Christmas is interwoven throughout the Scriptures.
You'll recall that after His resurrection, our
Lord Jesus walked with two of the disciples on
the road to Emmaus. And as they walked along,
it says that He explained to them the things
concerning Himself in all the Scriptures, beginning
with Moses. In other words, in the very first
division of the Old Testament, the writings of
Moses, the Pentateuch, we see truth about himself.
We've been looking at the Christmas story in
the Pentateuch, and today we look at the book
of Leviticus. The name means pertaining to the
Levites. Pertaining to the Levites. You say,
Levi who? Well, we're not talking here about
genes, although in a sense we are talking about
genes, because the Levites, you see, were the
descendants of Jacob through his son Levi. Aaron
and Moses, for that matter, were Levites, and
their tribal family... was the one called by
God to serve as priests and caretakers of Israel's
order of worship. The book of Leviticus that
we look at this morning is a book of regulations
regarding the various sacrifices and other duties
performed by the Levites or the priests of Israel.
In this book alone you find the word priest used.
at least 189 times. In this book you find the
word holy used 87 times, the word blood 86 times,
the word atonement 45 times, the word sacrifice
42 times. It is a book of regulations pertaining
to the Levites. Thus it is called Leviticus.
To give you an idea of how the book flows, let
me just give you a suggested outline for the
book. In chapters 1 through 7, we have regulations
regarding the offerings of Israel. We're going
to touch upon some verses in those chapters this
morning. In chapters 8 through 10, regulations
regarding the priesthood. In chapters 11 through
15 and 17 through 22... We have regulations about
purity among the people of Israel. In chapter
16, regulations about the Day of Atonement and
how it was to be observed. In chapter 23, one
of my favorite chapters in the book, we have
regulations regarding the annual festivals of
Israel called the Feasts of the Lord. In chapter
24, regulations about the oil and bread. that
were a part of the observances in the tabernacle.
In chapter 25, we have regulations regarding
the sabbatical year and the year of Jubilee,
which occurred every 50 years. And it's in this
chapter that we find that verse that says, Proclaim
liberty throughout all the land unto all the
inhabitants thereof. That is the motto that is
on the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. It comes
from this chapter of Leviticus. I guess that
was before they knew about separation of church
and state when they put that on there. And then
in chapters 26 and 27, we have regulations regarding
obedience, vows, and tithes. And so it is a book
of regulations. You say, well, how important
really is this book to a New Testament Christian?
Well, let me suggest to you that the book of
Leviticus is referred to at least 90 times in
the New Testament. At least 90 times. And so
there are some things in this book that we need
to take note of. It's true that we're no longer
under the regulations which related to Israel's
worship. The blessed book of Hebrews in the New
Testament. especially chapters 5 through 10,
tell us that we are under a new covenant with
better sacrifices than those that are mentioned
in Leviticus, and that the law was a mere shadow
of the reality which was to come, referring to
Christ and to the perfect sacrifice that He offered
for our salvation, a sacrifice that was offered
once and for all times. So we're no longer under
the regulations which related to Israel's worship,
but we do in this book observe something about
the promised Redeemer which must not escape our
notice. There were numerous and various kinds
of sacrifices enumerated in the book of Leviticus,
but they all had one thing in common, and that's
what we need to note. The one thing they had
in common was that all sacrifices had to be perfect.
Nothing could be offered to the Lord that had
any blemish in it. There could be no defect.
Now I'd like to illustrate that for you just
by sampling some verses. So turn to Leviticus
chapter 1. where we find regulations regarding
the burnt offering, one of the five different
kinds of offering that are mentioned here. Now,
in Leviticus 1, in verse 3, it says, If his offering
is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer
it a male without defect. Look at verse 10. But
if his offering is from the flock, Of the sheep
or of the goats for a bird offering, he shall
offer it a male without defect. Chapter 2. Here
we have the green offering. It says in verse
1, When anyone presents a green offering as an
offering to the Lord, his offering shall be of
fine flour. That is, flour that was beaten and
perfect. And he shall pour oil on it and put
frankincense on it. It had to be perfectly prepared.
