Good morning and Merry Christmas to all of you, blessings in the name of the Lord from my family to yours. Today we have all been waiting for has finally arrived. All of the decorating, preparations, shopping, everything has led up to this moment, but even with all of the hustle and bustle, don’t let it distract you from what is most important today.

This message is entitled “Behold: A Savior Is Born.” And that needs to be emphasized, because the world around us would have us believe that Christmas is just about the lights and festivities without paying attention to the greater truth behind it all. I don’t know whether you have noticed it or not, but there is a lot of tension around the birth of Jesus. Many people I have encountered around town are purposeful to say, “Happy Holidays”, but I am not concerned about being politically correct or not offending anyone, because this is my Savior, this is the God that I serve.

And so, I am used to feeling that tension because whenever I talk to people about Jesus there is tension. In the world today, the message of Jesus, can be offensive to those who don’t believe. And so, the Christmas season just aggravates the tension that is already there because we are celebrating the anniversary of that great moment in time when God became one of us. That is why this is a season of great joy because the light of the world had come.

Today, it is Christmas Eve, and as we gather, we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the reason we are here, his arrival ushered in hope, love, joy, and peace, and yet, here we are two thousand years after the birth of Jesus and people are still fighting over his name. Many are trying to avoid mentioning it, or worrying about whether they have offended somebody by saying Merry Christmas because there is just something about that name. In fact, if you remember, it was the name of Jesus, that the Sanhedrin commanded Peter and John, not to speak or teach at all” (Acts 4:18).

And so, today I want to look at how his name was introduced as we read from the gospel of Matthew. Verse eighteen begins saying,

“This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly” (Matthew 1:18-19).

“But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:20-21).

“All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us” (Matthew 1:22-23).

When God announced that he was coming to Joseph he said, you are to give him the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins. But there was more to the story, because Matthew tells us that this was the fulfillment of a prophecy given to Isaiah during the reign of King Ahaz. In other words, this prophecy was written 740 years before the birth of Jesus. Isaiah said,

“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” (Isaiah 7:14).

And the Bible tells us what Immanuel means, it means "God with us" (Matthew 1:23).

In other words, God desires to have fellowship with us, to be with us, and in his infinite love and mercy he has tried everything to reveal himself. He gave Adam and Eve a beautiful garden so that they could enjoy time together strolling through the garden. And he gave them one simple rule, he said, “Just don’t mess with that tree.” You know that one tree over there, but curiosity got the better of them, and they rebelled and disobeyed him.

God loved them enough to give them freedom to make their own choices which also meant that he let them face the consequence of their sin on their own. Generations passed and he tried to bless his people again, but over and over and over again they rejected him. And so, he let them face the consequences of their willful rebellion, having tried everything he could, and then one day he said, “I will become one of them. I will show them my love by becoming one of them. Then they will know what I am like.”

In fact, this is what he said to Moses, he told him,

“I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him” (Deuteronomy 18:18).

In other words, I will raise him from among their brothers, but not even Joshua could be compared to Moses because he demonstrated such power before men and a deep intimacy with God. And so, Moses set the standard for every future prophet until Jesus Christ the mediator of the New Covenant came. But the Bible says,

“He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him” (John 1:11).

God declared to Moses that he was raising up a prophet, a spokesman, one who would speak for him boldly and unashamedly. And he warned him saying,

“If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account” (Deuteronomy 18:19).

And so, all the way back in Deuteronomy they were prophesying a messianic declaration that God was going to move from speaking through the prophets to speaking through his Son.

Century after century God spoke through the prophets, but they were beaten, abused, and tortured. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were rejected, persecuted, and mistreated, and so finally God sent his Son. Jesus prophesied saying,

"But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him and take his inheritance.' So, they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him” (Matthew 21:38-39).

In other words, he is talking about himself and the nation of Israel. They had been carefully prepared by God to be his fruitful vineyard, but they had failed to acknowledge the Master’s right over them and treated his messengers and prophets badly. Jesus is the prophet God raised up declaring this great messianic prediction of what God was about to do, knowing that he is the Son whom they would kill outside of Jerusalem.

