Let's read a couple of Bible passages and see if we notice any similarities between the two.
Luke 2:4-7 NIV (read from the Bible)
“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. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a Child. 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 guest room available for them.”
John 19:38-40 NIV (read from the Bible)
“Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs.”
Isn’t that interesting? At Jesus’ birth He was wrapped in swaddling cloths and placed in a manger. At Jesus’ death He was wrapped in linen cloths and placed in a tomb.
This got me to thinking … what other similarities are there between the beginning of Jesus’ life on earth and the end of His earthly life?
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Well, we know that angels were involved in making announcements!
The angel Gabriel appears to Zechariah and then to Mary. An angel appears to Joseph three times in dreams, to shepherds in the field at night and to the Wise Men in a dream. The angels were busy making announcements, giving directions and giving warnings.
Matthew 28:1-7
“After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
“There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.
"His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
“The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; He has risen, just as He said. Come and see the place where He lay.
“Then go quickly and tell His disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him.’ Now I have told you.”
Whenever we look at such things as these angels we need to remember that they are always pointing to Jesus. We can get distracted by such beings as angels or even godly people who have gone on before us but as followers of Christ our laser-like focus is on Jesus; always Jesus.
Now, I’ll be using the term laser-like focus quite often this morning. Why?
There are two possible light sources you can attach to a gun. One is a flashlight which will light up whatever the gun is pointing at but at any distance you will still need to use the gun sights to hit what you are shooting at.
The other is a laser sight which restricts the spread of the light beam to one narrow beam. If that laser sight is properly installed you do not need to use the gun sights at all. If the laser beam is on the target you will hit the target.
So, when we talk about having a laser-like focus on Jesus that is the idea we will be trying to achieve.
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What about statements made by nature? What???
What about that star? We know that “The heavens declare the glory of God.” Psalm 19:1
Was it something special that the Lord put in place just for that very time?
You see, here’s the problem. When the Bible says that the star “stood over” it appears that it was stationary. Stars are never stationary, they move through the sky as the earth rotates.
If you go outside at 10:00 PM and look at a star in the east you can see that perhaps it is just above a tree on the eastern horizon. Then, if you were to go outside at 4:00 AM the star might be above a mountain on the western horizon. It would be difficult to follow that star.
The Bible also says that the star led the Wise Men, that they “followed” the star.
At that point it seemed to lead them only in a general direction because they ended up in Jerusalem instead of Bethlehem. But when they left Herod in Matthew 2:10 the Bible says that they rejoiced with exceeding great joy when they saw the start and followed it to Bethlehem.
Not only that, but the star pointed exactly to “the place” where Jesus was.
Matthew 2:9-11a NIV
“After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.
“When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the Child with His mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped Him.”
Like the pillar of cloud and fire for the Israelites in the desert?
OK. So, what evidence is there of the Lord controlling nature at Jesus’ death and resurrection?
What about the darkness and the earthquake at Jesus’ death?
OK, so the Bible records in three of the Gospels that the “Sun was darkened” from Noon until three in the afternoon.
Why is it impossible for this to have been caused by a solar eclipse?
A solar eclipse always takes place when the moon is in the new moon phase and the moon passes between the sun and the earth. But, Passover always takes place during a full moon which means that the earth is between the sun and the moon and not vise versa.
It also was not some sort of extremely dense cloud formation as one secular, non-Christian historian explains that, “even the stars appeared in the heavens”.
So, either the Lord caused the sun to be darkened or He cause something other than the moon and much larger than the moon to block the sun.
Also, there was the timing of the earthquake to simultaneously go along with the death of Jesus.
Do you see how easy it is to get distracted from what is really important; trying to figure out the mechanics of the sun going dark and how the curtain in the temple was torn from top to bottom while the really awesome, transforming event of history was taking place on the cross?
What is really important here, the inexplicable darkening of the sun for three hours starting at high noon or the Son of God hanging dying on a cross for your sins and mine; for your salvation and mine?
