The Manger: A Manifestation of Majesty and Mystery, Part 2

This Christmas season we're looking at the manger and how it's a manifestation of majesty and mystery. And we began last week in Luke chapter 2 to help you understand how majestic and how mysterious this manger is and to explain to you the meaning behind it. That's so important.

We told you that the manger is majestic simply because it's all about the power of God's providence. We showed you Luke chapter 2 when it says "In those days," which parallels Galatians chapter 4 verse number 4 where it says "In the fullness of time God sent forth his son born of a woman born under the law that I might redeem those who are under the law." In other words, the power of God's providence is seen in every detail of the Christmas story. In fact, it is so precise and so pristine that it's one of those things that makes you stand in awe at how God moves in the lives of people, how God would move in the life of the unbeliever the pagan Caesar to move the believer Mary and Joseph from Nazareth to Bethlehem so that the prophecy would be fulfilled that he the Son of God will be born in the city of David. Micah 5 verse number 2. But to understand that the power of God's providence helps us understand the majesty of God.

And then we talked about the mystery of God. How everything surrounding the manger is a mystery, something concealed in the old but revealed fully in the new, the New Testament. Concealed in the Old Testament, revealed in the New Testament. And to be able to understand that God in His own way would bring about everything precisely. It's mysterious because it speaks about the perfection and precision of prophecy. Everything about the manger is prophetic.

And so we talked to you about when Mary and Joseph came to Bethlehem, there was no room for them in the inn. The inn, we told you, was a word, a word cataluma, which means a guest house or a lodging place. It's not a hotel as you and I would understand a hotel. It's not even the same word used at the Good Samaritan when he would take the man who was beaten and give him a room, pay for him a room in an inn. That's a completely different word. But it's a cataluma. We told you that a cataluma was something of a guest room built over many times a cave, a cave-like structure. And the root word of cataluma means to loose or untie. Why? Simply because you were loosening your satchel, untying your gear to rest for the night, as well as a double meaning to untie or loosen your animal that brought you to that place. And so that lodging place was sometimes over a cave, and that cave or grotto would be a place where Joseph and Mary would come and there they would give birth to the Christ Child. It was a place where animals were kept and a lot of times it was a cave-like structure, which is very important to understand.

Why? Because we told you that Micah 4 verse number 8 speaks of the tower of the flock, a phrase used only one other time in the Old Testament in Genesis 35 to speak about how Rachel gave birth to Benjamin in Ephrath, that's what it was called before it was called Bethlehem. It was called Ephrath, and there she died and she had a son named Benjamin, the son of my right hand. Which Benjamin was a prophecy of the one who would be born in Bethlehem who would ultimately be the son of God's right hand, the Lord God of Israel. He would sit down at the right hand, the strong arm of God himself.

But interesting that the phrase cataluma is used one other time in the New Testament and that's used at Passover. It's interesting to note that in Luke chapter 22 it says these words: "Then came the first day of unleavened bread," verse number 7, "on the Passover and to be with Passover lamb was to be sacrificed and Jesus sent Peter and John saying go prepare the Passover for us said we may eat it. They said to him where do you want us to prepare it? And he said to them when you have entered the city a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water follow him to the house that he enters and you shall say to the owner of the house the teacher says to you where is the cataluma or the guest room in which we may eat the Passover with my disciples and he will show you a large furnished upper room prepare it there."

So our Lord, there was no place in the cataluma in the inn for him, but in the end before he died there was an upper room, a guest room, a cataluma where he would partake of the Passover with his men. And you can't help but think that as our Lord was in that large upper room where there was a place for him to distribute the elements of the bread and the cup, remembering that he was born in the tower of the flock, a two-story facility in the bottom where lambs were prepared for Passover to be sacrificed. Because he was a sacrificial lamb for the sins of the world.

But there's so much more to the Christmas story because when our Lord was born he was placed in a feeding trough. Now we have made a feeding trough, we've placed it up here, but this is unlike a feeding trough in which our Lord would be placed. Let me explain it to you. Don, if you put down the screen, we can show you what a feeding trough would look like during the time of Christ. This is very important to understand. A feeding trough was cut out of stone. This is from Megiddo. Megiddo overlooks the Jezreel Valley which is directly across from Nazareth on the other side of the Jezreel Valley. And on top of Megiddo, Solomon had many horses and there have been excavated many feeding troughs. They're cut out of stone.

