PODCAST
Bound For Glory
December 17th, 2018
Luke 2:1-12
Luke 2 floods us with memories of family, worship, Christmas’ past and the story of Mary riding on a donkey, the dusty and hilly road, the starry night, the cattle lowing, the sleeping sheep, and the unfortunate circumstances that has caused the Bethlehem inn to have a no vacancy sign, the grumpy innkeeper, the wooden barn, the bed of straw. None of these essential nativity ingredients is in Scripture, of course. So what is in the Bible? What does Luke tell us that is essential to the story of the Messiahs birth? “She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger.” Luke mentions that twice. When we read Luke 2 in context of the whole Gospel, this bit of information becomes significant, once we see where it ends.
Luke tells us in chapter 24 that Jesus was wrapped in linen, laid in a tomb. This time, the cloth has been set aside. As the angels again greet the humble servants on Easter morning…Christ has come. Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again.
Author: J.B. Chapman
