Scripture:
Luke 2.1-20
Translation: 2.1And it
happened in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus to take a
census of the whole empire. 2This first census happened when
Quirinius was governing Syria. 3And all people traveled to be
registered in the census, each one to his own city. 4And so Joseph
went up form Galilee from the city of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David,
which is called Bethlehem, because he was from the dynasty and lineage of
David, 5to get registered in the census with Mary, who was engaged
to him, who was pregnant. 6And it happened when they were there that
the days were up such that she was giving birth. 7And she gave birth
to her firstborn son. And she wrapped Him in cloths and put Him up in the
feeding trough, because there was not a place for them in the inn. 8And
shepherds were in this field living outside and keeping the night watch over
there flock. 9And an angel of the Lord stood in front of them and
the Lord’s glory shined around them. And they were absolutely terrified. 10And
the angel said to them, “Don’t be scared, because, look, I am telling you the
good news about a great joy which is for the whole people. 11Namely
that, a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord, was born to you in the city of
David. 12And this is the sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped
up and lying in a feeding trough. 13And all of a sudden a multitude
of the army of heaven came to be with the angel, praising God and saying, 14“Glory
to God in the highest places! And peace on earth among the blessed men!” 15And
it happened as the angels went away from them to heaven that the shepherd were
speaking to one another: “So, we should go all the way to Bethlehem and see if
this message is what happened, which the Lord made known to us. 16And
they went hurrying and looked for Mary, Joseph, and the baby lying in the
feeding trough. 17and after they saw, they made known about the
message spoken to them about this baby. 18And all those who heard
were amazed about the things spoken by the shepherd to them. 19And
Mary held on to all of it, reflecting on these words in her heart. 20And
the shepherds left glorifying and praising God because of all that they heard
and saw just as was spoken to them. 21And when eight days were
fulfilled for circumcising Him, His Name was called Jesus, the [name] given by the
angel before He was conceived in the womb.
Interpretation
1.
Structure
a.
The Birth of Jesus (vv.1-7)
b.
The Shepherds Respond to
the Angelic Message (vv.8-20)
c.
Jesus is Named Jesus (v.21)
2.
Themes
a.
Angels
b.
Message/messengers
c.
Power
d.
Glory and praise to God
e.
Signs
f.
Fulfilled
promises/prophecies/messages
g.
Davidic Messiah
h.
Savior
i.
Peace
j.
Names/naming
3.
Doctrines
a.
Jesus is the Messiah
b.
Jesus is Lord/God
c.
God is Sovereign
d.
God is Faithful
e.
Angels are real and act as
God’s messengers
f.
Jesus was born of a virgin
in Bethlehem the prophesied city
Applications
1.
Outline
a.
Jesus is the Messiah, the
Savior, so He is and must be contemplated and celebrated
i.
Jesus is the Messiah
1.
Son of David
2.
God
ii.
Jesus is the Savior
1.
Peace on Earth for those
blessed by God
2.
God Saves
iii.
We must contemplate the
significance and meaning of Who He Is
iv.
We must celebrate Him as
our Messiah and Savior
b.
God is faithful and
Sovereign, so He is and must be glorified and praised
i.
God is Sovereign
ii.
God is Faithful
iii.
We must glorify Him
iv.
We must praise Him
c.
The message is amazing and
true, so it has been and must be shared
i.
Angels are expected not
weird
ii.
It really happened this
way, it was based off eyewitness testimony. These are shepherds
iii.
The sign came true: God often
gives signs to make it clear that what He has said is truly from Him
iv.
The natural response of
knowing and seeing Who God is and Who Jesus is is to share the good news. It is
to be so filled with joy, you just have to tell people
v.
Moreover, the good news is
for all God’s people, and to some degree that means all people, because God’s
people are drawn from all the different peoples of the earth
2.
Discussion Question
a.
How easy is it for you to
take some time during the Christmas season to truly contemplate what it means
that God sent Jesus as promised and that Jesus is the Messianic Savior? Why?
b.
Take a minute to silently
contemplate the significance of God’s faithfulness and Sovereignty.
c.
Take another minute to
silently contemplate the significance of Jesus being the Messianic Savior.
d.
Discuss your emotional
response to the good news? Do you still respond to it as good news? Does it
give you joy? Why or Why not?
e.
Have you shared the good
news of Christ recently? Why or why not? Do you see it as good news for
everyone?
f.
Discuss you might say to
someone who is wondering why they should accept this good news about Jesus for
themselves? Would your answers help you if you were the one wondering why?
Illustrations/Explanations
1.
Telling the good news about
Jesus for us should be like the woman who gets engaged. She gets so excited and
happy. She explodes with joy and she just has to tell everyone and show them
her ring and tell the world how her man proposed. In the same way, we should be
exploding with Joy that Jesus is our King and Savior
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