A (0:00)

Oh, hey, welcome to gift wrapping. Whoa. So is Saldana.

B (0:03)

Hey, can you wrap these please?

A (0:05)

Wow. IPhone 17s.

B (0:06)

You splurged at T Mobile. You can get four iPhone 17s on them. The new center stage front camera is amazing for group selfies. It's the perfect gift for everyone.

A (0:14)

I'm the worst. I only got my mom a robe.

B (0:16)

Well, it's better than socks.

A (0:18)

So I have to trade in my old phone, right?

B (0:20)

No AT T Mobile. There's no trade ins needed when you switch. Keep your old phone or give it as a gift.

A (0:26)

Incredible.

B (0:27)

In fact, wrap up my old phone too for my aunt Rosa. Forget that. Aunt Liz will be jealous.

A (0:31)

Sounds like my family drama.

B (0:33)

Oh, I got it. I'll give it to my abuela. I'll take reindeer paper with. Hey, where are you going?

A (0:37)

To T Mobile. The holidays are better. AT T Mobile get four iPhone 17s on us. No trade in needed when you switch plus four lines for just 25 bucks a line. And now T Mobile is available in US cellular stores with 24 monthly bill credits and 4 eligible board ins on essentials for well qualified customers bought or pay plus taxes, fees and $35 device connection charge credits and depends balance due if you pay off earlier, cancel contact US Finance Agreement. 256 gigabytes. $830 required. Visit T mobile.com AI agents are everywhere, automating tasks and making decisions at machine speed. But agents make mistakes. Just one rogue agent can do big damage before you even notice. Rubrik Agent Cloud is the only platform that helps you monitor agents, set guardrails and rewind mistakes so you can unleash agents, not risk. Accelerate your AI transformation@rubrik.com that's R U B R I K.com if you're watching or listening to this right now, this means this is your sign to come to the Bryce Crawford Live podcast store in 2026. We're bringing it to Australia, New Zealand and America at the front end of 2026. We're coming to Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Australia. We're coming to Auckland, New Zealand, Phoenix, Arizona, New York City, Pennsylvania, Boston, Alabama, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Florida, Charlo, Carolina, Sacramento, California, Los Angeles, California. And if you're a Mormon and you want to learn about Jesus and not Joseph Smith, we're going to be in Salt Lake City, Utah as well. A lot of them is sold out, but there's some that have low tickets and we want to make sure you get your seats. So go to jesusonthestreet.org tour, get your tickets, come out to the Live podcast show because I believe that God is preparing a word specifically for each city we visit. So go to jesus street.org tour, get your tickets, and we'll see you guys in 2026 for the live podcast tour. What's going on, guys? Welcome back to another episode of the Bryce Crawford Podcast. I'm Bryson. Today we are here breaking down Luke chapter two. Man, I'm so pumped and excited. But as always, for this year series, before we get into it, we've got my lovely elf hand Dylan, who's going to come in and give us a gift. All right, which one you want? You pick me out something nice, man. Oh, a bigger one. Thank you so much. I'm really looking forward to this one. Oh, even mystery. You know, that's always the best part when you unwrap a gift and there's like, another box and you don't know what it is. I'm gonna throw this paper off to the side. All right, let's see what we got here. Whoa. Why are you laughing? What's funny? No, it's a good shirt. What's funny? It's a crew neck that says Santa's favorite on it. Thank you so much for this crew neck. Better wear it. I'm gonna wear it. You know. Thank you so much. I appreciate that. This is super sweet. I'll wear it in the next episode. How about that? That's a deal. Thank you so much for getting that for me. I appreciate that. That was super sweet. Thank you. That's. This is such a fun segment, but as always, we're going to get into the word of God today. If you have your Bibles flipped to Luke chapter two, we're going to be in it today. I'm going to begin reading. In those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinus was the governor of Syria, and all went to be registered each to his own. 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. Now, this is interesting. The census that's going down at the time is not just like a collection of numbers. This was to tax the people. So this was not like a. A fun experience to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth, and she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloth and laid him in A manger, because there was no place for them in the end. And while I love that a lot of the gospels, they emphasize the birth of Jesus and. And the manger and the journey to get over there, I love how this one's actually going to emphasize the. The shepherds who come to meet him. And in the same region, there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock by night. These shepherds weren't just ordinary, ordinary shepherds. These were the shepherds that looked out for the temple lambs, okay, the lambs to be slaughtered. These shepherds that the angel is going to visit are the ones that are. That are watching the flock, that are to be sacrificed for atonement. