The Miracle of the Manger
SERMON TRANSCRIPT
So far, I mean it's December, it's finally December, I feel like Christmas was being pushed off and pushed off and now it's here we can all you know go full in. I love this time of year I've always loved Christmas. It's a season for many things it's a season of giving as we're talking about with this outreach. It's a season of special food I know this Christmas food kind of like Thanksgiving only comes around once a year unless you guys are having stuffing all the time which that's awesome but for us it's only around Christmas time. Christmas movies those are awesome and again just all these things that only happen during this time the decorations hopefully family, hopefully also a season of rest or break, whether from work, there's some time off, or school, but we just love this season.
And it's also a season of miracles. Miracles, we think of miracles, or maybe some of us experience something, but this year, this time of year, they just kind of come to the forefront of our mind just a little bit more. I want to remind us that each week in our series, "The Message of the Manger," we're looking at different aspects of Jesus's birth, trying to highlight God's plan, His providence, and His provision in the arrival of our Savior. We're striving for a better understanding of the true story, the true message, and the true purpose of Christmas. And Jesus's birth is a pinnacle moment in history. We want to have it on on the forefronts of our hearts and minds every day this season. And so this week we're gonna be focusing on the miracles of the manger. Last week was the mystery, this week we're doing miracles, and it's because the circumstances surrounding Jesus' birth have God's fingerprints all over them. I wanna start by defining what a miracle is. A miracle is an act or event that occurs outside the bounds of normal or natural means and demonstrates God's involvement. So it's something that is outside of human possibility where God is intervening. And I have today three miracles, three small stories, vignettes, and when we put them together, they help us see even more the work that God is doing around this very first Christmas. So are we ready to dive into these three stories? Okay, good. Are you ready at home, all those at home? Okay.
The first miracle of the manger might be the most obvious, and that is the birth of Jesus. How was that possible? You start off, many of you probably know this story, of with a young woman, probably in her late teens, who is betrothed to be married to a man, and her name is Mary, and she is approached by God through a messenger, an angel, letting her know that her life is about to change forever. Now, anytime there's a pregnancy announcement, that is some kind of recognition that life is about to change in a drastic way. And I don't know about you, but seeing some of these pregnancy announcements recently, they're getting pretty extreme. They started with just like, hey, leaving the pregnancy test out on the counter for the husband to come home to and like, oh, what's happening? And then, you know, now it's like cake and then you open it up, you slice it open and it's pink or blue. And then there's balloons that pop in the air. I don't know if you guys have seen these things. Some of you are like link stairs, but others of you know that these viral trends of pregnancy announcements are getting very, there was just a huge fire that happened because of a pregnancy announcement that went wrong. So, careful with pregnancy announcements. But they're going, they're huge. And all that to say that a pregnancy announcement signifies a big change in life. And this pregnancy announcement would have gone viral today, if it happened today, but it's extreme. And so I want to read for us, and you guys can follow along, we're going to be in a couple different scriptures. We're going to start off in Luke chapter 1, and this is a conversation where the angel is approaching Mary. So I'm going to start in verse 20. You guys can read along in your own Bibles. I love that, or you can read it on the screen.
But it says, "The angel went to her and said, 'Greetings, you who are highly favored,' speaking to Mary, 'the Lord is with you.' Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary. You have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son. you are to call him Jesus. He will be great, and he will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever. His kingdom will never end." "How will this be?" Mary asks. "Since I'm a virgin," the angel answered, "the Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.”
