The Surprise of Christmas
Text: Luke 2:1-7
Introduction
1. Illustration: Every year at Christmas, my Mother and I would play this little game of cat and mouse. She would try to keep me from knowing what I was getting for Christmas, and I would do all in my power to find out before Christmas. One year I made her really mad. She had already rapped my presents, and I walked into her room picked each package up and told her what was in each package. It took all of the surprise out of Christmas.
2. However, Mom really didn’t have to go to all of that trouble. You see, there is always surprise at Christmas. Everything about Christmas is unexpected.
a. Jesus comes at an unexpected time.
b. Jesus comes to unexpected people.
c. Jesus comes to an unexpected place.
4. Read Luke 2:1-7
Proposition: The surprise of Christmas is that God loved us enough to send us His Son to die for our sins.
Transition: The first surprise of Christmas is...
I. Jesus Comes At An Unexpected Time (1-3)
A. Everyone Came to His Own City
1. Have you ever heard the phrase "It just so happened..."?
2. When it came to Jesus birth, there was a problem.
a. The prophet Micah had prophesied that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.
b. But Joseph and Mary lived in Nazareth.
c. Jesus, the Messiah, was being born to Mary and Joseph, but how do they get him to Bethlehem?
3. It just so happened..."it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered."
a. His birthplace is determined in part by the need to fill out a census — probably a means to register for paying taxes ( Bock, NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: Luke, 83).
b. Or was it the census that determined the place of His birth?
c. In case you haven’t figured it out, I don’t believe that anything just happens.
4. In verse 3 tells us that "all went to be registered, everyone to his own city."
a. Joseph was required to go to his home town to register, and guess what was his home town?
b. It just so happened that his home town was Bethlehem.
c. It just so happened that Bethlehem was the "City of David."
d. It just so happened that the Messiah was supposed to come from David’s lineage, and be born in David’s city.
e. Do you believe that things just happen?
5. What happened was, God needed to get Joseph and Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem. So do you know what God did?
a. He whispered in Caesar’s ear, "Hey Caesar, you know what you ought to do? I think you should make a decree that everyone in the whole world needs to register in a census, and they should all go to their home town to register."
b. So Caesar says "Hey, let’s take a census!"
c. God acted, as He has always acted in history, to cause His sovereign will to happen.
d. Caesar’s decree went out in God’s perfect timing and according to God’s perfect plan to bring his Son into the world.
B. When We Least Expect It
1. Illustration: Benjamin Franklin in remarks to the Continental Convention, June 28, 1787, says "I have lived, Sir, a long time [81 years-old], and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth—that God Governs in the affairs of men."
2. God intervened when His Son came to earth the first time, and I believe that He is intervening now in preparation for His Son to come a second time.
3. 2 Pt. 3:9-10 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night...
4. Just as God caused events to happen when Jesus came the first time, so He is know causing things to happen for His son to come a second time.
5. Just as surely as He came the first time, He is coming a second time.
a. The first time He came as a baby, but when He comes a second time, He’s coming as a warrior.
b. The first time He came, He came quietly, but when He comes the second time a trumpet will sound and He’ll come riding on a white horse.
c. When He came the first time only a few people bowed to Him, but when He comes the second time every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!
Transition: The second surprise of Christmas is...
II. Jesus Comes To Unexpected People (4-5)
A. Joseph and Mary
1. Who is Joseph? In preparing this message, I did extensive study on Joseph, and do you know what I found? Almost nothing!
a. He is not mentioned in Mark and the references in Jn. 1:45 and 6:42 are indirect.
b. It is almost certain that Joseph was not alive during the ministry of Jesus, because after the birth and early childhood of Jesus he is not even mentioned.
c. Why is so little said about Joseph? He was a nobody!
2. Who is Mary? We don’t know much more about Mary than we do about Joseph.
a. Our information about the mother of Jesus is largely confined to the infancy narratives of Mt. and Lk.
b. The remaining references to Mary in the Gospels are few and relatively uninformative.
c. Finally, we meet Mary at the foot of the cross (Jn. 19:25), when she and the beloved disciple are entrusted by him to each other’s care (vv. 26–27).
d. The only other explicit NT reference to Mary is in Acts 1:14, where she and the disciples are described as ‘devoting themselves to prayer’.
3. Joseph and Mary are two relatively unimportant people from an unimportant rural town.
a. If you remember, when Jesus began His ministry, people said "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"
b. Saying you were from Nazareth was like saying you were from Clifty, AR.
4. They were two unimportant people from an unimportant town in the middle of nowhere. Yet, God used them. Why?
a. Why did God used to unimportant people from Nazareth to bring His Son into the world?
b. Because they were willing!
c. Mary was willing to be the Mother of Jesus even though it would bring ridicule, heartache, and pain.
d. Joseph was willing, even though he didn’t understand and thought that Mary had been unfaithful.
