The Amazing Child of Christmas

Yes, this is the Savior. This is the one born to die for the sins of the world. There is, over the manger, the shadow of a cross, and that shadow remained all his life long until he went to that cross. For this reason, he said, I came into the world. Welcome to Grace to You with John MacArthur.

I'm your host, Phil Johnson. In 1761, Wolfgang Mozart completed his first composition at age five. In 1895, the artist Pablo Picasso painted A Portrait of Aunt Pepa, which was described as one of the greatest portraits in Spanish history. He was 14 at the time. Remarkable children, without question. But no child can come close to the astonishing son that John MacArthur looks at today on Grace to You. This child's birth was anticipated for thousands of years, was announced by a host of angels, and brought the hope of salvation to condemned sinners.

You're about to see how amazing this child was as John continues his series, The Best of Christmas. And so with that, here's John with the lesson. I want us to look at a text of Scripture found in the first couple of chapters of the Gospel of Luke. And I would invite you, if you will, to open your Bible to Luke.

We're going to look at chapter one, a portion of it, and chapter two, a portion of that as well. I'm sure that all parents are convinced, without question, that their children are the most unique children that have ever been born. And I'm also sure that no child ever comes into the world without filling the hearts of their parents with a great amount of expectation. When our four children were born, we, of course, and even to this day, continue to have great hopes and great dreams and great desires that they might be everything that they can possibly be for the glory of God. But at best, when a child comes in the world, what we hope for is no more than hope. What we wish for is no more than a wish because the story is not yet written. We do not know what that child will become.

And we wait with great anticipation, with a great degree of anxiety and concern through the years of the unfolding of the life of that child to see what, in fact, that child will become. That was not true in the case of the Lord Jesus Christ. For at the birth of the child of Bethlehem, all that needed to be known about the child was revealed at the very beginning. There really wasn't any need for hope. There wasn't any need for a wish, a dream, imagining. All was told as to who the child was, and why he came, and what he would do, and how he would affect the world.

So different. Two ordinary Jewish young people were faced with the most astounding child the world has ever known. A child whose life was already clearly laid out and delineated to them from the time of birth, unlike any other child. Now precisely what was said about Jesus Christ at His birth that is so astonishing, that left His parents with such amazement and awe and wonder? The answer begins to unfold for us in the announcement of the angel to Mary beginning in chapter 1 and verse 30.

Let's notice it. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High.

And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of David forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy offspring shall be called the Son of God. Now it was this announcement coupled with the announcement to Joseph by the angel coupled with some things that are said of Christ at the end of chapter 2 or close to the end in verses 34 to 38. These things were what amazed the parents, and I want us to focus on six of them in our examination of the Lord Jesus Christ this morning.

First of all, in a general way, would you notice verse 32? And there we read this statement, He shall be great. He shall be great.

That same statement was made in chapter 1 verse 15 of John the Baptist. For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord. John the Baptist was to be great. Jesus was to be great. The word can mean extraordinary, wonderful, splendid, magnificent, noble, distinguished, illustrious, eminent, powerful.

It is intended to set one apart from all the rest. John the Baptist was great. He was great because he was the single greatest representative of the prophetic office, the forerunner of the Messiah. In fact, it is said of him that there had been none greater than John the Baptist. The Lord Jesus Christ also is great. That is surpassing and eminent and pre-eminent and splendid and illustrious and prominent and all of those things the word implies, for reasons other than the greatness of John the Baptist, for reasons which are explained in this very same passage.

What made him great and what astounded and amazed his parents? We find here six things that identify Jesus Christ in his unique greatness from the very time of his birth. First of all, noticing verse 32, he shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Most High. Now that is to say Jesus is God. Jesus is God and that is the unmistakable truth that I want you to deal with in your mind as we begin our look at this passage.

Jesus is God. Now Luke refers to God with the term the Most High or if you like the highest. Luke seems to favor that term in identifying God and so did the angel who made the announcement. In verse 35, the angel again says the Holy Spirit shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee.

Over in verse 35, over in verse 76, and thou child shall be called the Prophet of the Most High. This is the testimony of Zacharias when filled with the Holy Spirit. So the angel calls God the Most High. The Holy Spirit through Zacharias calls God the Most High. This term speaks of the sovereignty of God.

Our Lord Jesus Christ in Luke 6 35 says you shall be the sons of the Most High. In Acts 7 48, Luke who writes the book of Acts also chooses to use the same term the Most High. There is even an occasion when the demons refer to God as the Most High or the highest. Now calling God the highest, calling God the Most High, notes his majestic sovereignty. It is a statement of God's all surpassing supremacy. It is to say there is no one higher than he is.

There is no one on his level or above. The title in the Old Testament is El Elyon in the Hebrew and it is used initially in Genesis 14 18 and becomes a very common Old Testament title for God, El Elyon. And wherever it is used, it gives us the feeling of God's sovereign surpassing power, his ultimate supremacy. There is no one higher than he is. He is the highest in authority and in preeminence. Now that use of that El Elyon, that term the Most High, helps to point out the range of God's surpassing supreme sovereignty.