Now this is very important to the whole story of the Messiah. Now we would have done this but we couldn't carve out a stone and lift it up and put it up on the stage. This is too heavy for us to do that. But note this: that a feeding trough cut out of stone would be a place where the Messiah would be laid wrapped in swaddling clothes.

Now why is that significant? Most would think that Joseph, a carpenter, was more of a stone mason than he would be a wood carpenter. If you've been to Israel, you know how many rocks are in Israel. Houses are made of stone, right? There are so many rocks in the land of Israel. Some would believe that Joseph was a stone maker. He would be one who would carve out stones. And so a feeding trough during the time of Christ would be something like this, a feeding trough carved out of stone.

Now hold on to your hats, listen very carefully. Our Messiah in the Old Testament 14 different times is called the stone. If you got your Bible turn to Genesis chapter 49. Genesis chapter 49 is the first time the Messiah is referenced as a stone. Also in Genesis chapter 48, it's the first time the Messiah is referenced as a shepherd. But it's very significant to understand this. Jacob is blessing his sons in Genesis chapter 49, and in Genesis chapter 49 he's blessing Joseph. He says in verse number 23: "The archers bitterly attacked him and shot at him and harassed him but his bow remained firm and his arms were agile why? Listen carefully: from the hands of the mighty one, the mighty one of Jacob, from there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel, from the God of your father who helps you and by the almighty who blesses you."

Jacob in his prophecy about Joseph would speak about the Messiah who would be the mighty one, the mighty God. That's what Isaiah 9:6 says. But he's also going to be the shepherd. He's also going to be the stone of Israel. Now if you picked up a piece of paper last week, we talked about who is the Messiah. You'll remember they first reference as a seed in Genesis chapter 3. He's a seed that will crush the serpent's head. In Genesis chapter 6, he's referenced as the safe house or the shelter because the ark is a type of Christ. You're sheltered from all the condemnation that will happen around you because the world is all judged and destroyed, but those in the ark were safe. It was the safe house. It was the place of shelter.

And then you go to Genesis chapter 22. The Messiah is referenced as a substitute right on Mount Moriah. God said that he would provide himself as lamb on Mount Moriah because he would be the substitute that would die in our place. And then you go to Genesis chapter 28 and the Messiah is referred to as a staircase coming down out of heaven to earth. Jacob had this dream and in that dream there was this ladder or staircase that would come out of heaven to earth and angels ascending and descending on that staircase. When he awoke he realized he had seen the gateway to heaven. That's what he says: "I've seen the gate to heaven." In other words, he understands the way to heaven. It's through the staircase, which is the Messiah.

How do we know that? John chapter 1. When the lord says to Nathaniel, when Nathaniel was overwhelmed that the Lord knew where he was seated under the fig tree, but he also knew more than that because the Lord says to Nathaniel, "You haven't seen anything yet because soon you're going to see angels ascending and descending on the son of man." Affirming that the staircase in Genesis chapter 28 where angels ascended and descended is the Messiah because there's only one way to the Father and that's through Jesus Christ the mediator from man to God. He's the staircase.

And then you come to Genesis chapter 49. He is what he's called Shiloh in the prophecy to Judah. "The scepter should not depart from Judah until Shiloh comes." Who is Shiloh? Shiloh means the one to whom it belongs. What belongs? The scepter. He's the king. He's the Messiah. And then later in Genesis 49, he's the stone of Israel. And 14 different times in the Old Testament, he's referred to as a stone. In fact, in Exodus chapter 17, he's referred to as the stricken stone or the smitten stone. When Moses would strike the rock, First Corinthians 10 proves that. Psalm 18 tells us that he or excuse me, Isaiah 8:14 tells us that he's the stumbling stone. In Psalm 118, he is the scorned stone. In Isaiah 28, he's the significant stone. In Genesis chapter 2, or should be Daniel chapter 2, he is the shattering stone.

