A Christmas Perspective

A Christmas Perspective

Matthew 1:19-25 & Luke 1:26-38

Good Morning…

The dictionary defines perspective as a particular attitude toward or a way of regarding something; or a point of view.

I read a story this week about a man named George, walking down the street as he passed a construction site.

As George was walking by, he questioned a man working on the project with a down trodden look on his face, “What are you doing here?” he asked.

The man replied, “I’m building a wall, I’m a bricklayer.”

George continued down the sidewalk and came across another bricklayer working on the same building, but this man looked a little happier.

So George asked the man, “Sir, what are you doing?” This man responded, “I’m building a church, isn’t it beautiful?”

Finally, George encountered a third worker, laying bricks and asked him, “Sir, what are you doing?”

This man looked at George, paused for a moment, and with a big smile on his face he said, “I am building a place where people can come and worship the Lord!”

All three of these men were bricklayers, who were doing the same job, all trying to achieve the same goal…

…but each of these brick layers had different perspectives of the job and each man was thinking about what they were doing in a totally different way.

We can conclude that one man had a job; one man had a vocation; and one man had a calling.

Please open your Bibles to Matthew 1; put a book mark there and then turn to Luke 1

This morning, we are going to look at the events which led up to the Birth of Jesus from two different perspectives; a mother’s perspective and from a father’s perspective.

The difference between a mother’s perspective and a father’s perspective was clearly seen when it came to hearing about a pregnancy a little over 2000 years ago.

Some people hear about a pregnancy and get so excited; while others may hear about the same event and get terrified.

Well the news that an angel named Gabriel shared with a young couple back in 6 B.C. changed the course of history, forever.

The Christmas story has been so romanticized over the centuries the story of Jesus’ birth has been turned into a fictional story.

However, without question, 6 BC was a lousy time to live in Judea.

Herod the Great was on the throne of Israel and he was a cruel ruler who had political support from Rome.

Herod tried to usurp the title, "King of the Jews”; he even put his own sons to death when any of them posed a political threat.

He taxed Jews through the temple and then used the proceeds to build cities and temples in honor of Roman deities.

So Judea existed under the tyranny of Rome's rule at the time of Christ’s birth.

It was a time of unprecedented economic and political advancement for the rich and a time of horrific oppression for everyone else.

Just as the political, economic, and spiritual crises of the first century set the stage for the "fullness of time" to occur . . .

So it is in our day, the fullness of time to seek the Lord is here.

God is accomplishing His sovereign plan and His divine will.

Times are hard, indeed—but they never surprise God, He is still sovereign. He is still on the throne.

This morning, I want to encourage you, to be like Mary, and pay attention to what God wants to do in our lives.

Christmas is a good time to get a new perspective, and ask ourselves this question:

Will I focus on Jesus as the center of my life and cling to Him regardless of the circumstances I face?

I. A mother’s perspective.

Read Luke 1:26-37

God chose an ordinary girl for an extraordinary miracle.

Mary was a small town girl from an ordinary place; who was planning on getting married to an ordinary guy.

But notice that she was a virgin and had never been intimate with a man;

1000 years prior to this event; God told the prophet Isaiah that this would be one of the over 315 specific Old Testament prophecies of the coming Messiah.

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. NKJV

So here is this ordinary virgin girl, preparing to marry this ordinary man; to live the rest of their ordinary life.

Mary must have thought, “We will be married, have 3.5 children, he will be a carpenter and I will be a home maker.”

She probably had her whole life planned out…but then!

Mary’s ordinary life is interrupted by an unexpected event.