Wednesday, December 6, 2023 PM

Sunnyside Baptist Church

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So this evening, we will be in Luke chapter two, talking about Jesus's birth.

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And I wanna kind of paint a little bit of a background, but we'll be in Luke chapter two. With Jesus coming into the world, we're all familiar with promises about Jesus.

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Many, many promises about Jesus. This is the child of promise.

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And it all culminates with Jesus being born into this world.

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And so I'm gonna go through some of those promises and what the people were looking forward to and how it's this big, massive plan that goes from Adam through Abraham and Noah through the nation of Israel, and it focuses down into the person of Jesus.

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And so we'll focus on that. But some of those promises, starting all the way back with Adam, Jesus is the second

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Adam. So with Adam, then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Edom to tend and to keep it.

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And Psalm 8 .6, you have made him to have dominion over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet.

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And these things were said about Adam, and yet Adam fell short. And we know these things are said about Jesus.

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In the New Testament, it says that he must reign until all things are put under his feet. He's the second

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Adam. He's also the seed of Eve. Genesis three, and I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed.

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He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. I call that the great stomping, right?

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When Jesus came into the world, he was crucified, but he rose from the dead and he crushed the head of Satan and Satan bruised his heel and he died.

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He rose from the dead. So he's also the seed of Eve. I would say that he is the olive branch of Noah.

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We know during the time of Noah, it says, then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

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And God's response to that was to pour his wrath out on the entire world by flooding it.

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He floods the entire worlds. God's wrath is against mankind and Noah is only saved through the ark.

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And during that flood, we see that he sends out a dove and the dove comes back with an olive branch, which is often a sign of peace.

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And what is the sign of God's covenant with the entire world?

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What is the sign? The rainbow, right? And some translations say rainbow and some say bow, just a bow that God set his bow.

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There's some commentaries that talk about God's wrath being poured out on all of mankind.

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His wrath is aimed at the earth. And with this sign,

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God has put his bow in the sky and has aimed his wrath at heaven.

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And in Isaiah, it says that he was pierced for our transgressions. Now, because of this promised coming person,

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God's wrath is no longer aimed at all of mankind, it's aimed at an individual so that he would bear the wrath of God, bear the sins of the world so that mankind could be set free, could be saved.

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He's also Abraham's seed, which we've been talking a lot about lately, the promises to you and to your seed.

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We would say that he is the end of the Mosaic law. And you can think of hundreds of examples from the law of Moses, the sacrificial lamb, the scapegoat, when they're wandering around in the wilderness, the banner that's high and lifted up.

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And if the Israelites would look to it, they would be saved. We can think of all these examples that Christ fulfills in his personhood.

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So he fulfills that. And then what we'll talk about tonight is he's

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David's eternal king. And we'll get into that promise more specifically, but if you would turn to Luke chapter two, and we'll look at David's eternal king.

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So with this, the world has been waiting for all of these promises to be fulfilled.

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Everyone's wondering, who's it gonna be? How is this gonna take place? How are we gonna escape the oppression of the

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Romans? When are we gonna have our own king again? What is this going to look like?

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And so they are expecting something, but they don't know what. And so now we get to Luke chapter two.

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And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

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This since this first took place while Quirinius. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own.

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Okay, verse four, Joseph to the city of David, which is called

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Bethlehem, house and lineage of David.

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Now there is a lot there to unpack. So everyone went to their own city, and we see this is why

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Joseph comes to Bethlehem. Now it says that he went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth.

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The language there, Galilee is actually further north, but if you're traveling to Bethlehem, you're going up.

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Bethlehem is in the hill country of Judea. And we'll see more on that in a minute.

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But he's leaving Galilee, he's leaving Nazareth, going to the area of Judea, to the city of David, which is called

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Bethlehem. And he's going there because he is of the house and lineage of David.

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Okay, so that's important. Also, as an aside, Mary is also distantly of the house and lineage of David.

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If you look at their genealogies, David is mentioned in both of their genealogies. So both of them are of the lineage.

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And specifically, Joseph is of the house and lineage of David. So if we continue on, this is why he's going.

