Luke 2:8-21
The Firsts of Christmas
The writer of Ecclesiastes made the statement "there is no new thing
under the sun." \\#Ecc 1:9\\ That is absolutely true when it comes to
the thoughts and deeds of man, but God is still doing new things. As
the events unfolded across the streets and hillside of Bethlehem
2,000 plus years ago, God was certainly doing a new thing. God was
making it possible for sin to be forgiven.
The forgiveness of sin was a first. Previously, sin could be atoned
for, that is "covered," but it could not be removed, "forgiven."
With that first, came some other firsts. Let’s note some this
morning.
I. The First to Investigate Jesus
A. Notice the statement of the shepherds.
Luke 2:15 … Let us now go even unto Bethlehem,
and see this thing which is come to pass, which
the Lord hath made known unto us.
1. The word "see" means to behold, to understand, to be sure.
2. These men were going to investigate what God had revealed
to them and to see what God was doing.
B. I believe curiosity is one of the first steps to salvation.
1. I have heard some who seemed to ridicule people who had
questions about Jesus, the Bible, or the teachings of the
Bible.
a. I do not.
b. There are a lot of lies out there, especially in the
field of religion and God.
c. As long as you seek the answers to your questions (and
not just sit on them) and seek them honestly, I
believe your questions will lead you to accept the
Bible and Jesus Christ as your Savior.
2. Someone might say, "But angels brought the message to
the shepherds. Certainly they believed the angels."
a. God knowing my heart, I hope I wouldn’t.
b. I would hope I would be like Zacharias and ask,
"How do I know what you are telling me is true?"
c. Why? Because there are evil being who can make
themselves look and sound like God’s angels.
2Co 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is
transformed into an angel of light.
d. The founders of Islam, Mormonism, Jehovah’s
Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists, and many
others claim they got at least some of their
revelation from angels.
C. What were the claims the angels had made concerning Jesus
that these shepherds wanted to investigate.
1. Was there a baby born in Bethlehem that night? Bethlehem
was a small village. One source suggested it had no more
than 300 residents, meaning children were not born there
everyday. Of course, there is no way to know for certain
how many newborns there were, but if there was no Baby
born that night, then something wicked was going on.
https://www.quora.com/What-was-the-population-of-Bethlehem-in-the-
time-of-Jesus
2. Would the Baby be in a manger? The shepherds would
not have to go house to house. They would have to go
barn to barn. Thankfully, the messengers narrowed the
shepherd’s search some by saying the Baby would be "in
the city." Since it was an agricultural time and city,
I imagine everyone had a few sheep, cows, or goats and
so would have some kind of feeding tough. At least the
shepherds only had to look around inside the city to find
one with a Baby in it.
3. Would the Babe be wrapped in swaddling clothes? The
clothing of the Child would also help verify the words
of the angels. A child with no clothes or fancy clothes
would nullify the words of the angels.
D. If these three signs, a Baby in a manager dressed in swaddling
clothes were found, the remainder of the message could also
be believed.
1. That Child would be the Christ, the Promised One of the
Bible.
2. That Child would be the Savior, the One would redeem
mankind from his sin.
a. By the way, that is also a first.
b. Up until this time, man’s sins could be atoned
(covered), but not truly forgiven (removed).
c. God would be doing something new indeed!
3. That Child would be for all mankind.
Luke 2:11 For unto YOU is born a Child…
a. Not just to the rich, the powerful, the royalty, but
unto you, the worker, the field hand, the shepherd.
b. If all of this were so, there would be cause for great
rejoicing!
E. These men were the first to go investigate the claims of
Jesus!
1. Thankfully, Luke did not leave us without stating their
results.
Luke 2:16 …they came… and found….
2. They found it just as the angels had told them.
3. Indeed, they were so convinced that they told everyone
what had happened to them and what they had seen.
Luke 2:17 And when they had seen it, they made
known abroad the saying which was told them
concerning this child.
4. That was somewhat risky.
a. People then were no less likely to mock a person they
think crazy than they are today.
b. But the shepherds shared with everyone what happened
because they believed what the angels told them.
c. The shepherds were the first to investigate and walked
away believers.
d. There are more details to the story now. We are not
only told that Jesus was born, but that He lived,
died and rose again.
e. However, if you will follow the steps of these
seekers, I am confident that you will come to the
same conclusions.
