Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - How Jesus's Birth Reveals His Character | Christmas | Luke 2:1-7

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to Tim Minut Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Keith Simon. I'm Tanya Wilmuth. And I'm Patrick Miller. We're in the middle of our Christmas series right now. We're exploring the stories around Jesus's birth and the prophecies pointing forward to it. You're probably familiar with the name John McCain. He was a longtime senator from Arizona, and then he ran for president against Barack Obama in 2008.

Starting point is 00:00:31 Of course, McCain lost that election. But long before he ever ran for public office, John McCain was a member of the United States military. He fought in the Vietnam War. In fact, on October 26, 1967, he was taken captive by the North Vietnamese and served as a prisoner of war for over five and a half years. Now, every prisoner of war has a very tough experience, but McCain's was particularly brutal. You see, the North Vietnamese, they figured out that he was the son of a United States Admiral, and so they offered him early release. But John McCain refused that release. He turned it down because he knew the North Vietnamese would try to use it as propaganda against the country that he loved and was serving.

Starting point is 00:01:13 He also turned it down because he wanted to stay with the other men who were prisoners of war. He didn't want to use his privilege as a get-out-of-jail-free card. Well, that angered the North Vietnamese, and so they were particularly brutal toward John McCain. He endured extra beatings three times a week, and by everyone's account, they were incredibly painful. During a particularly difficult stretch, McCain tells a story about how a North Vietnamese guard approached him in the prison yard. It was near Christmas time, and the guard walked up to him, and with his foot, he made the sign of the cross in the dirt. And then once McCain saw it, the guard took his foot and wiped out the sign of the cross, so that he made the sign of the cross. no one else could see it. McCain said that that gave him hope. The idea that God in Jesus was

Starting point is 00:02:05 there with him in the prison camp, in the difficulty, in the suffering, and for all that to come at Christmas, it just gave him the hope he needed to persevere through an incredibly difficult stretch that most of us can't imagine. We live in a particularly difficult time, and we too need hope. We live in a time of great polarization where people are angry and divided and sometimes even violent. It feels like our country is headed for some sort of civil war. It's a scary time. We also are living either during a pandemic or toward the end of a pandemic. It all kind of depends on your perspective. But people are exhausted. They're sad and grieving of the death that this pandemic has caused. They're exhausted by the polarization that it has contributed to. They're exhausted by the

Starting point is 00:02:58 mask and the vaccines and the division. They're exhausted by the loss of jobs and the ruptures that this pandemic has caused in the economy. I mean, people are worn out and they need hope. At the end of 2020, my mom said to me, and she's not a particularly sentimental woman, she said, I sure hope 2021 is better than this last year has been. And now we're at the end of 2021. Did her hope come true? Was 2021 better than 2020? I don't know. It's probably different for everyone, but it hasn't been a lot better for anyone, I don't think. Just like the story of Christmas brought hope to John McCain, I think the story of Christmas can bring hope into our dark world. I'm going to read the opening verses of Luke chapter two and then let's think about it together. Luke chapter two verse one.

Starting point is 00:03:51 In those days, Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken in the entire Roman world. This was the first census that took place while Corinius was governor of Syria, and everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth and Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem, the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloth and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. The setting of the Christmas story is incredibly

Starting point is 00:04:35 important. Luke tells us that Caesar Augustus is the one who called for the census, called for everyone to go back to their hometown. That's what led Joseph and Mary to head to Bethlehem. Caesar's given name was Octavian. He was the nephew, an adopted son of Julius Caesar. And after his adopted father's death, Octavian fended off all the rivals, and he was named the new Caesar. So, just for fun, Augustus was a title given to Octavian by the Roman Senate, and it meant great or magnificent. Now, it's probably pretty obvious, but that's where we get the name for our month called August.

Starting point is 00:05:18 The title Augustus up to that point had only been given to gods. And so in some sense, this is a way of saying that he is a god. That's how a lot of people saw the Caesar. In fact, there's one ancient inscription that hails Caesar Augustus as the savior of the whole world. So here the world has at its helm, its leadership position, a self-proclaimed, widely accepted God and Savior. Add to that, that there was peace in the Roman Empire that had been credited to Caesar. It was called the Pax Romana, the peace of Rome. And Caesar brought that peace to Rome through military might, not through diplomatic means. So Luke, the one who's writing this gospel,

Starting point is 00:06:06 He's a historian and he's a theologian. And he wants us to see that this is the political, cultural setting for the coming of the real Savior. Now, Mary and Joseph's journey to Bethlehem was miserable. Mary was full term, and she likely walked those 80 miles. Perhaps she was able to borrow some sort of animal to carry her. But whatever their situation, Mary traveled in the dust and the cold of winter. she bore the distressing knowledge that she might have her first baby far away from home far away from her mother from nearly everyone who cared about her joseph and mary were insignificant people really nobodies from a nothing town they were peasants they were poor they were uneducated they were of no account but mary knew the promise that god had made to her she was pregnant with the son of the most high god joseph and mary They kind of capture this mystery of grace.

