The Miracle on Manger Street
Luke 2:7
Most of us are familiar with the old movie, “Miracle on 34th Street.” It is the story of how Santa Claus was defended in court in New York. It is a cute story of how lives were touched and changed by a little old man in a red suit. Well, the “Miracle on Manger Street” is not about a little old man in a red suit, but about an infant child in swaddling clothes that has changed the lives of most of us here today. Just what was the miracle on manger street?
First it was the miracle of a virgin birth.
A. Some would have us to believe that Mary was a young girl—perhaps 12 or 13—betrothed to Joseph and those who were betrothed often engaged in premarital biblical knowledge.
B. Why is it so hard for people to accept the virgin birth. We have people who believe that God made the universe and everything it contains, but they don’t believe that a virgin could give birth to the son of God.
C. The age could be correct, but nevertheless, she had never know her betrothed husband in a physical sense. Mary was a virgin. How do we know this? By the use of the Greek and Hebrew words for virgin.
D. Isaiah 7:14—800 year old prophecy—almah and not bethula—parthenos—greek for virgin—parthenogenesis—the virgin birth is for real
E. Matthew’s account—1:18-20
F. Luke 1:34—Mary confesses to the angel—she knew that she had never been with a man—not Joseph
G. We think that the virgin birth is a miracle and rightly so in our way of thinking.
H. But, to God, having a virgin give birth to His Son is not miraculous, it is nothing more than the created world being obedient to the will of the Creator.
I. God wanted it to be that way, so it was. The virgin birth of Jesus is factual and not fictional.
If you are a Christian, you cannot deny this aspect
of the birth of Christ. It is essential to the reality of the miracle.
Second, it was a miracle of God becoming human.
A. Jesus was 100% man through His mother—Mary, and 100% God through His Father—God.
B. For me, this is harder to comprehend than the virgin birth. God became man—John 1:14
C. The Almighty, the Creator and Sustainer of life came to His creation in the form of a tiny infant.
D. He cried, hungered—they didn’t have plastic baby bottles back then—he had to have his diapers changed. We don’t usually think about such, but it is true. Jesus, God, was a baby. Immanuel
E. That’s total humility. Jesus didn’t think equality with God was something to be grasped—his love for us was greater.
F. How come our love for God can’t be like this? We want to grasp the things of this world, but if we will humble ourselves and not cling to the world, we can become like God! WOW!!!
G. What are you grasping this morning? What is keeping you from becoming like God? We want to hold on to everything we can get our hands on.
H. But why? Why did he become like one of us? Because God knew that even through following His own law, mankind could not deliver themselves from their sin.
The thought of the Creator of Life becoming like one
of His creatures is beyond the comprehension of man.
Therefore, a third aspect of this miracle is that a Savior had come to man.
A. An angel preached the first sermon on the first noel. A savior had been born—good news for all the people.
B. It was good news because the law was given not to save but to point out man’s need for a perfect sacrifice.
C. Jesus was that perfect sacrifice—it could be no other.
D. The only thing perfect in all of Creation is the Creator. He had to make the perfect sacrifice to atone for the sins of mankind.
E. But Jesus was even more. He was the perfect high priest who could not only be the perfect sacrifice but also offer it before God. The Aaronic priesthood was an imperfect one, but Jesus, after the order of Melchizedek—without beginning or end—was the perfect priest.
F. Therefore the sacrifice was perfectly acceptable to God and we, if we accept Jesus’ sacrifice, have had our sins atoned for—we’re forgiven.
Without Immanuel, there are no other viable
options for the eternal salvation of man’s soul.
Finally, the fourth aspect of this miracle is that of belief.
A. The shepherds went straightway to Bethlehem to see if it was true.
B. They saw and went around telling everyone what they had heard and seen.
C. The shepherds believed.
D. Mary believed.
E. Joseph believed.
F. Faith was the final aspect of the miracle on manger street.
G. It is that same faith that we can have today.
H. We, like the shepherds, have heard the proclamation of the good news. We can’t go to the stable, but we can believe, have faith, just like they did and then go around and tell others about what we’ve heard and seen with our eyes of faith.
A little street girl fell ill one Christmas and was taken to the hospital. While there she heard the story of Jesus’ coming into the world to save us. One day the nurse came around at the usual hour, and "Little Broomstick" (that was her street name) held her by the hand and whispered, "I am having real good times here, ever such good times. S’pose I’ll have to go ’way from here just as soon as I get well; but I’ll take the good time along--some of it, anyhow. Did you know about Jesus being born?"
"Yes," replied the nurse, "I know. But you must not talk any more."
"You did? I thought you looked as if you didn’t, and I was going to tell you."
"Why, how did I look?" asked the nurse, forgetting her orders in her curiosity.
"Oh, just like most o’ folks--kind o’ glum. I shouldn’t think you’d ever look glum if you knowed about Jesus being born."
Though the Miracle on Manger Street is factual,
without faith which believes it to be truth, there is no hope for your soul.
Has your life been changed by the Miracle on Manger Street? If not, why? It is a true story. Please, this Christmas, allow the Christ to perform a miracle in your life by making you a believer. Merry Christmas!
