Introduction:
A. The story is told of a man who got tired of all the Christmas hoopla and commercialism.
1. So, he decided not to send Christmas cards, feeling that the expense and effort were non-productive.
a. For the first ten days of December he felt good about his decision.
b. But then, as the mail carrier brought him greetings from friends near and far, he began to feel more and more guilt about sending no cards.
c. Finally, four days before Christmas, he couldn’t stand it any longer.
2. He rushed down to the drug store and grabbed the only box of cards still on the shelf.
a. He bought it, purchased stamps, rushed home, and addressed cards frantically all evening.
b. That very evening he drove down to the post office and mailed 49 cards, and the one card that was left over, he placed on the mantle for decoration.
3. The next day he was strolling through the house and happened to see that extra card on the mantle.
a. Suddenly it occurred to him that he had addressed and signed all those cards, but had not actually read what the card said.
b. So, he grabbed the card and took a look. This is what it said: “This cheery card has come to say: A gift from us is on the way.”
4. The real meaning of Christmas is what some call the “Advent” or coming of Jesus, God’s gift.
a. God sent the message that His gift, Jesus, was on the way many centuries before He arrived.
B. Many traditions and stories about Christmas have grown up over the years.
1. Many of us like watching the Christmas movies like “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “White Christmas,” “Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer” or “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.”
2. Every year, TBS runs the movie “A Christmas Story” for 24 hours straight – that’s the movie with the boy who wants the bb gun but whose parents warn him that he will shoot his eye out.
3. For a few minutes today, I don’t want us to talk about “A Christmas Story,” rather I want us to talk about “The Christmas Story”
C. The Christmas story is a familiar one to most of us – we have heard it over and over again since we were young.
1. But is the Christmas story true? Is it fact or is it fiction?
2. Was Jesus really born of a virgin in Bethlehem?
3. Lord willing, on January 6th, we will discuss the question: “Was Jesus God?” so we don’t want to get into that question too much today.
4. Certainly, the virgin birth is an important consideration in answering the question of Jesus’ identity.
D. Here is a synopsis of the story of the birth of Christ as found in the Bible:
1. Mary, a virgin, was living in Nazareth of Galilee and was engaged to be married to Joseph, a Jewish carpenter.
2. An angel visited her and explained to her that she would conceive a son by the power of the Holy Spirit. She would carry and give birth to this child and she would name him Jesus.
3. At first Mary was afraid and troubled by the angel's words.
a. Being a virgin, Mary questioned the angel, "How will this be?"
b. The angel explained that the child would be God's own Son and, therefore, "nothing is impossible with God."
c. Humbled and in awe, Mary believed the angel of the Lord and rejoiced in God her Savior.
4. While Mary was still engaged to Joseph, she miraculously became pregnant through the Holy Spirit, as foretold to her by the angel.
5. When Mary told Joseph she was pregnant, he had every right to feel disgraced.
a. He knew the child was not his own, and Mary's apparent unfaithfulness carried a grave social stigma.
b. Joseph not only had the right to divorce Mary, under Jewish law she could be put to death by stoning.
6. Although Joseph's initial reaction was to break the engagement, which was an appropriate thing for a righteous man to do, he treated Mary with extreme kindness.
a. He did not want to cause her further shame, so he decided to divorce her quietly.
7. But God sent an angel to Joseph in a dream to verify Mary's story and reassure him that his marriage to her was God's will.
a. The angel explained that the child within Mary was conceived by the Holy Spirit, that his name would be Jesus and that he was the Messiah, God with us.
8. When Joseph woke from his dream, he willingly obeyed God and took Mary home to be his wife, in spite of the public humiliation he would face.
a. Perhaps this noble quality is one of the reasons God chose him to be the Messiah's earthly father.
9. At that time, Caesar Augustus decreed that a census be taken, and every person in the entire Roman world had to go to his own town to register.
a. Joseph, being of the line of David, was required to go to Bethlehem to register with Mary.
10. While in Bethlehem, Mary gave birth to Jesus.
a. Probably due to the census, the inn was too crowded, and Mary gave birth in a crude stable.
b. She wrapped the baby in cloths and placed him in a manger.
11. Out in the fields, an angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds who were tending their flocks of sheep by night.
a. The angel announced that the Savior had been born in the town of David.
b. Suddenly a great host of heavenly beings appeared with the angel and began singing praises to God.
c. After the angelic beings departed, the shepherds decided to go to Bethlehem and see the Christ-child.
12. There they found Mary, Joseph and the baby, in the stable.
a. After their visit, they began to spread the word about this amazing child and everything the angel had said about him.
13. Herod was king of Judea when Jesus was born.
a. At that time wise men (Magi) from the east saw a star, they came in search, knowing the star signified the birth of the king of the Jews.
b. The wise men came to the Jewish rulers in Jerusalem and asked where the Christ was to be born.
c. The rulers explained, “In Bethlehem in Judea,” referring to Micah 5:2.
14. Herod met with the Magi and asked them to report back after they had found the child.
a. Herod told the Magi that he too wanted to go and worship the babe.
b. But secretly Herod was plotting to kill the child.
15. So the wise men continued to follow the star in search of the new born king and found Jesus with his mother in Bethlehem.
a. They bowed and worshipped him, offering treasures of gold, incense, and myrrh.
16. When they left, they did not return to Herod for they had been warned in a dream of his plot to destroy the child.
17. So those are the detailed facts of the Biblical account of Jesus’ birth.
I. Myths and Fictional Aspects of the Christmas Story
A. So what are some of the myths or fictional aspects of the Christmas story that have made their way into the story?
B. Most pictures depict Mary riding a donkey on the journey to Bethlehem, but the Bible doesn’t say how she got there.
1. I hope she did have a ride, but all the Bible says is that she traveled with Joseph.
C. Most pictures depict three wise men bringing their gifts to Jesus.
1. The Bible doesn’t say how many wise men came, but the fact that three gifts are mentioned, has lead some to suggest that there were only three wise men.
