Thanks to the role of mass media most of us have heard some startling news announcements. They’re vivid…we remember them:

Some of you remember December 7^{th 1941...the bombing of Pearl Harbor}

More remember November 22nd 1963 when President Kennedy was shot

January 28th 1986; the day the space shuttle Challenger blew up…

For all of us September 11, 2001 is etched in our mind!

All of these put together are a drop in the ocean compared to an announcement that took place almost exactly 2000 years ago give or take a few months. That announcement originally came to only one person, but the repercussions of it have been heard in every in every century since, literally to the ends of the earth. There is no announcement that ever will come that will top this one in significance…

(Luke 1:26-28) In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."

This wasn’t the first time God had made such a promise. God started the anticipation rolling clear back with Eve after the fall when he promised that out of her offspring would come one who would crush satan’s head. The inspired authors of the Old Testament kept the anticipation mounting for some 1500 years. When the big announcement came it wasn’t the beginning of the story…it was the culmination of 5000 years of God preparing the earth for just the perfect moment in time.

Since the end of the Old Testament God’s people hadn’t heard a single sentancefrom Him for 400 years. They were trying not to lose heart…they were trying to hang on to the prophesies assuring them that a Messiah was on the way. They were trying to ignore the reality that the Roman occupation of their country had pushed them further than ever awy from the glorious picture painted by the prophet Isaiah.

(Isaiah 9:6) For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Into that hopeless void steps, jumps, flies….Gabriel.. God’s supreme messenger angel. Exactly the same angel who 700 years earlier had delivered a message of the seventy weeks and how God’s redemption would unfold and now he reappears again 7 centuries later with the completion of his message. He came directly from the Heavenly Father… his message was not to be doubted: (1)

(Luke 1:19) The angel answered, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news.

From the very throne room of God to a dusty, obscure, village called Nazareth. Nobody had ever heard of the place. Except for this event you never would have heard of the place. It was a Jewish village with more Gentiles in it than Jews…interesting that God would have chosen that town when he had so many other options…almost like he was pointing out that this announcement would affect all mankind regardless of nationality.

Why did Gabriel take his message to that little town? Because a little insignificant girl had spend her childhood there….She had reached a milestone in her young life:

(Luke 1:27) …. a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. (NIV)

God could have chosen a queen or princess, he could have chosen to use the daughter of someone who was wealthy or influential. Instead he chooses an unknown young girl from an obscure village to bring his son into the world. It set up a pattern of using the insignificant that God would follow throughout the whole of Jesus life.

Mary must have been shocked out of her mind:

(Luke 1:28-30) The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. (NIV)

Mary had, almost certainly, never seen an angel before. In flies. Not just any angel, but God’s #2 angel, right from the throne room of God and says….Hello….greeting.

What’s Mary going to respond with???….. And a cheery good morning to you as well!

Please understand what the angel was saying to her: Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. There is nothing in the text suggesting that Mary had merit and that is why God chose her to be the mother of the Messiah. God is not finding favor with Mary….He is giving His favor to Mary. You can understand Mary’s thinking by her response.

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be…. Why? Why would God choose me to be the recipient of His amazing grace? It was staggering…nothing could have prepared her for what was ahead. Even more shocking words were to follow: (2)

(Luke 1:31-33) You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

You, Mary, will be a virgin mother.. You will bear a divine child.(like Isaiah said)

(Isaiah 7:14) Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (NIV)

But, But, But how??

(Luke 1:35) The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. (NIV)

His name will be Jesus….Yeshua…God’s salvation! All the promises of the Old Testament…all the statements about him in the New Testament would all say exactly the same thing. In him would be salvation for every person in the world.. Here was to be the one promised to Eve after the fall. Here was the fulfillment of every prophesy and prediction from the Old Testament prophets. And this anointed one wasn’t just your run of the mill Messiah.

He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High (El Elyon). The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." Son of doesn’t mean less than…it means out of and equal to…same essence as! Mary was giving birth to God himself, who was coming to this earth and taking on human flesh, to become one with the humans he had created, to become the Savior of the world!!!

