Mary's Little Lamb Becomes The Lamb Of God Series

THEN AND NOW – Mary’s Little Lamb Becomes the Lamb of God

Luke 2:41-52 (pg. 716) December 20, 2015

Introduction:

One of the very first verses I remember learning went like this...

“Mary had a little Lamb

His fleece was white as snow

And everywhere that Mary went

The Lamb was sure to go.”

Thankfully I grew up in a Christian home and one of the first songs I learned went...

“Jesus loves me

This I know

For the Bible

Tells me so.”

Little did I know back then, that I would understand the two verses sum up God’s amazing plan for our salvation.

Mary’s little lamb...would live a perfect sinless life. The virgin born child of God would become my sacrificial lamb. This I know...the Bible tells me so.

Marv and Marbeth Rosenthal wrote this version:

Mary had the little Lamb, who lived before His birth;

Self-existent Son of God, from Heaven He came to Earth. (Micah 5:2)

Mary had the little Lamb; see Him in yonder stall—

Virgin-born Son of God, to save man from the Fall. (Isaiah 7:14)

Mary had the little Lamb, obedient Son of God;

Everywhere the Father led, His feet were sure to trod. (John 6:38)

Mary had the little Lamb, crucified on the tree

The rejected Son of God, He died to set men free. (1 Peter 1:18)

Mary had the little Lamb—men placed Him in the grave,

Thinking they were done with Him; to death He was no slave! (Matthew 28:6)

Mary had the little Lamb, ascended now is He;

All work on Earth is ended, our Advocate to be. (Hebrews 4:14-16)

Mary had the little Lamb—mystery to behold!

From the Lamb of Calvary, a Lion will unfold. (Revelation 5:5,6)

When the Day Star comes again, of this be very sure:

It won’t be Lamb-like silence, but with the Lion’s roar. (Psalm 2:12; Revelation 19:11-16)

Marv & Marbeth Rosenthal

From Genesis to Revelation there is a cord that holds it all together...then and now...His name is Jesus....

Let’s start with Jesus’ life here on earth

I. FROM BIRTH TO ADOLESCENCE

Christmas is often referred to as “ADVENT” in many churches.

Advent is defined as “The arrival of a notable person thing or event.”

In my 55 years we’ve celebrated the “advent” of Rock & Roll, computers, smart phones, a new millennium...and dozens of other things.

Christmas at its basis is the celebration of God’s arrival here on earth...It’s wrapped up in Luke 2 verse 6 & 7. “While Mary and Joseph were in Bethlehem...the time came for the baby to be born and she wrapped Him in cloths and placed Him in a manger.”

Isaiah prophesied 800 years before Jesus birth to be discovered, up until that time the most current manuscript we had from the Old Testament was copies 800 years after Jesus’ birth...In this discovery in 1946 was an entire manuscript of the book of Isaiah, written 135 years before Jesus’ birth...and it was almost an exact replica.

What did Isaiah prophesy?

ISAIAH 9:2; 6-7 (p. 479)

It’s why when Jesus is 8 days old according to Jewish law Joseph and Mary bring Him to the temple for dedication, they offer a sacrifice to God of two young doves or pigeons.

While there, something amazing happens. An elderly man named Simeon, an Israelite who is waiting for God’s promises to come about, had been impacted by the Holy Spirit to understand He wouldn’t die before He encountered the promised one.

Listen:

LUKE 2:27-35 (p. 716)

Simeon lived in expectation of the Advent of the Savior...the light which would pierce the darkness...Mary’s little lamb.

There is also an 84 year old woman there...she’d been a widow for decades...she spent every day worshipping in God’s house...and as Simeon holds baby Jesus she comes the them and gives thanks to God. She speaks about the child to all who are looking forward to the redemption of Israel...Afterward God’s word says:

LUKE 2:39-40 (p. 716)

The odds of one child fulfilling just 8 of the prophecies we have recorded before His birth are 1 in 10 to the 17th power....Statisticians say that’s like covering the state of TX two feet deep in silver dollars...marking one of them and hiding it...then having someone randomly find it on their first try.

It takes faith to believe in the promised one...but it takes a lot of faith not to as well.

We know very little about Jesus’ childhood....Just that He grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on Him.

But we have one story about his adolescence....when He was 12...coincidentally about the time everything starts to change...about the time most of us start to try to “cut the apron strings in rebellion.”

Joseph and Mary are obedient Jews...every year they go to Jerusalem for Passover. (It’s the Jewish remembrance of Thanksgiving...where the blood of the Lamb protects each house it was applied to when they were slaves in Egypt.) But this year after everything is complete...and the whole clan heads home they discovered Jesus isn’t with them...He’s stayed behind...after a day of traveling they discover this fact...they head back...look for him for 3 days...(Can you imagine? Just think of when your child goes missing in the store...and you find him after 5 minutes and multiply it times 1,000).