Luke 1:26-33; 2:1-7; 23:53
Something Borrowed to Make You New
INTRO:
The place was Dallas, TX; the year, 1987; there are at least 500 people standing behind police barricades trying to catch a glimpse of what is happening. Paul Tavilla holds the world record for grape catching. He catches grapes in his mouth. His world record is that he caught a grape in his mouth after it fell 660 feet off the top of a 52-story building in Tokyo, Japan. But now we are in Dallas. The new record attempt is 72-stories. A hush falls on the crowd as a man on top drops the first grape. It falls and splats on the sidewalk. Grape after grape falls, sometimes into the crowd. Gusty wind that day. Now, only one grape left. The crowd watches anxiously. At about the 10th floor a gust of wind carries the grape well off course into the crowd.
The crowd applauds with courtesy, and Paul Tavilla bows, gets into a limo, and drives away.
But the story doesn’t end there. TV cameras surround the guy in which the grape hit. It had hit him right below the eye…it was a little puffy. The reporter asked, "Are you all right?" "Yes". "Are you disappointed that you didn’t get to see a record broken today?" "No", he said, "What really bothered me is that if I had just moved my head 3 inches back and opened my mouth, I could be the new world record holder." [Taken from Proclaim, summer 2000 issue, p.34]
I like his attitude. Optimistic. Even in a bad situation, he saw unlimited possibilities for something good to happen. But what I really want you to see in this story is- what are the odds of Tavilla catching the grape, on a windy day, or this guy or anyone else? Slim and none. You probably have a better chance of getting struck by lighting.
Well, in the Bible, there are over 300 separate predictions about the Messiah. What are the odds of one Man fulfilling them all? Think of each of the 300 messianic prophecies as a filter that strains out everyone who does not meet its requirements, and you will quickly realize how unlikely it is for just anyone to pass through all 300. If you try calculating the odds of someone fulfilling all 300 you end up with one out of a number with 125 zeros behind it. [article from John Hagee study Bible, p.1063]
What I want us to do today is look at 3, not 300, but 3 prophecies that means so much to us today. Let’s boil it down to 3 important prophecies and these 3 all have to do with something borrowed.
1. THE BORROWED WOMB Lk. 1:31
The angel told Mary she would conceive in her womb and bring forth a Son and call Him Jesus. She said how can this be since I don’t know a man. In other words intimately. She was engaged, but not yet married. The dating procedure in the first century was much different from ours today. Many times weddings were predetermined by the parents when the children were small. Today, we date and even get married on a whim. In fact Sandie and I met on a blind date. She later told me that blind dates is kind of like deep sea fishing. You never know what you’ve got until you get it in the boat. You know what the definition of a blind date is? You expect to meet a vision, but she (he) turns out to be a sight……Any way, Sandie tell me we have strange and wonderful relationship. She says I’m strange and she’s wonderful.
Point is, Mary is a virgin. This fulfills prophetic Scripture. Matthew 1:22-23
Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Literally means behold the virgin is pregnant. The borrowed womb. Now why is this prophecy so important?
Rom.3:23, 6:23a. All have sinned and penalty is death. We need a Savior, a sinless perfect sacrifice. Only One who qualifies is God. But now we’ve got a problem. God can’t die. So Jesus becomes a man. John 1:1, 14. This baby that is born is the everlasting Son of God. 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.
Without the incarnation we’d have no hope, no Savior. The law cannot save us. Romans 8:3
For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
Jesus, the Son of God, paid the price for us. And since He is God, raised from the dead to give us victory over sin, death, hell and the grave. This prophecy is so important and is fulfilled in Jesus.
2. THE BORROWED ROOM Lk. 2:4,7
As Micah prophesied, it would be in Bethlehem of Ephrathah in which the Messiah would be born. Ephrathah differentiates it from the Galilean town by the same name. Bethlehem means the house of bread. A proper place for the "Bread of Life", the Bread that came down from heaven, to be born. God had told Israel, thru Micah, watch Bethlehem. The little insignificant Bethlehem. Keep your eye on Bethlehem. And in Bethlehem, in a manger, He was delivered. Inn was not your Holiday Inn. No it was a public shelter and it was full. Couldn’t buy a room there so they borrowed the animal shelter. Stable-probably a man-made cave hewn out of the limestone hills to shelter the animals. And my friend, that borrowed room suggest the insignificance of it all. It suggest the poverty, loneliness, and rejection. John would write, "He came unto His own and His own received Him not. The prophet said, Isaiah 53:3
He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
If you are here today and feel insignificant, lonely, and rejected, do realize that Jesus borrowed a womb, and borrowed a room so that you can be somebody. So that you can be a child of God and have everlasting life. John 1:12
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
C.S.Lewis put it this way: "The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God."
Have you received Him today?
3. THE BORROWED TOMB Lk.23:50-53
A man made cave cut out of the limestone hills around Jerusalem. Much like that of Bethlehem. Only 5 miles apart. Again a prophecy is fulfilled. Isaiah 53:9
And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. The Jews intended He be buried w/ the wicked. He died between the wicked but was buried w/ the rich—in a borrowed tomb. Again prophecy being fulfilled.
Concl. A borrowed womb, borrowed room, borrowed tomb. Why? So we could avoid the DOOM.
Eternal death. This is why we cling so tightly to these prophecies. Not just these 3 but all 300. Because it is truth. And it is assurance that we have a God who loves us. Have you received Him yet. Don’t put it off another moment. Come receive the best Christmas gift ever—Christ Himself.
And Christian, are you depressed? Don’t be. We have the promise of the ROOM-John 14:1-3.
………..God looked down upon us and made the very best out of a bad situation.
Royce Hendry, Sand Hill Baptist 12/16/00