Remember the stone that shatters Nebuchadnezzar's image? That stone is the Messiah. He's the shattering stone. That same stone is the saving stone, is the satisfying stone, is the sanctifying stone. All throughout the Old Testament, there is this golden thread that weaves the stone of Israel proving that he's the Messiah. All that to say is that the stone who is the Messiah is laid in a stone in the manger. Now that might not mean anything to you. It means a whole lot to me because everything is prophetic. Everything is precise. God doesn't make any mistakes. He does everything with precision and perfection to show us the stone of Israel because that stone would be a saving stone for Israel and for you and me. And for those who do not believe in him, he will become a shattering stone, a stumbling stone.

And therefore we begin to understand more and more about this manger, how it's a place of majesty, how it's a place of mystery because everything about it screams God. Everything about it screams to us the purposes and plans of God. So it's important for you and me to come to understand the significance of the manger for your life and mine as we celebrate this Christmas season. What is behind all this? What is about this stone feeding trough that's so important?

Remember, Bethlehem is the house of bread. Christ said, "I am the bread of life." And so the bread of life was born in a place called the house of bread. He says, "All those who hunger and thirst for righteousness shall come after me. And those who come after me don't never thirst. They'll never hunger." Because he's a satisfier of man. You see, this is so important to understand. Christmas is more than just a season. Christmas is our life. Christmas is everything for us. We begin to understand the Messiah clearly at his birth. Of the 333 prophecies centered around the arrival of the Messiah in the Old Testament, 224 were fulfilled in his first coming, leaving 190 to be fulfilled in his second coming. But the majority of them were fulfilled in his first coming so you and I would know for certain the identity of the Messiah, who he is and what he came to do.

The manger screams majesty and mystery. Majesty because of the power of God's providence. Mystery because of the precision of God's prophecy. So if you're taking notes, you can take the word manger because that's the theme of this Christmas season and write it down on the left-hand side of your page. And when we take each word, each letter, excuse me, and give you two words that will describe the majesty and mystery of that manger. This week we're just going to do the letter M. Okay? The manger is the place number one of mercy. It's a place of mercy. Everything about the birth of Christ is about mercy.

Mercy is not something achieved. Mercy is something received. In the Old Testament, it's labeled loving kindness because mercy truly is the kindness of God given to us because of his great mercy, his great love for us. In fact, you are here today because of God's mercy. Lamentations chapter 3: "By his mercies we are not consumed," right? And so you are here today breathing and living because of the mercy of God. But our God is mercy. And if our God is mercy, the manger is all about the mercy of God.

In fact, the Bible says in Psalm, I think it's Psalm 59, I can't remember. Yes, Psalm 59, verse number 16: "I will sing aloud of thy mercies." And you will note that that's exactly what Mary did and that's exactly what Zacharias did in their songs. Remember what Mary said in Luke chapter 1 when she said these words: "For the mighty one has done great things for me and holy is his name." Verse number 50: "And his mercy is upon generation after generation toward those who fear him." And then she says in verse 54: "He has given help to his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy." So Mary would sing aloud of the mercies of God, telling us that she was well acquainted with the Old Testament God of mercy.

And then Zacharias, he would say something similar. He would say these words in verse number 72, verse 71. Let's pick it up there: "Salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us to show mercy toward our fathers and to remember his holy covenant." And then verse 77: "To give to his people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins because of the tender mercy of our God with which the sunrise from on high will visit us." Again, he sings the mercies of God. And the mercy of God is seen, listen carefully, in the sunrise that shall visit us.

Who is the sunrise? The sunrise is the sun, S-U-N, of righteousness. He gets that from the book of Malachi. Malachi chapter 4 verse number 2 where it says, "But for you who fear my name the sun, S-U-N, of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings and you will go forth and skip about like calves and the stall." So Zacharias, a priest well acquainted with the Old Testament, understands that God's mercy is seen when the sunrise from on high, the Messiah, will visit his people Israel. You see, that's why the manger is a place of mercy, a place of mercy. Why? God came down to visit us. "The word became flesh, dwelt among us. We beheld his glory, the glory is not the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

