Luke 1:1-25
We have just spent the last week exploring the life and ministry of Jesus, but now it is time to turn to Christmas and its message of growing and going. John MacArthur, in Truth for Today, writes, "Here's a side to the Christmas story that isn't often told: those soft little hands, fashioned by the Holy Spirit in Mary's womb, were made so nails might be driven through them. Those baby feet, pink and unable to walk, would one day walk up a dusty hill to be nailed to a Cross. That infant's head, with sparkling eyes and eager mouth, was formed so that someday men might force a crown of thorns onto it. That tender body, warm and soft, wrapped in swaddling clothes, would one day be ripped open by a spear. Jesus was born to die." Yes, I think that is true—the connection between the Manger and the Cross is seldom made in churches today, because, quite frankly, many do not want to hear anything of the Cross and self-sacrifice.
But we do, and we hope you do, too, for it is the truth of the Gospel. However, before we can even get to the manger, we must see the order—before Jesus, there was John the Baptist. The story begins in Luke 1—"Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed." Luke's purpose is order, and–Praise God—so is God's! Order! Before Jesus would come, His cousin, John, would become the forerunner to His ministry. The subsequent verses would spell out how it all came to be—an old priest, named Zacharias, and his barren wife, Elisabeth. But how can that be the start of anything? Simple! God had promised one who would prepare the way for Jesus, and God aways keeps His promises. Malachi wrote, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet (a picture of John) before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." (4:5-6) Even Jesus would speak of him and his time—"The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel." (Mark 1:15)
It would all be a time to grow—from John, to Jesus, to the Cross. As John MacArthur connected these dots, he continued—"Don't think I'm trying to put a damper on your Christmas spirit. Far from it—for Jesus' death, though devised by and carried out by men with evil intentions, was in no sense a tragedy. In fact, it represents the greatest victory over evil anyone has ever accomplished." And now, let's go on into Christmas!
~ Rev. Roy D. Warren, Jr.
