“Why A Savior?”
Luke 2:11
Introduction: I’ve tried to answer three questions in this series of messages about Christ and the celebration of his birth. First, why did he have to be born of a virgin? Why did his mother have to be a young teenage girl from Nazareth? And his father, a twenty-something carpenter who nearly divorced the pregnant mother before they had even gotten married. What was so significant about Christ becoming the first-born son of these parents?
Then we looked at the place of his birth - the stable-cave of an inn in the little town of Bethlehem. Why did the son of God need to be born in so insignificant and inconspicious place, and then laid to rest in a feeding manger instead of something more befitting the son of the most high God? Did God have some other reason in mind when he son his laying in a hay bed sleeping that first night of his life?
We now come to the third message - why did God go to all this trouble just to provide a savior for mankind? Wouldn’t it have been easier to send a fully grown, mature, image of himself to earth? What did the savior have to start out as a child in a manger? And couldn’t he have found better heralds for the event than a bunch of poor, ignorant shepherds tending their sheep in the middle of the night? Oops, too many questions without answers.
I. THE COMING
“So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger.” (Luke 2:16) The angel had told the shepherds where to find the baby, and they had gone to see this heralded event for themselves. It’s not every night that an angel comes upon a group of shepherds watching a flock of sheep in the middle of a large field, and brings them this kind of news. Those shepherds had probably seen quite a lot of strange things in their years of shepherding, but nothing could top this announcement. No wonder their initial reaction had been terror and fear.
But with the announcement also came more angels and the greatest choir any man had ever heard. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests,” they had sung! They had all decided to immediately go and see what all the commotion was about. Angels singing in the middle of night, in the middle of a pasture filled with sheep and shepherds certainly meant something unusual was going on.
In contrast to this announcement, we have three Magi, wise men, from eastern provinces, coming to visit the Christ child, too. But no heaven-ly angels preceded their journey. Their habit of astrology - studying the stars and heavens - had led them all to the same conclusion - an event of momentous occasion was taking place in a country east of them. There was this unexplained phenomenon, a magnificent star appearing in the sky without any prior expectation.
Surely this astral event could not be overlooked - something special was occurring and they had to find out what the star portended. Independent of each other they began their separate journeys east, until their common goal brought them to a meeting place. Brief discussion followed and they agreed to continue their journey together to solve the mystery of the star.
Eventually they rode into Jerusalem, and protocol required that they pay a visit to the king of the country. “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, ‘Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.’” (Matthew 2:1-2).
Such an astrological event had to mean that someone of great significance had been born, they surely reasoned. “Would the king of Judea know where this future king was so that they could pay their respects to him?” This disturbed Herod. His wise men hadn’t mentioned anything to him about a star in the sky. What did these strangers know that he didn’t know? He’d better find out.
We know that he consulted with his religious scholars and discerned that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, and he told the Magi that. And later, after they had visited the child and left the country, he would be-come angry and slay many innocent baby boys to prevent this usurping of his throne.
Let’s summarize. The angels appeared to the lowly shepherds and announced the birth of the Messiah. The star appeared and announced the birth to three foreign astronomers. No one announced the birth to the king of Judea nor to the religious leaders of the day. Do you see the irony in all this? Those who should have known of the coming Messiah didn’t; those to whom the coming Messiah would make all the difference in their future did.
God always does the unexpected, doesn’t he? If you’re here today and don’t think you need a savior, you’re probably right. But if you’re here today looking for someone to fill your empty heart and bring eternal joy to your soul, you’ve come to the right place to find the child of God.
II. THE GOING
As much as these came to see the miracle birth, they also left telling others about what they had seen. “When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.” (Luke 2:17-18) Every parent in this room will identify with the shepherds going around and telling everyone they knew about the birth of the child. I was happy to announce the birth of each of my sons. Weren’t you? I was happy to announce the birth of each of my granddaughters, too. Weren’t you? We’re always happy to tell everyone we know whenever a child is born into our families.
