The Boy Who Is Lord

Luke 2:9

And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.

“Fear not,” the angel said, “for behold, I bring you good news of great joy” (Luke 2:10a, emphasis added). The Good News of Jesus is personal; in speaking to the shepherds, the angel addresses it to “you.” Christianity is not only a world religion or a worldview; it’s the life-changing, soul-saving, eternity-altering truth about Jesus Christ. The gospel is rooted in historical facts, but it’s much more than interesting, inspiring information. The birth of Jesus has huge, real implications for life—your life, my life, and “all the people” (Luke 2:10b). Everyone needs to hear that a Savior has come, He is for them, and He loves them.

What we think of Jesus determines how we live, how we suffer, and ultimately how we die. Jesus does not guarantee that all will be well for us in this life. But what if we know that we belong to God, and we know that everything will be okay in the end. We’re here for God. We’re known by God. We’re loved by God. If we belong to Jesus, God is present with us. He changes us. He can identify and comfort us in our suffering because He has suffered. And when we die, He’ll be there. We’ll see Him face to face, and He’ll wipe all the tears from our eyes.

The atheist must justify his or her existence within a cold, empty universe governed by the survival of the fittest. The deist must reconcile the fact that God exists but either doesn’t care or doesn’t have the power to address the suffering in our world. The panentheist and pantheist cannot rightly condemn evil, since everything is tied together as one. The imperfect theist must strive to do the impossible and please the perfect demands of God.

Christianity offers the hope of Good News: a Savior has been born, named Christ the Lord. We have a real need and a real Savior who ALONE can really save.

In hearing about the birth of Jesus, here’s what the angels do: “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!’ ” (Luke 2:13–14). Angels dwell eternally in the presence of God, singing of His goodness and grace. When they discover that the long-awaited promises have at last been fulfilled, they celebrate.

None of this jubilation is lost on Mary. She “treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Luke 2:19). She has sung previously in the book, but here she’s simply overwhelmed. Perhaps it dawned on her that the Savior, the rescuer, the hero, the deliverer, the dragon slayer, the Kingdom giver is there in her presence. Immanuel is there with her, in her arms, and He is her son. Her heart overflows with quiet joy.

The shepherds depart from the scene “glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen” (Luke 2:20). The Savior is here, hope for the world has arrived, and they’ve looked upon His face. They sing and celebrate with gladness and joy because Jesus is good news.

The Good News of Jesus is for all people, including us. And our response should be to ponder this gift in our hearts, like Mary, and sing with our mouths like the angels and the shepherds. Glory to God in the highest!

In what very practical ways should you respond joyfully to the Good News about Jesus?

Luke 2:13–14

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Besides Christianity, there are four predominant worldviews that compete for allegiance:

Atheism declares that there is no God. The inevitable conclusion of atheism is that we’re here for no purpose. When you die, there is nothing awaiting you. Atheism is emotionally deadly. If you come from no one, are here for no reason, and when you die you go nowhere, then there is no hope for this life or eternal life.
Deism is the belief that God exists, but he is distant. He basically made the world and then left. Playing the devil in a movie, Al Pacino once said that God was an “absentee landlord.” He doesn’t pay any attention to you or the world, and he is certainly not becoming a man and entering into history to suffer or serve. You are on your own.
Pantheism and panentheism are similar. Pantheism is the belief that everything is God. Panentheism is the belief that God is in everything, like a force or energy. Good and evil essentially don’t exist, because they are two sides of the same coin, yin and yang. The problem is that there is no justice. When we suffer and we see injustice or evil on the earth, where’s the justice? The answer in pantheism and panentheism is – there isn’t any justice. There’s no judge outside of this system. All we have is what is, and good and evil are different sides of the same coin. It’s all one. So if you’re hurt, damaged, raped, abused, abandoned, or betrayed, you can’t really say that was wrong. All you can say is, that happened. You can’t appeal to any sovereign God separate from the world for help, because there’s no one beyond creation. You have no hope of final judgment in the end.
Theism allows for the existence of God, but this existence can range from the one god of monotheism (Judaism, Islam) to the many gods of polytheism (Mormonism, Hinduism). Most theistic worldviews acknowledge the difference between the creator and the created, but there is no savior. Instead, we have to save ourselves through religion and good works. The result is that we either keep the rules and get very proud of ourselves and judgmental of others, or we fail to keep the rules and fall into despair. In this way meager religious works seek to close the infinite gap between sinners and the divine.
Christianity is about the one true God who is separate from His creation but enters into His creation as the God-man Jesus Christ. This is where Christianity is different. There is a God, He has not abandoned us, He is separate from His creation, and He has come on a rescue mission for us in love. We come from God, we belong to God, and we’re here for God and find our joy in living for His glory. God is here with us to this day through the Holy Spirit, and one day we will stand before God and experience a perfect eternity with Him, where sin and all of its effects are no more, if we turn from sin and trust in him.
How would you describe your worldview? Where do you find hope in the face of great pain and suffering?