Is my focus on the things surrounding Jesus or do I have a laser-like focus on Him and His great work of salvation?
Other similarities?
At birth Jesus was placed into the hands of Joseph and Mary for safe keeping.
At His death He committed His Spirit into the Father’s hands and His body to disciples.
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The evil one used the government of this world in an attempt to stop the Son of God from completing the work of salvation:
King Herod tried to abort the entire plan of salvation by killing Jesus shortly after His birth.
Pilate succeeded in killing Jesus as an adult but it only completed the plan of salvation which God had put in place before the creation of the world.
Any of these could cause someone to be sidetracked onto something or someone who is less important. Who is most important? Who are we focused on at Christmas and Easter? Not Santa or the Easter Bunny but the God of creation who sent His one and only begotten Son.
Is my focus on the things surrounding Jesus or do I have a laser-like focus on Him and His great work of salvation?
And even as we look at the similarities between the beginning and end of Jesus’ life here on earth there is another important event we need to keep in mind.
Jesus is going to return! Jesus is coming back to earth one day!
Remember that we looked at the fact that Jesus was wrapped in strips of cloth at His birth and death?
What will he be wearing when He returns?
Revelation 19:11-12 NASB
“And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.
“His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many crowns; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.”
No one will have to clothe Him because He is a helpless Baby.
No one will have to wrap His lifeless corpse for burial.
Remember that we saw that angels announced the birth of Jesus to Mary and angels and appeared to Joseph and the Magi in dreams.
And we also saw that angels announced the resurrection of Jesus to the three women who came to the tomb on the first day of the week.
What about when Jesus returns?
Matthew 16:27 LEB
“For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and at that time He will reward each one according to what he has done.”
Matthew 25:34 NASB
“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.”
Yes, there will be angels there but this time they won’t just appear to a few.
Remember when we spoke about the heavenly sign of the start guiding the Magi and the darkness at the crucifixion? Will there be any events in nature which will announce the return of Jesus?
Here are some of the natural disasters that will exceed the magnitude of anything this world has ever seen. The prophecies are from the book of Revelation:
Earthquakes, famine, diseases, the sun as black as sackcloth, the moon becoming like blood.
Revelation 6:15-17 NIV
“Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, (will be hiding) in caves and among the rocks of the mountains.
“They (will call) to the mountains and the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who can withstand it?’”
Luke 21:10-11, 25-26 NIV
“Then [Jesus] said to them: ‘Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.’”
“There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea.
“People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.”
Why are we looking at all of these things?
First of all it is to demonstrate how easily we can be distracted from the very focus of our being which, as Christians, devoted followers of Christ, is Jesus!
Jesus was born as a baby and we celebrate His birth and it is easy to be distracted from Jesus by looking at the angels and the star and the Wise Men and Herod, and the stable. But as we look at those things we need to remember that Jesus and His work of salvation is the focus.
Jesus was tortured and crucified and raised from the dead but as we look at the story of the betrayal of Judas and the arrest and interrogation of Jesus and the torture of Jesus and at Pilate and the cruelty of the cross and those who were at the cross and the thieves on the other crosses and the tearing of the veil in the temple and the posting of the guards at the tomb and the darkness at noon and who went to the tomb on the third day and who did not and all of those details we need to remember that Jesus and His work of salvation is the focus!
We also know that the prophecies of the end times and last days are in the Bible for a reason and as morbidly frightening as they are we need to remember that Jesus and His work of salvation is the focus for those who love Him and are called according to His purposes.
The day will come when we meet Jesus at the time of the death of our earthly body or we meet Him at His return and when that happens the important thing will not be how much we know about how Jesus was dressed, or what the angels did, or what miraculous events of nature took place in the Bible.
What will be important and eternally consequential is do you know Jesus as your Savior?
Did you endeavor to love Him with all of your heart and soul and mind with a laser like focus?
Did you obey His commands out of your great love for Him?
Did you seek to live a holy life by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit?
Concluding thoughts, invitation if the Spirit leads and closing prayer