II. The First to Be Converted to Jesus
A. Interestingly, the first convert to Jesus was Joseph.
Matt 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on
this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused
to Joseph, before they came together, she was
found with child of the Holy Ghost.
19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man,
and not willing to make her a publick example,
was minded to put her away privily.
20 But while he thought on these things, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a
dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear
not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that
which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
Matt 1:24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep
did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and
took unto him his wife:
B. To convert means to move from one position to another.
1. It implies that you held a view or a belief and changed
your mind.
2. Joseph changed his mind about Mary and the Baby.
C. The Bible does not tell us of Mary’s explanation to Joseph,
but in \\#19\\, we do get the result.
1. He was going to divorce her privately.
2. After Mary discovered she was pregnant, she had gone to
Elizabeth’s house. She stayed there until just before
John the Baptist was born, about three months.
3. By the time she returned, there would likely be a little
Baby bump.
4. Surely Mary told Joseph, her husband to be, what had
happened, but he was going to divorce her so it is
obvious, Joseph did not believe her.
5. If you do not know, let me explain how a husband to be
could divorce his wife.
a. In the Jewish custom, you were legally married when
you became engaged.
b. There would be no wedding or consummation at that
time, but you were legally married.
c. Once engaged, the wife and her family would make
preparations for the wedding and the groom and his
family would make preparations for the home.
d. Then at the appointed season, there would be a
wedding.
e. Joseph was going to legally divorce Mary and stop the
wedding from taking place.
f. He did not believe her story and did not believe her
Baby was the Messiah.
D. But between verse 19 and 24, Joseph was converted. He changed
his mind. Why?
1. In part, it was because God showed up. To be honest, God
was showing up all over the place during that time. I
would like to live in a time and place where God is
always showing up.
2. But it was not JUST the appearance of the angel. Joseph
had a part in his conversion too.
a. The last step of every journey to God is always FAITH.
b. I mentioned that the shepherds were the first
investigators of Jesus.
(1) They had signs that they were looking to
investigate and they found the signs.
(2) You and I may not have signs but we do have
evidences that indicate the Bible is true.
(3) Evidences like:
(a) Fulfilled prophecies - more than 300
concerning Jesus alone.
(b) Changed lives - You can see it in the
disciples of Jesus but you can also see it
in people’s lives today.
(c) Archaeology, science, history, and logic all
back up the Bible.
c. But no matter how much evidence you have, the last
step will always be one of FAITH.
III. The First to Come And to Worship Jesus
Matt 2:1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem
of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold,
there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the
Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and
are come to worship him.
A. The wise men were not the first to come to Jesus.
1. By the time the wise men arrive, the shepherds have long
since come and gone.
2. Perhaps others had too.
B. Neither were they the first to worship.
1. The Bible does not tell us but it would seem logical that
the shepherds worshipped. Angels brought them to Jesus
and told them that He was the Messiah, the Savior, and
the Lord.
2. By the time the wise men arrive, Jesus would have been
circumcised so both Simeon and Anna would have worshipped
the Christ child \\#Luke 2:25-38\\.
C. But they were the first recorded in the Bible to AND to
worship Jesus. That is they came specifically to worship
Jesus.
D. It is interesting how the Bible starts recording some events
at end.
1. Matthew started the details of the wise men as they
arrived in Jerusalem.
a. They were probably from Babylon, modern day Iraq.
b. As the bird flies, Babylon would have been about 550
miles.
c. A journey of 500 miles would take a while.
d. It is possible that the wise men did not arrive until
a year or more after the birth of Jesus.
2. When at last they arrived, they had but one agenda, to
worship.
E. I have been preaching for 42 years and pastoring, I believe,
for 37 Christmases.
1. Even so, I know very little about the Bible, about
preaching, and about God.
2. However, I do believe I know one things: The point of
preaching is not to produce knowledge. (I agree that
preaching provides knowledge. I just do not believe that
knowledge is what God intends preaching to produce.)
3. The point of preaching is to produce worship.
4. These men came to worship.
F. What a privilege it must have been to behold God with your
physical eyes, to literally bow before Him on your knees, to
speak words of love into His physical ears, to present Him
gifts which He could literally touch.
1. These wise men were the first to do that—ever.
2. But they will not be the last. One day, I-and billions
with me—will literally bow in His presence, will
literally present Him with our gifts, will speak words of
love into His glorified ears to hear and bow physically
before His presence.
3. I hope you will be there on that day.
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