The Joy That Lies In Christmas Series

The Joy that Lies in Christmas

Series: Encountering Jesus (through the Gospel of Luke)

Brad Bailey – December 16, 2018

Intro

I find that Christmas is like an array of sentiments… loosened and longing for their substance.

So this season can be a process of finding our way back to Christmas.

And toards that end, we have begun a journey in the Gospel of Luke… to know Jesus. And because Luke includes accounts that prepare the way for the birth of Christ…we get something of a “Christmas prequel.” We have an opportunity for God to speak and reveal more of His work to us as He did those first engaged…and to prepare our hearts…as He did theirs. [1]

(Summarize previous weeks…)

By way of quick review of what Luke has shared. Luke begins his account by introducing us to an older couple…Zechariah & Elizabeth… sadly unable to have ever conceived children. And one day Zechariah is engaged by an angel… told they will have a son…and he will be the prophet who prepares the way for the Messiah…he one God will send to save all people. They were told to name him John…and we will come to know him as John the Baptist …the one who calls the people to repent and prepare their lives to receive the Messiah….and then introduces them to Jesus.

Luke continues telling us that six month later… a young woman…named Mary is engaged by an angel… told that she will be with child… and will have a son…and he will be the Messiah…conceived by God’s Spirit. Mary asks…how is this possible…because she has never had sexual relationship with a man…and she is told that God’s Spirit will conceive this child in her…and then the last thing that Mary was told…is that her relative Elizabeth is now pregnant in her old age…for nothing is impossible with God.

Luke now continues…

Luke 1:39-40 ?At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40  where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth.

We shouldn’t be surprised that she prepares to go spend some time away.

An unmarried pregnant girl like Mary was in real danger from outraged relatives, and Elizabeth’s house may have been a safe haven for the young girl. [2]

Perhaps the visit was a way of getting her out of harm’s way. Honor killings are not a modern invention. This is certainly suggested by the fact that we are later told that Mary stayed with her for the next 3 months until the time came for Elizabeth’s child was born.

We shouldn’t be surprised that she goes specifically to visit her cousin Elizabeth. The angels had told her… that her relative Elizabeth was also with child at an impossible age. So Elizabeth is the one who would conform this…and understand this… and maybe even help prepare for this.

Imagine…these two women who were pregnant… each told they were the one’s chosen by god to bring the hope that been had been longed for… for hundreds of years. That all had been wondering and waiting for.

They were relatives… but separated by many days of travel…and by generations. One’s in youth group and one is in the “Grays and Strays” group…living Leisure World. Elizabeth is old enough to be Mary's great-grandmother.

And yet God spans and unites these generations.

That itself is beautiful…and should inspire us. In a time in which so much tries to separate us… set generations apart…these events of Christmas give us a beautiful picture of how things really are. God sees human lives who share the same nature… able to come together around what is bigger than either of their generations.

We could wonder which got more out of this time of coming together.

The older Elizabeth….now with a husband who was made unable to talk by the angel until their child was born… a woman who we are told had drawn into seclusion… finally able to enjoy a safe companion…and the vitality of this younger relative…finally able to know that indeed the Messiah has been conceived as well. Or the young 13 to 15 year old Mary… scared… one whose fiancé was preparing for divorce…she is needing support….wisdom. I think it is safe to say… this time was a gift to each of them.

She didn’t want to waste any time.

And so she arrives at Elizabeth’s house, greets her, and, then, what happens?

Luke 1:41-45

When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42  In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43  But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44  As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45  Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"