5. God used them because when He called them they said yes!
a. He used ordinary people, from an ordinary place, to bring His Son into the world.
b. He can use anyone with a willing heart.
B. He Calls Ordinary People
1. Illustration: In forty years of involvement in his church’s visitation program, Wilt Durant had led one person to Christ. You know what they say, if only one person comes to Christ its worth all the effort, right?
When he retired in 1992, he moved to Rogers, AR and joined Immanuel Baptist Church. One Sunday, his pastor preached on Soul Winning and Durant responded to the invitation and devoted the remainder of his life to winning souls. Since that time, he’s prayed with over 600 people to receive Christ. He isn’t casual about his witness, he averages visiting in over 60 homes a week. What does he consider the secret to his success? "A willing heart."
2. God can and will use anyone who is willing to be used.
3. God doesn’t need your:
a. Gifts
b. Talents
c. Abilities
4. What Jesus needs is your heart; an open, obedient heart.
5. Many of the people have learned that lesson this year. They have stepped out in faith and allowed God to use them.
6. God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things if they’ll just say "Yes, Lord!"
Transition: The third surprise of Christmas is...
III. Jesus Comes To An Unexpected Place (6-7)
A. Laid Him In a Manger
1. Luke tells us "that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered."
a. Since she had stayed three months with Elizabeth, Mary was at least three months pregnant.
b. It is possible that they went down during her last trimester of pregnancy, when the social relationships in Nazareth would have grown more difficult. -Expositor’s Bible Commentary, The, Pradis CD-ROM
2. Luke says "she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths..."
a. The wrapping of his fragile limbs in cloths was common in the ancient world to keep them protected and in place. ( Bock, 83).
b. They didn’t have cute little outfits from Osh Kosh to dress Jesus in, and they didn’t have those little disposable burritos with Barney’s picture on it from Babys-R-Us.
3. Then Luke says she "laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn."
a. In simple, direct language, Luke presented the Christmas story: no trees or lights, just a manger and animals and a too-crowded inn.
b. It isn’t surprising that there was no room for them in the village inn considering the number of travelers flocking to various cities during the time of this census.
4. She laid Him in a manger. Do you know what a manger is?
a. It’s a feeding trough used for animals.
b. Have you ever watched a cow at a feeding trough? It’s not pretty!
c. She may have filled the manger with hay to make a soft bed.
d. This mention of the manger is the basis for the traditional belief that Jesus was born in a stable.
e. Stables were often caves with feeding troughs (mangers) carved into the rock walls.
5. Despite popular Christmas card pictures, the surroundings were dark and dirty.
a. Everything pointed to obscurity, poverty, and even rejection.
b. Luke showed the King of kings born into poor and humble circumstances--born as a human, born to serve.
B. Jesus In Your Heart
1. Illustration: This reminds me of this story (Alex Domokos of Winnipeg told in Readers Digest, Dec. 2004):
My mother, a teacher, was having a hard time settling on a suitable role for one of her students in the Grade 3 Christmas pageant. Finally, she decided he should be the innkeeper, a role she felt he could handle. All he had to do was tell Joseph, "There is no room at the inn."
Everything went fine at rehearsals, but when Joseph begged for a room for his pregnant wife during the first performance, the lad didn’t have the heart to turn him down. To everyone’s surprise, he said, "If it’s so urgent, please come in."
That is exactly right on the money. Christmas is God saying to us, His heart is opened to all of us, He will NOT turn us down, or turn us away. There is room at heaven’s inn.
2. This story shows us that Jesus doesn’t need everything neat and clean to come into someone.
a. Jesus was wrapped in simple cloths.
b. He doesn’t need us to try and clean ourselves up before we come to Him because He does the cleaning for us.
3. This story tells us that there is no place that is so dirty that He can’t come into it.
a. If He was born in a cave with the cows, horses, and chickens, then our hearts are not so dirty that He can’t come to us.
b. If He lived in a feeding trough, certainly he can come and live in our hearts if we’ll only ask Him.
4. Rom. 10:9-11 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."
5. We don’t have to clean ourselves up. We don’t have to dress ourselves up. All we have to do is ask Jesus in.
Conclusion
1. The surprise of Christmas is:
a. Jesus comes at an unexpected time.
b. Jesus comes to unexpected people.
c. Jesus comes to an unexpected place.
2. Are you ready should Jesus come back today?
3. Are you going to be the surprise of Christmas this year by giving your heart to Him?
4. Are you just ordinary enough for Jesus to use you by simply being willing?
5. With Jesus everyday is a surprise because everyday is new and exciting.