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And they're going there to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.

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Verse six, so it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered.

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Okay, at this point, I'd like to focus, it says while they were there.

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So there's some aspects of the Christmas story that we've received kind of as tradition that takes maybe some time to examine.

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So we've all heard about the three kings. Well, it doesn't say that there were three kings or three wise men.

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No, it mentions three gifts. We don't really know how many wise men, right? Often we think that they were hurried in a rush.

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She's, as they're leaving Nazareth, she's going into labor and they're rushing into Bethlehem at night.

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And they're just searching for a place for her to give birth. Here it says that while they were there, the time came.

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Also, if we think about this, this is the town of David, the city of David, where Joseph is kin.

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He has family in this town. Turn back to chapter one for a moment.

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If you look at chapter one, look at verse 26. Now in the sixth month, the angel

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Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was

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Joseph of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, rejoice, highly favored one of the

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Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women. So we know that she was in Galilee.

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She was in Nazareth. Now look at verse 39. The promise is given to her.

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The angel speaks to her, looking at verse 39. Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste to the city of Judah and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted

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Elizabeth. So now we know not only is a

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Jew in the hill country in Bethlehem, but Mary's family is in the hill country of Judah as well.

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So she has family there. We visit

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Elizabeth when Elizabeth was six months pregnant. And it says that Mary stayed for three months until John was born.

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And then it says she traveled back to Nazareth. And then chapter two, Joseph and Mary traveled back to the hill country of Judah.

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But back specifically, it names Bethlehem. It doesn't name what town Elizabeth lived in, but it's the same area.

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It's the hill country. So Joseph has family in Bethlehem and Mary also has family in the hill country.

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So Mary remained most likely until John's birth. So if we continue on in chapter two, it says, while they were there, the days came completed for her to be delivered.

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And she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.

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I'd like to look at this word inn here. It specifically says there was no room for the inn.

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And this is the reason why they laid him in the manger. Now the manger is like a feeding trough for animals.

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We have an imitation one out in the sanctuary. Sometimes they would be mobile where you could move them around like that.

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And you'd put the hay in it and the animals would feed. Some of the houses would actually have a raised platform and the manger was built into the raised platforms and the animals would come up and eat out of the manger there.

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The word used here for inn, there was no room for them in the inn is kataluma.

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It's a Greek word kataluma. There's another word for inn and it's used in Luke chapter 10.

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The story of the Good Samaritan, the Good Samaritan comes by, he sees this man, he gets him up, he bandages him and he takes him to, he doesn't use the word kataluma, he uses the word pandakaya, which is like a public house or an inn.

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And he says to the innkeeper, please take care of this man, give him medicine, bandage him, whatever he needs, charge it to my account.

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And Luke uses the word pandakaya, there. What's interesting, there is another usage of the word kataluma, the last supper, right?

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And so they're going around and the story of the donkey and they find a place to have their last supper and it's called, they go to the upper room.

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And the word that he uses there is kataluma, which means guest room or upper room.

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And this is where people would stay, family would come and stay and it was a guest room that people would go to. And Luke uses this same word here when he says there was no room for them in the kataluma, in the guest room.

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So I think that there can be a case made that it's not that they couldn't, they were in a rush, he's in labor and they're panicking to find a place.

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They had come here in time, they were going to be with Joseph's family. And not only

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Joseph, this census had many families all coming to their hometowns.

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And so you would have had several families coming to stay in the houses of families. So the guest room would have been full with all types of families, all from the house and lineage of David coming from all over the place.

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And so the guest room was full and so they lay him in a manger, right?

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And so personally, I believe that they were with Joseph's family and that she laid him in the manger because there was no room in the guest room.

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Now we get to Luke 2, verse eight. So continuing on in the narrative, now they were in the same country.

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Now this is Judah, it's the hill country of Judah. In the same country, shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over the fields by night.

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And again, I think this is often where we pull in the idea that it happened at night.

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The Bible doesn't necessarily say when Jesus was born, it says that the angels appeared to the shepherds at night.