Chapter 3, verse 1, the peace offering. If his
offering is a sacrifice of peace offering, if
he is going to offer out of the herd, whether
male or female, he shall offer it without defect
before the Lord. Now I could go on and on and
on in this book. with example after example that
says that the offerings that were brought to
the Lord must be without any blemish whatsoever.
The offerings had to be perfect. And so as we
think of Christmas in the Pentateuch, let's just
review. In Genesis, we saw the promise of the
Redeemer, the seed of the woman who would crush
the head. of the serpent, the promised Redeemer.
In Exodus, we saw the picture of the Redeemer
in that tabernacle. And as we come to Leviticus,
we observe the perfection of the Redeemer. Think
with me about the fact that Christ was perfect
in His birth. He was without defect in His birth.
To see this, turn with me to the New Testament,
to Luke chapter 1, to a portion that was read
for us earlier in the service. Luke chapter 1,
we'll pick up the words of Gabriel to Mary in
verse 32, where it says, He, this baby to be
born, whose name would be Jesus, will be great
and will be called the Son of the Most High.
and the Lord God will give him the throne of
his father David, and he will reign over the
house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will
have no end. Now there's something very interesting
that we observe here. This one who was to be
born of Mary would also be called the son of
the Most High. That is, the Son of God. Both
of these titles are equally descriptive of him.
He could be called truly the Son of Mary. And
at the same time, the Son of the Most High. How
can this be? It means that he must have two natures.
He must have the nature of man in order to be
called the Son of Mary. He must be human. At
the same time, he must be truly and genuinely
the Son of God. He must have the nature of God.
And so we have the truth of the person of Jesus
Christ. He was one person, but wondrously united
in that one person. were two natures, that of
man and God, sinless man and eternal God. He
was perfect in his birth, without sin, that is,
so that as a man he might be united in one person.
with eternal God. You say, how can that be? Well,
Mary asked the same question, you will notice.
Her question in verse 34 does not reflect unbelief
on her part, but rather curiosity. It is in contrast
to Zacharias, who earlier in this chapter was
given word about a birth, and he said, how? And
it was a question of unbelief. And as a consequence
of that, God struck him dumb until his son was
born. Mary asked the same question, how? But
it's faith on her part. For out of curiosity,
she wonders, how can this be that my son should
be called the Son of God? Well, Luke tells us
the answer to that. The angel responded to Mary
by saying, the Holy Spirit. will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow
you. For that reason, the Holy Offspring shall
be called the Son of God. Seven times in the
first two chapters of his Gospel, Luke mentions
the Holy Spirit. This is one of them. And here
he says the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and
the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
What an interesting thought, overshadow. It is
the very same word that Luke chooses to use later
when writing about the transfiguration in chapter
9 and verse 34, where the Shekinah glory of God
overshadowed the disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration.
It is the same word that is used in Exodus chapter
40 and verse 35. When after Moses and the people
had built that tabernacle that we talked about
last week and constructed it and so on, and it
says that the glory of God settled upon it, it
overshadowed it. The overshadowing of God is
his powerful personal presence. In response to
the question, how will this be? Gabriel says,
powerfully and personally, God will reveal Himself
to you. And the result will be that He will engender
a child within your womb. And that child will
be called holy. Verse 35 says, holy. offspring,
or holy child. Not merely holy because he was
separated to God's purpose, but in the context
here, the holiness refers to his purity, his
sinlessness. To accomplish this would take a
great miracle. For never in the history of the
world had anything like this happened. And by
the way, never since has it happened. that a
virgin would conceive. And yet the Holy Spirit
caused Mary to be with child, and there within
her womb, in that embryo, were united the natures
of man and God. And because God counts the sinfulness
of man through the male seed, And Jesus was born
without the implantation of that seed. He was
born as sinless, without the transgression and
the sin of Adam being passed on to him. Therefore,
he was truly the holy offspring of God. Verse
37 says, Nothing will be impossible with God.