Mary's having this conversation with this angel who tells her she's gonna have a child and she's engaged and so she's she might be wondering like is this gonna be like my future child with that guy or is this something different and the angel says oh it's very different this is going to be the most different thing ever to happen when it comes to a pregnancy you're gonna have a child that comes from God through the work of the Holy Spirit this is going to be a miracle this is God getting involved outside of human means in the most personal way by sending his Son. This is, and I love this phrase, this is the author of life inserting himself into the story. This is God intervening in human affairs for the sake of bringing salvation to the world. This miracle birth is more than just bringing life into the world through miraculous means, it's about bringing eternal life through the only way possible, Jesus. So Mary is going to give birth to Jesus, who is human, is a child, but is also something more, who's God. We talked about this last week, the mystery, and she's going to do so remaining a virgin. And this is the first of our major miracles. So what does this miracle mean? Well, the miracle of the virgin birth signifies that this baby is unlike any other ever born. The The miracle of the birth, this divine causation behind Jesus lets us know that this life and death of this child is going to be deeply divine and purposeful and missional. The miracle of the virgin birth shows just how powerful God is. For us in our finiteness, in our limited power and capability, the virgin birth is truly a miracle because it's something that is impossible happening.
But for God, I want us to realize this, this is nothing extreme. In the realm of what God can do, this is effortless. He's not straining to make this happen. That's how powerful He is. From the miracle of healing a blind man, to turning water into wine, to the virgin birth, this is not hard for God. And it just shows how amazing, how capable, how powerful our God is. The significance of the virgin birth is this, that Jesus is truly man, but also truly God. And it signifies that the divine initiative in salvation, that means that salvation does not come from man, but from God. And so this miracle, think of this miracle as absolutely life-changing, world-changing. And I love if we think of this as the news of this miracle, starting small, just started with Mary and the angel, and then to Joseph, obviously. And then as time went on, it maybe grew and the circle became large and maybe her extended family knew about him, I'm pregnant, it's not Joseph's and here's what's happening, here's what the angel said. And so now we fast forward thousands of years later and now the whole world can know about this birth. It's a miracle. All right, the second miracle, we gotta go fast 'cause a lot of miracles to get through.
The second miracle of the manger is found earlier in the same passage and it has to do with Elizabeth and Zachariah. Now Elizabeth is Mary's older relative. And God is absolutely purposeful in this miracle. I want to say that from the forefront. This is so intentional by God and what he's doing. Imagine Mary, not yet married, and the possible shame and judgment that she would face in society as she is having a child out of wedlock. And she's saying these things like, "Hey, it's of God." And people are like, "Sure, sure it's of God, trying to hide whatever you want to hide." but the shame and judgment and how that would test her faith. And so God was thinking of that, knew of that. And we have the story of Elizabeth and Zechariah. So I wanna read from Luke chapter one, you guys can follow. I'm gonna be jumping around here, but I'm starting in verse five. It says, "In the time of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah. His wife, Elizabeth, was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commands and decrees blamelessly. but they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive and they were both very old. If that sounds familiar, hold on to that thought.
Verse 11, "Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him, 'Do not be afraid, Zechariah. Your prayer has been heard. Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth. for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He was never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Zechariah asked the angel, "How can I be sure of this? I'm an old man, my wife is well along in years." And the angel said to him, "I am Gabriel. "I stand in the presence of God. "I have been sent to speak to you "and tell you this good news. "And now you will be silent and not speak "until the day this happens, "because you did not believe my words, "which will come true at their appointed time." I'm gonna fast forward a little bit. During the part where the angel is talking to Mary, the angel says this to Mary as a way of encouraging her. Says in verse 36, "Even Elizabeth, your relative, is going to have a child in her old age and she is said to be unable to conceive and she's now under six months for no word from God will ever fail.”
And then later in the chapter, we won't read it, but their baby is born, Elizabeth and Zechariah. They have their baby. And again, as Scripture says, Zechariah during this time was unable to speak because he questioned Gabriel, said, "How can this be?" And Gabriel says, "It's going to happen, but by the way, you can't talk for the whole pregnancy." So for ten months, this guy cannot speak. I'm sure Elizabeth is just having a great time making all the decisions. What are you... Okay, I'm going to go ahead and buy all this stuff for the... Yeah. But the baby is born, and they're trying to decide a name, and it should be named something in the family line. But in that moment, to everyone's astonishment, Zechariah can speak and says, "No, the angel said it was going to be named John. This baby is going to be named John." amazing, amazing story.