Luke 2:10–11

And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

There’s a lot for us to learn from this angelic announcement.

Jesus is the Savior.

All religions and worldviews outside of Christianity have one thing in common: God is not the savior. Either you are your own savior, or there’s no savior at all. In Christianity, God is the hero, the rescuer, the redeemer, the Savior. This is good news because it gives us hope. If the only hope we have is in ourselves, that’s a sad, futile existence. But if there’s a Savior, there is hope for us that is beyond us coming to rescue us.

Jesus is the Christ—the anointed King.

Like Jesus, King David started humbly. David was a shepherd boy, taking care of his family’s flock, when a prophet showed up one day and anointed the boy as the future king of Israel. Before he could ascend to the throne, however, David endured great conflict with his predecessor, King Saul, and patiently prepared for his coronation day. Jesus is like that as a baby. He is the Christ—“anointed”—but until His Kingdom is fully realized on earth, there is great conflict between the kingdom of Satan (“the ruler of this world”) and Jesus the true King. It’s only a matter of time before “the ruler of this world” is deposed and Jesus goes from anointed King to appointed King (John 14:30).

Jesus is Lord.

The angel worships Jesus Christ as Lord. This is another kingly title that means Jesus is the ruler over all. This reality should lead us to a deeper appreciation, understanding, and adoration of Jesus the preeminent sovereign of all existence.

The three titles that the angel used to describe Jesus each tell us something important about the identity of Jesus Christ. Savior: Jesus is the hero who saves us from our sin in His death and gives us new hope in His resurrection. Christ: Jesus is the anointed one, chosen for this special purpose. Lord: Jesus is supreme over all religions, all nations, and all peoples.

This unique declaration clues us in to the unique identity and power of the baby in the manger. The rightful, exclusive position of Savior, Christ, and Lord belongs to Jesus. This is the true meaning of Christmas.

Is Jesus your Savior? Is Jesus your Christ? Is Jesus your Lord?

Luke 2:8–21

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 

“Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Luke 2:8–21 is perhaps the most familiar passage in all Scriptures. Linus reads it every Christmas for the Charlie Brown television special. Almost every church in has a nativity scene stashed somewhere. Many non-Christians even set up a manger scene with the baby Jesus somewhere in their home every December. Almost everyone knows just enough of the Christmas story to project their own meaning into the whole event.

Whether we realize it or not, each one of us lives according to a worldview. It’s how you perceive reality, understand God, find purpose in life – all of those big questions of existence. The Christmas story contains profound, life-changing biblical truth. Since it is such a common story, however, people are prone to change the meaning based on their personal worldview, rather than allow the real meaning to change their worldview.

In other words, the true meaning of Christmas could not be more important. The angel’s declaration to the shepherds on that night long ago included a number of key statements that clue us in to the significance of what had just happened. Today, to prepare your heart for the holiday season, go back and read this section of Scripture yet again after praying to the Holy Spirit for fresh eyes to see the birth of Jesus.

No matter how many times you have heard it, there is always something to appreciate about the Christmas story. What is the Holy Spirit teaching you this time around?

Luke 2:8–15

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”

Have you ever wondered what people thought of shepherds in Jesus’ day?

People thought shepherds were odd. They lived by themselves, outside of town, sleeping in the open, and surrounded by animals all the time. Their reputation was less than stellar. Shepherds were stereotyped as crooks and thieves, and they couldn’t even testify in court. It didn’t help that they couldn’t leave their flock without risking their livelihood, which means they couldn’t make it to the temple for sacrifices and feasts and maintain the same religious devotion as the rest of God’s people. In short, the shepherds were not highly regarded in their society.

When an army of angels lit up the sky to announce God’s birth into history, no one would have ever expected them to break the news to a bunch of shepherds. Upon hearing the big announcement, however, the shepherds outside of Bethlehem hurry off to find the baby boy. Besides Mary and Joseph, these anonymous outcasts are the first people in the world to enjoy an audience with Jesus Christ.

It’s curious how God arrives in a humble way to a humble family and announces the event to the humble shepherds. God works with them for His glory, by His grace. Years later, Jesus even described Himself as the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep (John 10:11). God redeems an unpopular profession, showing that He is humble and willing to look after us like sheep.

