Gtcotr/ss122020
There is no other time of the year as exciting as Christmas time. There is a feeling in the air this time of year as there should be. The celebration of God sending His Son to be born of the blessed Virgin Mary gives us all hope and fills the season with joy.
This morning we will share the Christmas story together and read a few verses from the New Testament Gospel of Luke. Allow me to give you just a little background while everyone is getting ready to follow along.
It was most likely early in the summer of the year 6BC. The designation “B.C.” stands for “Before Christ.” The designation “A.D.” stands for “Anno Domini,” which means “The Year of Our Lord.” Properly BC goes after the year and AD goes before the number of the year so that 1BC and AD1 are spoken correctly when read aloud.
Why, where, and when did these designations begin and who decided they were accurate representations? Counting years has always been a necessity and using some well-known reference point from which to count has been the norm throughout all known history. Whether from the coronation of a King or the fall of a nation; a great earthquake; or a remembered battle, dates and years have been fixed from points in every culture.
In the 4th century the Church leaders realized the benefit of the whole known world celebrating Easter on the same date. Thus European mathematics was birthed, and the science of calculating came to the western world. Almost 200 years later, in what we now know as “The Year of our Lord 525,” a monk named Dionysius offered the idea of calculating years together in common from the year of the Birth of Christ.
Following Dionysius’ research, he decided to offer a calendar going forward from Easter day, AD532, and begin a Common Era termed Anno Domini, the Year of Our Lord. The addition of the BC element to the calendar came about over two centuries later in the 700’s.
The system of calculating years in BC and AD terms did not take firm hold on the western world until the 9th century after Charlemagne adopted it for the Holy Roman Empire.
“By the 15th century, all of Western Europe had adopted the B.C./A.D. system. The system's inclusion was implicit in the 16th-century introduction of the Gregorian calendar, and it later would become an international standard in 1988 when the International Organization for Standardization released ISO 8601, which describes an internationally accepted way to represent dates and times.” (https://www.livescience.com/45510-anno-domini.html)
Due to the increased ability to calculate time and the greater availability of more accurate historical information, calculations today put the Birth of Christ in about the year 4BC. I find it so interesting that the Apostle Paul and all of the Emperors of the Roman Empire, along with almost everyone on earth right up until the middle ages never heard or used the terms BC or AD. Now everyone can easily see that David lived in about the year 1050BC and that the Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan in AD 313 making Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire.
So, as I said in the beginning of the message today, it was early summer in about the year 6BC, when the angel Gabriel was sent to Jerusalem to speak with an old Priest named Zacharias who was burning incense at the altar of God and making intercession for the Children of Israel.
The
Christmas Story begins … (Zacharias, Elizabeth, and John the Baptist)
·
The
Angel Gabriel told Zacharias that his prayers had been heard …
·
Elizabeth
becomes pregnant in her old age …
·
About
six months later, along about this time of year, perhaps during the Festival of
Lights, also known as the Feast of Dedication …
·
That
same angel, Gabriel, makes another visit. This time to Mary …
The Christmas story continues … (Mary, Joseph, and the Baby Jesus)
Luke 1
26 ¶ Now in the sixth month
the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
27 to a virgin betrothed to a
man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was
Mary.
28 And having come in, the angel said to her,
“Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are
you among women!”
29 But when she saw him, she was troubled
at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was.
30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be
afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31 “And behold, you will conceive in your womb
and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS.
32 “He will be great, and will be called the Son
of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.
33 “And He will reign over the house of Jacob
forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this
be, since I do not know a man?”
35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The
Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow
you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of
God.
36 “Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also
conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was
called barren.
37 “For with God nothing will
be impossible.”
38 Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
Mary makes haste and travels a great distance to see her cousin Elizabeth and finds everything the angel said to be true. As well, when Mary first greeted Elizabeth, the baby in Elizabeth’s womb leaped and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and began to prophesy to Mary. Mary went back to Nazareth in the spring, near the time of the Feast of Passover, about the time Elizabeth was ready to deliver. Then, 6 months later …
Luke 2
1
¶ And it came to pass in those days that
a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.
2 This census first took place while Quirinius
was governing Syria.
3 So all went to be registered, everyone to his
own city.
4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the
city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem,
because he was of the house and lineage of David,
5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed
wife, who was with child.
6 So it was, that while they were there, the
days were completed for her to be delivered.
7 And she brought forth her
firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger,
because there was no room for them in the inn.
8
¶ Now there were in the same country
shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before
them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly
afraid.
10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be
afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all
people.
11 “For there is born to you this day in the
city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
12 “And this will be the sign to you: You
will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a
multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
14 “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
The Christmas story is such a wonderful message, and it holds so many timeless truths for us to consider today. Here are but a few:
1.
Life begins at conception
2.
Nothing is impossible with God
3.
Miracles happen when we say yes to Jesus
4.
The world has never made room for Him
5. Peace on Earth and Good Will towards Men
This is not a time to be worried or afraid
for the future. It’s Christmas! The season of joy and of celebration. Jesus is
alive; nothing is impossible with God; Miracles happen when we say yes to
Jesus; The world may not make room for Him, but we do; and God has already
proclaimed: Peace on Earth and Good Will towards all men. Be happy and
celebrate Jesus this season.