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with the great fear. And the angel said to them, fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Isn't it funny how like, every time an angel appears, they're like, hey, don't be afraid. But you've never in your lifetime seen anything in comparison to what is appearing in front of you, you know, so it's like, rightfully so, that they're afraid. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God, saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace among those with whom he is pleased. When the angels went away from them in heaven, the shepherds said to one another, let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us. So after these angels visited them and said, hey, look, the Messiah is here. He is born. The temple shepherds are like, we got to go see this thing. And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. Can you imagine that? They're thinking that this Messiah is going to be born of royalty. And then they see it in the humble abode in a setting unknown for a baby to be born in a manger, a horse trough. And when they saw it, they made known it, saying that they had been told them concerning this child, that all who heard it wondered about what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen as it had been told to them. And that. And this is important, this is important right now. The shepherds who are looking after the temple flocks, these lambs that will be sacrificed in atonement for the first time, are now looking at the Lamb of God who will be sacrificed. Can you imagine the. The. The shed. The shepherds that are the. The temple shepherds that are. That are overseeing the temple lamps. These guys are looking at this flock, you know, knowing the death penalty that's coming upon this lamb for their wrongdoing, for the people's wrongdoing. And they're watching them. They're sitting there thinking, man, when is this Messiah coming? And for the first time in the history of mankind, these shepherds get the opportunity to not just look at some temporary holding place of a lamb that they see every night, that they're watching that spotless, but they're looking at the perfect, beautiful, incarnate God in the flesh. Jesus, the Lamb of God, who has come to take away the sins of the world. Looking at him, the most magnificent, beautiful thing, and saying, it is here. The Messiah is here. You know, I think oftentimes we look at Jesus like a genie, and I think rarely, we look to Jesus and look at him and say, there he is. That's the Lamb who came here solely for the purpose to take away my sin. The God of the universe, who knows no sin, came down to this earth to become my sin so that I could become the righteousness of God through his bloodshed. I want to be able to look at Jesus every moment of my life and go, there he is. That's the Lamb who's taken away my sins, and he has defeated sin and death, and I have found life. Thank you, Jesus, that you have done that for us. Verse 21. And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. Now this is. This goes to show that Jesus fulfilled all the law, right? And notice that this is important. In Leviticus 12, we read this after a woman gives birth. A pregnant woman, after she gives birth, she is deemed unclean for seven days. And then on the eighth day is when the baby is supposed to get circumcised. Okay, so after the eighth day, that's important. Eighth day, he was circumcised, he fulfilled the law. That means that that both Mary and Joseph were devout followers of God. Verse 22. And when the time came for their purification According to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord. So then they had to offer a sacrifice. And if you are poor in this time period, they said that instead of offering a lamb, you could actually offer a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. And so again, it shows the humility in the background, Jesus coming from. They came to offer two, two pigeons because they couldn't afford a nice sacrifice for this ritual. And there was a man in Jerusalem. His name was Simeon. And this man was righteous and devout, waiting for con, waiting for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord Christ. So Simeon was. Had been the Holy Spirit revealed to Simeon. He would not die in this lifetime until he had looked at the Christ. And Simeon again is getting old. He's an old head. He is unk. And can you imagine? God is always on time. He's always on time. He is sitting here going, man, when is this guy going to come? I don't even know. And. And it would have been widespread news that John was born and that there's this rumor that this is going down. So he might have heard some rumors and just wondering, maybe even doubting now I'm old anyways, maybe I'm not really going to see the Christ. Who knows what he was thinking. And he came in the spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought the child Jesus to him, according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and he blessed God. And he said, lord, you are now letting your servant depart in peace according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation. You have prepared in the presence of all peoples a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory your people. Simeon in old age looks at this baby and realizes he is looking at salvation itself. He is looking at God