Luke 2:1-7
Christ Is Born
I. \\#1:1-4\\ The Writer’s Introduction
II. \\#1:5-80\\ Proclamations-We might call this the
proclamation chapter for there are four proclamation in it.
A. \\#1:5-25\\ Gabriel’s Proclamation to Zacharias
B. \\#1:26-38\\ Gabriel’s Proclamation to Mary - Announces Christ
C. \\#1:41-45\\ Elisabeth’s Proclamation-Blesses Mary
D. \\#1:46-56\\ Mary’s Proclamation-Blesses God
E. \\#1:67-80\\ Zacharias’ Proclamation-Describes the impact
Messiah’s coming will have on Israel.
III. \\#2:1-20\\ Christ Is Born
We have noticed before that the life continues between the events
that are being outlined for us. Approximately 6 months pass from
the birth of John to the birth of Jesus. The only thing we know that
happened between the two was the angel appearing to Jacob.
The events of this chapter show us many things, but I will just
mention two:
1. It shows us that God keeps His Word. The first prophecy of
a Savior was \\#Ge 3:15\\. By the Bible’s conservative
estimate, that would be around 4,000 years of waiting.
2. It shows us that God loves mankind. We were all lost and
damned, but God sent His Son, Jesus, to put on the robes of
flesh so that He could die for our sins. God did not have to
come. He wanted to come. That is love!
Christ Is Born
I. Consider the prophecy:
A. This prophecy gives us a location, Person, and an event.
B. But there is one that told where Jesus would be born.
Micah 5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though
thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet
out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is
to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have
been from of old, from everlasting.
1. Location - Bethlehem - This prophecy was used by the
scribes to point the wise men in the correct
direction of the Babe \\#Matt 2:6\\.
2. Person - The King of Israel - This verse made it clear
that the One being spoken of would be God (i.e.
"whose goings forth have been from of old, from
everlasting."
3. Event - It was still a little vague on how God would
come out of Bethlehem, but He would come.
a. The Hebrew word means to come out of, to depart
from.
b. It is used several times in the creation account
to describe grass and living creatures coming out
from the earth.
c. Yet, most reading the prophecy would have
concluded that somehow God was going to be born
in Bethlehem.
II. Consider the Location: Why Bethlehem?
A. It was the city where David was born although our Bible
records it as BethlehemJudah, one word. \\#1Sam 17:12\\
B. And it was the place where his grandparents were born.
\\#Ruth 1:1-2\\ tell us that it was the city of Naomi and
the city to which she and Ruth returned after leaving
Moab.
C. We would suppose that the line of David had lived in that
area since the day the land was divided by Joshua, more
than 300 years before David.
D. Outside of that, there is nothing special about that
location.
1. Bethlehem was a small village.
2. It was and is located between 5 and 6 miles south of
Jerusalem.
3. The word means "house of bread."
4. There were several villages in Judah named Bethlehem.
a. This village was often referred to by two names,
Bethlehem Ephratah.
b. Ephratah means fruitful.
c. Maybe Ephratah was once a small suburb of
Bethlehem or maybe it was a smaller sister city,
but eventually, the name came to refer to the
on village of Bethlehem.
III. Consider the Events:
A. \\#1-3\\ The Taxing
1. The Bible says this taxing was done by Caesar
Augustus.
a. History tells us that Augustus ruled from 31 BC to
14 AD, a very long reign.
b. One source said that this taxing was done in 4 AD.
(1) We know that our calendar is off a few years
from when the switch to the Gregorian from
the Julian.
(2) How many years was off, I am not certain but
obviously some think at least 4 years.
2. God used a pagan emperor!
a. God does and God can. In fact, whether our
leaders are good or bad, God is always using them.
He either uses them to bless us or to curse us.
b. The question is did God use His foreknowledge or
His sovereignty? The answer: Who cares?
(1) We know that God is sovereign and He makes
some decisions.
(2) Which ones? The ones He wants.
(3) Even if God MADE Augustus call for this
taxation, it does not prove Calvinism.
B. \\#4-7\\ The Birth
1. \\#4\\ Because of the taxing, Joseph had to go to
Bethlehem, the city of his lineage.
2. Once there:
a. \\#5-6\\ It was time for the Baby to be born.
Our taxes are bad but at least we don’t have to
travel 70 miles even when pregnant to pay them!
b. \\#7\\ There was no room in "the" inn.
(1) The Bible does not say in "a" inn but "the"
inn, meaning it was the only one.
(2) Normally, some citizen would have housed them
but most were probably full and overflowing
from other who had come.
(3) One would think some distant family member
might have given up their bed for a pregnant
cousin, but maybe there was not time to
locate one.
c. Apparently, someone did let them use their stable.
(1) \\#7\\ Jesus was laid in a manager which is
a feeding trough.
(2) However, our western history distorts some of
the real view of this story.
(a) This was probably not a wooden barn but
a cave.
(b) The manager was probably not of wood but
of rock.
C. \\#8-14\\ The Announcement
1. This is the third time we have seen angels in this
Book.
a. One came to Zacharias.
b. One came to Mary.
c. \\#Matt 1:20-23\\ One came to Joseph in a dream.
(It would seem likely that it was Gabriel but the
Bible does not tell us.)
2. Even so, this appearance is different.
a. This appearance was not mandatory.
(1) God needed to let Zacharias know what to do
with John.
(2) God need to let Mary and Joseph know what was
going on.
(3) But God did not HAVE to let the people know.
(a) God WANTED to do that.
(b) Jesus’ birth was almost anonymous, save
for the shepherds and the wise men and
those they told.
(c) But God wanted someone to know that His
Son had entered the world and that His
plan was underway.
(4) Consider who God told His Son was there.
(a) Humble common men.
i. Workers—they even had to work the
night shift.
ii. But they were curious enough to
come when they heard the news.
(b) Humble ruling men, the wise men.
i. Wise men indicates that these were
advisors to their king.
ii. We do not know where they came
from for the Bible only tells us
that they came from the East.
iii. It is supposed that they came from
Babylon and learned of Christ
from the children of Israel when
they were deported, but that is
only a guess.
iv. Somehow they saw Jesus’ star and
knew what it meant.
v. Apparently, they traveled some
distance so that the account of
the shepherds and the wise men
might be separated by several
months or even several years.
vi. But these men came when they
understood that the Christ had
been born.
(c) Two groups of people—neither the
extremes of mankind but still pretty
far apart.
i. What was the common thread for
both?
ii. They were humble enough to come.
b. \\#13\\ This appearance had backup!
(1) They praised God.
(2) There is nothing in the text that says they
sang but I suspect the praise that was
rendered to God was most beautiful to hear!
3. \\#10-12\\ Notice the message of THE angel.
a. \\#9\\ His was a message of courage and joy!
b. \\#10\\ He never calls Bethlehem "Bethlehem."
(1) He called it the "City of David."
(2) That was to tie this Child back to being of
the line of David.
c. \\#11\\ He called Jesus:
(1) The Savior - The One who save their people
from their sins.
(2) The Christ - Meaning the One anointed by God.
(3) The Lord - The Master, the Ruler
(4) \\#12\\ The Babe
D. \\#15-20\\ The Shepherds Went
1. \\#15\\ They went to see.
2. \\#17\\ They went and told.
3. \\#20\\ They went and glorified.
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