December 29, 2025 • 6 mins
We reframe Luke 2 as a starting line, not a finish line, showing how God’s sovereignty turns unwanted detours into purposeful steps. From Caesar’s census to Joseph’s trials, we point to a hope that holds through soreness, stress, and the road ahead.
• Christmas as the launch of mission, not a deadline
• Luke 2 read through God’s sovereignty in history
• Romans 8:28 applied to present trials
• Joseph’s Old Testament arc as a model of purpose in pain
• Training analogy: strength requires soreness
• James 1 and growth through testing
• Trusting Christ over circumstances in the new year
Stay sharp.
Want to connect? Email communication@coe22.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:01):
Welcome to the Daily Blade.
The word of God is described asthe sword of the spirit, the
primary spiritual weapon in theChristian's armor against the
forces of evil.
Your hosts are Joby Martin andKyle Thompson, and they stand
ready to equip men for thefight.
Let's sharpen up.
SPEAKER_01 (00:20):
All right, welcome back to the Daily Blade.
We are going to do a deep divethis week into Luke chapter 2.
And I know what you're probablythinking: isn't Luke chapter 2
the preeminent text onChristmas?
And yes, it is.
And you may be thinking, well,isn't Christmas over?
Well, no.
I mean, I want you to thinkabout Christmas Day from Mary
and Joseph's perspective.
(00:40):
We're going to look at theperspective of the shepherds.
You see, the way they experienceChristmas is Christmas was not
the finish line, Christmas wasthe starting line.
Listen, I'm pro-Avent.
I think it's really cool that wepre we would prepare our hearts
to celebrate Christmas, but apart of the shadow of Advent is
that what we do as American orWestern Christians is we prepare
and we prepare and we preparefor the incarnation of Christ.
(01:04):
And then on that Christmas day,we do all the things.
We read Luke 2, we've seen allthe movies, we've been to the
Christmas Eve services, we openthe presents, and then we just
move on with our lives gettingready for the new year.
Well, that is not how it workedin the first Christmas in Luke
2.
You see, um, especially theshepherds, from their
perspective, they really had noidea that Christmas was coming,
(01:26):
and they didn't just get readyfor it, celebrate it, and it was
over, but it was that momentthat changed everything.
So that is the perspective inwhich I want to look at Luke 2
as we move into the new year.
Luke chapter 2, beginning ofverse 1, says this In those days
a decree went out from CaesarAugustus that all the world
should be registered.
This was the first registrationwhen Corinius was governor of
(01:49):
Syria, and all went to beregistered, each to his own
town.
And Joseph also went up fromGalilee from the town of
Nazareth to Judea to the city ofDavid, which is called
Bethlehem, because he was of thehouse and lineage of David to be
registered with Mary, hisbetrothed, who was with child.
Here's the first thing I wantyou to know that Christmas tells
(02:12):
us is that God is in control ofyour life.
God is in control of everydetail of your life.
You see, Caesar Augustus thoughthe was a big deal because Caesar
Augustus thought he was the Lordof Lords and King of Kings.
That's what he would callhimself.
And he thought he was in charge.
And little did he know he wasbut a small bit player in the
(02:35):
grand narrative of the birth ofthe true King Jesus.
You see, Romans 8 28 is stilltrue that God is at work in all
things for the good of thosethat love him and are called
according to his purpose.
And so, as you walk into thisnew year, as we're walking out
of Christmas, there may be somecircumstances in your life and
they feel like they're out ofcontrol.
(02:56):
Or you may look into your futureand you may not be able to see a
clear path.
Well, I've got some very goodnews that God is never
surprised.
God has never sat up in heavenand thought, you know what I
just thought of?
Because he has alreadypre-thought all the thoughts
that have ever been thought.
That God is in charge.
God is in control.
And the good news of the gospelis that God is at work in all
(03:18):
things for the good of thosethat love him and are called
according to his purpose.
So oftentimes the things that wethink are interruptions to our
life are actually God's plan toget us to go exactly where he
would have us to be for thefuture.
