The Birth of the Messiah and the Work of the Throne (Luke 1:26-33, Matthew 1:18-23, Luke 2:8-20)
Rev. Myung-Sin Choi
“Luke 1:26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28 And having come in, the angel said to her, 'Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!' 29 But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. 30 Then the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.' 34 Then Mary said to the angel, 'How can this be, since I do not know a man?' 35 And the angel answered and said to her, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.”
“Matthew 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. 20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.' 22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 23 'Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,' which is translated, 'God with us.’ ”
“Luke 2:8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.' 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 14 'Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!' 15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, 'Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.' 16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. 17 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. 18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.”
Introduction
The well respected Martin Luther was walking in the woods and that day was Christmas Eve, and during that dark night, the woods felt very bright. When he looked up in the sky, the moon was shining very brightly and it was shining throughout the fir trees in the woods. When Luther saw this, he had an important realization, “Mankind are like this fir tree, one individual is a shabby existence but if we receive God’s light, then we can live a life of brightness and radiance.” After he had this realization, he wanted to share this to people around him. He bought this fir tree home and decorated this tree, and this started the first Christmas tree. Through the coming of Jesus Christ, we should receive today’s sermon with thanksgiving. We read today’s Biblical Scripture and they are speaking about the coming of Jesus Christ onto this world. If we look at today’s Biblical scripture, they are in chronological order.
1. The Work of the Throne that Appeared to Mary
1) The work of angels
Luke 1:26-30 - Before Jesus Chirst was born, an angel, Gabriel, appeared before Mary. Gabriel, angel, was sent by God and appeared before Mary in human form. Gabriel came in human form and appeared before Mary, who was a virgin. Why did Gabriel come before Mary and Joseph? That we will never know because God chose them. But we can see something important here. Gabriel appeared before Mary who was pledged to be married to Joseph. Mary was preparing to get married to Joseph. She was preparing to get married to Joseph physically, spiritually, and mentally. She was preparing in the most pure form.
Luke 1:29-30 - The angel came to Mary and said that she was a blessed one and a favored one by God. Mary was surprised that God chose and favored her. Mary was favored by God and God sent an angel to Mary. What was the reason?
2) The work of the Trinity
Luke 1:31-36- It speaks about the reason in Luke 1:31. Mary was not a special person. She was just an ordinary woman but God appeared before this ordinary woman, and showed favor to her. What kind of grace was this? The power of God was bestowed upon her to be able to conceive Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Mary’s work and mission was to give birth to the Son of God, the coming Messiah. Nothing can stop the grace and power of God. If God chooses you, then you will be chosen to do His work.
Luke 1:35 - Mary was a virgin and was not married, and couldn’t understand how she could conceive. The Holy Spirit will come upon Mary. The power of the Holy Spirit came upon Mary. The power of the most high will come upon Mary. The power of almighty God, the Father, will come upon Mary. This was tremendous. The one who will be born through Mary will be the Son of God. This child will not just be an ordinary child but the Son of God.
Luke 1:37-38 - Jesus Christ was in the bosom of the Father God but He came out of the Father’s bosom to come to this world. When He came out of His Father’s bosom, He became the Son of God and came through the family line of King David. Jesus will rule the world forever. The child that Mary will bear, He will be the True King of this world who will rule this world, and be the King of all kings. Mary, who heard what the angel told her, accepted and believed in it. The eternal King did come through Mary.
2. The Work of the Throne that Appeared before Joseph (Jesus' Physical Father)
1) The work of the Triune God
Matthew 1:18-19 - When Jesus was conceived in Mary, Joseph found out and realized what had happened. Mary didn’t get married yet but she was pregnant. After Joseph found out, he was so surprised. In the scriptures, it said that Mary was conceived through the Holy Spirit. This means that Jesus was already inside the womb of Mary. This all happened through the working of the Holy Spirit. The book of Matthew was fulfilling the covenant of Genesis 3:15.
The moment Joseph realized this, you can see his reaction in Matthew 1:19. He was a righteous person, which meant that he wanted to rely on God and find God’s plan behind this. He thought about Jesus Christ and decided to think about this quietly and intently. He looked at his fiancé, and thought about divorcing her after he found out that Mary was pregnant. It wasn’t his own child so he quietly thought about divorcing Mary because at that period of time, Mary would be stoned to death if they found out what had happened. He might have been angry and afraid of the whole situation. But he decided to think about God’s plan once again and thought about this more quietly.
2) The work of the angels
Matthew 1:20-23 - But God who saw all of this and knew everything, it was written in Matthew 1:20. If you look at this, this meant that Joseph had a lot of thoughts and was in distress about this situation. He thought about how to divorce Mary quietly and to prevent any attention to Mary during this whole ordeal. But at that time, God sent an angel to Joseph in a dream. The first time, God sent an angel in human form but the second time, it was in a dream. Joseph was afraid to marry Mary. Why was Joseph afraid to marry Mary? He saw that Mary was pregnant and probably asked Mary what had happened, and probably asked whose child it was. Mary probably told Joseph the truth and said that an angel came to her, and the child was the Son of God. I am sure Joseph was very shocked and became afraid. But the angel was very firm and confirmed to Joseph that this child will be the Son of God in his dream.