It is staggering to think that this prophetic word through the mouth of that supreme spokesman, the Son, the Lord Jesus, who is the radiance of God’s glory, the exact representation of his being would be spoken so completely and distinctly, and yet the people of God would despise him. And so, Jesus who would speak for God like Moses, but an even greater mediator than Moses, and himself would be despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.

That’s the Jesus we celebrate, but he is so much more than just a prophet, he came to declare the prophetic word of God over you, because you were created by that word, called by that word, you have been gifted by that word.

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14).

In other words, you wouldn’t be who you are if God hadn’t spoken a word over you. Because that word will not return void, it shall accomplish what God desires and achieve the purpose for which he sent it (Isaiah 55:11).

And so, we’re going to celebrate tonight, celebrating the fact that the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. But the world is trying to crowd us out, stealing our freedom to worship just like they did on Easter. And don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind Easter bunnies, Santa Claus, or the Grinch, but don’t mess with my Jesus.

Tonight, we are going to celebrate the reason for the season. It’s going to be a birthday celebration, it’s a Merry Christmas, because we are celebrating this one thing.

“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).

And so, we celebrate his coming on Christmas Eve recognizing that he is our feast of trumpets, our feast of Tabernacles, our feast of weeks, our feast of first fruits, our feast of unleavened bread, and our Passover lamb. That is all the reason I need to celebrate that my Savior has been born. I love him because he first loved me, and I’m going to worship him tonight, I might even shout and dance tonight, because I’m celebrating the fact that my sins have been washed in the blood of the lamb. Jesus made atonement for my sins!

That is worth shouting about, that is worth dancing about, and so we’re going to worship Jesus because we have been redeemed. If you have trusted in Jesus and been born again you have been purchased out of slavery and bought from the slave market of sin. You were lost, but now you have been found. No longer are you living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry because “you’ve spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do” (1 Peter 4:3).

And so, we gather to celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Lamb of God, because you’ve been washed, you’ve been scrubbed down, you’ve been purified by the blood of the Lamb.

That’s why we worship like we do on Christmas Eve, that’s why we celebrate like we do, because Jesus is the reason for the season. It doesn’t have anything to do with winter lights, happy holidays, but it has everything to do with Jesus who is my high priest. In other words, he is my Aaron, my Levite, my Melchizedek, my Redeemer and Deliverer. And so, that’s what we celebrate on this Christmas Eve that causes so much controversy and tension. It’s this one moment in time, this one day on the calendar, one day out of 365 when we celebrate the Word become flesh.

In Luke chapter 2, the Bible tells us,

“This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger" (Luke 2:12).

And so, the God of the universe, the creator of all things is born in a barn, not in a celestial palace surrounded by wealth and opulence, but instead he is born in a barn surrounded by filth. Instead of being worshiped by people of great standing, notoriety, and nobility, he is worshiped by the lowest of people almost as if to say, “There is no one too low for my love.”

The very thought that God would become, could become, and did become “God with us” creates a bit of tension. Because as we gather together with friends and family, God intrudes, he inserts himself, because just as he said,

“Where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them" (Matthew 18:20).

And so, he is right there in the middle, dwelling among us, tabernacling with us, camping out with us, because he is Immanuel, God with us, and he’s with us at this moment.

Some of you may be wondering, “What he is doing with us?” And he is doing many things, so much more than I can fathom, but I want to share with you two things that God loves to do when he is with us. The first thing I want to share with you is that Immanuel, God with us, loves to comfort those who are hurting. The apostle Paul worships God saying,

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

This is so important this time of year because the Christmas season with all of its joy and celebration also magnifies the pain of living in a fallen world. And so, for some people Christmas is the greatest day of the year, but there are others who are so full of hurt they don’t even know what to do.

Some of you are like me, you are experiencing Christmas with significant loss in your life. It could have been through death, it could have been through the pain of divorce, it could have been through rejection or rebellion that just seems to get into families and messes things up. Or maybe it could have been something smaller, but it is very real and very meaningful to you, and it leaves an empty spot inside of you.

When God is with us, he loves to comfort us in our troubles when we’re hurting. And maybe, you’re wondering, well how is he going to do that? And I think the best illustration of this is found in Isaiah chapter 66, verse thirteen,

“As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem" (Isaiah 66:13).