D. Pictures also depict the shepherds and wise men at the stable together, but the Bible record would suggest otherwise.
1. The shepherds indeed came and saw Jesus in the stable the night of his birth.
2. But the wise men arrived days or weeks after the event, and visited Jesus in the house.
E. The biggest fictional part of the story that has developed is the date of his birth.
1. The Bible gives us no record of the day of the birth of Jesus.
2. So was it on December 25th or was it even in December?
3. Although it is not impossible, it is unlikely that it was on Dec. 25th or in December.
4. It would be unusual for shepherds to be in the fields with their sheep at night at this cold time of the year.
5. Also, winter would not have been a time when people would have been asked to travel for the census.
F. So why is the birth of Jesus celebrated on Dec. 25th?
1. Although Scripture does not tell us the day of the birth, nor does Scripture suggest that we should celebrate the birth of Jesus at all, the Roman Catholic Church, which dominated most of the Christian world for centuries, officially adopted Dec. 25th as the date to celebrate the birth of Christ in A.D. 325.
2. The original significance of December 25th is that it was a well-known pagan, Roman festival day celebrating the annual return of the sun after the winter solstice.
3. The Roman Catholic Church wanted to replace the pagan festival with a Christian holy day.
II. The Wonder of the Christmas Story
A. Nevertheless, despite human misconceptions and inventions, the actual facts about the birth of Jesus are more marvelous than words can express.
1. Jesus was indeed born of a virgin in the city of Bethlehem exactly as prophesied many years before.
2. For many centuries, skeptics loved to proclaim that a virgin birth is scientifically impossible.
3. But ever since in vitro fertilization and artificial insemination came on the scene, we have learned that it is quite possible for a woman who has never experienced sexual intercourse to get pregnant and give birth.
4. The Bible, however, makes it clear that it was God, and not some high-paid gynecologist, who worked the details of Jesus’ Divine-Human conception.
5. In many ways, the miraculous conception of Jesus is a small miracle for a God who created the entire universe.
6. Once a person accepts and believes Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…”, then they won’t have a problem with the other miracles recorded in the Bible.
7. One day, on a flight back from a medical convention, two widely acclaimed neurosurgeons were seated next to each other in the first class section of the jumbo jet.
a. During the course of the flight, their conversion turned to the importance of faith in the healing process following extensive and dangerous surgery.
b. One was a dedicated Christian who shared his faith on every possible occasion; the other was a professed agnostic.
c. The agnostic asked the Christian doctor if he really believed in the virgin birth of Jesus.
d. His reply was one we would do well to adopt for ourselves. The doctor told his friend, “If a person lived the kind of life that Jesus lived; performed the miracles that Jesus performed; healed the sick and raised the dead as Jesus did; taught great truths that transcended current philosophical thought as Jesus did; was crucified on a cross as was Jesus; bodily arose from the grave on the third day as Jesus did; and ascended into heaven before many witnesses as Jesus did, then, yes, I think I might be inclined to believe in the virgin birth of such a one!”
B. The Christmas Story as revealed in the Bible is one worth repeating.
1. It is a story worth pondering.
2. And it is a story worth believing and embracing.
C. Let me end with this story:
1. Wally was big and awkward for his age - seven years old.
2. Everyone wondered what role the teacher would give him in the annual Christmas play.
a. Especially considering the fact that he was also a slow learner.
b. Perhaps he could pull the curtain.
3. To everyone’s surprise the teacher gave Wally the role of the innkeeper.
a. The boy of course was delighted.
4. All he had to learn was one line: “There is no room in the inn.”
a. He had that line down in no time.
5. Then came the night for the program.
a. The parents took their places - every seat in the auditorium was filled.
6. The children entered singing “Oh come all ye faithful.”
7. The lights dimmed and the curtain opened and the play began.
a. Mary and Joseph entered the stage and walked up to the inn.
b. “Please sir, my wife is not well. Could we have a room for the night?”
8. Wally was ready for his line - he had rehearsed it so many times.
a. He began, “There is…” and he hesitated.
b. He started over again, “There is...” and again his mind went completely blank.
9. Everyone was embarrassed for him but poor Wally just didn’t know what to do.
a. The boy playing Joseph thought he would improvise and started walking away toward the stable on stage left.
b. Seeing him walking away Wally in desperation called out: “Look, there’s plenty of room at my house, just come on home with me.”
D. Let me ask you a most important question: Is there plenty of room in your mind and heart, and in your life and home for Jesus this Christmas?
1. I hope that if you haven’t yet said to Jesus, “Look, there’s plenty of room at my house, just come on home with me,” then I hope you will welcome Jesus today.
2. Jesus wants to “come home with you.” He wants to come into your life and bring salvation and abundant life.
3. In order to have Jesus “come home with you,” you must confess your faith in Jesus, repent and turn to Him by being immersed in water for the forgiveness of your sins.
4. We would be happy to help you do that right now.
Resources:
The Christmas Story, Sermon by Andy Flowers, SermonCentral.com
The Wonder of Christ’s Birth, Sermon by Ray Ellis, SermonCentral.com
The Supernatural Power of Christ’s birth, Sermon by Ray Ellis, SermonCentral.com
The Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ, Sermon by Kenneth Trent, SermonCentral.com
Isn’t the virgin birth of Jesus Christ mythological and scientifically impossible? http://www.christian
answers.net/q-aiia/virginbirth.html
What are some of the most common misconceptions about Jesus Christ’s birth? http://www.christian
Answers.net/Christmas/mythsaboutchristmas.html
