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“Christmas”
Message NOTE: all quotes are taken from the King James Bible.
I would like to ask you a question. What do you think of when you think of Christmas? Santa Claus? Cards? Trees? Lights? Many times when we see displays we see 3 kings, angels, the shepherds, and a star at the manger scene. Even churches have told us this. Where did you get your ideas about Christmas? From books, school, tradition? Just where did your ideas originate? A radio or TV preacher? Your church? Songs?
We must check everything by the Word of God. Acts 17:11 tells us, “These were more noble then at those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” And in Psalms 119:105 and 130 we find, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” and “The entrance of thy words giveth light: it giveth understanding unto the simple.” We must turn to the Holy Scriptures for the facts. If you do not know the Word, you will not know if what one preaches is true, if it is Biblical or not.
I intend to show you that the night our Lord Jesus Christ was born there were no kings, no gifts, no star and no angels at the manger scene in Bethlehem. We will use the Holy Scriptures to show you this truth.
In what we call the New Testament, there are four Gospels. Two, and only two, tell of the birth of our Lord and Saviour, but all four tell of His death, burial and resurrection. You may ask, ‘Why are there four Gospels?’ The answer is found in the fact that one presents Christ as King, one presents Him as a Servant, one presents Him as the Son of Man and one presents Him as the Son of God. This is very important.
Matthew presents our Lord as King. So you need to know His origin. If He is to be King in Israel, He must meet the qualifications. He must be of the seed of Abraham and of the Royal Kingly line of David. That’s why the book of Matthew starts out saying, “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham,” Matthew 1:1.
Mark presents our Lord as the Servant of God. In this case, you need no family tree- it is unnecessary. All you need to know about a servant is this- is he a good worker and a faithful, honest man. And so Mark does not mention the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.
John presents our Lord as the eternal and pre-existing Son of God. John 1:1 starts out, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” How ridiculous, how out of place it would be to record the birth of one who never was born, but existed forever from eternity past. John presents Christ as the Son given, mentioned in Isaiah 9:6, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, The Mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”
Luke presents Christ as the “child born” of Isaiah 9:6. Luke presents Christ as the Son of Man. Luke 19:10 tells us, “For even the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Presenting our Lord as the Son of Man gives us a picture of His humanity and identifies Him to be, The Son of Man. For this reason Luke gives us an account of His birth and his family back to Adam, the federal head of the human race.
As I said before, two gospels (Matthew and Luke) tell of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let’s now look at these two accounts.
We’ll begin with the account found in Luke 2:8-20. “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly host praising God, and saying Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.”
Notice verse 8, “And there were in the same country…” In other words, the same place the Lord Jesus was born, according to verses 4-7, “And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David) to be taxed with Mary, his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.” Now verse 8, “And there were in the same country …” meaning in the same country where our Lord Jesus was born, “shepherds abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night…” And in verse 9, “And lo, the angel” (notice just one angel) “of the Lord came upon them. and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.” Verse 10, “And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” Verse 11, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” Verse 12, “this shall be a sign unto you; (notice this word sign- it means this is how you will know Him) “Ye shall find the babe” (the Greek word here is brephos, an infant) “wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.”Notice verse 13, “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly host praising God, and saying.” (notice, now there are many angels- a “multitude” saying …). Verse 14, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Now I want you to see carefully what verse 15 says, “And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.”
Now listen to me carefully. I want you to pay particular attention to verse 16, for here we find the whole story, everything we know about what happened at the manger the night the Lord Jesus was born. This is the whole story. “And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.” There were no kings there, there were no angels there, there was no star above the manger, and there were no gifts given! Only the shepherds were there. Notice also, the shepherds found a “babe” (Gr. brephos), the same as in verse 12, “in a manger”, NOT in a house.
Now verse 17, “And when they (that is the shepherds) had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.” Notice the words, “had seen it.” All we know of the birth night is found in verse 16 and in verse 17 it says “And when they had seen it,” they left. Read Luke 2:17-20.
Here is the story we hear today. Three kings follow a star to the stable in Bethlehem and gather there with the shepherds. A bright star shines on the whole scene and the kings present their gifts- gold, frankincense, and myrrh- to the babe in the manger. BUT there were no gifts given the night Jesus was born, except the gift of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. II Corinthians 9:15 says, “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.” And Again in John 3:16. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Let me ask you again, where did you get your ideas about the night the Lord Jesus was born- from books, cards, tradition, church, school or the Holy Bible?
Now let’s look at the other account of the birth of our Lord Jesus, found in Matthew chapter 2. Verse 1 says, “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem.” This verse tells us “there came wise men,” NOT kings. How many wise men came? The Bible does not tells us how many there were, it just says “wise men,” which is plural. This only tells us there was more than one. Next notice they came “from the east to Jerusalem.” Remember in Luke 2:8 we found that the shepherds were “in the same country abiding in the field.” They were in the same country where the Lord Jesus was born, so they could get there the same night. But here in Matthew it says, “there came wise men from the east.” They probably came from somewhere in the Persian Empire, possibly modern-day Iran or Afghanistan. In verse 2 of the same chapter we find these wise men speaking, “Saying, where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.” Let me at this point ask you a question, Why would these wise men have had to ask, ‘Where is he that is born King of the Jews?’ if the star had led them all the way? The answer is simple. There would have been no need at all for that question! Also in verse 2 notice the words, “for we have seen his star in the east.” They said “we have seen,” past tense. Where did they see the star? “in the east” (Iran or Afghanistan). Verses 9 and 10 tell us, “When they had heard the king, they departed; and lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding joy.” Here we find that the star leads them to where the young child, the Lord Jesus Christ, was. All this took time. The wise men did not have the means of travel we have today- no cars, airplanes, etc… They had to walk or use horses or camels to go places. Certainly it took considerable time to come “from the east to Jerusalem” and then to “where the young child was.” They could not have arrived the night Christ was born!