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And they were able to get there rather quickly because they were in the same area. But it says that they were keeping watch in the fields by night, keeping watch over a flock of sheep.

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This is another distinction. If you have a flock of sheep, why are they out in a field if there are stables that house sheep?

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So if you have a flock of sheep, you have a group of shepherds that watch over the flock. But it was also custom that families would often keep animals and often they would keep sheep.

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Can anyone guess why a Jewish family might be raising a sheep? Passover, the

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Passover sheep. And we don't know this, but it's possible that one of the families had a sheep there.

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And this is why they had a manger, a feeding trough. It's possible that the

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Lamb of God was laid in a manger for one of the

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Passover lambs that the people were keeping, that the family was keeping. We see things kind of narrow down, but families would keep sheep for that purpose, for the

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Passover. And we know that this family did because they had a manger. And so they put him in the manger.

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Continuing on, and behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the

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Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. And the angel said to them, do not be afraid, which is kind of the opening lines of the angels when they show up.

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Don't be afraid, because that would be terrifying. But do not be afraid, for behold,

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I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people.

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For there is born to you this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is

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Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you. You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.

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If you'll turn to Matthew, hold your place here and turn to Matthew chapter two.

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Matthew chapter two. This is another account of the birth of Jesus.

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And again, we keep seeing this language of the city of David, of Bethlehem. Matthew chapter two, look at verse six.

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This is the wise men have come into town. Let's actually start with verse one.

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Now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, where is he who was born the king of the

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Jews? For we have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him. When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled and all

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Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the

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Christ was to be born. So he didn't know this. And he's asking the chief him in Bethlehem of Judea for thus, but you

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Bethlehem in the land of Judah are not the least among the rulers of Judah for out of you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people

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Israel. And so there's this prophecy specifically about the town of Bethlehem, which is the city of David, and it belongs to the tribe of Judah.

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So we see things narrowing down from the Old Testament. You have the Israel, you have the 12 tribes.

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We have the tribe of Judah. We have the city of David, and it just keeps going.

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Going back to Luke chapter two. So they were suddenly, this is verse 13.

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And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude and the heavenly host praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace and goodwill towards men.

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So it was when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherd says to one other, let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the

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Lord has made known to us. So they're in the same country. They're in the hill country where Bethlehem is.

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So they go to Bethlehem and they came with haste and found

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Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. And in verse 17, now, when they had seen him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning the child.

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It says that they made widely known. This is something they went around telling people.

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Also, they're going into the city of David looking for the specific sign, a baby wrapped in cloths lying in the manger.

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And they find Mary and Joseph with this baby. Hold your place in Luke and let's go to the promise that God had made to David.

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And this is found in 2 Samuel. 2

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Samuel, this is

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God's covenant with David. Let's start in verse 12.

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When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body and I will establish his kingdom.

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He shall build a house for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

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I will be his father and he shall be my son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with a rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men.

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But my mercy shall not depart from him as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you.

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And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.

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According to these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David. So this is the promise made to David that from you a king.

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If we think in this, essentially what Caesar Augustus did in his decree, he said,

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I want all the families to be registered. The families returned to their homelands.

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So in effect, Caesar Augustus gathered together the descendants of David at the very time that their greatest promise was about to be fulfilled.

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And I think of this, how many families, if you are from the lineage of David, how many families pondered whether their son would be this king?

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How many fathers and mothers thought, we're about to have a son or we're about to have a child.

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If it's a boy, is he gonna be the one that'll set us free? All of these families.

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And you have Mary and Joseph coming to Joseph's family.

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Elizabeth had just had John. He's probably several months old at this point, three months old,

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I believe. Elizabeth was six months old. Mary stayed for three months. John was born and then

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Mary comes and it's time for her to be born. So you've got little John, you've got families talking about, this promise most likely came up.

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You've got family gatherings in the city of David, the family of David, all gathering and talking about, well,

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Elizabeth just had son, little son, John. I wonder if it's gonna be him. Mary, you're pregnant.

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What are you gonna name your son? Emmanuel, God with us. That's kind of an ambitious thought.

