Jesus was born to die. Christmas was always going to end on the Cross.
For Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, my thoughts on the Gospel of John are summed up in the sermon below.
Merry Christmas, everyone. May the knowledge Christ came to die make your Christmas celebrations all the more precious.
Some quick geographic notes. Galilee is the northern part of Israel; Jerusalem is in Judea, which is separated from the Galilee by Samaria. Bethlehem is a little town near Jerusalem.
The Old Testament prophets had foretold that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem; Jesus, however, was raised in Nazareth in Galilee, and did much of his ministry there. So, this is why the Pharisees are sure that Jesus can’t be the Messiah—since he’s from Galilee. But, we know what they don’t: that he was raised in Galilee, but born in Bethlehem.
The Pharisees should come to Munger on Christmas Eve, and then they would hear the Christmas story:
2 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their 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. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. [Luke 2:1-7]
Luke tells us that Mary and Joseph presented Jesus in the Temple as a newborn and made a sacrifice of 2 birds. Why is this significant? Because as explained in Leviticus 12:6-8, if you can afford it, the appropriate sacrifice after the birth of a firstborn child is a lamb. But, if you can't afford a lamb, then 2 doves or pigeons is acceptable.
What does it mean that when the Savior came, he came to a poor family?
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Apparently, shepherding was not a reputable occupation at the time of Jesus: shepherds were considered shifty, filthy, and not respectable. Guess who were the first people to be told of the birth of Jesus? Shepherds.
When Jesus shows up, the nobodies are included.
To whom do you need to reach out today?
Subscribe here to receive a weekday update as we read through the Gospel of Luke.
In addition to my weekday blogging on the Gospels, I also write occasionally about other topics. Subscribe here to be notified when I publish a new post.
If you sign up for my Andrew Forrest newsletter, I’ll send you a white paper I’ve written called “The Simple Technique Anyone Can Immediately Use to Become a Better Communicator”.