And this will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”This is the sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth, lying in a feeding trough.”And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.And this is the sign unto you: Ye shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger.
8 sermons cite this verse
… Bethlehem with the news that absolutely startles the shepherds. Today is born for you in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign to you. You will find the baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. And when this angelic announcement dawned on them, they said, well, let's get off to Bethlehem immediately and see this thing that has come to pass. Mark, of course, doesn't begin with the birth of Jesus. He begins with the earthly ministry of Jesus. Thirty years have elapsed since the beginning of Luke's gospel, but he tells us again that Jesus has not come unannounced, but rather that there is a special messenger, a prepared messenger, who is coming before him to announce the commencement of his earthly ministry. Now, what Mark is doing, of course, years—not too many years, but years after the ascension of Jesus—is writing down a record of all that took place. And for many of these early believing Christians who are wondering about all that they have entered into, this gospel record helps them. …
… the just humbleness of it. And then the angel of the Lord goes out to find somebody. You know, the messenger says, somebody's gotta come see this. The Messiah, the Lord has been born and he goes out and he finds the night shift shepherds. Remember the shepherds were the lowest rung in society among Jewish people in the first century, and the knights of shepherds were the lowest of the low. And the messenger says, behold, I bring you good news of great joy for all people, not just some, but for all people. For unto you this day in the city of David is born a savior who is Christ the Lord. Savior was a term that was used both of God and of kings and warriors. It meant deliverer, rescuer. And the emperor took on that title himself. He was the savior of the world, he thought, when the Romans said. And then there's the title Christ. Christ is the Greek version of the Hebrew Messiah, which means anointed one, one in a sort of shorthand usually for king. …
… who is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign to you, he says. you'll find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. In a manger? Our Savior, the Christ, the Lord? By the way, those three titles are really important. Savior is a term that's used of God and also of other earthly kings and warriors. It means deliverer, rescuer. The Emperor Augustus, who ordered the census, he took on the title of Savior of the world. And Christ is a word, it's not Jesus' last name. It means in Hebrew, Messiah is the, Mashiach is the Hebrew, means anointed one. It typically was shorthand for king. So he is the savior, he is the king. And then he's the Lord. And the Lord is the highest authority in a given realm. So Emperor Augustus was the Lord of the world, he said. Well, he was really Lord of the Roman Empire. But Jesus was the Lord, like the Lord of the cosmos. And so when Placid Capote goes to write his song, he knows he's not just writing about a sweet birth of a baby. …
… It's a sign. The Bible says in the book of Luke chapter two, verse 12, this will be a sign unto you. The shepherds were told that. God always places a sign in a seeker's life. DFW Airport has got to have the worst signage in the history of the world. Can I vent for a while? It's so bad. It's like, are you kidding me? I was picking Lisa up a couple nights ago at the airport and I got lost. I got lost again and I'm going, okay. And I'm talking to her now. She's landed and she can't even find the exit to get out on the street for me to pick her up. and she didn't know what terminal she was in. It was crazy, all this construction and stuff. So I'm just concentrating. And I'm thinking, who in the world designed this? You know, ah, you know? And I thought for a second, what if the wise men had had signage like we have at DFW? …
… He is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths, lying in a manger. Right down the title of today's message, it's called Humble Beginnings. You'll find this Savior. You'll find this baby. He'll be wrapped in clothes. He will be lying in a manger. I like that after the first song today, Josh got up and read a beautiful verse. It was so beautiful. I'm telling you that because only seven of you heard that verse. Shots fired. But he got up and he talked about how this is the great news to us that Jesus was not born in the four seasons. He wasn't born in a five-star hotel. He wasn't born in a palace. We find our Savior wrapped in clothes, lying in a manger. God could have had his son be born in the highest of heights, but he has his son born in obscurity, in a manger, on the backside of the property. No room for him in the inn, just a little bit of place over here in the manger. …
… A savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you. You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. So it was when the angels had gone away from them into heaven that the shepherds said to one another, let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us. Can you believe we got to hear about this? and they came, underline this next adjective, with haste. How'd they come? They came with haste. This is exciting. This is worth running for. And they found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. Now, when they had seen him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this child. and all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. …
… For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. and this will be a sign to you. You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. I love verse 13. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest. On earth, peace. Peace, not worry. peace and goodwill toward men. Isn't that beautiful? That never gets old. One day closer to a miracle. The Bible said in Proverbs 27 in verse 1, boast not yourself of tomorrow for you do not know what a day may bring forth. sometimes the greatest accomplishment for a child of God is just weathering the day getting through the day making it through 24 hours of one of the worst days of your life it's not the years that are the great accomplishments it's not the days that everything is beautiful and miracles are happening it's not even the decades or the lifetime It's the days that we complete. …
… He is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. Suddenly a great company of the heavenly hosts appeared with the angel praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth, peace to those on whom his favor rests. When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about. So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the baby who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child. And all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherd said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. …