The Christmas Gospel

The Christmas Gospel – Matthew 1 & Luke 2

The Plan of God – Matthew 1:18a ; Luke 2:1-6

Matthew 1:18a 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way.

God moves in the affairs of nations to accomplish His purposes, for nothing can nor will stop Him from accomplishing anything He wants.  The Caesars appeared to be in control of human destiny with all of their man-made military might, but actually God was orchestrating all the events to fulfill His purposes.  God has the power to control any and everything!

Q: Have you ever felt insignificant and just a pawn in a world of over 7.44 billion people? Look what God does for two people. He is moving in Caesar and bending an entire kingdom & empire – all for a carpenter and a pregnant teenager so they could to get to Bethlehem fulfill His scripture.

We should never think He is not going to move on our behalf. 

The Purity and Perfection – Matthew 1:18b

Matthew 1:18b When his mother Mary had been betrothed^[f] to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

• The Purity of the Relationship

When his mother Mary had been betrothed^[f] to Joseph, before they came together

Joseph honored God and Mary by keeping their lives sexually pure in every way.

• The Perfection of the Relationship

she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

This was a work of the Holy Spirit, therefore it would be done in utter perfection.

The Protection from Joseph of Mary – Matthew 1:19-20

Matthew 1:19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

Can you imagine how Joseph must’ve felt with all of this news? His plans for a home and family had been turned upside down. He must have genuinely loved Mary, but he was having second thoughts about following through with the marriage. He intended to put her away privately and not make a public spectacle out of the situation and see that shame was far from Mary.

What had begun as the happiest moment in his life quickly brought confusion, heartache, and uncertainty. In times of confusion and doubt, looking back over our lives we can see how we can continue to trust in the Lord.

As a man of integrity, Joseph sought even in the midst of his pain, to think of what was good for Mary.

The Purpose of His Coming – Matthew 1:21

Matthew 1:21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 

His name is ordained from on high, plus it was specifically and strategically chosen for Him by His Father in heaven. His name means “Jehovah is salvation”.  It is an amazing name, this name Jesus.

Though a common name in the 1^st century, at His birth, Jesus became a special name, the pre-eminent name for all time.

You cannot think of Christmas without keeping the Cross in the forefront of our minds.

The Prophecy of the Prophets – Matthew 1:22-23 Luke 2:4 ; Matthew 2:1-6

His coming had been known since Genesis 3:15 and through all of the prophets.  It was a night of the fulfillment of so much prophecy.

The Presence of Jesus – Matthew 1:23c

Matthew 1:23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). 

Immanuel means God with us. For thousands of years God had appeared only in Spirit, primarily within the veil, hovering over the Mercy Seat. In Christ, God came to dwell among people. Through Him we see the personification of God in the flesh. He was near and would never leave us nor forsake us.

The Personal Holiness of Joseph – Matthew 1:24-25

Matthew 1:24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

A simple profound truth is found here. Joseph was committed to the will of God for his life, and dedicated to following the Lord whatever the cost. In looking at the text, there is no sense of regret as to what is place before Him, for he embraces God’s plan and does as the Lord instructed him to do - he took Mary as his wife without delay or hesitation.

Poverty over a Palace – Luke 2:7

Luke 2:4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

The place where Jesus was born was where the animals stayed that belonged to the travellers. It consisted of a series of stalls opening off a shared and common courtyard.

The town was crowded and there was no room for Joseph and Mary, so it was in the common courtyard that Jesus entered the world, not in a stately palace fit for heaven’s king . Swaddling clothes consisted of a square of cloth with a long bandage-like strip coming diagonally off from one corner.

The fact that there was no room was symbolic of what would mark His life. The only place where there was room for him was on a cross. He came to enter the busy and over-crowded hearts of men, and man said “no” to Him.   

The Piercing News of Angels – Luke 2:8-14

One of the most special parts of the Christmas story is the announcement to the shepherds, for they were looked down upon by the religiously conservative Jews of the 1^st century. Their work kept them from keeping so much of the law – like the hand-washings and rules and regulations. Their flocks just made too many demands on them, resulting in their classification as the lowest men in the nation. 

Yet, it was to the simple men of the fields that God's message first came. 

The Pursuit & Proclamation of Shepherds – Luke 2:15-18

They did not delay for as soon as the angels left after they pronounced the news, they went with haste to find him. So all of us, just as they, should without delay seek the Savior.

Like these shepherds, we should forsake all,

and give no rest to our searching heart & eyes

until we behold and worship Him.

Having seen the child & were changed, they knew they had no choice but to let others know what they had seen and heard.

                        The First Preachers

They became the first preachers of the New Testament Gospel as they went and told everyone they saw.

Ponderings and Praise – Luke 2:19-20

         The Ponderings

2:19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.

            “pondering them”

The word ‘pondering’ means “to weigh”. When something “weighs” on us, it never leaves our mind, it is ever at the forefront of our thoughts.  This indicates that she kept thinking on them for they we too great to forget

         The Praise

It is fitting that the Christmas narrative ends with this response, for it could not go any other way…

2:20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

After the shepherds hear the message and meet Jesus in the manger, they go back to their flocks celebrating as they go.  Their voices are lifted up in praise to God for this wondrous gift of the Messiah. 

That is the overview of the narrative and what an amazing one that we cannot ever stop not passing on – The Christmas Gospel.