Starting point is 00:07:07 King Jesus does not come to the proud and the powerful, but to the poor and the powerless. It's so often the way it works in this life. Things are not the way they seem. Here Mary and Joseph are broke. They're nobody's. And yet they're the adopted father and mother of the king of kings. 700 years earlier, the prophet Micah had prophesied that the Messiah,

Starting point is 00:07:34 would come from Bethlehem. And now this poor couple is forced to journey to Bethlehem to pay taxes. And that's what sets the stage for the fulfillment of Micah's prophecy. You see, Mary and Joseph, they appeared to be helpless pawns caught up in this movement of secular history, ordered around by Caesar Augustus. But we know that every move is under the hand of the Almighty God. We know that that Caesar Augustus is doing the will of God who is in heaven. It's under God's direction that the Messiah would indeed be born in the tiny insignificant town of Bethlehem. See, the baby that Mary carried wasn't a Caesar. He wasn't a man who would be called a God, far greater than that. He was the true God who had become a true man.

Starting point is 00:08:30 Well, the journey left Mary increasingly weary as she traveled all those miles. And when she and Joseph finally arrived in Bethlehem, they were exhausted. It wasn't long after that that the pains began. Perhaps young Mary, given that this was her first child, didn't really know what was happening. Perhaps she didn't even say anything to Joseph. But eventually it became clear that this was the real thing. Remember, Mary is only 13 or 14 years old. Luke's description of the birth, well, it's pretty simple. He just writes, and while they were there, the time came for her to give birth, and she gave birth to her first-born son.

Starting point is 00:09:14 In Bethlehem, the accommodations for travelers were pretty primitive. It was a small town in the ancient world. A typical inn would just be a series of stalls that were built inside of an enclosure and that would have some sort of common yard where all the animals were kept. The innkeeper provided the fodder, the food for the animals, and the fire on which everybody could share to cook their meal. But on that cold day, when the expectant parents arrived, nothing was available, not even one of those stalls. And despite the urgency of her having a baby, nobody had any room for this couple. So it was probably in that common courtyard where the travelers' animals were staying, that Mary gave birth to Jesus.

Starting point is 00:10:01 and only Joseph was there helping. Try to imagine what it was like being there. Afraid, alone, broke, unsure of what the future held, feeling unequipped, unprepared to be a parent. Luke says that she wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger because there was no place for them in the end. It sounds like Mary was just like other moms. She loved her baby. She cared for her baby the best that she could. She took care of the baby, but no one took care of her. No child born into the world that day seemed to have lower prospects than Jesus. He was born into the world not as the prince, but as the pauper. The Christian life, it starts right there.

Starting point is 00:10:45 No one becomes a Christian without seeing their great need, without confessing their own poverty. Jesus comes to the needy. Jesus comes to the broken. Jesus comes to the sick. Jesus comes to those who need a doctor. Jesus comes to those who are poor in spirit. And Jesus comes to those who feel the weight of their sin, who live under the guilt and shame of what they have done.

Starting point is 00:11:12 In other words, Jesus comes for everyone, but not everyone sees their need for Jesus. We live in a difficult time. You live with difficult circumstances. Maybe these holidays, you're not looking forward to them. Maybe you would like to avoid some family members or avoid the pain of the past that's going to be relived this holiday season? I'm not sure all the circumstances of your life.

Starting point is 00:11:40 But I do know this. The same God who met John McCain in that prisoner of war camp, he will meet you. He wants to meet you. He wants to meet you in your apartment or in your house or in your thoughts or in your church or in your family. He wants to meet you to show you the sign of the cross, that Jesus Christ has come into this world, that there is hope for people like you, that Jesus

Starting point is 00:12:06 understands your struggles, he knows your personal situation, and that he comes to be with you in it. You are not alone. The God of the universe is with you. He's offering you hope. He's offering you peace. Put your hope in him. Amen. Thanks for listening. If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe and give us a rating. That helps others find this podcast more easily. Also ask yourself who you could share this podcast with. Texting an episode to a friend or family member is a great way to help them grow spiritually.

Starting point is 00:12:44 If you want to go deeper, check out our show notes for book recommendations.

Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - How Jesus's Birth Reveals His Character | Christmas | Luke 2:1-7

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