Still The Greatest Story Ever Told

Still the Greatest Story Ever Told

Introduction:

• Each of the gospels presents the Savior in a different light:

 Matthew: the Messianic King

 Mark: the Divine Servant

 Luke: the Son of Man

 John: the Son of God

• Luke paints for us the human aspect of our Savior in vivid detail. Jesus had a birth announcement, a posse of spectators, and nurturing mother who took care of her child.

• Luke explains to us that though in His Divine nature He was completely different from us, yet in His human nature He shared many commonalities with every human being.

• It reminds us of Hebrews 4:15, “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”

• As we come to our passage in chapter two, Luke points out some very important details about who our Savior is and what purpose He came for.

• In doing so, Luke, a Greek, shows us that the Savior didn’t just come for the Jews but He came for all people. He didn’t just die for the elect, but He did that all might know Him.

I. His Pedigree (vs.1-5)

 Luke writes and tells us that this baby that had been born “was of the house and lineage of David.” This tells us that Jesus was part of a royal line of succession.

 Matthew, in his gospel traces the family tree of Jesus all the way back to David and even farther back to Abraham.

 Thus, being of the House of David, Joseph was from Bethlehem. So, Caesar Augustus requires ever man to return to his hometown to be taxed, and in doing so he helps fulfill the prophecy of Micah 5:2 that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem.

 Caesar took the title Augustus because it is a title with a religious nature and he wanted to make Himself into a God.

 Little did he know that though he had a plan to be a god and rule the world, he was sending the one true God in human form to the place of His birth Bethlehem were He would be given a throne that He would never give up.

 Luke 1:32-33: “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” (emphasis added)

 So, Caesar sends the parents of our Savior back to Bethlehem so that He can be born in the hometown of His father David. There is some spiritual symbolism for Him being born in Bethlehem that we need to see to understand His Kingly pedigree.

 There are two (2) things I want you to notice about the city of Bethlehem:

1. It’s a place of bread.

o In fact, if you translate the word Bethlehem, it literally means “house of bread.”

o God told the children of Israel that as long as they stayed in the Land of Promise, which included Bethlehem, they would never go without what they needed.

o This bread could only meet their physical needs. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the house of bread and He said, “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger;”

2. It’s a place of water.

o 1 Chronicles 11:15-17, “Now three of the thirty captains went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam; and the host of the Philistines encamped in the valley of Rephaim. And David was then in the hold, and the Philistines’ garrison was then at Bethlehem. And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem that is at the gate!”

o David said “there is a well in Bethlehem filled with precious water that I need to drink from.”

o There is a well in Bethlehem that you and I need to drink from, and it’s the Well of Living Water. Jesus said you’ll never thirst again!

II. His Presence (vs.6-7)

 Not only do we need to understand the pedigree of the Savior, but we also need to understand the importance of His earthly presence.

 Jesus is called Mary’s “firstborn son.” This implies that Mary had other sons. So, what was so different about this firstborn son?

 We know that the passage we preached last week said “But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law.”

 One of the great points of emphasis about the birth of Jesus Christ is that when He was born that God Himself had made His arrival on the earth.