And isn’t everyone you tell happy, too? I’ve never heard anyone, when told of the birth of a baby, say “Drat!” Have you? I didn’t think so.People want to celebrate the birth of a baby, to congratulate the parents and grandparents. It’s a celebration time. Spread the word - show pictures.
The Magi arrived in Bethlehem months after Jesus’ birth. Mary and Joseph no longer lived in a stable - they had found a home. The community that had shunned them on the night Jesus was born now accepted the young couple and helped them become a part of the town.
Three richly dressed, finely attired men on camels came riding into Bethlehem one day. Their questions about the whereabouts of the new baby child got them directions to the home of Joseph and Mary. Greeting them at the door, they ushered them in and Mary proudly displayed the baby Jesus to the three. They bowed down and placed their extravagant gifts at her feet - gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They talked of having seen the star and of following it as it led them here, now months after his birth.
Their long journey over, they rested that night. Tomorrow they had planned to return to Jerusalem and bring news of their finding the baby to King Herod. “And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.” (Matt. 2:12) God changed their plans - instead of telling Herod that they had found the Messiah, they returned to their native countries to tell their own people of what God had shown them.
III. THE SAVIOR (John 1:1-14)
In these verses we see the apostle John presenting Jesus as the Word of God. We learn so much about the baby Jesus from the Old Testament prophecies; we learn so much about his parents and the events surrounding his birth from the gospel writers Matthew and Luke. But John presents Jesus in an entirely different way. For John, Jesus’ coming was to be the savior.
A. (Verses 1-2) John first tells us that Jesus was with God from the very beginning - there was no time in all of eternity when God and Jesus did not co-exist. The nature of God included a son, and that son was a part of every facet of God’s creation.
B. (Verses 3-5) John then points out that Jesus was present when God began to put everything together - he was a part of the creation. At every stage of the creation, Jesus was with God, unfolding the sky with the sun and the moon, the sea; overseeing the creation of the animals, the fish in the sea and the birds soaring above.
C. (Verses 10-13) Since John is writing his gospel in retrospect, years after Jesus’ coming, ministry, and crucifixion, he now tells us the response of the world to his coming. Focus on what the world did, 1) they did not recognize him even though all the world was make by him; 2) they did not receive him, even though he came and presented himself to people that were Jews, like he was.
Because he did not come as they expected, did not come as they desired the Messiah to come, born in a palace of royal parentage; no announcement made from courtly and robust lips of attendants upon the pregnant queen. No, so much wasn’t expected of the coming savior that we can say, in retrospect, he was certainly a surprise to the world.
D. (Verse 14). John summarizes the mission and purpose of the Messiah. 1) God - the Word - became flesh and dwelt among us. No other God had ever done this - except in the myths of idolatrous nations. By coming to earth in the flesh, God as Jesus would experience every emotion and temptation that his created beings experienced. Jesus would know hunger, thirst, sexual temptation firsthand - and overcome everyone of them.
2) Mankind would be able to witness their God at work, face-to-face. They would see him heal the sick, cast demons out of the possessed, produce a meal for thousands from a basketful of fish and loaves of bread. 3) Man would also witness his crucifixion, death and burial, and resurrection. And a chosen few, around 500, would witness his ascension into heaven to sit at the right hand of God, his father.
IV. THE DECISION
God has done all he can do to make this the perfect Christmas for you. He has presented his son, our savior Messiah, for you to know. Now it’s up to you - what will you do about the savior? Will you recognize the only savior to come from God and heaven, live among men and minister to their hearts and souls, and then return on high to be their savior and friend? Will you accept him as your savior, too? I have. Most of the people in this room have, too.
The real joy of celebrating Christmas is to know the savior of mankind, Jesus Christ, personally. He must be taken as your personal savior - the one who can cleanse you of every sin you’ve ever committed; the one who can take up residence in your heart and live in you, filling you with himself as no earthly person ever can.
Will your Christmas be different this year? Now is the time to decide. For Jesus. Or not.
