In a moment I will have you turn to Luke 1 and 2 and also to Matthew 1. When you see what we are studying this evening, you may think that I have lost my mind, or perhaps I have begun using the Greek Orthodox calender. Here we are in April, and I am taking you to some of the details about the birth of Christ. But as we may justly think of Jesus’ resurrection on days that don’t begin with the letter “E,” we can also consider the birth of Christ on days that don’t begin with “C.” My purpose is to till some ground before we get to what could be my lesson for our Sunday School lesson next week. If the Lord be willing Bro. Fulton will be preaching our next evening message, and I will be teaching and preaching in both the morning services. At this point I am thinking about a Bible lesson on the “Hypostatic Union” – something which I heard denied by one of the preachers in the recent Bible conference I attended. It may be nothing more than semantics. But there are good brethren who have different opinions on how the two natures of Christ are related.
Anyway, that may be our lesson next Sunday if the Lord continues to lead me in that direction. Either in preparation for Sunday, or as a stand alone lesson, let’s look once again at the birth of Jesus. I know that you may have the whole account memorized, but even if that is true, I hope to emphasize a few words which perhaps you usually slide across.
Before we get to Luke 1:26 note quickly the details of these equally well-known words from Galatians. At a time which He predetermined, God the Father sent His preexistent Son into the world. Christ Jesus didn’t become the Son of God at His birth or at His baptism – God sent His Son into the world. And the means of that incarnation was a young woman – a very real and natural young lady. The primary purpose of the incarnation was the salvation of souls – people condemned under the law. Christ, God’s Son, came into the world that you and I might be received as children into God’s family.
Now please turn to Luke 1:26-35.
“And in the sixth month (of Elizabeth’s pregnancy) the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the LORD is with thee: blessed art thou among women.” Notice one thing in verse 28 – “the LORD is with thee” – there is a definite article before the Greek word “kurios.” It reads: “THE Lord is with thee.” To whom does that refer? Obviously, it is God. He, Jehovah, is “THE Lord” – the one and only God.
Verse 31 – “And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest…” “He shall be great.” In fact he shall be the greatest of all. And His name shall be “Jesus.” As we shall see in just a moment, the angel will also tell Joseph to name the child “Jesus.” And why “Jesus?” “For He shall save His people from their sins.” That is the meaning of Jesus’ name. This Jesus is coming into the world in order to give His people salvation from sin and its penalty. He shall be great, because He “shall be called the Son of the HIGHEST.” That word “highest” refers to the One who is highest of all. The superlative highest. Who is that? God. This child which Mary shall carry for nine months will be called “the Son of GOD,” because He IS the Son of God. So Mary’s neighbors will eventually come by to look at tiny human baby, but He will not only be her child, He will actually be “the Son of the Almighty God.”
Verse 35 – “Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” If there is any doubt about who the “highest” is, the question is answered here. The “power of the Highest” shall overshadow Mary, and the baby which she shall bring into the world shall be called “the Son of GOD.” The physical, wiggly, probably squalling baby boy which Mary will give to the world will be unlike any other baby ever born. He will be holy. He will be full of power and authority. He will be theanthropic – both God and man. He will eventually be recognized as “the Son of God.”
Philippians 2 tells us that some day “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the father.” Notice that Paul declares “every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is LORD.” That word “Lord” is the same that I am trying to emphasize throughout this lesson tonight. Christ Jesus is “the Lord” and it was HIS angel who came to visit Mary. But there is more.
After Mary received this news she made a quick trip to visit her cousin Elizabeth, down in Jerusalem. Verse 42 tells us exactly what the Holy Spirit revealed to that older lady’s heart. “Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me that the MOTHER of my LORD should come to me?” Notice once again the word “kurios” – “Lord.” By inspiration and revelation, Elizabeth knew that Mary was carrying “the LORD” in her womb. The Lord God who sent His angel to Mary, is now said to be inside His human mother.
After one or two more references to “the Lord,” Mary replied, under the inspiration of the Spirit, in verse 46: “My soul doth magnify the LORD, and my spirit hath rejoiced in GOD my Saviour.” Notice that Mary magnifies “the Lord” – she is praising God whom she then refers to as “her SAVIOUR.” But wait, don’t we learn in many other scriptures that her as yet unborn child the Saviour? Indeed He is. Mary praises God as her Saviour, but then she is carrying her Saviour inside her womb. This is complicated stuff, and yet it is exquisitely simple and beautiful.
Now go to Matthew 1:18.
“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.” If this was all the information we had, it might be argued that Mary became pregnant in the same way that Hannah became pregnant with Samuel, or as elderly Sarah conceived, or even as did Elizabeth. God miraculously enabled these formerly barren woman to conceive and bear children. But – they all had husbands, and Mary was a pure and virtuous young unmarried virgin.
Verse 20 – “But while (Joseph) thought on these things, behold, the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.” Joseph, who had already been told that his betrothed was expecting, was visited by an angel from the Lord – an angel of GOD – who told him that the unborn child had been conceived by the Holy Spirit. Now there may be people in this world who disagree with me, but I believe this Holy Ghost is divine – the third Person of the Trinity. Joseph was told by the Lord’s angel that the baby Mary was carrying was God’s child – conceived by the Holy Spirit, as opposed to the idea that there was a human father involved.
Verse 21 – “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” Joseph was told, just as Mary had been told, that they must name this child “Jesus.” And why? Because He would be born “to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” And even more specifically, remember that Mary had already said, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit: “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in GOD my saviour.” Either Mary was confused, and she has confused me, or the child she was carrying was “God our Saviour.” And Elizabeth, while filled with the Holy Ghost had called Mary, “the mother of my LORD,” and we have already identified “the Lord” as God. Once again, take note that Mary was expecting to give birth to God, the Son. Somehow, her man-child was also the God-child.
Now, let’s conclude with Luke 2:8-17.
“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the LORD came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.” Once again we have God’s title shared with us – the “angel of the Lord,” and “the glory of the Lord.” No matter how hard we try to stretch our imaginations, the word “Lord,” in these two verses can’t be made to refer to anyone else but God.
“And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a SAVIOUR, which is Christ the LORD.” The word “Saviour” in this verse doesn’t have any kind of article in the Greek. It could say “THE Saviour” as easily as it could “A Saviour.” The shepherds were told “Over there in Bethlehem you’ll find a new born baby. BUT He is more than just an ordinary infant, He is the SAVIOUR.” He is the One whom both Joseph and Mary were told to name “Jesus, because He shall save His people from there sins.” And He is also the one to whom Mary referred when she said, “My soul doth magnify the LORD, and my spirit hath rejoiced in GOD my Saviour.” And then to further identify that Saviour, the shepherds were told, He is “Christ the Lord.” He is the One who will be known as “the Lord Jesus Christ.”
What I am trying to say this evening, in preparation for a possible future lesson:
That baby, the child of Mary, was, and still is, the Son of God – “the LORD.” He was, and is, the “Jehovah” of the Old Testament. Furthermore, He is also the Saviour. And just as He was physically born, He physically died to provide us with forgiveness of sin and life ever more.
My point is: it is absolutely necessary that your Saviour be both wholly God and wholly man, or your salvation could never be complete.
A followup point, and a lesson for another day is this: If Christ is the Lord, can He be a person’s Saviour if He is not also actually that person’s Lord?