It took a miracle to do this. And God, by His
power, caused Jesus to be born perfectly. Dr.
Walter Liefeld says this is one of the most reassuring
statements in all of Scripture, verse 37. Mary
says, how will this be? With God, nothing is
impossible. Can you allow that word regarding
God just to settle on your heart for a moment
this morning? In whatever circumstance you find
yourself and you say, how can this be? How will
I get through this? How can I face it? How can
I do it? The word from God is that nothing is
impossible with Him. Or to say it another way,
with God, all things are possible. He even caused
a woman who was a virgin to be with child. Christ
was perfect in His birth, and as a result of
that, there was nothing of sin that was a part
of His person. Nothing. Those of you who have
experienced the wonder of birth know what a special
time it is when you hold that baby in your hands.
And you look down at that little body and you
peer into those eyes that are blinking up at
you. And you understand something of a miracle.
How the love of you and your spouse could bring
to pass such a marvelous thing. But when you
look at that little baby, you're looking at a
sinner. You're looking at a sinner. It may take
a while for it to be expressed, but it won't
be long. Much shorter time than you think. That
baby is a sinner. You say, wasn't Mary a sinner
here? Didn't Jesus become contaminated with her
sin? Well, in response to that, the Roman Catholic
Church has created a doctrine called the Immaculate
Conception of Mary. We had a church in my hometown
in Kansas by that name, the Church of the Immaculate
Conception. They're not talking about Jesus'
conception. In their theology, they're talking
about Mary's conception, that she was without
sin. But Mary's own words in this chapter contradict
such an idea that she was without sin. She talks
about the grace of God. Mary saw herself as a
servant of God, but she was not without sin.
To me, to pass the buck back one generation doesn't
really solve the question, how did Mary then
get born without sin? You see, part of the miracle
of the virgin birth is that God shielded the
Lord Jesus from Mary's sin as well. And legally
he protected him because he was born without
a human father. When Mary and Joseph held the
baby Jesus in their arms, they looked into the
eyes of a unique child. They looked into the
eyes of a child that had no sin. For just a moment,
imagine yourself as a sinner raising a child
without sin. Can you foresee any complications
in life? Can you imagine any tensions in life?
It's bad enough when the child thinks he can't
do wrong, which all of us have experienced. But
what do you do when the child does no wrong?
And you're a sinner. There was nothing of sin
in the Lord Jesus Christ by His birth. He was
perfect in His birth. Now, it's important for
us to understand also that He was perfect in
His life. Leviticus tells us the Redeemer must
be without defect. And there was nothing in all
of his life of sin. Luke tells us just a glimpse
about his childhood, and only Luke gives us this
much insight, so we should thank the good doctor.
But we could wish he would have told us a little
more. There are lots of legends that have grown
up about the boyhood of Jesus. We only have one
brief glimpse of him. When at the age of about
12, he was in the temple. Beyond that, we know
nothing of his childhood and his teenage years,
his early adulthood. But notice what Luke does
tell us in Luke chapter 2 and verse 51. It says,
And he, Jesus, went down with them, his parents,
Mary and Joseph, and came to Nazareth. And he
continued in subjection to them. That gives us
a wonderful insight into what it means to have
a sinless child. You have a child who is in a
perfect kind of subjection to the parents. A
subjection that is not denied by what happened
in the earlier verses just before these were
reading in Luke 2. Jesus was not disobeying his
parents. in being in his father's house. And
it says his mother treasured all these things
in her heart. Now we know where Luke got this
information. When he wrote his gospel, Mary was
still living and shared with him some of the
things that happened regarding the announcement
to her and the birth of Jesus and this event.
And it says in verse 52, And Jesus kept increasing
in wisdom and stature, That word means more than
a physical body. It means in maturity, as a person,
and in favor with God and man. On your own time,
look up Proverbs 3, verses 3 and 4, where it
talks about the son who listens to his father.