For example, in Deuteronomy 32 8 we read, the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance. In Psalm 47 2, the Lord Most High is awesome. He is a great King over all the earth. And four times in Daniel's prophecy he says the Most High rules in the earth and gives the kingdoms of men to whomsoever he will. Now all of those verses tell us that the Most High is sovereign over nations. He is sovereign over nations. Secondly, in 2 Samuel 22 14, there is a description of God controlling the water and the clouds and the skies and the lightning and the thunders and the seas and the rain.

And the text says the Lord thundered from heaven and the Most High uttered his voice. And there the Most High is seen in his sovereignty over nature, his control over all the created universe. So he is sovereign over nations.

He is sovereign over nature. In Psalm 7 17 and Psalm 9 2, there is a discussion of God's power over the wicked and God's power over those who rebel and disobey him. And it says, sing praise to the Most High for the reason that he is sovereign over the unrighteous. He is sovereign over the unrighteous. In Psalm 21 7, it speaks of the mercy of the Most High which is given in salvation to those who trust him, which is to say he's not only sovereign over the unrighteous but he is sovereign over the righteous as well as he grants them the grace and mercy of salvation. In Psalm 46 4, it refers to the tabernacles of the Most High wherein God's people find protection, safety, security and comfort and that tells us he is sovereign over his own redeemed people. In fact, in Daniel 7 18, it says we are the saints of the Most High, that is the saints who belong to the sovereign God. In Lamentations 3 37 and 38, there is a totally comprehensive statement that says God is the Most High sovereign over all evil and all good.

The title then sums up all of the elements of the sovereignty of God. He is sovereign in every dimension possible, sovereign over nations, sovereign over nature, over the unrighteous, over the righteous, sovereign over the people he has redeemed and sovereign over all that is evil and all that is good. That is to say he is the Most High. There is none as high as he is. He is God above any other gods. He is God supreme.

Now why is that important? Look back at our text in Luke chapter 1 and notice verse 32. Here comes the message to Mary from the angel and the message is, the son you bear will be called the Son of the Most High, the Son of the Most High. In verse 35 at the end of the verse, the Son of God, the Son of God. Now what is such a title intended to indicate?

Nothing less than the obvious. Its intent is to say Jesus is God. To say that Jesus is the Son of the highest is to say that he bears the character, nature, and essence of the highest.

Son does not imply that God is a great God who begot a sub-god and Jesus is a sub-god. It is to say that Jesus bears the same life, the same essence, and the same nature as God. As Hebrews 1 says, He is the express or the exact reproduction of God's image.

Hebrews 1, 1, and 2 says that. God speaks to us through his Son, verse 3, who is the exact replica of himself. He is the Son of God. That is to say, he bears his Father's life and nature.

That is the essence of the use of that idea here. Now, no writer more clearly shows us the meaning of the sonship of Christ than the writer John. So I would like you to turn to John 5 for just a moment. I met with someone, and I suggested to them that what was needed in their life was a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. This was a Jewish man, and he said to me, I don't know who Jesus Christ is.

I need to find out. I said that I want you to go home this week and do one thing if you do nothing else, and that is read the Gospel of John. Just read it. Sit down and read the Gospel of John. To him, the word Jesus, the word Christ was either profanity or something you didn't say.

Jewish people rejecting the reality of Christ. And so he was reading the Gospel of John that week, came back, and I said, Did you read it? And he said, Yes.

And I said, What is your response? What is the dominating conclusion in your mind from reading the Gospel of John? Without hesitation, he said to me, who had never read the Gospel of John before, he said, Well, one thing is for sure, Jesus is more than just a man. Jesus is God. That from reading the Gospel of John, because that, in fact, was John's intent in writing it.

And no one better articulates who the Son of God is than John, and no place better articulates it than the fifth chapter. Let's look at verse 16. The Jews were persecuting Jesus, and they actually sought to kill Him, because He had done some healing on the Sabbath day.

He had violated their man-made Jewish tradition by healing on the Sabbath and making a man carry his bed, which they thought to be a violation of their tradition. Now Jesus responds to them. He answers them in verse 17, and His answer is an absolutely amazing affirmation of who He is.

First of all, He says, My Father works in this way, and I work. Therefore, the Jews sought the more to kill Him, because He not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was His Father, making Himself, what? Equal with God. To the Jewish mind to say, God is my Father, is to say that I'm of the same essence as God, and that's exactly what was intended to be said by the angel to Mary. Now what is so devastating to these Jewish people is that when Jesus says, My Father works, and I work, He is claiming to be equal in nature with God. Did you get that? Equal in nature with God.

