• Michael Jordan
• Bill Gates
• A Preacher
• And a Hippie
All of a sudden the engines went out. The pilot came on the intercom and said, "I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that we've got parachutes. The bad news is that there are five of us, and we've only got four parachutes."
• Then the pilot jumped out saying, "They'll need pilots in the future."
• Michael Jordan said "They'll need athletes in the future." And he jumped out also.
• Then Bill Gates said "I'm the smartest man in the world, and they will certainly need me.” And he jumped out.
That left the Hippie and the Preacher with the fourth parachute. The Preacher had the parachute in his hands, and said, "Well, son, I've lived a long fulfilling life. You can have this parachute."
The Hippie said to the Preacher, “Don’t worry about it!” We still have two parachutes, “The smartest man in the world just jumped out with my backpack. I have the fourth parachute right here!"
I do not claim to be the smartest man in the world, but in this Christmas sermon, I want to show you some things from the Word of God that perhaps you have never considered before. I would like for us to consider the life of Christ in two ways. First, let us consider:
I. HIS ADOLESCENCE
Most of the sermons we hear about Jesus deal with His adult life. But the Lord spent almost two-thirds of his life on this earth as a child and a teenager, so we can not help but ask -
WHAT KIND OF CHILD WAS HE? I can tell you this up front, never has their been a child like the child Jesus! You see He was born of a virgin.
All births are miraculous. Every time we witness the birth of a child, we witness a miracle. But never has there ever been a birth like the BIRTH OF JESUS.
Many folks can not fully comprehend what it means when we say He was born of a virgin. We accept the virgin birth of Jesus on the basis of biblical authority, but we do not understand it.
Illus: For example, there was a beautiful little girl in the seventh grade. She was a very bright and sensitive girl, but she did not understand everything she heard in church. One day at school, she was asked by a curious girl friend, "Are you a virgin?" Well, like a lot of young girls her age who had lived a very protective life, she did not know what a virgin was. But she remembered hearing about the virgin Mary, and she came to the conclusion that Mary had a baby, therefore, a virgin must be a woman who has had a baby.
When she reached this conclusion, she announced loudly to her friend in the cafeteria, "No! I am not a virgin!"
Everyone in the cafeteria was shocked, but one classmate leaned over and said to her, “You need to sit down and be quiet, because I don’t think you know what you are talking about!"
Many of us, adults included, do not know what we are talking about when we are talking about the virgin birth.
The birth of Christ was not the NORMAL MIRACLE that takes place at birth. IT WAS BEYOND THAT!
WHAT IS THE VIRGIN BIRTH? When we speak of Christ being born of a virgin, we are saying that His birth is different than any other birth that has ever occurred on this earth.
THE VIRGIN BIRTH MEANS THAT JESUS CAME FROM GOD. HE IS GOD’S SON. The emphasis is not primarily on Mary, but on the creative life-giving power of Almighty God.
The Bible says, in Matthew 1:18, “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.”
The words that say His birth was “On this wise”, mean His birth was like no other birth that has ever taken place before or since that time.
But not only was His birth unusual, SO WAS HIS LIFE.
Look at HIS ADOLESCENCE.
• He lived a perfect life from the day He was born until the day He died.
• Joseph and Mary could truly say their Son was perfect in every sense of the word.
Illus: I know parents who choose to kid themselves, and think their child is an angel that has never done anything wrong, but they would be shocked to know what others know about their child, that they do not know.
Illus: It is only when the children get older, and they are no longer afraid of spankings, that they start confessing what little demons they were.
What many parents fail to realize is that some children are one thing in their presence, but they become something else when their parents are not present.
That is, some children are little tyrants, but when their parents are around:
• THEY QUIT THEIR CURSING
• THEY QUIT THEIR LYING
• THEY QUIT THEIR SMOKING
• THEY QUIT THEIR LISTENING TO REBELLIOUS ROCK MUSIC
• THEY QUIT THEIR HANGING OUT WITH THE WRONG CROWD
• THEY QUIT THEIR SINFUL LIVING
As soon as they see their parents coming, they become the little angels that their parents think they are.
This is why their parents think they are such angels, because they pretend to be angels when their parents are around.
Listen, never has there been a child like the child Jesus.