And because of that, kindness and truth fills
his life, and he has long life. Kindness and
truth reminds us of the grace and truth that
were found perfectly in this child, the Lord
Jesus. This one who grew to be a man, perfect
man. He grew up perfectly. Everything about him
was balanced. He was in favor with men, but God
as well. Now look in chapter 3. We have John's
testimony regarding him. John, you remember,
was his half -cousin. He is the one that was
born to Zacharias and Elizabeth. And it says
in verse 16, John answered and said to them,
As for me, I baptize you with water, but one
is coming who is mightier than I. and I am not
fit to untie the thong of his sandals. John was
the most holy man in all of Israel, calling the
people to repentance. But John confesses, I am
not even worthy to stoop down and put his shoes
on. That's what John thought about him. John
said, I baptize you with water to prepare you.
but there is one who is coming who will baptize
you with the Holy Spirit and fire. He says this
one who is coming has the ability to give to
you the Holy Spirit. Tells you what John thought
of him. Did Jesus and John know each other in
their childhood? Well, we would assume yes. We
would assume that there were occasions when they
were together, maybe even played together as
children. And John saw firsthand the perfection
in this one. And we see God's testimony in verse
22 when at Jesus' baptism, the Holy Spirit descended
upon him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice
came out of heaven, Thou art my beloved Son.
In thee... I am well pleased. So God's testimony
of Jesus, now an adult about 30 years of age,
he's perfect. I am well pleased with everything
about my beloved son. There is no defect in him.
Then Jesus began his ministry. And Luke... tells
about his ministry in chapter 4. Luke excludes
about a year of ministry before he picks it up.
But it's interesting where he picks it up. In
chapter 4 and verse 34, shortly after Jesus begins
his ministry, as Luke records it, what he chooses
to say about it. In verse 34, we have the word
of a demon. and not just any demon, but here
is an unclean spirit, a filthy, unclean spirit
who has possessed a man. He sees Jesus, and he
says, Ha! What have we to do with you, Jesus
of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know
who you are, the Holy One of God. So here's a
voice from the dark side. Believe me, if there
were any defect in Jesus, this demon would have
known about it and would have shouted it. But
the only thing that he could honestly confess
about Jesus was that he was holy. And he knew
who he was. And he knew about him, and he knew
his destiny, his mission. And he questions the
timing of it, but he says, the Holy One of God,
he was perfect and without defect. In chapter
5, we have a word from one of Jesus' disciples,
Peter. There had been a miracle of the catching
of fish. And it was so amazing, so miraculous,
that Simon Peter, when he saw this, fell down
at Jesus' feet, verse 8. And he said, Depart
from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. You see,
Peter recognized there is something different
about this man. And he's certainly different
than I am. I am a sinner. And being in the presence
of one that he looked upon as perfect, he says,
Depart from me. Go away from me. I'm a sinner.
That was Peter's testimony. Well, let's think
about some concluding remarks, some bottom line
statements. What about John? John, who was the
closest to Jesus of all the disciples, perhaps.
And John, in his writing in 1 John 3, verse 5,
says, was no sin. Now here's John, who was with
Jesus in the most intimate of moments, who walked
with him two or three years, who saw him as an
adult, who heard every word that came out of
his mouth, who saw him in the private moments,
and he says, in him was no sin. Peter likewise
says regarding him in 1 Peter 2, 22, he committed
no sin. That's what Peter said. The apostle Paul
says, he who knew no sin. 2 Corinthians 5, 21.
The writer of Hebrews who is unknown to us may
be Apollos. said, he is holy, harmless, pure,
set apart from sinners, perfect in his life.