Jesus on the Church

As Jesus meets with his disciples near Caesarea-Philippi, He asks the 12 what the Jews were saying about Him in the nation – what kind of conclusions were people arriving at in their minds. The 12 share several of those views and then all of a sudden, Peter responds with this, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God”.

After that confession, Jesus mentions the word “Church” or “Ekklesia” for the very first time, and this whole exchange with Peter gives us the very first words on the principles of the church.  The principles Jesus speaks of here were foundational for the early church and they must be for us as well.  I would to share one of them in this post.  The full context is found in Matthew 16:13-23. 

The Church is a Place that is Built on and Belongs to Jesus – 16:18

16:18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 

Two Ideas here: (1) Built  (2) Belongs

When you look at this verse, it is hard to imagine how the Roman Catholic church has landed with the belief that the church is founded upon and is being continued on the lives of fallen men. 

The church must be founded upon someone more than imperfect fallen men.  Though Peter makes this great confession in the text, Peter was not done making mistakes, for after this glorious moment, Peter will make a huge mistake and with Jesus, as Jesus looks at him and will say “satan’.  I can’t think of any worse thing to be said about me, than for Jesus the Son of God to look at me and say ‘satan’.  This is a bad moment!

The church is not built on Peter, but on Christ and we should see the the church as:

(1) Built by Jesus

(2) Belonging to Jesus

         And I tell you,

Jesus perspective matters most! Jesus is sharing His perspective.

            “you are Peter, and on this rock”

·      Peter – Greek is ‘petros’ meaning little/small stone

·       Rock – Greek is ‘petra’ – big rock/ledge ; large stone ; projecting rock or ledge

**The Greek is saying…Peter is a stone, but Jesus is the Rock.**

            you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell      shall not prevail against it. 

This is an important piece to come to an understanding of, as there has been so much confusion in regard to these words for well over 1,000 years.  The reason it is so critical is that the right understanding of them goes to the heart of our understanding of the purpose of church. If the understanding is off, then the function of the church will be off.

Jesus is saying that He is going to build His church upon the confession that He is the Son of God. Peter is a small stone, and Jesus is going to build his church though on the confession Peter has just made. There is a rock, a large stone, a ledge that he is going to build His church upon.

What is that great rock/stone?

The strong indication from the Bible is that it is the confession of Jesus made by Peter and the rest of the Apostles, for they affirmed Peter’s words with their life.

Look at these verses with me…

Ephesians 2:19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Notice that Paul does not say the church is built on Peter, but on the foundation of the Apostles and the prophets, & all who make the same confession. Jesus is the key to it all as the chief cornerstone of the house. 

Ultimately it leads to this, the church is built upon the continued belief and confession that Jesus is the Lord God.  

How does this continue today after the apostolic period? In the church age that we live in?

The way it has been done since the earliest days of the church - the church continues to make the great confession in our affirmation the apostolic teaching.  We learn how the first church continued making the Great Confession as we see this very first description of them in Acts 2:42a “And they devoted themselves to the Apostles teaching”.  

The church is built upon the revelation given to Peter and which he declared among the Apostles. The Apostles affirmed Peter’s confession that day, & then many of them wrote down things concerning this revelation of Jesus. The Holy Spirit moved in the writers and they wrote of the beauty of this confession on animal skins and pages so that the church would understand the depth of the meaning of this confession. So...

Throughout time, the church has been built

on the great revelation of God 

which is contained in Scripture.

The Scripture becomes for us today the loud and clear voice of this confession that Jesus is the Son of God.  The church is built on that purpose and priority!

It is why in my ministry that I cannot allow any ministry to move past the teaching of Scripture as the priority in all we do.  The proclamation of the Gospel in the scripture becomes the way we make the same great confession of Christ that Peter made. The best way to do this is teach the scripture.  He is the Word and so We exalt Him best by teaching the Word.

            “I will build my church”

Jesus is speaking of Himself as the owner and the builder of the church and He sees His apostles as a part of that body of people that He is building. In our generation, as we make this great confession, we are built into this foundation.

Jesus Christ is the foundation stone of the church. It’s not Peter. It’s not a movable stone, it’s an immovable one!

He builds His church on all those who make the great confession, with all those to whom the revelation is given and when they hear it and they believe it. So, the church at large and locally is not built on Peter, but on the confession of Jesus as Lord.

 

When we turn to John's vision in Revelation 21:14 and we see the picture of the heavenly Jerusalem, what is the foundation of the city?  The names of the apostles and the elders.  Jesus is saying here that the apostles will have a unique role in founding the church. 

Paul tells us the church isn’t built on Peter, but on Jesus Christ:

1 Corinthians 3:11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

            “and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”. 

When a church strategically builds its existence upon the aim of this confession, even the gates of hell will not prevail. Throughout history as satan, dictators, false religions, nations have tried to abolish the church, their efforts have only serve to keep the church alive and for her to even grow in places of enormous persecution.

The big bad wolf can huff and puff but he will never topple the church.  

The church is the gathering of Christ-followers

who make it their mission and practice

to never stop confessing that Jesus is Lord.

If you have left this practice for something else, it is time to return to the greatest ministry that we can have - making the Great Confession in prayer, greeting, singing, preaching, fellowshipping.

After all, the gates of hell cannot shut up the confession that will last for eternity.  The true church will not ever be silent in its proclamation that Jesus is the Son of God.