If you were God, would you have entered history in a humble way like Jesus did? If not, how would you have entered history?

Luke 2:10–14

The angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Jesus’ birth is historical: Christianity is based on fact. It is theological: God entered humanity in order to save us. Finally, it is biographical: What does Jesus’ birth mean for you and me? What does this possibly have to do with our life?

Jesus is like us
Since Jesus is like us, the Bible says, “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:15–16).

In other religions, the concept of God is that He is transcendent, far removed from the messy lives of sin and sinners on the earth. But Jesus knows what it’s like to have your family turn their back on you. He knows what it’s like to have friends betray you. He knows what it’s like to be homeless, poor, mocked, lied to, and beaten. He knows what it’s like to die. Our God is like us, especially in His suffering. When you’re suffering, hurting, and tempted, you can talk to Jesus and He can sympathize. Our God gets it, because we have a real God with a name and a face: Jesus. He understands us.

Jesus is unlike us
If Jesus were completely like us, He would not be very helpful in our suffering. But Jesus can actually do something about it because He’s different from us. Unlike us, Jesus never sinned. He was tempted. He suffered. He died. But He did not sin. He said “yes” to the Father and “no” to sin every time.

When we’re tempted, we can run to Jesus, and He can identify with our struggle. In that moment He can say, “I faced that temptation too.” When we sin, we can also run to Jesus. In that moment He can say, “I said ‘no’ to that sin, but I died for it anyway. I forgive you. I will save you from the mess you’re in, and I will change your whole life.” Because He is unlike us and never got into the sinful messes we do, He knows how to keep us out of trouble and get us out of trouble when we have wandered into harm’s way.

Jesus came to make us like Him
History: Jesus was born in Bethlehem to the Virgin Mary. Theology: Incarnation, God is with us. Biography: Jesus changes us and gives us a new life. If we believe the truth about Jesus by faith, we’re reconciled to God from now through eternity.

This changes everything, and it culminates in doxology: life as worship in response to Jesus. Part of this worship is the adoration of Jesus, but it’s also being empowered by the Holy Spirit to follow the actions of Jesus. Like Jesus, we’re not to separate ourselves from the world, and we’re not to enter into the world to participate in its sin and folly. We enter into the world to be a redemptive agent for the world on behalf of the Kingdom of God. That is the ministry of Jesus and the mission of Jesus.

God became a man and got his hands dirty. The incarnation compels us to do the same, through his life at work in ours. He is Immanuel, God with us, and also He is Immanuel, God in us at work through us for His glory, others’ good, and our gladness.

In what five very practical ways has Jesus changed you to make you more like Him?

Luke 2:7

She [Mary] gave birth to her firstborn son [Jesus].

Today, we conclude answering some of the most common questions regarding God entering history as the man Jesus Christ.

Did Jesus cease to be God when He became a man?
No, He did not. Jesus proclaims His deity throughout the Gospels, and Jesus’ opponents admitted that they wanted to put Him to death “because you, a mere man, claim to be God” (John 10:33 NIV). Jesus not only said He was God, but He also did things only God can do, like forgive sin (Mark 2:5). Unless He was God, Jesus had no business forgiving other people’s sins. Jesus didn’t lose His divinity; He added to it humanity. Jesus Christ is not God-minus; He’s God-plus.

Is Jesus God or man?
Yes. He’s the God-man. He’s both.

Theological liberals often emphasize Jesus’ humanity and describe Him as an exemplary leader who helped the poor, fought for justice, and cared for the widow and orphan. They’ll put Him in a category similar to Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Mother Teresa.

Theological conservatives, on the other hand, often emphasize Jesus’ divinity. His suffering and temptation weren’t that big of a deal because Jesus was God and therefore impervious. Like Clark Kent, Jesus looked like a regular guy on the outside, but underneath the Galilean peasant garb, He was a man of steel.

The truth is, Jesus was fully man and fully God. He lived life perfectly as a man, to serve as our example and a flawless substitute sacrifice in our place. He didn’t “cheat” by using His divinity “but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:7). At the same time, Jesus never stopped being God. Jesus was one person with two natures: fully God, fully man. And He lived by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Did God have intimate relations with Mary?
Mormons believe that God the Father is a flesh-and-blood physical being who had actual intimate relations with Mary and impregnated her as a result. The Bible doesn’t teach that at all. The angel Gabriel described the conception to Mary as a miracle of the Holy Spirit. Mary says repeatedly that she’s a virgin. Joseph, a godly, honorable man, has been waiting to consummate his marriage with his wife, and it would be a horrendous thing to think that God Himself violated Mary.

