What is the Bible all about? Jesus and the Christmas story, the birth of Jesus is very important part of the Bible and most people think that Luke chapter 2 gives us the best picture of Jesus’ birthday. But the Christmas Story is all over the Bible and we are going to try and bring a few other parts into the story this year and also look at another important part of the story - names.
I want to start in Luke 1:26-32
A few months before Jesus was born God sent the angel Gabriel to talk to Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you! Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will have a son, and you shall call his name Jesus (which means God saves). He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High (God).
I started here so we could see where Jesus got his name. Now in those days names were very important and you could have other names that could tell people about you - kind of like nicknames. Here we see Jesus is also called Son of the Most High. So let’s see how many names we can see in the rest of the story.
Luke 2:1-14
The Birth of Jesus Christ
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary…who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
Did you know that over 600 years before Jesus was born the prophet Isaiah talked about the birth of Jesus and told us just how special this child would be…
Isaiah said…
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
See all the names that tell us Jesus is so special. Wonderful Counselor which tells us Jesus is our special help, our guide for life, Mighty God which means Jesus is powerful enough to overcome any problems we might have, Everlasting Father reminding us that Jesus will love us forever, and Prince of Peace which tells us that Jesus can calm any troubles. And there is more so let’s keep going.
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”
More names, Savior (which means one who rescues) and, Christ the Lord ( which means King of Kings) and guess what there is more. Also did you notice that the angel said this special baby in a manger was a sign? Now Matthew a disciple of Jesus explains why we needed this sign. Matthew tells us that all this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet Isaiah:
“Behold, Mary shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
Wow another name and there are even more. But in this Christmas story what does this mean for us? It means for a very long time people were waiting and waiting and waiting for a sign, waiting for the greatest gift, waiting for the best news ever, waiting for a baby to be born in a barn, wrapped in rags, a baby named Jesus who is great, who is the Son of God, who would be our wonderful helper in all things, who would be mighty and more powerful than any problems, who would be the one that will bring us peace and comfort. The one that will be with us and love us forever and ever…but there is a little more to the story that shows us how to react to this good news.
So let’s finish…And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men”
Merry Christmas!
