Latest / The Daily Writer / Somebody Had to Write It Down

Transcript

Somebody Had to Write It Down · The Daily Writer

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Merry Christmas, my friend.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: I hope that you and your loved ones are enjoying a wonderful day celebrating the birth of Christ.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: You know, Christmas means many things to different people.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: Some people look forward to parties and social events, some people enjoy the lights and holiday displays in stores and in homes, and some people love all the holiday entertainment that you can enjoy, like Hallmark movies and music specials.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, everybody loves gifts, especially kids.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: But for people of faith, Christmas is the time of year whenever we remember the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: Even though we may enjoy all the festivities and the gifts and the celebration, nothing is more meaningful than remembering the hope that we have through Jesus.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's fascinating to read the accounts of Jesus' birth from the Gospels.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: Those passages have been immortalized not only in the church but in pop culture as well.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: We can all remember how Linus quoted from Luke chapter 2 in the popular TV special A Charlie Brown Christmas.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: But have you ever stopped to consider exactly how those passages were written?
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: We think of the Bible as a sacred text, which it is, but it was also written by regular people who chose to be obedient to the Spirit's leading in researching and writing down those accounts of Jesus' birth, of his life, his death, and resurrection.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: In Matthew chapter 1, just before the main action of the Christmas story kicks off, there's a short phrase in verse 18, and we tend to ignore it as a passing phrase that links the previous section to the next one, but it's really vital to appreciating the writers of the Gospels.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: Matthew writes, This is how the birth of Jesus came about.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: In other words, Matthew is saying, Listen up, I'm about to set down a definitive account of something really important.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: But we have to ask the question, what if Matthew had not been obedient to his calling?
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: What if he had not taken the time or the trouble to sit down and record this account of Jesus' birth?
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: Would somebody else have done it?
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: Well, perhaps.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Even though we have the three other gospels, they're all different.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: If Matthew hadn't done it, we may have never had his specific account of Jesus' life with those details.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: Somebody had to make the effort, somebody had to take the time, and somebody had to write it down.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: So today on this Christmas Day, as we relax and celebrate, let's take a moment to appreciate Matthew and Luke as writers who took the time and effort to record their versions of the Christmas story.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: And also let's reflect on this.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: If God can use the writing talents of an ordinary tax collector like Matthew, then maybe, just maybe, he can use you and me to make a little dent in history.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: Merry Christmas, my friend.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening and thanks for supporting the Daily Writer this year.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: I'll see you tomorrow.