You see, you see this allthroughout the Bible.
Like in Joseph in the OldTestament, the code of many
(03:39):
colors, Joseph.
He goes through all kinds ofhardships in his life.
His brothers turn on him, theybeat him up, they sell him into
slavery, he's he's sold as aslave.
Potiphar's wife accuses him, heends up in jail, falsely
accused.
And then one day he findshimself, through obedience, he
finds himself as the senior vicepresident of Egypt itself.
(04:02):
And his brothers come gatheringaround him.
And then eventually, when hereveals himself to his brothers,
he says these words Am I not inthe place that God would have
me?
What you intended for evil, Godintended for good.
And so no matter what you aregoing through, a part of what
Luke 2, a part of what Christmastells us, is that God is in
control.
(04:23):
And one of the things that we dooftentimes as modern-day
Christians is we ask God toremove from us the very thing He
gave to us because it'suncomfortable.
You see, years ago, I think I'vetold you this before, every
years ago, I was coaching myson's football team and they
were working out in the gym andnobody was working hard.
We live at the beach, soeverybody was doing curls and
(04:43):
abs.
This was a football team.
We needed to be squatting,deadlifting, bench pressing,
heavy, power cleans, those kindof things.
And I screamed out, everybodywants to be strong, nobody wants
to be sore.
You see, sometimes God has putus into that gym for us to go
through pain because he isdeveloping something in us.
(05:04):
In fact, James, the brother ofJesus, says that we should
consider it pure joy, mybrothers, when you face trials
of many kinds.
Why?
Because God is preparing you,sharpening you, developing you.
And so it's one thing to be ableto look over your shoulder at
Romans 8 28 and look in the pastabout how God has been in charge
(05:24):
and control of your life.
But maybe this year you willlook into the future.
And when you face trials, likewhen Caesar Augustus calls the
whole world to be registered,and you got to take your
pregnant wife, put her on adonkey, and go all the way from
Nazareth to Bethlehem.
What looks like a trial wasactually God ordained and
(05:46):
orchestrated to accomplish God'swill.
And the same God of Christmas isthe same God today that He's
still got the whole world in hishands.
I hope when you don't understandyour circumstances, you'll trust
the sovereign savior over yourcircumstances.
SPEAKER_00 (06:03):
Amen.
Stay sharp.
Welcome to the Daily Blade.
The word of God is described asthe sword of the spirit, the
primary spiritual weapon in theChristian's armor against the
forces of evil.
Your hosts are Joby Martin andKyle Thompson, and they stand
ready to equip men for thefight.
Let's sharpen up.
SPEAKER_01 (00:20):
All right, welcome back to the Daily Blade.
We are going to do a deep divethis week into Luke chapter 2.
And I know what you're probablythinking: isn't Luke chapter 2
the preeminent text onChristmas?
And yes, it is.
And you may be thinking, well,isn't Christmas over?
Well, no.
I mean, I want you to thinkabout Christmas Day from Mary
and Joseph's perspective.
(00:40):
We're going to look at theperspective of the shepherds.
You see, the way they experienceChristmas is Christmas was not
the finish line, Christmas wasthe starting line.
Listen, I'm pro-Avent.
I think it's really cool that wepre we would prepare our hearts
to celebrate Christmas, but apart of the shadow of Advent is
that what we do as American orWestern Christians is we prepare
and we prepare and we preparefor the incarnation of Christ.
(01:04):
And then on that Christmas day,we do all the things.
We read Luke 2, we've seen allthe movies, we've been to the
Christmas Eve services, we openthe presents, and then we just
move on with our lives gettingready for the new year.
Well, that is not how it workedin the first Christmas in Luke
2.
You see, um, especially theshepherds, from their
perspective, they really had noidea that Christmas was coming,
(01:26):
and they didn't just get readyfor it, celebrate it, and it was
over, but it was that momentthat changed everything.
So that is the perspective inwhich I want to look at Luke 2
as we move into the new year.