But the whole point of the sunrise from on high visiting us is to demonstrate to us the great mercy, the great loving kindness of our God. See, mercy is for the miserable. Grace is for the guilty. Mercy pities. Grace pardons. And God because of his great love toward us is rich in mercy, as Paul would say in Ephesians chapter 2 verse number 4. In fact, the whole Old Testament speaks of the mercies of God. It says in Psalm 136, every verse ends with the mercies of God: "His mercy endures forever." Psalm 107 says, "The Lord is merciful." Psalm 111 verse number 4: "Our Lord is full of mercy." Psalm 116 verse number 5: "Our God is merciful." Psalm 119:64: "The earth is full of your mercy." Verse 156 of Psalm 119: "Great are your tender mercies." Paul says in Second Corinthians 1 verse number 3 that God is a father of mercies. In Hebrews 2 verse number 7, Christ is our faithful and merciful high priest. It's all because of his mercies. Lamentations 3: "That we are not consumed."

But the manger is a place of mercy, the God whose mercy came down from above that he might extend mercy to those who are so miserable. That's why Christ would say in Matthew 11, "Coming to me all you that labor and are heavy laden, I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, learn from me, for I'm meek and lowly in heart." So in the book of Titus, Titus chapter 3, Paul says this: "But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, he saved us not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness but according to his mercy by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit." See, mercy, something you receive, not something you achieve. He saved us according to his great mercy. That's what he did.

And so what you have is a manger that's a place of mercy because the merciful one would be placed in that manger so he might not only demonstrate to you what mercy is but call upon you to receive his mercy. Mercy because he's had such kindness and love for those who are in misery.

But not only is the manger a place of mercy, it's a place of ministry. It's a place of ministry. It's a place of service. "Son of man came not to be served," in Matthew 20, "but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many." Everything about the manger screams not only mercy but ministry. The one who is born, the Christ child, remember, mercy is something that you receive. To receive it, it has to be given. Isaiah 9:6 says, "The child is born, but the son is what? Given." He's given in mercy because he is mercy. And therefore we realize that the manger is just not a place of mercy, but it's a place of ministry because now he's going to serve his fellow man. He's going to die for the sins of man.

That's why Luke 2 verse number 11 becomes the thesis of the Christmas story. Remember what it says? It says these words in verse number 10: "Do not be afraid for behold. I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all the people. For today in the city of David there has been born for you a savior who is Christ the Lord." That is the theme of the Christmas story. "There's been born for you a savior who is Christ the Lord."

Now God as savior is not a New Testament concept. It's an Old Testament concept because Israel would know God and his saviorship. They would know how God was a savior. He freed them from Egypt, right? From Egyptian bondage. He freed them and watched over them and saved them during their wilderness wanderings. He saved them from their enemies in the land of the Canaanites, in the land of Canaan. God has always been in the process of saving Israel because our God is a savior. That's why Paul says in verse 74, verse number 10, that God is the savior of all men, especially of those who believe.

How is God the savior of all men? Simply because he saves you in a physical and temporal sense. He saves you from his judgment. Because of his mercy, he allows you to live to hear the gospel that you might respond. He's a savior of all men in a physical temporal sense. He's a savior of others, especially those who believe, in a spiritual and eternal sense. Those who believe in his name, those who give themselves to him, he saves them eternally, he saves them spiritually. But he's a savior of all men, and that's a reference to God as he was in the Old Testament. Israel knew God as their savior.

So when Christ is born, listen carefully, this is so important. When Christ is born, the angels declare this statement: "There has been born for you on this day in the city of David a savior and that savior is Christ the Messiah who is the Lord of Israel." And that brings together everything they would know about the Old Testament. Why? Because God is savior is how he is to be remembered.

Now remember in the Old Testament, all the false gods were gods you needed to appease. There was Baal, right? He's the god of apathy because he was apathetic. There's Moloch who was the god of hostility. And so they have both ends of the spectrums of false gods. How do we know that Baal was the god of apathy? Well, on Mount Carmel when Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to call upon their god, they screamed and yelled and cut themselves, and what did Elijah say? He mocked them. "Well, maybe your god's asleep. Maybe your god's away on vacation." See, he's so apathetic to your need. He doesn't even respond. But my God is not apathetic. He responds. So Baal was the god of apathy. But hostility was the god Moloch because they had to sacrifice their children on that altar to appease that god. But Israel's God was the God of saviorship. He was a saving God.