Matthew 1:21 - I am sure Joseph heard of the name of Jesus from Mary. When Joseph heard this in his dream, I am sure he was assured. Mary told Joseph the meaning of the name of Jesus Christ. The meaning of the name of Jesus Christ is written here. The Son of God was sent to bear the sins of mankind. This was what the angel told Mary and Joseph. This meaning is so important. At that time, the only way to forgive the sins of mankind was through animal blood sacrifice. Only when you sacrificed an animal and bore its blood, then you will receive forgiveness of your sins. But the way to receive forgiveness of mankind’s sins was through the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The angel continued to use the word of God, the scriptures in Matthew 1:22-23 - Mary who was engaged to Joseph, through her conception, will fulfill the covenant of Genesis 3:15. God is coming to us to be with us. This was an astounding event. The angel was proclaiming that this Jesus was the True Priest. Joseph had the same faith as Mary and took Mary as his wife after his dream.
3. The Work of the Throne that Appeared before the Shepherds
1) The work of angels
Luke 2:8-12 - The third time angels appeared before man was through the shepherds. The first time, the angel appeared in human form before Mary was pregnant and the second time was through Joseph’s dream when Mary was pregnant. The third time was after Mary gave birth to Jesus Christ. When the angel of God came before the shepherds, they were so amazed because the angels appeared before them with the glory of the Lord. The light was shining so brightly before the shepherds. Imagine how bright that light must have been.
When the angel appeared before them with this immense light, the angel said in Luke 2:10. The good tidings is referring to the good news of Jesus Christ who has come as the Savior to save mankind. The Messiah has finally come to save mankind, who was greatly awaited by the Israelites. The angels were proclaiming this before the shepherds and proclaiming that the Savior has finally come.
Luke 2:12 - The awaited Messiah has finally come to this world. Where has the Messiah come? To this world, He was finally here. This great event that was awaited, had finally come and it was astounding news.
2) The birth of the Son of God
Luke 2:13-18 - The shepherds couldn’t believe it and when Jesus Christ was born, the entire kingdom of angels were giving praise to God in Luke 2:13. Great glory was given to God and this great event that bought God glory, it was being glorified and praised. Why would this make God happy and glorified? Have you thought about this? Think about this. We humans were made with dust from the ground and in order for us to be saved, God sent His one and only Son, Jesus Christ to us. Jesus Christ died in the most pitiful way to save us mankind but this gave God great glory. With this, I can’t understand the depth of God’s love. No matter how much I try to understand, I cannot understand and fathom the great love of God. God promised to give us peace to this world and upon mankind. Anyone who believes in Jesus, God promised us peace. This was what the angels were praising about it. I can’t understand this. Our grace that we have received, we cannot fathom and understand. Think about this. We deserved to die and if we die, we just return to dust. This shows how little and weak we are but who are we that God sent His Son to save us?
When the shepherds heard the praises of the angels, they couldn’t stand still. Luke 2:16 - The message of the coming of Messiah, Jesus Christ, they were the first people who proclaimed this news.
Luke 2:18 - They were so surprised when they heard the news of the shepherds. The shepherds didn’t visit the palaces and kingdoms to visit the Messiah, they went to the manger. The Messiah was born in a manger, imagine how shocked the shepherds and people were.
Luke 2:19 - I can understand Mary. Mary heard the words of the angel, Gabriel and experienced the conception of Jesus Christ. When she was about to give birth, she didn’t know where to go. The King, the Son of God was about to be born but they couldn’t find a place to give birth. Imagine how painful it is to be in labor and to give birth but imagine how sad Mary was to be that she had to give birth to the Messiah in a manger. They eventually had to settle in a manger to give birth to Jesus. I am sure they had a lot of conflict on whether or not to give birth here or not. But the shepherds came to visit the manager to see the Messiah but God was leading the entire situation and event. God wanted Jesus to be born this way.
Conclusion
Grace as appeared before gentiles - These gentiles were referring to the three wisemen.
Matthew 2:1-2, 11 “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, 'Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.' 11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” - The wisemen were astrologers and worshiped idols. Even though they were idol worshipers, they came to believe in God’s word and visited the manger.
The word that they believed in was written in Numbers 24:17 “I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; A Star shall come out of Jacob; A Scepter shall rise out of Israel, And batter the brow of Moab, And destroy all the sons of tumult.” - They heard this word thousands of years ago but they continued to hold onto it and believed in it. They held onto the word that was prophesied 1400 years though Moab and staked their lives to hold onto it. They had no understanding of this world but came to the manger, and demanded to see the king of the Jews. They had such sure assurance of the King of the Jews had come and demanded to see Jesus. During that time, they had no interest or knew that the Messiah was coming or were going to come. Even people of God didn’t care about the coming of the Messiah but these three wisemen visited Jesus in the manger, and traveled long ways to see Jesus. They didn’t just come but they came with gifts.
Matthew 2:11 - This was an astounding event. The three wisemen visited Jesus and presented three gifts - Gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Gold represents the status of a king. Frankincense is referring to a perfume or a scent that would cast out evil spirits, and represent Jesus as the True Prophet. Myrrh was applied and used as a preservative and was used for mummies; this represents Jesus as the True Priest. I don’t know if the three wisemen gave these gifts knowing what they represented. I think this all shows the grace of God. What is important is that they came and worshiped before the young child. They came and visited the King and found him in a manger. Jesus’ throne was in a manger but the three wisemen came forth and bowed to Him. I am sure God was so happy to see this. The first people who worshiped Jesus were the three wisemen. They prepared gifts and worshiped Jesus, and received the greatest blessings. This was the symbol that the gospel was not only prepared for the Jews but also for the Gentiles. This is the blessing that we have all received. May we live lives where we can give all of our glory and life to God.
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