A daughter came home from college for Christmas and was in the process of helping her mother get ready for Christmas dinner. For as long as they can remember, her mother, and her grandmother before her, had always prepared a roast. Now, there was one thing that puzzled the daughter. Every year, her mother would cut off the ends of the roast before putting it in the pan. This year, she got up the courage and asked, “Mom, why do you cut off the ends of the roast?” “Well,” her mother replied, “I always helped your grandmother with the meal and she always did the same thing. I think it helps to keep the meat moist, but I have never asked her why she did it.” The daughter kept on working, but she was not completely satisfied with the answer. A few moments later, the girl’s grandmother came in the door, and she asked her the same question: “Why do we always cut the ends off the roast we cook for Christmas dinner?” “Well,” replied the grandmother, “I have no idea why your mother does it, but I did it because I didn’t have a pan big enough to fit the roast into without doing it.”
There’s a moral to this story. Sometimes, you just have to ask “Why?” This mother had gone years doing this tradition of cutting off the ends of meat, but she had never asked her mother why she did it. As a result, she had wasted the ends of her roast for years. So, this morning, I want to ask the question why. Why Christmas? Why did God choose to come in this way? I think we can get the answer to this by turning to John 3:1-17. Please read along with me in your Bible or in your sermon notes.
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.” In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” “How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven – the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
This morning, I want to uncover four reasons from this passage the answer the question, “Why Christmas?” Before we go any further, let’s ask the Lord to bless our time.
Reason #1: It Fulfilled Prophesy
What are you going to do tomorrow? Some of you may have plans and some may be playing it by ear, but there is one thing that you can probably count on. Something will come up that you don’t expect too. It may not be tomorrow, but I bet there will be at least something this week that will happen that you never saw coming. Even when we have things planned down to the tiniest, most minute detail, we can never know for sure what the day will hold because the future is not in our hands. It is out of our control.
There is one that does know the future though, and that is God. How do we know that He knows the future? It is made very evident when we look at the Christmas story. After all, there are hundreds of times in the Old Testament where God revealed the future to the prophets, and they wrote down these predictions in their writings in the Old Testament. Most of these predictions, which we refer to as prophesy, referred to the coming of the Messiah to save Israel. They were put there so that people would know the Messiah when He came to earth, and they would follow and listen to Him. It’s quite amazing that every one of these prophesies were fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. They told all about this man hundreds of years before He was even born. If you don’t believe that is amazing, let me prove it to you scientifically.
In his book, Science Speaks, Peter Stoner applies the modern science of probability to just eight prophecies regarding Christ. He says, “The chance that any man might have ...fulfilled all eight prophecies is one in 10 to the 17th. That would be 1 in one hundred quadrillion (one followed by 17 zeros).” Stoner suggests that, “we take 10 to the 17th silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the state 2 feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly... Blindfold a man and tell him he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up [that one marked silver dollar.] What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing those eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, providing they wrote them in their own wisdom.”
So, why is this significant when we try to answer the Why question when it comes to Christmas? Well, because it shows us that this is the way God had planned to save the world all along. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, God did not say, “Oh no, now what am I going to do?” He had a plan all along about how He would go about saving the world, and He revealed this plan to men down through time. They wrote down this plan for us to see, and then God followed the plan so that we would know that Jesus was the Messiah. Nicodemus knew all about the words written about the coming Messiah, and he knew that Jesus fit every one of them. Why else would he tell Him in our Scripture that “We know you are a teacher that comes from God.”? He knew this because God had revealed His plan ahead of time so people would be ready to accept Jesus. So, why did Christmas happen by sending His Son to earth to save the world? It happened because it was God’s plan all along and He stuck to that plan.
Reason #2: The Church Needed Help
Danny Moss, a pastor, recently told about the time he played Santa
in a mall in Meridian, Mississippi. Danny said he had children come through with up to thirty things on their want list. But, one small boy really got his attention. Danny said, “I asked him if he’d been a good boy?” It’s a typical question all children get asked at Christmastime. However, Danny said the little fellow looked straight at him and answered, “No, I haven’t, and I’m not going to be either!”
I wish we had the ability to be as honest as this little boy sometimes, especially as it relates to the condition of the church. As a pastor, I get the opportunity to meet with a number of other pastors from time to time, and on of the questions you ask them is, “How is your church doing?” And, 95% of the time, they tell you that things are going good. Well, if 95% of churches were really doing well, don’t you think more people would be going to church than ever? Wouldn’t more churches be opening instead of closing their doors? Wouldn’t we be seeing a wave of sinners coming to know the Lord? If this was a true reflection of the church, we would surely see the results all around us.
The truth of the matter is that the church as a whole is not doing well these days – we just refuse to see it. This is nothing new. It was happening during the time of Jesus as well, and it is one of the reasons that He came. After all, if you would have talked to a Pharisee about the affairs of the temple, they would have told you that things had never been better. They would have pointed to how they were following God’s plan and how holy they were. They would have told you how many times they went to temple that week. They would have told you about how much they gave in the offering or at sacrifice, and they would have been proud to share it. However, Jesus was not impressed with what was going on.