Luke chapter 2, beginning ofverse 1, says this In those days
a decree went out from CaesarAugustus that all the world
should be registered.
This was the first registrationwhen Corinius was governor of
(01:49):
Syria, and all went to beregistered, each to his own
town.
And Joseph also went up fromGalilee from the town of
Nazareth to Judea to the city ofDavid, which is called
Bethlehem, because he was of thehouse and lineage of David to be
registered with Mary, hisbetrothed, who was with child.
Here's the first thing I wantyou to know that Christmas tells
(02:12):
us is that God is in control ofyour life.
God is in control of everydetail of your life.
You see, Caesar Augustus thoughthe was a big deal because Caesar
Augustus thought he was the Lordof Lords and King of Kings.
That's what he would callhimself.
And he thought he was in charge.
And little did he know he wasbut a small bit player in the
(02:35):
grand narrative of the birth ofthe true King Jesus.
You see, Romans 8 28 is stilltrue that God is at work in all
things for the good of thosethat love him and are called
according to his purpose.
And so, as you walk into thisnew year, as we're walking out
of Christmas, there may be somecircumstances in your life and
they feel like they're out ofcontrol.
(02:56):
Or you may look into your futureand you may not be able to see a
clear path.
Well, I've got some very goodnews that God is never
surprised.
God has never sat up in heavenand thought, you know what I
just thought of?
Because he has alreadypre-thought all the thoughts
that have ever been thought.
That God is in charge.
God is in control.
And the good news of the gospelis that God is at work in all
(03:18):
things for the good of thosethat love him and are called
according to his purpose.
So oftentimes the things that wethink are interruptions to our
life are actually God's plan toget us to go exactly where he
would have us to be for thefuture.
You see, you see this allthroughout the Bible.
Like in Joseph in the OldTestament, the code of many
(03:39):
colors, Joseph.
He goes through all kinds ofhardships in his life.
His brothers turn on him, theybeat him up, they sell him into
slavery, he's he's sold as aslave.
Potiphar's wife accuses him, heends up in jail, falsely
accused.
And then one day he findshimself, through obedience, he
finds himself as the senior vicepresident of Egypt itself.
(04:02):
And his brothers come gatheringaround him.
And then eventually, when hereveals himself to his brothers,
he says these words Am I not inthe place that God would have
me?
What you intended for evil, Godintended for good.
And so no matter what you aregoing through, a part of what
Luke 2, a part of what Christmastells us, is that God is in
control.
(04:23):
And one of the things that we dooftentimes as modern-day
Christians is we ask God toremove from us the very thing He
gave to us because it'suncomfortable.
You see, years ago, I think I'vetold you this before, every
years ago, I was coaching myson's football team and they
were working out in the gym andnobody was working hard.
We live at the beach, soeverybody was doing curls and
(04:43):
abs.
This was a football team.
We needed to be squatting,deadlifting, bench pressing,
heavy, power cleans, those kindof things.
And I screamed out, everybodywants to be strong, nobody wants
to be sore.
You see, sometimes God has putus into that gym for us to go
through pain because he isdeveloping something in us.
(05:04):
In fact, James, the brother ofJesus, says that we should
consider it pure joy, mybrothers, when you face trials
of many kinds.
Why?
Because God is preparing you,sharpening you, developing you.
And so it's one thing to be ableto look over your shoulder at
Romans 8 28 and look in the pastabout how God has been in charge
(05:24):
and control of your life.
But maybe this year you willlook into the future.
And when you face trials, likewhen Caesar Augustus calls the
whole world to be registered,and you got to take your
pregnant wife, put her on adonkey, and go all the way from
Nazareth to Bethlehem.
What looks like a trial wasactually God ordained and
(05:46):
orchestrated to accomplish God'swill.
And the same God of Christmas isthe same God today that He's
still got the whole world in hishands.
I hope when you don't understandyour circumstances, you'll trust
the sovereign savior over yourcircumstances.
SPEAKER_00 (06:03):
Amen.
Stay sharp.
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