in the flesh. He is looking at the only one who can save them from their sins. And he praises God and says, God, thank you. Death has lost its sting, not only through faith in you, but I am looking at the reason death has lost his sting. Simeon, in his old age, receives the promise of God to see the Messiah before he dies. And he is saying, I am looking at the reason that death has lost its sting. I am looking at the reason that says, you know, we think that oftentimes the people that can save us and protect us are the strongest or the bravest or the most prepared. But Simeon is looking at a baby and it's like, this baby is here to save me. This baby is here to take away my sins. And this is the one that makes death lose its sting. Thank you, Lord. Verse 33. His Father and His mother marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed him and said to Mary his mother, behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, for a sign that is opposed so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed. And there was a prophetess Anna, daughter of F. And I'm going to skip a few verses because it just explains who he is. She's a widow, but it says in verse 37 that she did not depart from the temp temple worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And I just love that description. Even though she was a widow, she still had hope. She still had hope because of her worship life and her fasting life and her prayer life. Maybe if you're struggling with something right now, we can look at the prophetess Anna in Luke chapter two and say, maybe if you are struggling and suffering and are losing hope, reflect on your worship life and your prayer life and your fasting life. When's the last time you turned the plates down to seek the Lord? When's the last time you turned the phone down to talk to the Lord yourself instead of chatgpt? When's the last time that you cut your earbuds out to cry out a heart posture of praise to the Lord for yourself? When's the last time you did that? Your doxology, your worship. That's a word for worship. Your doxology will continue to give you hope and feel hope in your life. And coming up that very hour, she began to give thanks to God and speak to him. All who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem, after they had performed everything according to the law, they returned into Galilee, their own town, and their child groom became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him. Now this last section of Luke chapter two, we're about to witness Jesus as like a little boy, 12 years old. And I think this is important. There's only a few verses I'm going to read out of this thing right here to pickpocket it. But basically the Jews went to the Passover. They. They went to Jerusalem every year for the Passover. And Jesus was 12 years old. And this age is important because at 12 years old was when a boy actually began to enter manhood and would take after his father. So you know how we mentioned earlier that, that John the Baptist when, when he was born, they didn't name him after Zechariah. That was a common thing for the firstborn son in the named after the father and be all about his father's business. But he's not named after Zachariah's named John, right? Jesus is born. And so at 12 years old, right, we would see something like Jesus to do the thing that his father did, take up the occupation that he has done. And so like, yes, Jesus was a carpenter, just as Joseph was. But this is a little bit deeper because then as they're traveling back from Jerusalem, they realize Jesus ain't with them and they're like, what the heck, where's Jesus at? So then they go all the way back to the temple and after three days they found him sitting in the temple amongst the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, teaching them. 12 year old Jesus was teaching these leaders in the temple about the Father and they said, son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress. And this is what he said. Why were you looking for me? Didn't you know that I must be in my Father's house? This is a powerful way to close out Luke chapter two. Because he's saying, don't you see I'm about my Father's business? And we begin to see Jesus knew that Mary and Joseph knew that he was the Messiah. And he's saying, look, I have this unique relationship with the Father that no one else has. And I'm being developed from my, from my infantry about my Father's business. Because Jesus was all about doing the will of the Father. He says, look, I'm about my Father's business. Like, yes, Joseph, I'm going to be a carpenter. Yes, yes, yes. But it's deeper than me just taking up your carpentry. I'm about my heavenly Father's business and I'm about that life. So we're about to see Jesus begin his ministry in Luke chapter three. Thank you guys. I pray that this one has been an encouragement to you. Bless you and we'll see you guys tomorrow for Luke chapter three. Hey, thank you guys so much for watching the Luke series. I pray that this thing is a blessing to you and the ultimate heart is so that you go and read this word daily. You don't rely on the podcast, you rely on the word of God and the Holy Spirit. Thank you guys. So much for watching. If you like the episodes, subscribe, follow us on social media and we'll see you guys in the next episode.