The Excitement of Christmas sermon teaches us that the Christmas season is a time of great joy because of the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, whose birth was foretold thousands of years ago. This excitement can be celebrated every day by sharing the Gospel with others.

Key verses:
Luke 2:29-30

If you have your Bible, go to Luke chapter two. And if you want to be ahead, we are going to go back to Luke chapter one. Luke chapter two is where we are going to start this evening. We will start there and come back and then we will go to chapter one and then go back to chapter two after that. In Luke chapter two, I want to speak to you this evening on the excitement of Christmas.

Genuine Excitement

As I mentioned and alluded to this morning, Christmas is that time of year when you feel a lot of excitement. I felt that this morning when we began the service and as the service was going on, I felt a genuine excitement of the people being here and worshipping the Lord. Like the first song, we were like woo! We sang “Oh Come All Ye Faithful” and it sounded like the choir was coming home, we had a 70-person choir singing. It sounded great just singing that song.

I don’t know how brother Glaude felt. I know he enjoyed “We Three Kings” with the little hold there on the chorus. I just felt that this morning, there was a genuine excitement just to be here and be in God’s house.

Christmas to me feels that way. It’s like a different time of year to me. It is just exciting. Like when I was little, it was exciting to open up the gifts at whatever time in the morning it was. Except for the one year, we woke up at three o’clock in the morning. I know my mom is watching, she loves to tell the story quite a bit. But she was so excited for Christmas that she woke us up at three in the morning. But the excitement we wanted to give back to her wasn’t there, because three o’clock in the morning as a seven, eight, nine, ten-year-old, well, we weren’t awake.

So, she was so excited for the gifts she was giving us, but we were like [slowly] ripping it open, saying, “Cool, hooray,” and then nodding off, went to bed. That is all we were thinking about. So, that was probably not the most exciting Christmas we went through because it was just a little too early for us. Some of you are thinking, “3:00 a.m., I’m up then every morning.” I’m not. Five o’clock is still early for me but I still have to be up at five o’clock a lot.

Anticipating the Savior’s Birth

But I want you to imagine with me about 2,000 years ago when the news was delivered about the birth of Jesus. Can you sense the excitement that was permeating at the time? When Mary got to hear the word that she was going to be the one to bear that child, can you imagine the excitement that must be going on? This is something that had been brewing for thousands of years. It was building and it was an exciting time.

But unfortunately, we did not get to see her reaction. We saw some of it, we saw how she wrote it in the Magnificat at the end of Luke chapter one. We are not going to look at that this evening, but we could see the excitement that Mary had. But I wish I could see the actual reaction. How was she? What were her facial expressions, her reaction, and all that? “I’m the one giving birth to the Son of God?”

Every lady from Adam and Eve all the way up to her was hoping to be the one lady that would give birth to that Christ child. Eve named the first son, Cain, because she had gotten a man from the Lord. She probably believed that that was the one. Well, you know the story of Cain and Abel, don’t you? Was Cain really a great child? No, he was not. He killed his brother, Abel.

All throughout the thousands of years, God was setting up for this instance 2,000 years ago when the birth of Jesus happened. So, tonight I want us to regain that excitement. I just want us to sense the excitement that’s there.

We’ll look at two people, we’re really looking at two different viewpoints. We’ll look at it from one viewpoint which may not make sense in the beginning. But we’re going to tie it in once we get into the other viewpoint. These individuals were used by God to communicate the excitement of Jesus’ birth and prepare the way of Jesus.

So, let’s look at Luke 2:29-30 and we are going to come back to this in a little while:

Luke 2:29: “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:”

Luke 2:30: “For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,”

I submit to you this evening that we can be blessed and thankful for the eternal life that we could have because we were blessed by the best; we were blessed by the eternal God. God gave us that hope that Christ child, Jesus.

Zacharias and Elizabeth

Having a birth is excitement. For those of you who are parents, you know that feeling. It is just exciting to see that new life and hold that life in your arms. I remember when Liam was born, and I got to hold him the first day he was born. Here’s this little, tiny guy and I wasn’t used to holding children that small. He was like six pounds. I was trying to figure out how to pick up this kid. He was so small and so light, and I was not used to that. But it is exciting to see that new life and you don’t know how God is going to use that particular life. So, I want to look at the excitement here of two individuals.

The first one may not catch you in the sense of the excitement we are trying to drive towards, but it is a really good idea as far as it’s built into Jesus. We’re going to be looking at the father of John the Baptist who would have come six months before Jesus would have come.

Hold your place in Luke chapter two and go back to chapter one and I want us to look at verse number 67. So, probably a page or so back for most of you. As you are turning there, Elizabeth was told she would give birth to John the Baptist six months prior to the announcement to Mary concerning Jesus. We find that at the beginning of Luke because after six months, she had gone to see Elizabeth and the baby leaped in her womb and whatnot.

Luke 1:44: “For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.”