Now, you have to admit, there is nothing like the comfort of a mother. I know this firsthand because whenever one of my children would fall down and hurt their knee, they would climb over me, pushing me out of the way to get to their mother. And she would kiss it and make it all better, because my wife is truly amazing, it’s the comfort of a mother.

God comforts like a mother comforts her children. And so, when I hurt, I visualize the presence of God holding me. And somehow, I can’t explain it, but he does, and he comforts me.

Today there are many of you that are hurting, and you need to know that God is not some far away, distant, uninvolved God. His name is Jesus, he is Immanuel, God with us, and he is God with you at this moment. Right now, he wants to hold you and comfort you in your troubles.

The second thing he does is the presence of God makes comfortable people uncomfortable. There is a tension whenever we talk about Jesus because there is something about the presence of God that makes comfortable people uncomfortable. For example, when the angels talked about the birth of Jesus, they said,

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests" (Luke 2:14).

Now, we all like peace, peace sounds like comfort, and that sounds good to me, but what did Jesus really say about peace? In Matthew chapter 10, he said,

"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn "'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—a man's enemies will be the members of his own household” (Matthew 10:34-36).

And so, there is something about the presence of Immanuel that distresses those who are comfortable. In fact, I used to feel that way because I grew up in the church, but I wasn’t in a relationship with God and being in church made me nervous. I felt uncomfortable, there was this tension, because I knew something wasn’t right. My mother and my father were there, but they love Jesus, everything was fine for them, but I felt this tension, it was awkward, but it was just as Jesus said,

"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37).

I didn’t recognize it then, but it was a good thing, because God was disturbing my comfort, this tension was rising up in me, and he was leading me to put my love and my faith in better things.

It’s a lot like being a pastor when you are talking to people who know you are a pastor, because they suddenly become very insecure and uncomfortable. They are apologizing for their language, confessing that they need to be in church, and they get all nervous. But even far greater is the presence of God, who takes people who are comfortable and makes them a little bit uncomfortable.

You can see it all through the Gospels. This guy comes running up to Jesus whose identity was in his wealth, and he said what must I do to inherit eternal life? In other words, all of his hope was in his wealth and Jesus says,

“Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me" (Luke 18:22).

You could just imagine the tension in the air. Or suppose someone slaps you on the cheek, Jesus said,

“Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles” (Matthew 5:38-41).

Or another time someone comes to Jesus and says, “I need to find myself; I need to discover the meaning of life.” And Jesus says, “No. Let it go, because it’s not about you.” He said,

“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:39).

And so, if you are here today and you are feeling a little uncomfortable right now, it is because God is here, and you can’t get away from him. He’s coming after you because his greatest desire is for you to know who he is, to know that he is a good God, and that he loves you with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3).

You see, two thousand, seven hundred, and sixty years after the prophecy of Isaiah, there is still all this tension in the air. People are still fighting and arguing about who or what God is. And so, if you want some interesting conversation tell them,

"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us" (Matthew 1:23).

It is Christmas Eve and so tonight we’re going to worship Jesus together because we love him. We are going to celebrate his birthday, celebrating all that he means to us, remembering what he’s done, telling our children and grandchildren about what he has done. Because it’s not about the gifts, Jesus is the present, Jesus is the reason for the season, and we are celebrating his first coming as we look forward to his second coming.

Today is a special day, it’s a holy day, not because of the date, but because God is Immanuel, and he is with us. In the same way, when Jesus was born of a virgin in a barn next to animals, it was a holy night, not because it was night or because it was Sunday, it was a holy night because God was with us. And that’s the best news of all time, because he left heaven, came to earth, born of a virgin, lived without sin, died the most horrible death you could ever imagine, but he didn’t stay dead. He’s here, he’s real, and at this moment if you are hurting, he wants you to be comforted with the comfort we ourselves have received from God because "God is with us" (Matthew 1:23).

That is what we celebrate!

Graphics, notes, and commentary from LifeChurch, Ministry Pass, PC Study Bible, Preaching Library, and Sermon Central. Scripture from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.