Scripture: Luke 2:1-7
INTRO
Middle of March my daughter is going to have her first
child. Once that child is born, Kim and I will be there and hold our grandchild
and Gretchen and her husband Gary are going to take lots of pics and post them
on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. They are going to read to their child and
sing to him and hold him and take him to church and love him in every way.
Those
will be Hallmark moments. However,
getting to that point has at times been more like Dugeonmark moments then
hallmark moments. For her nanny Job she just traveled back from Dubai and the
flight from Dubai to London was delayed and they missed their flight from
London to LAX and had to spend an extra night in a hotel where she got little
sleep (I know because at 2:30 am her times she was video chatting with Kim and
I.) She cried before getting on the plane because she felt so sick – she threw
up all the way back on her 10 hour flight.
THE
BIRTH
Luke 2:6-7
While they were there, the time came for the baby to
be born, and she (Mary) gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She
wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for
them in the inn.
That sounds beautiful doesn’t it? The smell of a freshly
bathed newborn baby wrapped in a cute soft blanket in the arms of a well-rested
mother in her cushioned rocking chair with grandparents around just enough to
cook and put together the crib but not enough to be in the way.
Somehow
I don’t think that was the essence of the birth of God’s son: Let’s back the story
up just a bit.
Luke 2:1-7
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a
decree (Rome was large and in charge. They
levied heavy taxes for their building programs and their roads.) that a census should be taken of the
entire Roman world (The census was so they made
sure no taxable person was slipping through the cracks). 2 (This was the first census that took place
while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to his own town to
register. 4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea,
to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of
David (Joseph came through David’s line and the
ancestral home was Bethlehem about 5 miles from Jerusalem. David lived in
Bethlehem 1000 years earlier and not much about the place had changed in all
that time. Over 2000 years ago, Mary and
Joseph made the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. They likely traveled
with a caravan of others returning for the census for the safety and
companionship of traveling in numbers. We don’t know exactly what route
they took—perhaps the shorter but more demanding walk along the trade route
through the center of the region, or perhaps the flatter way through the Jordan
River Valley. Regardless of the route, the approximately 100-mile trip
would have taken them 8-10 long days of walking. This must have been a
scary journey for young, pregnant Mary). 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to
him and was expecting a child (This 100 mile
journey on foot was not with a 3 month pregnant wife, but a nine month first
time young pregnant wife…imagine---talk about a struggle). 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to
be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths
and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn (No room anywhere – Joseph tells her they will have to
sleep outside until someone says our shelter for animals is available – Nathan and the Michigan game – disappointment – They figured they would have a place to stay and make
it back home before the baby came – WRONG on both counts – they were not
allowed into the stadium even though they had legitimate claim to King David’s
line – so did everyone else there.).
Let’s back the story up a bit:
Luke 1:39-56
At that time Mary got ready and hurried to
a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home and
greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her
womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she
exclaimed: "Blessed
are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so
favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of
your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is
she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"
46 And Mary said: "My
soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has
been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations
will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me — holy is
his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to
generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those
who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their
thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering
to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our
fathers." Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and
then returned home. (Her struggle was not with
her faith – she believed – but if you think about it at this point she is not
going on faith – she is going on empirical existential fact – she has never had
sexual relations with a man and she is pregnant just like the angel told her
she would be (Joseph, family and friends could not be 100% sure, but Mary was,
and gives testimony to the fact! When
you consider the truth about Jesus – consider how much the people involved –
who were there believed it.)
Let’s back the story up a bit:
Matt 1:18-25
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came
about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they
came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (I don’t care what era you live in – that is a struggle –
one not easily passed through. If you were Joseph’s best friend, what advice
would you have given him? He came to a decent decision – much like Jesus when
they came to him with a woman caught in the act of adultery – where did Jesus
learn that: from God or from his earthly father who was kind to his mother when
it appeared she had been unfaithful and appeared she was lying to him and using
God to do it.) Because Joseph her
husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace,
he had in mind to divorce her quietly (During
the time of betrothal/engagement it was considered as legally binding as
marriage. He loved her and only needed a written declaration and
two witnesses and could have had her stoned to death.) But after he had considered this, (divorcing her quietly) an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home
as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the
name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." (Zechariah and Mary got a face to face Gabriel visit –
Joseph got “an angel” and while he was sleeping – it would seem to me that his
faith compared to the other two with their wide awake angel visits and two real
pregnancies and his dream angel and not knowing for sure how Mary got pregnant
has a substantial faith – WHY? The adoptive father of the Son of God would need
to be a man of GREAT faith!) All this took place to fulfill
what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth
to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"-which means, "God with
us." When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had
commanded him (Joseph was a man of faith and
faithfulness) and took Mary home
as his wife. (Paul says it is better to marry
than to burn with lust – this must have been a struggle for Joseph – he steps
out on faith and marries the woman of his dreams but has to refrain from sexual
relations until after Jesus is born so there could be no question about the
virgin birth – but only Mary would ever know that truth without faith – we
today must struggle to believe that by faith. How important to the Christian
faith is the fact that Mary was a virgin when Jesus was born? God could have
still had his spirit miraculously put into Jesus even if Joseph were the
father…BUT it he would not have been God’s son any more than you or I are. The
virgin birth is essential to everything else we believe about Jesus. Gabriel
says, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will
overshadow you” (Luke 1:35). The angel encourages Joseph to not fear marrying Mary with these
words: “What is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit” (Matthew
1:20). Matthew states that
the virgin “was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit” (Matthew
1:18).) But he had
no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name
Jesus.
Let’s back the story up a bit:
Luke 1:26-38
In the sixth month (of Elizabeth’s pregnancy), God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a
town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a
descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and
said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored!
The Lord is with you." Mary was greatly troubled at his words and
wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.
You will be with child and give birth to a son, and
you are to give him the name Jesus. He will
be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give
him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob
forever; his kingdom will never end." "How will this be," Mary
asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"
The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come
upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one
to be born will be called the Son of God. Even
Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who
was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with
God." "I am the Lord's servant,"
Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have
said." Then the angel left her. (Though
you wouldn’t think it because of her acceptance, this had to be the biggest
struggle of all – she isn’t pregnant! A
STRUGGLE She has likely never been
visited by an angel before. A STRUGGLE She
is young and how could she possibly be the mother of the son of God and what
does it mean the power of the most high will overshadow you and you will
conceive of the Holy Spirit – that is stranger than any science fiction movie
ever. A STRUGGLE I’m not yet married. A
STRUGGLE I am betrothed A STRUGGLE How do I tell my parents – anyone – Joseph A
STRUGGLE)
What about you and I – this is perhaps our greatest
struggle – to believe that the mother of Jesus was a virgin when Jesus was
born. I’m not saying that is a struggle for many of us who take it as “God said
it, I believe it and that settles it for me.”
But I am saying you better struggle with it, You better be convinced and
know these scriptures and why God would choose this. Why didn’t God just show up as a 50’ tall divine
looking creature that can’t be destroyed and tell us He is God and we need to
do what he says and live the way he created us to be. Let me see – that would not require what is
at the heart of Christianity – FAITH! God is not a mean bogyman making us do
what he wants – he loves us too much for that and our free will allowed us to
choose sin – God’s will was to find a way to make our relationship with him
right again for "God so
loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him
shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the
world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes
in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already
because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.” John 3:16-18
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