Most people think the star led the wise men all the way from the east to the place where Jesus was born, but this is not what the Word of God teaches. God’s Word tells us they saw the star in the east. They knew it meant the birth of the King. That’s why they went to Jerusalem, the city of Kings. They were not led to Bethlehem at all. When the star disappeared, the wise men traveled to Jerusalem, where they would reasonably expect to find the king to ask, “Where is he that is born King of the Jews?”
When the wise men arrived in Jerusalem, they were told by the chief priests and scribes where He (the King) should be born. Matthew 2:4-6 says, “And when he had gathered all the chief priests ands scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, in Bethlehem of Judea: for thus it is written by the prophet, And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.” In verse 7 we are told, “Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.” Herod “diligently” (very carefully) asked “what time the star appeared.” Notice again the past tense “appeared.” In verse 8 we are told, “And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.” Herod said, “search diligently for the young child (not a babe).
Where was the Lord when the wise men found him? Here we must go back to Luke 2:21-24 where we read, “And when the eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb. And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord; (As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;) And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” Verse 22 tells us, “And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished…” To find out how long this would be we must turn to Leviticus 12:1-4, where we are told, “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according toe the days of separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean. And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. And she shall continue in the blood of her purifying three and thirty days; she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purification be fulfilled.” From this passage we find it took forty-one days to accomplish “the days of her purification” according to the law of Moses. After forty-one days they offered the sacrifice. Leviticus 12:6-8 says, “And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sin offering, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest: Who shall offer it before the LORD and make an atonement for her; and she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood. This is the law for her that hath born a male or female. And if she be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring 2 turtles, or two young pigeons; the one for the burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for her, and she shall be clean.” After forty-one days the Lord was brought to Jerusalem where they accomplished all that was required according to the law of Moses. How long were they at Jerusalem? Turn to Luke 2:39 where we are told, “And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth.” They fulfilled the requirements of the law at Jerusalem, NOT in Bethlehem. You can read this in Luke 2:20-38.
Now after this was done, Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus went back “to their own city Nazareth.” Remember, they had come to Bethlehem to pay their taxes- Bethlehem was not their home. See Luke 2:4 and Luke 1:26. The wise men would not have found Mary, Joseph and Jesus in Bethlehem. By the time the wise men arrived in Jerusalem in search of the King, our Lord had been back in his parent’s home town for quite some time. Luke 2:40 clearly tells us, “And the child grew (in Nazareth), and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.”
Return now to Matthew 2:9-11 to find out what the wise men did after they left Herod in Jerusalem, “When they heard the king, they departed; and lo, the star, which they had seen in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” It is very obvious from this passage of Scripture that the wise men did not go to the manger. They “were come into the house,” where “they saw the young child (not a babe) with Mary his mother.” In verse 9 we found that “the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child (not a babe) was.” “Young child” in Greek is “paidon,” a partly grown child. How old would Jesus have been when the wise men presented Him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh in His house in Nazareth? He would have been two years old or younger according to Matthew 2:7, “Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared,” and Matthew 2:16, “Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.” The age limit, “two years old and under”, was arrived at from the information given to him by the wise men. From this we see why children “two years old and under” were to be killed.
Notice something else about Matthew 2:11. The wise men found “the young child with Mary his mother” only, not Joseph. So once more, where was Jesus when the wise men found Him? They found Him with Mary, his mother, in a house, in his home town of Nazareth.
Once again, let me ask you, “Where did you get your ideas about Christmas? The word “Christmas” is not found in the Holy Bible. The exact date of our Lord’s birth is not known either. We are not told to remember His birth, but we are told to remember his death till He comes again. But even though “Christmas” is not in the Bible, and even though it is commercialized, we do know God did send His Son into the world by way of the Virgin Birth. We do know that the shepherds found Him lying in a manger. So there is nothing wrong with setting aside a day to commemorate the day of His birth.
The main thing we need to remember is why He came. The reason He came into this world was to die and be buried and rise again so that we may live forever with Him. He came to be our Saviour. Luke 2:11 says, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” The apostle Paul said in 1Timothy1:15, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”
Yes, the Lord Jesus came into this world to save sinners, and according to II Corinthians 5:21, “He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” Salvation today is free to us. Christ paid our sin debt. He came to pay a debt He didn’t owe because we owed a debt we couldn’t pay. Salvation is a gift. Romans 6:23 tells us, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is a gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” In Romans 3:24 we find, “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” REMEMBER: GOD LOVES YOU, CHRIST DIED FOR YOU AND HE ROSE AGAIN. BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND BE SAVED.
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