Even John the Baptist was excited before he was born because Jesus was coming. Mary gives praise to God after that announcement in verses 46 through 56 here. But before this and it strikes it very uniquely, is that Zacharias, he doubted that his wife Elizabeth would be able to give birth because they were old and stricken in years. And God shut his mouth throughout the entire pregnancy because of that doubt. So, he had not spoken in quite a while, and then they wanted to name the child after Zacharias. But then Zacharias said no, his name was going to be John because that is what God told him to name the child.

So, we are going to pick up here in verse 67, and, if you have your Bibles, look back at verse 64:

Luke 1:64: “And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God.”

He hasn’t spoken in nine months. Now we will see exactly what he is going to say:

Luke 1:67: “And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying,”

Sense the excitement here that he is going to have. Now again, he is excited for John the Baptist but who was John the Baptist? He would be the one who prepared the way of the Lord. So, he was the next step. The final step you could say before Jesus comes a few months later. Let’s look at his excitement here:

Luke 1:68: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,”

He is giving praise to God. Why? Because He has come back and redeemed His people, brought back His people. Why would he say that? Because Israel had issues. They had not followed God. God essentially separated them out and they were put into captivity. They were still in captivity up to that point.

Luke 1:69: “And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;”

Luke 1:70: “As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:”

This event was coming, and that event was about to be here. You can sense the excitement that Zacharias was having as John the Baptist is born and Jesus would be coming very soon thereafter.

Luke 1:71: “That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;”

That is looking at the physical sense here.

Luke 1:72: “To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;”

Luke 1:73: “The oath which he sware to our father Abraham,”

Luke 1:74: “That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,”

Luke 1:75: “In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.”

Luke 1:76: “And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;”

Notice “Highest” is capitalized there. Again, referring to John but John would be the one, the forerunner to Jesus Christ; the one who would then baptize Jesus and announce that Messiah has come. You can sense that excitement there.

Luke 1:77: “To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,”

This is John the Baptist’s call, to bring people to Jesus. That was his sole purpose of mind, and you can sense the excitement there. Why? Because people needed hope. They really did.

We live in a society today where people try to cut the hope right out from under us. They say this can’t happen or that can’t happen. They always give the worst-case scenario. This right here is the best-case scenario. This tiding has been prophesied for thousands and thousands of years and now, it is only a couple of months away from starting, from being fulfilled. There is just genuine excitement there.

Luke 1:78: “Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,”

Luke 1:79: “To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Luke 1:80: “And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel.”

So, what are we seeing here? That he would show people to God. John the Baptist would be holy and righteous to show who Jesus was, to be an example, and follow the Nazarene vow. He would be able to show people redemption, how they would trust in Jesus to be their Savior. His calling was foretold in Malachi chapter three:

Malachi 3:1: “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.”

This is 400 years roughly prior to this chapter in this book [Luke] taking place. And then in Luke chapter one:

Luke 1:17: “And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

What an exciting time. Zacharias knew that Jesus was about to come and his child, John, would be the one that sets the stage for Jesus to come.

Now skip over to chapter two. John would be the one who would get people to Jesus, lead people, and get them ready for the announcing of the Messiah. And this would be fulfilled in Matthew chapter three and Luke chapter three.

Simeon and Anna

But now let’s look at the excitement of another couple who have waited their entire lives with the hope that Jesus would come in their lifetime, back in Luke chapter two. Secondly, we are going to read about Simeon and Anna. First of all, we saw the excitement of Zacharias. Secondly and finally, we will be looking at the excitement of Simeon and Anna.

Luke 2:22: “And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord;”

They went to present Jesus to God, similar to what Hanna did when she presented Samuel. Samuel was the prophet and priest. Jesus was prophet, priest, and king.

Luke 2:23: “(As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;)”

Luke 2:24: “And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”

In verse 25, Simeon acknowledges Jesus:

Luke 2:25: “And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.”

He [Simeon] was a righteous man; he was faithful. He was used by God.

Luke 2:26: “And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.”

Can you imagine that promise? He would see Jesus in the flesh. It would be great to see Jesus in the flesh. We are a little too late to see him right now but imagine seeing the Christ child in the flesh. It would be like the icing on the cake you could say. And Simeon was promised that he would be able to see Jesus, God’s Son, in human form before he would leave this world. He does see Him.

Luke 2:27: “And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law”

“And he came by the Spirit into the temple” – that is unique, God led him. God knew when to bring Simeon to that point in time. We talk about divine appointments, divine intervention, this is one of those ideas. The Spirit of God led him to that place at that particular time.

“The custom of the law” is what we talked about in verses 22 through 24.

Luke 2:28: “Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,”

Back where we first started:

Luke 2:29: “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:”

Luke 2:30: “For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,”

Knowing Jesus, you can know peace. You may have heard that phrase before, “No Jesus, no peace.” That’s the idea where this comes from, one of the ideas where this comes from. When you know who Jesus is and you trust Him, you have peace, the ultimate peace, the peace that passes all understanding. That is what Simeon is realizing here that the Christ child is here, that hope that had been promised, and given, and anticipated for all these years is now there, he had held Him right in front of him.