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You're gonna name your son, God with us. Yes, the angel told me to name our son,

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Emmanuel, God with us. Okay, Mary, sure. Right, like that's gonna happen.

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And then right on cue, the shepherds show up. Is this, this is the son.

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This is the boy. They said, in the tribe of Judah, in the city of David, the family of David, this child is the king that was promised to the lineage of David.

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They show up right on time. And it says that they made widely known that the angels had said this.

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I believe widely known means to the family specifically. And then it's the city of David, the biggest promise in their history.

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I bet some people went out of the house and said, hey guys, here he is, this is the promise.

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This is what we've been waiting for. You have it narrowed down specifically to the person of Jesus, this promised child.

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And then also, I believe that this is not a secret coming.

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When he came in the flesh, it wasn't a secret thing that only a few narrow people know as if it was hidden.

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You have the family, they're going to Joseph's family. You have this group of shepherds.

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You have angels that have appeared to different people. So it's not just the shepherds that have the angels appear, but you have appearing to Joseph, appearing to Mary, these promises of Emmanuel, a multitude of angels.

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It says that the shepherds made it widely known. You have wise men in the

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East that see this star that are coming to Jerusalem looking for a king. We also know that people were talking about this promise, the promised king, because in the narrative of when the wise men show up in Jerusalem, Herod doesn't know where the king is going to be born.

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He's like, I'm going to ask the priests. It says that Herod was greatly troubled and all

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Jerusalem with him. They're talking about this, they're expecting it.

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They know that it's coming. They don't know what it means and it troubles them. So it's widely known.

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The shepherds make it widely known. And then on top of this, if you'll skip down in chapter two to verse 38.

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They bring, this is after Jesus was born. Jesus presented at the temple.

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He's circumcised. Simeon sees him. And then let's start in 36.

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Anna bears witness to the Redeemer. Now there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phenuel of the tribe of Asher.

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She was of great age and lived with a husband seven years from her virginity. And this woman was a widow of 84 years who did not depart from the temple, but serve

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God with fastings and prayers night and day. And coming in that instant, she gave thanks to the

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Lord and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.

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It said that she lived at the temple. And when people would come to the temple to look for salvation, she would tell them of this baby.

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She would tell them of this baby boy that was born to the family of David and the city of David and the tribe of David, all the way back, that there was a baby that was born, the promised king, he's here now.

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And that's where we will find redemption. And so I don't think that his, oftentimes we can think his coming was just this kind of quiet thing.

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And regardless of if you think that he was born in a stable or a cave, or if he's born in the household, there are many things

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God did to get people's attention. Hey, pay attention. My king has come into the world.

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I think in the same way that his coming was not secret in his advent, and people had much to tell about when he came then, we have much to tell about his next coming.

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I don't think that it will be a secret thing because when the Bible describes that coming, there's lots of trumpets blowing, right?

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There are lots of things happening. And it's the people of God that tell of God's works and what he's doing, and that's been tasked to us.

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So we have the great privilege of telling people that God's king has come and he will come again.

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And that's where we find redemption. That's where we find forgiveness of sins. That's where we find new life.

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All of the promises are in him. And so we have many reasons to praise him for his first coming, for his coming in our lives and what he's done in us and for his future coming.

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So would you pray with me? God, we thank you for this evening.

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We thank you for your word. We thank you for the clarity that you give.

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And on top of that, you give your Holy Spirit that we can know of your salvation.

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It is clear from scripture. And even though we can disagree on different doctrines and err at certain points, the doctrine of salvation is crystal clear.

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And what the work that you have done in salvation is clear.

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We pray for our family and friends that do not know you. We pray for boldness as we meet with them.

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As we go into the season to celebrate your coming into this world, we pray for boldness and for sincerity and gentleness and just a heart for those around us that we would tell them of your redemption, of your coming to bear the weight of the sins of the world.

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And we know that we have fallen short, but it's in you that we find life.

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And we know people that need life desperately. So we pray that we would be able to point them to you.

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We thank you for the blessing to be a part of this. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.