So where is the miracle here? Well, in the life of Elizabeth and Zechariah, this is a huge miracle. They were unable to have a child, and now God has given them a son. And, as I said, if that sounded familiar, is there anything else that happened in the Bible? I'm glad it did. And if it didn't, that's okay. Let me tell you how amazing our God is, and how He links things, and how He uses those references to encourage people. So, If you guys thought of Abraham and Sarah, then good. That should, the way this is written, what was happening, even Zechariah and Elizabeth would have been reminded of Abraham and Sarah, who were also past childbearing years, and God gave them a child to fulfill a covenant that God made with Abraham, to be the father of God's people, and that the promise of the Messiah would come through Abraham's descendants. And now we have Elizabeth and Zechariah, who are going to have a child, and that child's entire life will be focused on announcing the coming Messiah. That reference, again, would have been in Elizabeth and Zechariah's mind, and I think it would have been of great encouragement to them to think of. I know in our great history of this nation of Israel, there was another couple who prayed and wanted a child, and God gave them a miracle baby. And we too are about to experience a miracle baby. So this is God intervening in ways that were not possible by human means. And how does this, again, miracle tie in with the miracle of the manger? Well, the lives of John the Baptist and Jesus are linked together from even before they were born. And again, there's no doubt in my mind that Mary is facing this new ordeal of being pregnant as a virgin, that seeing her relative Elizabeth, who is elderly and now pregnant, going through her own miracle would be of the greatest source of encouragement to Mary.
If ever there was moments of doubt, and maybe there were in Mary's mind of, "God, is this really happening? Can I do this?" And then she sees Elizabeth, who is experiencing her own miracle, and so clearly God is intervening in Elizabeth's life. How encouraging is it to Mary to say, "God is intervening in my life. God is in control over what's happening." Mary can hold God's Word strong in her heart, that she would believe and have faith in her own pregnancy. It's God's way of saying to Mary, "I'm right here with you. I've got you. Don't worry. I've got things under control." And we also know that John was born first, and so she could see that whole miracle through its entirety, and again, be a source of encouragement, empowerment, and peace, as Jesus will soon be born. So what does this second miracle mean? Well, it conveys that sometimes we need help. Sometimes we need some encouragement and some evidence that God is at work, and God knows that. He sees that, and He meets us where we're at. At the same time, this miracle also shows that God is not holding back from doing whatever is necessary for the the birth of the Messiah. God's pulling out all the stops to make it happen. Even these references to the Old Testament, and keep in mind that would have been a huge boost to their faith, God is doing everything to make sure that Jesus comes into this world and the purpose, the plan of salvation is going to come to fruition.
All right, the third miracle is one that truly foreshadows greatness and God's redemptive plan. It's going to bring everything together. And this one actually happens after Jesus is born. If you're in your Bibles, we're going to be flipping over to Matthew 2. But I'll just kind of summarize where we're at. You guys have heard of the three wise men or the three magi? Well, they've come from the east. God is doing his own work over there and brought these three wise men to go visit Jesus. And along their way, they come to Herod, the king of that area, and they say, "Hey, Herod, we're on our way to see the new king of Israel, the new king of the Jews." And he's like, "Uh, what? I am the king of the Jews. This is news to me." And he does not like this. He's threatened. But he plays it coy, and he's like, "Oh, yes, you as well? Well, let me know if you find him so I can also go and worship him." He's lying. He doesn't want to worship Jesus. And so the magi go and they follow the star, but they're warned to not return the same way. God's intervening, God's protecting Jesus, and He's guiding the wise men's path. And so they go to Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus, and they deliver their three gifts. Do we know their three gifts, by the way? Yes, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Good. And then they leave, and they go a different route.
And the angel comes to Joseph and gives him a message. And so I'm going to read from Chapter 2, starting in verse 13, "When they had gone," that's the wise man, "an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. 'Get up,' he said, 'take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for King Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.' So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet, 'Out of Egypt I called my son. When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious and gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem in its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time that he learned from the Magi. If that rings familiar, then hold on to that thought. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled. A voice is heard in Rama weeping in great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted because they are no more. After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in the dreams of Joseph in Egypt and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who are trying to take the child's life are dead." Herod, again fearing for his reign, commits an awful atrocity by commanding that the newborn babies, two years old and younger, be killed. And as much mourning as that takes, there's also a miracle in this.