So you probably know this, but go back with me if you would to the book of Exodus, the third chapter. Exodus chapter 3 verse number 7: "The Lord said I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and I've given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters for I'm aware of their sufferings. So I have come down to deliver them." God when he comes down only comes down for one of two reasons: deliverance or destruction. He came the first time for deliverance. He comes the second time for destruction. But when God comes down, he comes down with a purpose. So he says to Moses, "I've seen the affliction of my people, I've heard the cry of their suffering. So I'm going to come down, and when I come down, what I'm going to do is I'm going to deliver them from bondage. I'm going to deliver them from their slavery."

So Moses asked, "Who shall I say sent me?" And the Lord says, "Tell him I AM sent you." Those four Hebrew consonants that make up the name of God. Gentiles say Jehovah. In Hebrew, it's Yahweh. The four Hebrew consonants that make up the name of God: "Tell him I AM sent you." So God says this: "This is my name forever," verse number 15, "and this is my memorial name to all generations." Okay Moses, the fact that "I AM" is my memorial name, it is to be remembered for every generation. Why? Because "I AM" is coming down. "I AM" is coming down to deliver.

So when Jesus says in John 8:24, "Unless you believe that I AM you will die in your sins," in other words, unless you believe that "I AM" your deliverer, you will die in your sins because I'm the only one who can deliver you from your sins. When he said to the Jewish nation, "Before Abraham was, I AM," they wanted to stone him because he claimed to be God. But he was. See, they didn't see him as God, but he was. He is the great I AM. "I am the bread of life. I am the light of the world. I am the good shepherd. I am the vine, you are the branches," right? "I am the door. I am the way, the truth, and the life. I am the resurrection and the life. I am the great I AM, the alpha and the omega. I am the almighty." That's who he is. He is the great I AM. That is his memorial name.

That's why they celebrate Passover in Israel, to celebrate I AM, the memorial name of God. That's why we have the Lord's table, to celebrate I AM, the great deliverer of man, the one who delivers us from our sins. And we celebrate the Lord's table because he has delivered us from our spiritual bondage. We are in bondage to Satan, and God has delivered us.

Now note this: when God says, "This is my memorial name," he is saying, "This is my redemptive name. This is my delivering name. This is my rescuing name. This is my saving name." God is known as a savior. And all throughout the Old Testament, he'd be referred to as their savior, the salvation of the Lord. And you can read about it over and over and over again.

But notice this about God's saviorship, God's deliverance, God's redemption over in the book of Malachi. The third chapter, these words are spoken. Malachi 3 verse number one: "Behold," God says, "I'm going to send my messenger and he will clear the way before me." God says, "I'm going to send my messenger." That messenger is John the Baptist. "He will clear the way before me because God is coming down," right? "The word became flesh and dwelt among us." God came down to us that we might behold the glory of the Lord. And so he says, "Behold, I'm going to send my messenger and he will clear the way before me and the Lord," same word used in Exodus chapter 3. The four Hebrew consonants that make up the name of God, so you can say "for and the I AM whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple and the messenger of his covenant in whom you delight."

In other words, the savior, the rescuer, the redeemer is Israel's only delight. The same is true for us today. He is the one that delights our soul because he's the one that frees us from our sin. And that's why it's so important to see God as a redeemer, as a deliverer, because that's what his name means. And that's how he wants to be known from generation to generation.

And so the Bible says these words in Mary's song again. She recognizes God as a savior. She says in verse 46, Luke 1: "And Mary said my soul exalts the Lord and my spirit has rejoiced in God my savior." She knows God as a savior. Zachariah says, "For he has visited us and accomplished redemption for his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for," 71, "salvation from our enemies." Verse 77: "To give his people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins." Even Simeon would recognize God as a savior when he says, because he was one looking for the consolation of Israel, "My eyes have seen," verse 30 of Luke chapter 2, "your salvation."