Luke 2:31: “Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;”

Luke 2:32: “A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.”

Christ would have a two-fold purpose, to show the Gentiles light. Why? Because they live in darkness. They served other gods, they served other things, and Jesus was going to be a light to them. And then, to give glory to the people of Israel. He would show who He is to His people, to show that He is the Savior, that He is the Christ.

Luke 2:33: “And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him.”

Can you imagine being in their sandals? Joseph and Mary, and they are hearing all this stuff. I can imagine those eight days have been a whirlwind for them. Even more than that. They had to travel to Bethlehem, and they could not find a place to sleep, to be able to lodge in. So, they had to go to where a manger was and Jesus was born there. The Wisemen came and gave those gifts and then now, they came to this. People are still talking about it. There is just genuine excitement about the Christ child. You could say they were speechless. Why? Because of all these things.

Finally, all those pieces of the puzzle were connecting together. For those who like to put puzzles together, doesn’t it feel good when you finally figure out how the puzzle gets put together? Especially those 1,000-piece puzzles. So, what do you typically do? You get the rims first; you get the edges and all that, and then you start piecing together the little pieces and the little things along that line. And then once you get into that rhythm you just put everything together and then there is your masterpiece. Jesus was that masterpiece of all those puzzles and all those prophesies put together and finally, the final piece is here, the Christ child on this earth. And there is this genuine excitement and joy for that.

Luke 2:34: “And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against;”

He is going to tell that Jesus is going to suffer.

Luke 2:35: “(Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

Jesus came but He would also have to suffer. Why? For our sins. That is the reason why Jesus came, to suffer for us because of what we have done wrong and what we continually do wrong today. But the hope was there. There was hope. Finally, something was there to lighten the mood. Verses 36 through 38 gives us the reaction of Anna:

Luke 2:36: “And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity;”

Luke 2:37: “And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.”

Let me give you this thought and then we will look at verse 38 and be done. Can you imagine all these people from Adam and Eve to all the way up to this point, why is it that they would serve God? Because they had not seen Jesus come yet. What made them want to do that? What made them want to believe in the first place? They had faith, the faith that God gave to them. They could continually say, “Hey look, there’s going to be a light at the end of the tunnel. Jesus is going to be coming. And now, He’s there. Anna gets to see it in her lifetime. Simeon gets to see it in his lifetime.

What drove them toward that? Because God keeps His promises. God keeps his promises. That is what makes people serve God. That is what makes people want to follow God. That’s what makes people want to die for the cause of Christ – it is that God keeps His promises. God is never late. He is always on time, His time.

We know that one day we are going up there to meet Him whether death takes us there or the Rapture comes. But that promise is there, where I go, He’ll be there. Only if you trust Christ as your Savior though. That promise is there. God promised Jesus would come and He did. Do you think He gave us that same promise that when we die because we trusted Him to be our Savior that He would fulfill that promise? Absolutely, and that is exciting. It is exciting to understand.

Luke 2:38: “And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.”

So, she acknowledges the Christ child.

The Reason for the Season

The Christmas season can make us feel like a child again. I know whenever we get to this time of year it’s fun. It almost feels like a breath of fresh air at times. The end of the year, it is just an exciting time.

Nicole and I, the other night, we were driving down to a place, and we had this Christmas lights challenge to see who could find Christmas lights. That’s something we did as a child, and we were riding with people. We tried to catch Christmas lights and every time we did, we’d say [in an excited childlike voice], “Christmas lights!” We didn’t say [in a lower adult tone], “Christmas lights.” No, there was this genuine excitement about it. Why? I don’t know what it is about Christmas lights, but it just generally makes people thrilled for the most part. Looking at the tree over here and the one back there, it is amazing just to see the way the lights go and form and all that. And it is general excitement about this time of year.

But we can say that Jesus is the reason for the season. I encourage us to let’s praise Jesus during the Christmas season and be excited about what great things God has given to us. The excitement of Christmas, knowing that God fulfilled that promise of Jesus coming to this world, is what people were looking for all throughout the millennia.

Zacharias knew it was just about there when Jesus was born, and Anna and Simeon saw Him in the flesh. They waited their entire lives, and they had that excitement. I encourage us to have that same excitement knowing that Jesus did come, and He did give us that hope.

Father, help us as we look to conclude this service here this evening. I pray that you would be with us here. Father, I pray that you would just allow us to be able to examine, to be able to see what we can do to honor you, to serve you, to be able to be blessed by you. And Father I pray that you would genuinely give us this excitement and to be able to share who you are to others. As we go into the rest of these days of the Christmas season and to the end of the year, Father, I pray that you would just help us to be able to enjoy this season. We can be able to know that you did come, and you did come this first time to help us. Father, I do pray that you would just encourage us this evening, strengthen, help us out. In Jesus’ name, I ask. Amen.

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