But I want to close this morning by pointing
to the fact that the Redeemer is perfect in his
sacrifice. Peter says regarding our redemption,
we were redeemed by blood. Of a lamb, but not
the kind in Leviticus. Human blood. But it's
like the blood of a lamb, says Peter. Holy and
without blemish. You see, the reason the Lord
Jesus was perfect in his birth and perfect in
his life was so that as a perfect sacrifice,
He could go to the cross and there pay the price
for sinners like you and me. Writing about that,
the Apostle Paul says, He who knew no sin was
made sin for us. A profound statement of identification
between Jesus and those for whom he died. It
does not say there really that he became a sinner,
but he became sin itself. Dr. Murray Harris writes,
So complete was the identification of the sinless
Christ with the sin of the sinner, including
its dire guilt and its dread consequence of separation
from God, that Paul could say profoundly, God
made him to be sin for us. Leviticus tells us
that the Redeemer had to be perfect. And we find
that in every aspect of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He was, hear me, the perfect Christmas gift.
The perfect Christmas gift. The work of sacrifice
was perfect. Nothing needs to be added to it
today. The gift of salvation is perfect. It includes
everything we will ever need. The way to have
it is also perfect. It requires nothing of us
except to receive it. We don't have to contribute
anything but only to believe. This perfect Christ,
my friend, is all you need. To be saved. All
you need to be right with God. This perfect Christ
is all you need to take you safely to heaven.
All you need. And those of us who found that
wonderful truth and believed it, and who are
God's children through faith, this Christmas
season we worship a perfect Redeemer. A perfect
Redeemer who is worthy of our total devotion
and our faithful service. Let's give it to Him.
I came across some words that I found moving
recently. Words written by a lady in our city.
Actually spoken by her, but written down from
a statement she had made at a conference. Her
name was Linda Rios Brooke. Maybe you recall
that she was, at the time that she made this
statement, the manager of Channel 11 here in
town. At a conference of Christians, she said,
I have come to a turning point in my life where
the options that are available to me are not
particularly attractive. For in order to be acceptable
to some who believe that Christians in media
are somehow suspect, I must either be silent
about my Christian faith or risk being thought
a fool, a zealot, and even a bigot by people
whose approval I greatly desire. While I may
be again badgered in the tabloid press for what
I am about to say, I will nevertheless say it.
I am not ashamed. of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
It is my intention to teach about him and to
speak about him on my personal time to those
who invite me to do so until I die, even if it
means giving up other things that I've worked
my whole life to achieve. As I stand at this
crossroads in my life, I am betting my life that
God has his hand on this situation and that God
has his hand on me. And if that devotion to Jesus
makes me appear foolish to the secular world
where my livelihood is, then a fool I am willing
to be. I want to tell you that's a great statement.
And within a few days of making it, she was fired
from Channel 11. My friend, our perfect Redeemer
deserves this kind of commitment. He deserves
nothing less than our best, our full devotion.
He is perfect. Let's desire that what we give
Him in the sacrifice of our lives may be well
-pleasing. to this wonderful God whom we know
and serve. Let's pray. Our heads bowed and our
eyes closed as we just allow the Spirit of God
to speak for a moment, to bring to conclusion
perhaps some process of thoughts or events in
our lives. I remember as a child seeing this
statement, on my pastor's desk. It said, I'm
a fool for Christ. Whose fool are you? Linda
Brooke was willing to be made a fool in the secular
press because of her desire to be faithful to
Jesus Christ and be not ashamed of his gospel.
Are you willing even to be thought a zealot,
a bigot? or a fool to be faithful to this Lord.
Surely, as we understand his perfection and the
wonderful gospel that includes his coming into
the world in such a miraculous way, we can do
nothing less than give him our all. For he is
all that we need. Lord Jesus, we worship you.
We acknowledge to you our imperfections and the
sin that still erupts in our lives. We repent
of that. We acknowledge its presence with confession
and sorrow. We desire to be cleansed, to be invigorated
with a healthy commitment. that will stand the
tests that we face in our lives right now. So
our perfect Redeemer, enable us that our devotion
to you may reach toward perfection. You may receive
from us our all, for that's what you deserve.
Amen. I'd like to sing in closing a verse of
443. The Lord Jesus had only one lifetime in
this world. And in that one lifetime, he lived
perfectly and did the will of God. And this song
tells us that you and I have only one life, too.
We offer it best when we offer it to him. Let's
stand and sing just the last verse, please, of
443.