(Part 1 of 2)
“A few days later Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea, to the town where Zechariah lived. She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth. At the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, “God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed. Why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should visit me? When I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy. You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.”-Luke 1:39-45
How do you spread the news that the Savior of the world has been born? How do you inform mankind of such a magnificent event? Obviously, at the moment Jesus was born they didn’t have the luxury of sharing a selfie on Instagram, posting it on Facebook, having it printed in the local paper or announcing on the evening news. However, God does have a flare about Him and did announce Jesus’ birth in a couple of extraordinary ways:
We read in Luke 2:9-14:
“Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,“Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”-Luke 2:9-14
God announced the birth of Christ in magnificent fashion to a group of shepherds near Bethlehem using a mighty angel chorus. Then, later, we read in Matthew 2:1-2:
“Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”
God in another extraordinary display of wonder announced to a group of wise men the birth of Christ using a sign from heaven to point the way.
However, before angels appeared to the shepherds and the star appeared to the wise men, before any of them laid eyes on Jesus; Elizabeth was the first to hear the news of Christ’s coming. No angels announced His coming to her. No celestial anomalies caused her to take notice. The passage tells us that simply at the sound of Mary’s greeting something happened to Elizabeth that informed her soul. It was more than the sound of her cousin’s voice that she heard that day, rather at that moment she recognized the spirit of Christ. Truth is, you don’t hear Christmas with your ears, you hear it with your heart!
Pastor Scott Burr
Dayspring Community Church
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