UNEXPECTED CHRISTMAS

Unexpected (Surprise) guests at Christmas!…(Cousin Eddie = ?@#! … Soldiers coming home from an extended deployment [Josh Groban, I’ll be home for Christmas])

[[A new Christmas album by your favorite artist(s)

A new Christmas movie (There are 2 I’ve seen that are out [no, not any Hallmark!]; the good one is: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever)…]]

…MATTHEW 2.1-23 & LUKE 2.40-52…

WISE MEN JOURNEY TO WORSHIP JESUS [Matthew 2.1-12]

DRAWN TO WORSHIP (2.1-2, 9-10)

Looking for a star…had to have a reason…! (2.1, 2b, 9)

Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego…Esther…

Numbers 24:17 “I see him, but not now; I perceive him, but not near. A star will come from Jacob, and a scepter will arise from Israel. He will smash the forehead of Moab and strike down all the Shethites.”

Gifts to honor a king! (2.2a, 2.10)

The fullness of their worship.

They were clueless about what was coming next for Jesus and his parents. (That these could’ve helped finance this family’s next step in their life.)

THE ‘FALL OF MANY’ (2.3-8)

Luke 2:34 “Then Simeon blessed them and told his mother Mary, “Indeed, this child is destined to cause the fall and rise of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be opposed—”

A significant disturbance! (2.3)

Herod & ‘all Jerusalem’ [namely religious leadership, NOT the whole nation, per se]…were seriously unsettled.]

Opposing Jesus includes feigned worship. (2.7-8)

Which appeared real enough that the wise men might’ve gone back to Herod if not for the angelic (dream) warning.

JOSEPH, MARY, & JESUS FLEE TO EGYPT [Matthew 2.13-23]

A NEEDED TRIP (2.13, 15)

[[Needed, but unexpected by Joseph & Mary]]

Flee Herod (2.13)

Fulfill Scripture (2.15)

Hosea 11:1 “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.”

SORROW SURROUNDS THE SAVIOR (2.16-18)

Sorrow amid hope (2.16-18; v. 18 = Jer. 31.15)

Jeremiah 31:15 “This is what the Lord says: A voice was heard in Ramah, a lament with bitter weeping— Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children because they are no more.”

Is part of Jeremiah 30-31.

Jeremiah 31:16–17 “This is what the Lord says: Keep your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for the reward for your work will come— this is the Lord’s declaration— and your children will return from the enemy’s land. There is hope for your future— this is the Lord’s declaration— and your children will return to their own territory.”

The theme of sorrow will follow Jesus [all the way to the Cross.]

“The Suffering Servant” (Isaiah 53.1-12; whole chapter)

JESUS GROWS UP [Luke 2.40]

UNIQUELY NORMAL (2.40a-c)

“Grew up…and became strong, …filled with wisdom”

Emotionally…Physically…Intellectually (with an AND…)

FORESHADOW (2.40c-d)

“Wisdom”

Indicating that to which Luke was about to focus (2.41-50)

What was about to be told was not a break from (contrast with) a God-honoring life.

JESUS AT TWELVE [Luke 2.41-50]

M.I.A. (2.43-44a, 44b-46, 48)

Parental assumption (2.43-44a) [like Kevin McCallister in Home Alone?😇]

Parental panic (2.44b-46, 48)

…after three days of searching…

JESUS SPEAKS (2.49)

First, context… (2.46-47)

Jesus conversing with the teachers (elders, etc.)…at 12!

He says…

“Why were you searching for me?”

…why did you go looking all over the place?

…why did you have to wonder what I was doing or where?

“Didn’t you know that it was necessary for me to be in my Father’s house?”

[also] “…about my Father’s business?”

“My FATHER”

**JESUS KNEW WHO HE WAS AND WHAT HE WAS TO DO.**

CONCL—

YES, Jesus did go back with them.

Luke 2:51 “Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was obedient to them. His mother kept all these things in her heart.”

[[Luke 2:19 “But Mary was treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating on them.”]]

YES, Jesus was always about his Father’s business.

Luke 2:52 “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and with people.”

[[Luke 2:40 “The boy grew up and became strong, filled with wisdom, and God’s grace was on him.”]]

***The baby born and laid in a manger, went through the normal experiences all of us faced as we grew up…AND, the Bible also says:

Hebrews 4:14–16 “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens—Jesus the Son of God—let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.”

INVITATION:

Salvation

Christ-Follower (not, as we have studied a while back, just a ‘fan’)

Zechariah, Elizabeth, John the Baptist, Mary, Joseph, Shepherds, Simeon, Anna, & Wise Men

Luke 2:52 CSB

And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and with people.

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