Is the incarnation of Jesus a secondary issue?
Some churches and leaders throughout history, including the present day, have argued that the incarnation is not crucial; we can agree to disagree, and it doesn’t really matter if Mary was a virgin. There are many reasons, however, to consider the incarnation a primary, non-negotiable element of faithful Christian doctrine. If Mary was not actually a virgin, the implications would be numerous and vast. For example:

If Mary was not a virgin, then the Bible is not true. Gabriel said that Mary was a virgin. Mary said that she was a virgin. If we don’t trust God’s Word on this point, there is no reason to trust his word elsewhere.
If Mary was not a virgin, then Scripture remains unfulfilled and our sins are not forgiven.
If Mary was not a virgin, then Jesus’ mother was an ungodly and deceptive woman. If Mary concocted a story to hide the fact that she was cheating on Joseph or messing around with Joseph, then the entire story surrounding Jesus’ birth is greatly altered.
If Mary was not a virgin, it would mean that Jesus was just a normal guy.
If Jesus was raised by a woman who made up preposterous religious lies to cover up her own bad behavior, why should we believe the extraordinary claims of her or her son?
Jesus is fully God and fully man. We cannot expect to fully understand this mystery here on earth, but thanks to the God-man we will join Him in heaven someday, see Him face to face, and know fully as Paul tells the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 13:12).

Which do you tend to appreciate more: Jesus’ humanity (His works and example) or Jesus’ divinity (His power and perfection)? How would a more complete understanding of the incarnation change the way you serve, follow, and relate to God?

Isaiah 7:14

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel [meaning God with us].

In order to describe the theological significance of Jesus’ birth, theologians like to use the word incarnation. It comes from the Latin meaning, “in the flesh.” Incarnation refers to the Christian doctrine that God, who is spirit, took upon Himself human flesh and came as the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Gospel of John describes the incarnation well: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:1, 14). The Word—the one who was eternally face to face with God the Father as the second member of the Trinity—became a man, the man Jesus Christ. That’s the incarnation. The second member of the Trinity entered into history. The Creator entered creation. God who is spiritual took upon Himself the physical. That’s why we call Him Immanuel, “God with us.”

I realize that this raises a number of questions.

Did a person become God?
No. There’s a difference between a person becoming God and God becoming a person. Satan lied to Adam and Eve by telling them that they could essentially become God. Any religion that claims people can become God is false. That includes Mormonism and also many Eastern religions and New Age spiritualties that teach oneness with the divine. We do not ascend toward God—through morality, reincarnation, good works, paying off our karmic debt, trying harder, doing better—God descends to us. The doctrine of the incarnation is not about a person who became God in order to show us how we can be godlike. It’s about how God became a human person because He loves us and He came to rescue us.

Did Jesus come into existence at His birth?
Some religions teach that Jesus is not eternally God, but that He is a created being who came into existence at a point in time. In Micah 5:2 and John 1, Jesus’ origins extend to eternity past since before creation. Jesus did not come into existence at His birth. The second member of the eternal Trinity entered into human history as the God-man Jesus Christ. The Bible is clear that Jesus is our Creator and was not created, saying of Jesus in Colossians 1:16, “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.” Jesus’ birth was not His creation but rather his entrance into His creation.

Is the incarnation borrowed from pagans?
If you have taken a religion course in college, one of the things you probably were told is that Christianity borrows ideas like the virgin birth from pagan mythology. This is untrue. Scripture predates any of the mythologies in question. As we saw, Isaiah’s prophecy takes place 700 years before the virgin birth; but the first allusion of the virgin birth of Jesus is all the way back in Genesis 3:15 when the earth had only two people on it. After our first parents sinned against God, He promises the coming of a Savior, born of a woman—no mention of a father. This is notable, because the rest of Genesis is a patriarchal book, tracing numerous family histories through the male line.

In addition, the concepts of pagan mythology were just that: mythology. Even the ancient Greeks did not treat the exploits of Zeus, Athena, and the various gods and goddesses as fact. These stories were more like Spider-Man than Nelson Mandela. The Bible, however, presents itself as historical fact evidenced by eyewitness testimony. If anything, the pagans stole their fiction from the facts of the Bible.

What questions do you still have about the life of Jesus? Ask a friend, study the Bible, pick a good book to read. Above all, ask the Holy Spirit to help you know, love, obey, and follow Jesus.

