The fourth and final scene of Advent seldom makes its way into our collective imagination. Either by way of our Christmas scenes, or Christmas cards, or Christmas pageants . It is nowhere to be found in our depictions, and yet it is an integral and central part of the story. Every bit as immediate and significant as the manger birth, or the angel announcement to the shepherds, or the journey of the Magi. In fact, it is indispensable to Matthew’s telling of that story, and the primary subject of his second half of that story. This morning we turn our attention to Matthew 2:13- 23 and that often neglected scene, in a message entitled, “For Still Our Ancient Foe”. A timely word to us as we close the books on 2020.
Archive for Advent 2020
From his inconspicuous birth in a Bethlehem cattle stall, to the handful of obscure and remote shepherds to whom his birth was announced, we turn to the remarkable visit of a mysterious group of pagan astrologers, who came from the distant east, led only by a rare stellar phenomenon, that had somehow communicated to them the birth of the king of the Jews. To which, for some reason, they were deeply drawn. Just as significant as the shepherds being the first to hear, were the Magi being the first to respond. Who were they, why did they come and what was God revealing by their unexpected and unusual visit? Matthew 2:1-12 is memorable witness to the scope and extent of God’s saving work, as we’ll see in a message entitled, “The Far Away Have Been Brought Near”.
The first two scenes of the Christmas story ooze an atmosphere of humility. From the birth of Jesus in the cattle stall of a small barn, the scene immediately shifts to the remote and lonely night of a shepherd’s watch. Neither of which seem at all in keeping with either the profound nature or eternal significance of what was happening. Or were they? This morning we turn from the humble circumstances of the birth of our Savior to the equally humble circumstances and status of those to whom that birth was first made known. We’ll ponder anew the meaning, significance, and application of that revealing scene recorded in Luke 2:8-20 in a message entitled, “The Last Were the First to Hear”.
Jesus’ inauspicious entrance into the world revealed a great deal about the nature and purpose of God. It was not just about what God was doing, it was about the way God was doing it. God himself, in the person of his son Jesus Christ, taking on human nature for all time and eternity in the mystery of the incarnation. And doing so through an inconspicuous birth in a cattle stall, announced by the host of heaven to a remote handful of shepherds under the night sky, attended to by a mysterious group of astrologers from the East, arousing the machinations of a narcissistic king. None of which was without particular meaning and significance. Over the next four weeks we ponder anew what it meant and what it means, beginning this morning with Luke 2:1-5, in a message entitled, “The High Road to a Lowly Manger”.
Glorifying God by Encouraging
All People to Pursue a Lifelong,
Joyous Relationship with Jesus Christ