Christ’s Sorrow and Saving (Luke 2:25-35)

It is easy to reduce Christmas down to a time of sentimental feelings or desires.  There are some people who might see Christmas only as joy, while there are others who might only dwell on the loss of loved ones.  There is no doubt that we may even vacillate between these two feelings.  It is also true that both of these views have a basis.  So, how do we keep these feelings or desires in a proper perspective?  How can our God understand both of these views of Christmas?  How does the strange man Simeon even help us to keep our Christmas struggle in perspective or reorient our priorities?

The Christmas Wrestler (Genesis 32:22-32)

We can understand that Jacob is afraid to meet his brother Esau because Esau vowed to kill Jacob which is why Jacob left his home.  So, we can understand Jacob’s angst as he is about to meet his brother.  So, why would God take the time to wrestle with this poor guy rather than simply defeating Esau?  What does this wrestling teach Jacob?  What does this wrestling teach us?  What does this wrestling declare about Christmas?

The Christmas Covenant (Genesis 15)

As protestants we champion the promise that we are justified by faith.  Justification by faith is a wonderful promise because we can be assured of enteringinto the presence of God by faith in Christ.  So, how did this blessing come to be?  Is this merely a New Testament promise?  What precedent do we see for such a promise?

Deceived then Relieved (Genesis 3:15)

Do we think about what it means when we say things like, “Jesus is the reason for the season?”  There is no doubt that Christ’s entrance into history is significant, but why is it significant?  What does it teach us about God being Sovereign and man not being as sovereign as man thinks?

Israel’s Christmas (Matthew 2:13-23)

So, Herod is trying to maintain his power and usurp the living God.  Herod is a wise ruler and has many years of experience.  He knows how to rule by his will to power.  Can he overrule the plan of the Lord?  Can the worldly ruler claim his power and see to it that the the Lord is not able to establish His rule and His kingdom? Is Herod then stronger than the Lord or does the Lord remind us why He is called the King of kings?

Christmas Commendation (Matthew 2:1-12)


So, there are travelers that come to see Jesus.  This is not something that should surprise us because He is the Son of God and the king of this creation.  It makes sense that people would come out to see Jesus.  However, we would expect that they would come out to see Jesus after He has done some teaching, or maybe after he has gained some sort of following.  We would not expect Jesus to be worshipped as a child who is 2 or a little under2.  So, why do strangers come from the east to worship this 2 year old child? 

Christ's Birth (Matthew 1:18-25)

Many times we think of the birth story of Jesus as being a nice story.  It is a nice story, but what is so nice about it?  Do we ever stop to consider what is so nice about the story of Jesus? What is so humbling to us to embrace a savior who is named Jesus?  What is significant about His name and why does Matthew call attention to the name Jesus?  Why does the angel insist that the name of this child is to be Jesus? 

Christmas Generations (Matthew 1:1-17)

When we summarize  our history we tend to avoid the embarrassing people in our family line.  We all have those relatives that we do not like to talk about because of what they have done or what they are currently doing.  So, when our Lord lays out the genealogy of Chris you would think that He is going to call to our attention the good people and ignore the embarrassing ones?  Well, if you look at the genealogy some of the most embarrassing skeletons in the closet are brought out front and center.  Why would our Lord do that?  Why would our Lord even give us a genealogy at all?