Have you ever noticed how much detail there is in the Advent story? What do we learn from all these specifics?
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This is Scripture for Students. I’m Steve Whitacre, president of Trinity College and a pastor at Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville. I want to help students build a daily habit for life-long Bible reading. Today is December 9, 2024 and this episode of Scripture for Students is called The Deity is in the Details. Grab your Bible and let’s get started.
Open up your Bible to Luke chapter 2. When I turned 16, I decided to become an amateur auto mechanic. I wanted to learn to work on my car myself so I bought some tools and a shop manual. For my first project, I decided to do a brake job. Now, you need to know that shop manuals tell you exactly what to do, but they are tedious: each page has some pictures to give you the basic idea of what needs to be done, and then a lot of text explaining the details. Being somewhat mechanically inclined, I figured I could get by with just the pictures. I didn’t need to bother with all that detail. After all, it was only a brake job.
So, I did what I thought needed to be done, put away my tools, and took the van for a test drive. Everything went really well…. Until… I actually tried to use the brakes. I got as far as the stop sign at the end of my street and pressed on the brake pedal to bring the van to a stop. I was very surprised when the pedal sank to the floor and the van didn’t even slow down.
If I had bothered with the details that were in the text of that shop manual, rather than just looking at the pictures, I would have discovered that I should have done something called bleeding the brake lines. Because I didn’t do that, I effectively disabled my own brake system.
I won’t keep you in suspense. Fortunately, I was going up a hill to get to that stop sign and I was able to get back home very carefully. I’ve been much more careful about reading the instructions ever since!
Details matter, people! In today’s Scripture for Students, I want to look at another setting in which details matter.
I’m going to read Luke 2:1–7. Follow along with me as I read. Listen with your ears, follow the text with your eyes. Read it out loud with me if you like. As we read, pay attention to the unusually high number of details that there are in this text.
Luke 2:1–7
1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.
2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria.
3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town.
4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,
5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.
6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.
7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
May the Lord bless the reading and the hearing and the keeping of his Word.
Did you notice how much detail there is in just 7 verses? It’s a lot!
- I counted six people that are mentioned: Caesar Augustus, Quirinius, Joseph, David, Mary, and Mary’s firstborn Son.
- There are five places named: Syria, Galilee, Nazareth, Judea, and the city of David which is called Bethlehem. Not to mention the rather general “all the world” in verse 1 and “each to his own town” in verse 3.
- And notice the extra details?
- It was the first registration.
- It was when Quirinius was governor. And he was governor of Syria.
- Joseph had to go to Bethlehem because he was of the house and lineage of David.
- Mary was David’s betrothed. Also, she was with child. That’s a pretty important detail for this story!
- The child was Mary’s firstborn son. And she wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger. Why? Because there was no place for them in the inn.
Frankly, this story could have been a lot shorter. Luke probably could have gotten the point across in a sentence or two. That would be an interesting exercise. See how short a sentence you can write and still capture the essential details of the story. Then compare that sentence to these seven verses and think about what you would be missing.
Luke is famous for being an incredibly detailed and historically accurate storyteller.
He gives us a lot more detail than we really need, but the way he tells the story, it seems like every one of these details is relevant, important, carefully considered, well-crafted. There is a method to Luke’s storytelling.
Sometimes storytellers throw in key details to keep the reader interested. I think there is more going on than that. I think there are at least three ways the detail in these verses help us.
First, the details in Luke’s storytelling give his gospel historical credibility. Archaeologists and historians who doubt Luke’s accuracy have repeatedly been shocked to discover that the history of the situation was just as Luke reported it. So this gives us real confidence that when we come to a miraculous story in our Bibles—such as the virgin birth—we’re not reading mythology or fairy tales. We’re reading a true and faithful account of what really happened.
Second, and I think is most important, the deity is in the details. What I mean by that is that these details confirm not just that the story is true generally, but that it is especially true in what it reveals about Jesus Christ as the incarnate Son of God, the second person of the Trinity has become the firstborn Son of Mary. These details help convince us that all the Bible claims about the glory of Jesus is true. He came as fully God and was born as fully man so that he can pay for the sins of men against a holy God. The deity is in the details!
Finally, these details serve us on a personal level by reminding us that details matter to God. The same God who superintended the millions of details necessary to bring the Savior of the world to Bethlethem right in the fullness of time—it is the same God, with the same loving attentiveness and care who is keeping watch over our lives. So wherever you feel like life is out of control, or God seems to have forgotten your situation or no one understands what’s going on, remember: the deity is in the details. Bring your burdens to Jesus and know that he sees, cares, and acts in every detail, for our good and for his glory.
That’s all for today. If you enjoyed this episode please share it with a friend and follow us on Apple Podcasts.
This content is sponsored by Trinity College of Louisville. We shape young men and young women for Christ and for the church. Learn more at TrinityCollegeLou.com. Until next time, keep growing!