• JESUS NEVER HAD ANY TEMPER TANTRUMS
• JESUS NEVER SHOWED DISRESPECT TO HIS PARENTS
• JESUS NEVER LIED TO HIS PARENTS
• JESUS NEVER CAUSED A PROBLEM AND BLAMED IT ON HIS SIBLINGS
• JESUS NEVER DID ANYTHING BEHIND HIS PARENTS BACK
HOW DO WE KNOW HE NEVER DID THESE THINGS? We know this because he was THE SINLESS LAMB OF GOD.
Look at 2 Corinthians 5:21 “For he hath made him to be sin for us, WHO KNEW NO SIN; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
Had he committed one sin in His entire life, when he died on that cross he would not have been dying for our sins, but for His sins! Jesus was the PERFECT CHILD!
We parents love to talk about our children and grandchildren. We have some stories to tell. But listen, no parents could talk about their child like Mary and Joseph, and say the same things they said and be telling the truth.
If Mary and Joseph were interviewed by Barbara Walters, they could tell you some interesting things about their raising the Lord Jesus as a child. For example, if she were to ask them-
A. WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST SHOCK IN RAISING THE LORD JESUS AS A CHILD?
Mary would probably say the biggest shock they had in raising the Lord Jesus, was when they traveled from Nazareth to Jerusalem, which was about ninety miles. Then, as they were going back from Jerusalem to Nazareth, after almost a day they noticed the twelve year old Lord Jesus was missing.
HOW COULD THIS HAVE HAPPENED? Let us look at the scripture passage and see if we can possibly find out how this could have happened.
Look at Luke 2:43-45, we read, “And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him.”
It happened because Mary and Joseph SUPPOSED something they should have never supposed.
It happened because in those days they traveled in caravans, this provided them safety as they traveled in large numbers. We are not told how many were in this caravan, but it must have been very large. The scriptures say they SUPPOSED Jesus was somewhere in the crowd with them. BUT HE WASN’T.
They arrived back in Jerusalem and were asking everyone they met if they seen Him. Two horrifying days they sought Him, and finally on the third day they found Him.
WHERE WAS HE? He was at the temple.
Look at Luke 2:46-48. “And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.”
Isn’t it strange that Mary and Joseph are like so many people today? They came to the house of God as a last resort. This should have been the first placed they should have come.
But as they come to the temple, they find the Lord Jesus listening and asking questions that astonished those who were teaching. THE STUDENT HAD BECOME THE TEACHER!
We do not know who these teachers were, but if they had only known that God in flesh was in their presence, He could have taught them things that no one has ever taught before.
Illus: Like the television program called “Star Trek,” He could have carried them to places that no man has been before.
When Mary and Joseph saw Him listening and asking questions, they were relieved that they had found Him.
However, like all mothers in this situation, she had been scared for almost three days, and went up to the Lord and said something like this, “We have been looking for you everywhere! How could you do this to your parents?”
We do not know exactly what they said to the Lord, but it was something like this because the Lord’s response to their nervous greeting was this, look at Luke 2:49, “And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?”
In other words, in a respectful way, He said, “Mary, why were you shocked! You of all people know that I was born of a virgin, you know that I am the Son of God, why are you shocked that I am doing what God has sent me here to do?”
But they did not understand! Look at Luke 2:50-51 “And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them. And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.”
Joseph and Mary did not understand, but the Bible reveals two things in verse 51.
1. He went back with them and “...Was subject unto them...” That is, He was the Son of God, yet …
• If His mother asked Jesus to take the trash out, He took it
• If Joseph asked him to clean up the wood shavings in his carpenter shop, He cleaned them up. God who had become flesh became “Subject unto them.” Wow! What humility!
2. His mother “...Kept all the sayings in her heart.”
If someone asked Mary and Joseph what the biggest shock in raising the Lord Jesus was, without a doubt they would say the biggest shock was when He was twelve years old and they lost Him for almost three days.
If we asked Mary and Joseph-
B. WHAT WAS THE MOST THRILLING MEMORY YOU HAVE OF CHRIST AS A CHILD?
Mary would probably say, “The most THRILLING THING, as I look back over His life, was His birth.” She would say, “IT IS THRILLING NOW, but it was NOT THRILLING THEN.”
WHY WASN’T IT THRILLING THEN? Because of the confusion that the virgin birth brought.