God intervenes outside of human possibilities, God sends a messenger via angel to Joseph, telling him to take his family and baby Jesus and to flee to Egypt. Now, if you know your Bible, and this part sounds a little familiar, and you're thinking, "Where have I heard a ruler trying to kill baby boys two years old and younger, and you got to Moses, then I'm proud of you. Good job." And if you don't know your Bible, that's okay. Let me tell you again How amazing our God is that he would do this so purposefully. Again, for Mary and Joseph, this would be very much on their mind. These are all, when he does this, when we come across this from the stories, this is purposeful by God. This is God trying to say to us as readers and also to the characters at that time, to the people at that time, "Hey, I'm up to something. If this sounds familiar, it's because I am doing something great that maybe I've done before in a similar vein." He's trying to give them a heads up. He's trying to give them encouragement, some foreshadowing. So again, Egypt, Pharaoh, Moses, this was the same similar situation that Pharaoh, when Israelites were in captivity in Egypt, Pharaoh, fearing of what could happen in the future, orders baby boys to be killed, and miraculously Moses is saved in the basket. We all know that story in the basket in the Nile and is rescued. And Moses would grow up to become the leader of Israel, bringing salvation to them by delivering them from slavery in Egypt by the power of God. And Moses would become their first, Israel's first prophet and priest. Well, in our passage today, under similar circumstances, Jesus is being saved from certain death, and he's going to bring salvation to the world, from people's slavery to sin, and he's going to be our perfect prophet, priest, and king.
So, I love this. I love when God does this. I love when the Bible makes this apparent to us that God is up to something big. What's the significance of this miracle? Well, God was telling them, "I am at work right now. I'm doing something amazing. This is crucial to my plan, to my people, to the world. And even as we read this today, a couple thousand years later, from when this all happened, we can still be reminded that God is the bringer of salvation. His heart is to save what is lost, to redeem what is broken, and to bring life and true freedom where sins' bonds are tight. The miracle of Jesus being saved from death affirms that nothing is going to stop God's plan of salvation. Absolutely nothing. And so we have these three miracles, and these miracles help us see that the birth of Jesus is the most central point of all of history. The birth of our Savior is the most important birth of all time, because the birth of this Messiah, God's plan of salvation, was being carried out through this child. Jesus' birth is absolutely a miracle, and it's surrounded by other miracles. Even though the situations for these people seem dire, improbable, or impossible, we see that God is in control. He cares and He provides for them, looking out for them. And church, I know you know this, but He does the same for us today.
And so I want us to know some messages for us from the miracles of the manger. I want to ask you some questions as you reflect on these miracles. The first one is this. What impossible situation do you need God to show up in this Christmas season? For Mary, it was having a child as a virgin. For Elizabeth and Zachariah, it was having a child in their old age. And then for Mary and Joseph and for the baby, it was being saved from having Jesus be killed as a baby boy. What situation are you in where you desperately need God to show up and and intervene in your life. You know, as happy as the holidays can be, they're honestly, they can be a mixed bag of emotions and situations. And, you know, we could be missing loved ones. We can be reminded of deep hurts and wounds that we have in our hearts. Finances can be tight and maybe we don't get to celebrate in the way that we want to, or give in the way that we want to. As happy as this time is, it's also true that the enemy doesn't take a break at Christmas. You may have areas in your life that you're facing challenges that are even getting harder as we speak in this time of year.
So where can God be at work in your life? The miracle of the manger helps us to recognize our need for God's intervention. We need to ask God for help. So I encourage you in this time, with whatever's coming to mind, whatever situation or person the Spirit is putting on your heart right now, to cry out for God and ask for a miracle. Ask for God to intervene. Maybe you've tried all the human ways to fix the issue or to address whatever's going on, and now, God, in your own way, in a way that is beyond normal means, please intervene. Pray that prayer this week.