Luke 2:1

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

The opening sentences of Luke chapter 2 demonstrate the author’s great attention to historical detail. Luke introduces us to Augustus Caesar, who was ruling at the time that Jesus was born. Augustus Caesar was a very significant political leader who ruled over the Roman Empire, one of the most prominent, longstanding, far-reaching empires in the history of the world. He was the adoptive son of Julius Caesar. His title, Augustus, means “the majestic or highly revered.” Historians say that during his rise to power Augustus Caesar was ruthless, but once he assumed power he became more benevolent. He was a fairly gracious ruler compared to others in his day, far more so than people like King Herod, who was a maniacal man through the totality of his life.

Working under Augustus Caesar was a governor named Quirinius, who enforced and executed policies and decisions from the Emperor. Luke locates the birth of Jesus in a specific historical timeframe by telling us that it occurred during a census ordered by these rulers.

Caesar Augustus reigned over the entire Roman Empire, and Quirinius served as a sort of cabinet member to the senior leader. Caesar would demand a certain action, and a man like Quirinius would execute on the order. In this case, Luke tells us, a census was to be taken, which would have been a means for Caesar to assess his vast power and command maximum tax and military participation from the populace.

On the complete opposite of the spectrum, Luke draws our attention to Joseph and Mary. They are everything that Caesar and Quirinius are not: poor, powerless, rural, worshiping God rather than being worshiped like gods. Nevertheless, the two loved one another, they trusted in God, and they accepted God’s call on their lives. Now, near the very end of Mary’s pregnancy, the census requires the couple to travel to Bethlehem.

Joseph was of the family line of David, and David grew up around Bethlehem. For the census, everyone returned to the original hometown of his or her particular family. In order to obey the law, Joseph has to take pregnant Mary on a roughly hundred-mile journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. It’s a terrifying prospect, when you think about it, with the very real possibility she could give birth to God on the side of the road far away from any doctor, medical care, or help whatsoever. But God, in His providential sovereignty, orchestrated history to get this couple from Nazareth to Bethlehem in order to fulfill the prophecy of Micah 5:2 about the Savior’s birthplace.

Despite a long journey and no place to stay but an animal stable, Joseph and Mary arrive in Bethlehem safely, just in time for Jesus to be born. The Creator and King of the Universe’s first throne on earth is a feeding trough for animals. In this humble gesture, however, we see God’s sovereign power over governments and history. God arranged the details implemented by everyone from the powerful (Caesar Augustus and Quirinius) to the powerless (Joseph and Mary), not to mention the infinite number of lives and events leading up to that point, in order to fulfill His Word and demonstrate His lordship over all.

Looking back, how has God worked through unexpected encounters and events to orchestrate His plan for your life?

Luke 2:1–7

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

Immanuel.

Every Christmas, cards start arriving in the mailbox and songs echo at the mall with the word Immanuel. But what does that mean?

About 700 years before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah wrote: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14).

Through Isaiah, we learn that God’s answer to us walking away from Him is Immanuel running toward us. Immanuel is a title that means, “God is with us.” The promise was given that God would visit our planet by entering human history to lovingly pursue lost people. How would we know that Immanuel had come? When the virgin gives birth to a son.

The prophet Micah provided another clue, about 300 years after Isaiah. The special child would be born in Bethlehem: “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days” (Micah 5:2). In the original Hebrew, “from ancient days” can mean “from eternity.”

Based on these and other promises, God’s people were anticipating and awaiting this miraculous visitation from God to save and redeem them. Their expectations were fulfilled in the birth of Jesus, which we read about in Luke 2:1–7.

Do you earnestly believe that Jesus Christ is the only God? If not, why not?

Luke 1:80

The child [John] grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

Today, we continue to examine seven ways in which John the Baptizer was, as Jesus said in Luke 7:28, the greatest man who has ever walked the earth.

John made the invisible kingdom visible
Zechariah’s prophesy mentions, “a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David” (Luke 1:69). This is the ancient language of kingship.

King David was Israel’s most famous ruler. He ushered in a golden age unprecedented in the ancient world that continued on through his son and successor, King Solomon. This kingdom was only meant to foreshadow God’s true, perfect, forever Kingdom where Jesus is the true, perfect, forever King.

King Jesus told His disciples, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18). Jesus rules over all times, nations, places, cultures, languages, tribes, and lifestyles of people. He rules over the angels and the demons. He rules over the rich and the poor, the living and the dead. The Book of Revelation tells us that Jesus is already seated on the throne in heaven. His invisible Kingdom will one day be established on the earth with His second coming, and the invisible Kingdom will be made visible. In the meantime, what we see are the visible kingdoms of the earth.

In his prophecy, Zechariah describes God’s Kingdom as marked by redemption, salvation, mercy, deliverance, holiness, righteousness, light, and peace. In contrast, he describes the kingdoms of the earth as “those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.”