Illus: When Paul R. Foster, from Attica, Indiana, and his wife got married, they were regarded as a proper, innocent couple. However, while they were on their honeymoon, the same newspaper that carried an account of their wedding, also ran a birth announcement of a couple with the same name who had a baby! (Christian Reader, "Rolling Down the Aisle.")
Needless to say, they were terribly embarrassed.
But the age in which we live does not carry the stigma it did when Mary was found with child before wedlock.
She would have said, “IT TRULY IS THRILLING NOW, but it was NOT THRILLING TRYING TO EXPLAIN THAT I WAS PREGNANT, AND HAD NEVER SLEPT WITH A MAN.”
This created a terrible problem for her because she was not married.
Mary would probably say, “I did not know how I would be able to explain this to my parents, my friends, and I certainly did not know how I was going to explain this to my husband-to-be, Joseph.
HOW COULD SHE CONVINCE HIM SHE WAS FAITHFUL TO HIM?
She tried, but she could not convince him. In fact, Joseph was so confident that she had been running around on him, that he was going to call the wedding off.
Then God spoke to Him. Look at Matthew 1:18-20, we read “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.”
Mary said, “I knew then that Joseph knew that the child within me was conceived by the Holy Ghost.”
THIS WAS THE MOST THRILLING THING THAT HAPPENED AS HE WAS BORN. He was born of a virgin. The Bible said she pondered these things in her heart.
WE looked at HIS ADOLESCENCE, but now let us look at-
II. HIS ADULTHOOD
Even though Christ spent most of his life on earth as a child and as a teenager, He spent approximately twelve to thirteen years of His life as an ADULT.
And in those 12 to 13 years, no one has ever made the impact He made in those few short years as an ADULT.
Illus: Someone said it like this years ago:
He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village, where he worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty. Then for three years he was an itinerant preacher.
He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place where he was born. He did none of the things one usually associates with greatness.
He was only thirty-three when the tide of public opinion turned against him. He was turned over to his enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. When he was dead, he was laid in a borrowed grave.
Nineteen centuries have come and gone, and today he is central figure of the human race and leader of mankind's progress.
All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the kings that ever reigned have not affected the life of man as much as that One Solitary Life.
In those few short years, He made an impact on this world in which we live, like no other person. The whole world revolves around Him. That is, even the calendar of man revolves around what happened BC (Before He came), and AD (after His death.)
He is the one central figure in our life that determines where we are going to spend eternity.
He is the one central figure in our life that determines whether or not we are going to have happiness, peace of mind, and contentment in this life.
Conclusion:
Illus: I once heard about a man who came home from church one Sunday. He ate lunch and then sat down in his easy chair. He got his Sunday newspaper, and he started to read it. He was so happy to be home, because he had a long hard week and he was totally exhausted. He just wanted to sit down and relax. He had been to church, and he just wanted everyone to leave him alone,
His little five year old girl came running into the room. She ran up to him and said, "Daddy, please come and play with me!" He said, "Honey, not right now. Daddy's tired from working all week and going to church this morning. Let me just sit here and read the newspaper." Her response was, "Please come and play with me, Daddy." He realized that he had to think of something, so he grabbed a paper he had gotten at church. He tore it up into many small pieces, and said to his little girl, "Honey, take this into your room. If you can put the pieces back together in the right place again, Daddy will play with you."
She said “OK." And off she went. He thought to himself, "I've got it made now. It will take her hours to put that back together."
Ten minutes later she came running back into the room. She had taken the scotch tape, and put every piece right back where it belonged. The Father thought to himself, "Even I couldn't have done it that fast." He said, "Your Mom helped you right?" The little girl replied, "No one helped me. I did it all by myself." He said, "Well, how in the world did you do it so fast?"
She said, "Look Daddy," and turned the paper over. "There's a picture of Jesus on the other side. When I got Jesus in the right places, all the other pieces fit together."
Friends, that ought to tell us something. When we get Jesus in the right place, all the other pieces will fit in our lives.
The most ridiculous thing in the world is for a person to think they can build a life of happiness around PEOPLE and THINGS!
You have to have Jesus in the right place in your heart for all the pieces to come together.
I. HIS ADOLESCENCE
II. HIS ADULTHOOD
