jesus was that Messiah.
(3) It seems likely that Anna was likewise moved
of the Holy Ghost.
c. Somehow God spoke to the wise men to tell them what
the star meant.
3. God altered the stars to give the wise man guidance to
the Baby.
4. God worked in the Caesar’s heart to pass the tax and
to require the people to go back to the city of their
ancestors.
5. I am simply pointing out that the Christmas story is
a story of many miracles. They show us just how
great the power of our God actually is.
C. He works in events, in hearts, in minds, in politics, in
the skies, in the stars, with the angels—all to
accomplish His intended will and pleasure.
III. Christ’s birth shows man’s response.
A. Every type of good response you can imagine was shown.
1. Mary’s willingness to serve regardless of the cost.
2. Joseph’s confusion and but honest desire to obey.
3. Shepherds curiosity and wonder.
4. The wise men’s determination to see Him and to worship
the King.
B. These are responses that God can work with.
1. They are not all perfect responses.
a. Joseph was confused.
b. I suppose Mary tried to explain but he probably
would not listen.
c. She may have even recommended Elizabeth to
corroborate her story but I doubt Joseph would
have checked it out!
d. But even confused he was not hard, harsh, and
hateful.
e. He had a spirit that God could work with.
2. So also did the shepherds.
a. We don’t know whether they ever got saved.
b. Maybe they just came, looked, and wondered; but
at least they were curious about the things of
God!
3. The same is true of the wise men. They bowed and
worshipped but that doesn’t mean they believed that
Jesus was the Way, the Truth, and the Life. However,
at least they had an open heart.
C. But you can also see every type of evil response that you
can imagine.
1. The indifference of the religious leaders.
a. It was only six miles from Jerusalem to Bethlehem.
b. If these religious teachers were still serving
they had to be in good enough shape to walk six
miles!
c. Their problem was not inability it was
indifference!
d. Indifference had been the attitude of most of
those we have presented the gospel to in this
place.
2. The rebellion, rejection, and even retribution of
Herod.
a. But Herod’s was the worst of all.
b. He was the first to display an anti-God spirit in
the New Testament.
D. Strangely enough, the whole story of Christmas today boils
down to what kind of attitude are you going to have
toward Jesus Christ?
1. It is all history to us.
a. You cannot go to Bethlehem to see Him.
b. You cannot take Him gold, frankincense, or myrrh.
2. But you will either be filled with wonder, obedience,
indifference, or hatred.
3. The question tonight is, "Which one?"
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