A smelly stable was simply a metaphor for sin and its wretchedness.

A picture and metaphor of the condescension of God.

He came all the way down, all the way down.

He came for sinners.

He came all the way down to bear in his own body the wretched, wicked sin.

It belongs to us.

What a picture.

What a picture.

Welcome to Grace to You with John MacArthur. I'm your host, Phil Johnson.

John's current study is taking you verse by verse through the account of Jesus' birth, helping you focus on what really matters this time of year.

John calls this study the Promise of Christmas.

You've probably known at least the main details of the Christmas story since you were young,

maybe because of the Christmas play you were in at school or because you usually made it to

a Christmas

church service. And maybe you had Christian parents who carefully taught you what Christmas is about.

But even if you're familiar with the Christmas story, you just might be surprised at what you're

about to hear. So turn to the second chapter of Luke as John helps you see the promise of Christmas.

Luke wanting us to grasp the significance of what's going on provides for us, as any good

historian does, a setting for this event.

The event is verse 7, she gave birth.

The setting is what enriches it and informs it.

And he works his way down, starts with the world setting and then a national setting and

...