How did Simeon's eyes see the salvation of the Lord? Because that was the ministry of our God. He came to seek and to save that which is what? Lost. He's a savior. And that's why the Bible says, "There is no other name in heaven given among men whereby you must be saved." Acts 4 verse number 12. It's the name of Jesus Christ. That's why God says to Joseph, "You're going to call his name Jesus, Yeshua, for he will save his people from their sins." So right there, Joseph would know that this one who was born is the savior. The only savior is the great I AM of Exodus chapter 3, the great deliverer, the great rescuer of man.

And all throughout the Old Testament, Israel would recognize their God as their savior. In fact, you're going to read about it all throughout the book of Isaiah. Oh, I love what it says in Isaiah chapter 39, when it says these words: "Comfort, oh comfort," I'm sorry, Isaiah 40. "Comfort, oh comfort my people," says your God. "Speak kindly to Jerusalem and call out to her that her warfare has ended, that her iniquity has been removed, that she has received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. A voice is calling: Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness, make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. Let every valley be lifted up and every mountain and hill be made low, and let the rough ground become a plain and the rugged terrain a broad valley. Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed and all flesh will see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken."

In other words, he speaks of the incarnation and the revelation of the king in one verse: "The glory of the Lord will be revealed." Is it not true that when he came down we beheld his glory, full of grace and truth? But he came in his own, yet his own did not receive him. Mercy is something that's received. They're in a way to receive his mercy. Why did he offer his mercy? Because his great ministry was to save, to seek and save those who are lost. And he never stopped coming to his own because he died for the sins of man. That's what he came to do so he could extend mercy to the miserable, grace to the guilty, because this whole ministry is about saving those who are lost, those who are in need of salvation. Unfortunately, Israel wanted a political savior, a military savior. They didn't want a spiritual savior. They thought they were already right with God, but they weren't. And they needed to know Christ.

So the Bible goes on to say these words in the book of Isaiah chapter 44. It says, "Thus says the Lord the king of Israel and his redeemer, the Lord of hosts." Great verse because what you have in the verse are two Yahweh's, two Jehovah's. You have "Thus says the Lord, the great I AM, the king of Israel and his redeemer, the great I AM of hosts." When you ask a Jew, "How can you have two gods? You only have one," he's the God of Israel. And that God is the redeemer of Israel. You see, because that's his redemptive name. The great I AM is a redeemer, a rescuer of man.

And then if you turn over in your Bible to Isaiah, I'm trying to figure out what verse I wanted to read. Isaiah 63. Isaiah 63 verse number seven: "I shall make mention of the loving kindnesses of the mercies of the Lord, the praises of the Lord, according to all the Lord has granted us and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he has granted them according to his compassion and according to the abundance of his mercies. For he said, 'Surely they are my people, sons who will not deal falsely.' So he became their savior in all their affliction. He was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them in his love and in his mercy. He redeemed them and he lifted them and carried them all the days of old."

When you think of the majesty and the mystery of the manger, it screams mercy and ministry. Mercy is not something God has. Mercy is something God is. He is full of mercy. And because he is full of mercy, his great ministry was to seek and to save that which was lost and to grant them the forgiveness of sins. Think about that. Our Lord wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in the manger, king, because of his mercy and because of his ministry, he came to serve, he came to give his life away. That's what Christmas is all about.

So when the angels say, "For unto you today in the city of David has been born to you a savior," they would immediately understand the redemptive name of God, the memorial name of God. They would know that. And that savior is Christ the Messiah, and that Messiah is the great I AM, the Lord of the universe. That's why they would move in haste. That's why they did not hesitate to go to the manger and bow before him and then begin to explain to Mary all the things that the angel said to them so Mary would understand from their perspective what they had heard. Because you see, when you know Christ is savior, when you know Christ is Lord, you can't help but tell the story of his mercy and his ministry.

Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for today. Thank you, Lord, for the brief moment that we are together to be able to look into the scriptures and begin to understand more and more about the magnificence and the majesty and the mystery of his manger. Lord, there's so much to discuss, so much to say because the words of scripture are filled with the knowledge of truth. We thank you, Lord, that for a brief moment we can begin to put the pieces together one by one to begin to understand more of this Christmas story, that Lord we might be able to declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. And pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.