Sermon Central
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Do You Hear What I Hear? Series
Contributed by Jeff Strite on Dec 6, 2015 (message contributor)
Summary: Why would anyone reject the promise of the Christ child being born of a virgin? Well, many do. Why do they do that? And why is it important that we not only believe this promise, but understand it?
OPEN: Sing this with me:
“Said the night wind to the little lamb
Do you see what I see?
Way up in the sky little lamb
DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE?
A star, a star dancing in the night,
with a tail as big as a kite,
with a tail as big as a kite
“Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy
Do you hear what I hear?
Ringing through the sky shepherd boy?
DO YOU HEAR WHAT I HEAR?
A song, a song high above the trees,
with a voice as big as the sea,
with a voice as big as the sea
Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king
Do you know what I know?
In your palace warm mighty king.
DO YOU KNOW WHAT I KNOW?
A child, a child shivers in the cold
Let us bring him silver and gold,
Let us bring him silver and gold
Those are the first 3 - of the 4 verses - of the song “Do you hear what I hear?”
Did you notice the sections of each verse that I highlighted?
Do you SEE what I see?
Do you HEAR what I hear?
Do you KNOW what I know?
The last verse has the mighty king declaring: “LISTEN to what I say!”
What’s this song about?
It’s about Jesus isn’t it?
It’s about His birth
The singer is declaring:
“I’ve seen. I’ve heard. I know…
Therefore: listen to what I say!!!!”
It’s a Christmas song of Praise to Jesus.
Because Jesus is the “reason for the season.”
ILLUS: I read the true story of a woman who entered her local library and said
“I’d like to find a book on the ‘real meaning of Christmas.’ Nothing religious though.”
Now does that strike you as odd?
Of course it does, because the “real meaning” of Christmas is all about the baby Jesus born to a virgin.
And that’s what PART of our scripture is about this morning:
“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14
Isn’t that cool?
About 700 years before Jesus was born, God makes this declaration.
There’s going to be a virgin.
She’s not known a man and she’s going to give birth to a child.
And they’ll call Him Immanuel… which means “God with us”.
ILLUS: I read the true story of a church where the teachers helped their Sunday School kids stage an impromptu Christmas pageant. The teachers had read the story to the children and provided them with some props; then they stood to the side and let the kids dramatize what they’d heard.
One girl grabbed the doll and said, “I’ll be Mary.”
A boy cried out, “I’ll be Joseph,”
Some found some bathrobes and said, “We’ll be the shepherds.”
Everyone was either a lamb, or a wise man, or an angel or something else.
But one little girl had no part, so she said,
“I’ll be the doctor who delivered the baby Jesus.”
So they all took their places.
Mary had a sofa pillow under her shirt.
And Joseph led Mary to the MEAN innkeeper who sent them away.
When the time came, the “doctor” took the doll from Mary’s pillow and held it up.
Joseph, wanting to act like a new papa said, “What is it, doc?”
The little doctor smiled and said, “Why it’s a…God.”
(David O. Dykes, sermoncentral.com)
Jesus – born of a virgin.
Born to be Immanuel.
Born to be “God with us.”
Now, what’s really interesting is the series of events that led up to this prophecy:
It all has to do with a King named Ahaz
Ahaz… was a very religious man.
In fact, he worshipped a multitude of gods.
But there was one God he would not worship. Do you have any idea who THAT God was? That’s right: the God of Israel.
Ahaz WAS religious. It’s just that he wasn’t religious toward the God of his fathers.
And because Ahaz rejected the LORD…II Chronicles 28:19 tells us:
“The LORD had humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had promoted wickedness in Judah and had been most unfaithful the LORD.”
Ahaz reigned in Judah for 16 years and made every effort during his reign to destroy the religious foundations of the nation.
• He locked up the gates of the temple
• He melted down the Temple vessels for the gold and silver in them.
• He offered burnt incense on high places throughout Judah (which the Law explicitly condemned).
• And he set up altars on his roof so he could worship stars, moon and sun.
II Kings 16:2-4 tells us “… Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD his God. He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, following the detestable ways of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.”