Now, Nicodemus was one of these righteous Pharisee’s, and he was the equivalent of a Sunday School teacher and leader of the church. If things were going well, Jesus would not have reprimanded Nicodemus. When Jesus gives him the message of being born again, Nicodemus is confused. Then Jesus tells him he should not be surprised with this message. After all, he is supposed to be a teacher in the church, and yet, he does not know this very simple teaching. This is evidence that Jesus was not happy with what has become of His house of worship. Why else do you think Jesus took the power away from these learned Pharisee’s and their temple and gave it to regular ordinary men who met in houses? It was because the church needed a change, and Jesus himself helped to bring it about. He needed and desired to have a church that would truly worship Him and would include even the least of these in it’s midst. The church was not to be an exclusive club anymore – it was to be open for everyone. That is why He came as He did at Christmas.
Reason #3: He Needed to Raise Up Disciples
Since Jesus knew the plans ahead of Him, He knew He wouldn’t always be around to help the church He was trying to get going. Therefore, He had to come up with a plan to sustain the church. He had to raise up people under Him to carry on the message. This is why Jesus was often referred to as a teacher. He spent His time trying to teach people how to live, how to lead, and how to be like He was. He was raising up disciples.
We automatically think of the twelve when we hear the word disciple, but there was much more than these. There are numerous times throughout the Gospels and Acts when we hear about people who were called disciples who were not among the twelve. Jesus was all about raising up “Little Christs”, which is the literal translation of the word Christian, so that there would be leadership and a church long after He departed the earth. And this is what Jesus was doing with Nicodemus in this night meeting. He was teaching Him to become a true believer and a disciple of His.
As I went through college, there was one experience that stood out above any other. We took class after class about how to be a good teacher and they all helped a lot. But, the best part was getting to go into a classroom and watch a teacher teach in the classroom setting who had done it for years. Then, we got to ask them questions afterward. This is what Jesus was doing. He not only taught with words. He could have done that and God had tried to do that and it had not worked. After all, that is what the Old Testament was. However, over the years, the words and meanings of the teachings had become misconstrued. God had to come to earth and teach by example in order for us to fully understand how we were to live. That is another reason He came as He did in the form of a baby at Christmas.
Reason #4: The Lost Needed to Be Saved
It’s official. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents - has issued regular warnings about a whole range of hazards just waiting to happen - all of them arising from what you thought were innocent, Christmas-related activities or accessories. On Christmas Day in 2003, more than 6,000 people were taken to hospital, and over the full 12 days of Christmas the number of casualties rose to more than 80,000. But what can possibly go wrong? What on earth do people manage to do to turn delight into disaster, transforming celebrations into commiserations? Well, the most common accidents are:
• People stabbing themselves with scissors while trying to wrap presents, or open them, too hastily.
• Then, there are a whole range of bruises and broken limbs resulting from children falling off their new bike or rocking horse.
• And then a fascinating series of decoration-related accidents, from being stabbed by tree needles or holly, to falling while putting up Christmas cards.
• Even tinsel is not as harmless as it looks and last year it caused a good many trips and falls.
• And finally, Christmas tree lights accounted for more than 350 emergency admissions to hospital.
It appears that we need to be saved from Christmas! I agree that Christmas is about being saved from something, but it is not from physical injuries that we inflict on ourselves. It is about saving ourselves from ourselves though. Jesus tells Nicodemus that we must be born again. He also tells Nicodemus that His whole purpose in coming was not to condemn the world but to save it. He wants to bless us all with eternal life. How does this happen? It happens, as verse 16 tells us, when we believe in Him. It happens when we take Him at His Word and believe He is who He said He was. And we show that we believe in Him by confessing with our mouth that we believe He is God and by following His teachings. We forsake all we think we know and we follow His ways. This was His major reason for coming to earth. He didn’t want any of us to perish because He wants to spend all eternity with those that love Him.
Why Christmas? Well, Jesus had to fulfill the prophesies about Him. He had to change the church into something that would give Him glory and spread His message. He needed to raise up disciples that could make this happen and give the rest of us models to follow. And, He needed to show us how we could be saved. That is why He came as He did, and I would pray that we would listen to His message today. We need to make sure the church is acting in the way He designed it to. We need to raise up more disciples so the message goes on to the next generation. And, we need to make every effort to save the souls of the lost all around us. Maybe there are some here this morning that need His salvation. I want everyone here to bow their heads and close their eyes. How many of you know you are Christians and going to heaven, raise your hand. You need to pray for the church, the people of the church, and the lost of our community right now. How many of you are not sure if you are Christians this morning? You can be sure if you take the promise of John 3:16 to heart. If you truly believe in Him this morning, tell Him and show Him by your actions. When you do that, you can count on the everlasting life He has promised. Finally, if you are not a Christian and would like to be, raise up your hand. If that is you, you need to confess your sin to God and ask Him to forgive you. Then, you need to confess Him as Lord and tell Him you believe He died and rose for you. Then, you will be saved as well. Our altars will be open for prayer as Carrie plays softly in the background. I pray that you would use them to encounter God this morning. Let’s pray.