Second question, what is God trying to draw your attention to? We saw in our passages how God was cluing people in to the work that he is doing. Elizabeth and Zechariah experiencing a similar situation to Abraham and Sarah, Mary and Joseph and Jesus going through a similar experience to Moses in the Old Testament. And these were all God's way of saying, I'm up to something, I'm here, I'm present, I'm working. So what might God be trying to get you to see that He's doing? The miracles of the manger help us to expect God to show up. All these signs are that there's something big happening, God is on the move. So I want to say to you, don't miss God trying to get your attention. Is it through, is He trying to get your attention through relationships, people close to you that have influence over you, and they're saying something to you? Maybe God is speaking through them. Or maybe it's through circumstances that something is lining up, or the way that things are happening in your life, it seems that maybe God is pulling you in a certain direction. Or maybe it's in the silence, it's in the quiet, it's through the lack of all those things that God is trying to speak to you, trying to get a hold of your heart. Whatever it is, expect God to show up. Expect God to be at work in your life. You may not know all the details, you may not know how he's going to do it beyond the next step in front of you. You may not even know that. But you can still expect God to be at work, to be present and engaged in your life.
And the third and final question, what are you expecting of God? What are you expecting of God? Praying for miracles, we can all, I'm guilty of this, we can often think of something glamorous or over-the-top, amazing. "God, if you could just answer my needs in this amazing way." But God, it's not that God can't do that or doesn't do that, but look at the story of the manger. When Mary and Joseph didn't have a place to go, did he send them to a five-star hotel or the most amazing birthing center in Bethlehem? He was like, "Don't worry, I got you. This doula was off, and so she's perfect for you." No. They were in a stable and Jesus was put in a manger, a feeding trough, right? Like, we have, we can, we tend to have expectations. But just because God chooses to intervene doesn't mean it's going to be exactly what we expect. It's not going to be necessarily the nicest or prettiest or most expensive thing, but will it help us? Yes. If God is sending it, then yes, it'll help us. Will it point to us to God? Yes. Will it provide for our needs? Absolutely. So, check your heart and your expectations of what you expect of God. The miracle of the manger helps us to accept God's provision, whatever it may look like. If it means fleeing certain death, then we have to run. If it means not being able to talk for 10 months, but then getting to celebrate a new baby boy, then we'd be silent. And if it means doing whatever is necessary, that may not be desirable, but it's what God's calling you to do, then we do it out of obedience and thankfulness. So accept God's provision, whatever it may look like. I'll ask the worship man to come back up right now. I want to close with this. I hope this week that you are encouraged in in this Christmas season, that when you think of Jesus, when you think of the manger, that you're reminded that it can be a season of miracles, of God intervening in your life, in a way that's outside of human possibility, of human means, all with the purpose of drawing you closer to Him. And let us remember this, that the greatest miracle is Jesus' birth, and that it also brought the greatest gift. That's the gift of salvation, which we'll talk about more coming weeks. But if you want to talk more, I want to put this out there too, if you want to talk more about this miracle, the miracles of the manger, or the fact that Jesus brings salvation, we'd love to do that with you. And so if you want to talk to myself or Pastor Lauren or Pastor Chris, please come see us afterwards or email us throughout the week. We'd love to answer these questions during this Christmas season. So this week, let's have joy and peace in our hearts as we keep our hearts and minds on Jesus.
Would you guys pray with me? God, thank you again for sending your son in the most miraculous way to the Virgin Mary and for all the other miracles that happened during that time to encourage Mary and Joseph to save them, to save Jesus. God, we see as we read these stories, we see that you are so clearly at work in ways that aren't always recognized at the time. And so we take that today and pray that that be true too, that even though we may not see it, God, we want to trust that you are at work, that your fingerprints are all over our lives. And God, we pray for miracles. There are things that are on people's hearts right now where they are desperate, that they see no other possibility beyond your intervention. And so we pray in your perfect way, however glamorous or unseen it is, that you would intervene, that you would be at work in each of our hearts and in our lives. And God, we pray that someday that you would make that appearance to us so that we could give you all the praise for what you're doing. We're so excited to worship you with everything that we have. So we pray this in your name. Amen.