He is really saying this. Look, Mark 2 27 said it, Sabbath was made for man. The Sabbath was made for man, not for God. You say, well, what about when God created in six days, and on the seventh day He rested? Listen, don't for a minute believe that on the seventh day God completely rested. All He rested from was the creation, because it was finished. God rested from His creation, but if God had gone to sleep at all, everything that He created would have disintegrated. He upholds everything by the word of His power. God rested from the creative process.

God didn't rest from doing what God must do to hold everything together. The second thing He says, not only does He claim to be equal in nature, but equal in works. Look at verse 19. Then answered Jesus and said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing by Himself, but what He sees the Father do, for whatever things He does, these also does the Son in the same manner. For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all things that He Himself does, and He will show Him greater works than these that you may marvel.

Now He claims to be equal in works. He says, Whatever I do is exactly what God does. And if you're going to indict Me for breaking your Sabbath, then indict God. Tell God He broke your Sabbath, because I'm only doing what God is doing. I follow God.

He is the one working, and I am the one working. And what He does, I do. So if you accuse Me, you accuse God. Incredible statement.

I don't do anything by myself. Whatever the Father does, that's exactly what I do. Whatever He wants me to do, He shows me to do. So your argument is with God, because we're equal in works. Thirdly, He says, we are not only equal in nature and equal in work, but we're equal in power. Verse 21, For as the Father raises up the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life. He says, I have the same power to raise the dead physically and spiritually that God does. We are equal in power. In verse 26, As the Father has life in Himself, so is He given to the Son to have life in Himself.

It repeats the same idea. Jesus is making astounding claims. As the Son of the highest, He bears the nature of the highest. He does the works of the highest, and He is equal in power. Fourthly, He says He has equal authority.

At the end of verse 21, He says, The Son gives life to whom He will. He has equal authority. He can make determinations. He can do as He pleases. You'll notice also in verse 22, He is equal in judgment. The Father judges no man, but has committed all judgment to the Son.

Verse 27 says the same idea. He's given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He's the Son of man. Verse 30, I can of mine own self do nothing, as I hear I judge. So God is judging. God commits the judgment to Christ. So really, God and Christ judge together. Therefore, they are equal in judgment. And then verse 23, that all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honors not the Son honors not the Father who has sent Him. The point is that they are equal in what?

In honor. Now notice the terminology all through this passage is Father-Son, Father-Son, Father-Son, Father-Son. And what the Father-Son relationship of God and Christ intends to communicate is equality of nature, equality of work, equality of power, equality of authority, equality of judgment, and equality of honor. That is to say, Jesus is God. Jesus is God. And so when the angel says to Mary, He shall be called the Son of the highest, she is saying this is the Son of God, who is equal in every way with God.

And when Jesus claimed that, the Jews knew that's what He was saying. The child is God. What an incredible, what an amazing, what an astonishing and astounding and almost unbelievable voice ringing in their ears, that your child, your little baby that you bear in your womb and hold in your arms is the living God. Matthew also records the birth of Christ and emphasizes this. How is it that God could be born in a human womb? Matthew 1 18 says, she was found with child by the Holy Spirit. Verse 20 says, that which is conceived in her is by the Holy Spirit. And verse 23, the virgin shall be with child, shall bring forth the Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which being translated is God with us. The child is God.

And the child was conceived without a human father. God planted a seed in Mary to create the Lord Jesus Christ. In Luke 1 43, even Elizabeth says to Mary, why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? She recognizes that her relation, her own kin, Mary, is to give birth to the Lord Himself. And in chapter 2 of Luke and verse 11, the angel the angel announces to the shepherds that there will be born this day in the city of David a Savior who is none other than the Messiah, the Lord, the Lord Himself.

So the first amazing message that came to the parents of Jesus was that this child would be God. God, the Lord. The writers of our Christmas carols have understood this through the centuries. And every year we come around to this season, we sing those songs, and almost without thinking we don't listen to what we are saying. So let me remind you of the emphasis of the Christmas carols.

Listen to these familiar lines. Joy to the world, the Lord is come. Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning. Come, adore on bended knee, Christ the Lord. Christ by highest heaven adored, Christ the everlasting Lord. Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see. Hail the incarnate deity, Jesus our Emmanuel.

Yet in the dark street shineth the everlasting light. We sing, O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel, which means God with us. Jesus, Lord at Thy birth. We sing, The Virgin, sweet boy is the Lord of the earth. We sing, Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing. How that in Bethlehem was born, the Son of God by name. God with man is now residing.

Suddenly the Lord descending. We sing, Thou didst leave Thy throne and Thy kingly crown when Thou camest to earth for me. And we often sing, And the Father gave His Son, gave His own beloved one. And so the writers of all the Christmas carols mark out for us the reality that the child is God.

You're listening to Grace to You with John MacArthur, chancellor of the Masters University and Seminary in the Los Angeles area. His current study here on Grace to You is titled The Best of Christmas. And now friend, drawing you into the study of God's Word and the person of Christ, that's our focus every day, not just around Christmas. It's what we're all about. And John, I know you would say that we don't accomplish this work without help from a lot of faithful people, right? So talk about that for a moment.

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