Here’s how it happened:

(Luke 2:1-4) In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world…… And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. (NIV)

Augustus, (born Octavian), Julius Caesar’s grandnephew, was actually a capable leader who ushered in the “Pax Romana” (Peace of Rome) where he finally brought all civil wars to an end. He built roads from one end of the empire to the other unrestricted by borders as they had always been. He had no idea that his success had nothing to do with him but was God’s way of getting the world ready so that when his son died and rose again for the sins of all mankind, the message would for the first time in human history be able to reach the ends of the civilized world in just a few years…. ((Galatians 4:4) But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ……But I digress… (3)

Augustus also had no idea that when he issued his royal decree for a census to firm up his tax base, that he was playing, not his own tune but the tune of the God of the universe.

The Jews hated the Romans…hated paying taxes to a heathen, gentile, occupying force, Joseph probably grumbled the whole way to Bethlehem. History tells us that a series of events kept this census from taking place for many months after it was ordered, many of the Jews dragged their feet about doing it at all. The Roman apparently weren’t requiring that everyone return to the city of his lineage, but Jewish religious law would not allow them to obey the Roman order unless they did it that way.

Finally Joseph came up on a deadline that he could not fail to meet….and lo and behold, his betrothed is now 8 ½ months pregnant. The law did not demand that he take her with him but their was this little issue of her being an unmarried woman who was 8 ½ months pregnant being left alone in a town where probably acquaintances, friends, and even family members were scorning every minute of her existence.

By some strange stroke of unbelievable luck Mary and Joseph found themselves in Bethlehem just as Mary went into labor just in time to fulfill the prophesy of Micah 5:2:

(Micah 5:2) "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting."

Very, very, lucky…wouldn’t you agree?

(Luke 2:6-7) So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. 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.

Remember, Roman census, crowded city of David, Joseph should have gotten on the internet and made a reservation but he was trying to finish a kitchen table for a client. They probably end up in a public shelter where the upper, or side floors are crude rooms for travelers and the center or bottom is for the animals of the travelers. In their case, the rooms are already full and they have to sleep with the animals for perhaps several days. Perhaps some false labor, perhaps some “Brackston-Hicks, Joseph sure isn’t going to hit the road for Nazareth until the baby arrives….So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered.

Imagine Joseph being anxious with curiosity, wondering what his son, who would be God in human form was going to be like. He no doubt held Mary’s hand during the labor, reminding her how to breathe. He probably whispered words of comfort to his teenaged wife. He would almost certainly have helped some or entirely in the birth process. Mary pushed one final time; at that very moment the God of heaven stepped into finite time and space. (John 1:14) And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us……

The holy, omnipotent, omnipresent, Lord of the universe, who created all there is with a single sentence from his mouth appeared as a human baby, crying the cry of human life, less than 24” long; the complete and total salvation of mankind.. wrapped in strips of cloth to keep him warm and give him a sense of security.

Joseph looked deep into His eyes, then turned and laid him in the animals feed trough.

When the Son of God came down from heaven he came all the way down; humble peasant girl, town carpenter, obscure village, no room in the inn, born in a stable, laid in a feed trough:

(Philippians 2:5-7) Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. (NIV)

He didn’t just agree to be born in a smelly stable, with cows and donkeys, he agreed to humble himself as a substitute for wretched sinners and bear the stench of their guilt in His own body on the cross. He came down to fallen humanity to lift them up to His glorious salvation.

Nobody in Bethlehem knew what had taken place in the stable. If we had been planning the event we would have looked carefully at who we would share the good news with.

This is the high point of redemptive history. This is literally the moment that all of history has been preparing for.

Find the high priest!!, Somebody get a scribe, Get a message to the Sanhedrin, send an E-mail to all Pharisees in the region……or maybe….

(Luke 2:8-12) And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." (NIV)

Shepherds…the lowest people on the Jewish social ladder. Because of their seven day a week job, they couldn’t even celebrate the Sabbath or feasts. They were considered unreliable, dishonest, unsavory people to everyone except their flock of sheep. Interesting that God would chose them to make the most important announcement in history to. Interesting that later Jesus would refer to himself as the Good Shepherd.

The announcement came in the night. It’s dark, it’s lonely, nobody of importance speaks to these men, they told each other tall tales and played their hand made musical instruments…. Suddenly the highest of all created beings shows up blazing with the very glory of God himself. Remember the shekinah glory of God hadn’t appeared to anyone in Israel since it had departed in Ezekiel’s day 600 years before.

Many times angels in the Old Testament were bearers of bad news….not this time!!!

To You!…… His salvation will be for everyone of you who embrace him as Savior and Lord!

This is Him! This is the Isaiah child- (Isaiah 9:6) For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.