Christ is Born
Notes
Transcript
Christ is Born
Christ is Born
Merry Christmas!
This morning we are going to cover a familiar story for most of us.
We are going to look at the birth of Jesus in Luke 2:1-20.
As we are examining this text, I want us to open our hearts, ears, and minds with what God is saying here.
B/c it is familiar to us, we can tend to go on autopilot.
Zone out b/c it’s something that we’ve heard before.
We are so familiar with it, that we feel as if there is nothing new that we can learn or glean from this story, but I assure you that it is untrue.
In fact, as I was preparing this sermon there were tons of things that I discovered.
And in discovering them, it lead me to appreciate the story and the Lord all the more.
The story of Redemption or the Story line of Scripture is essentially 2 threads woven together.
There is the thread of promise and the thread of fulfilment.
The OT is primarily about the promise and prophesy.
While the NT is about the fulfilment of the promise and prophesy.
There are promises mad by the Lord that he is going to bring salvation.
That he is going to redeem his people.
That he is going to establish an everlasting kingdom.
And for all of the OT there is an feeling of Expectation and waiting.
A longing for the promises of God to be fulfilled.
And in the NT, we see the beginning of those promises being fulfilled in the birth of Jesus.
But the question still lingers.
How does the Lord fulfil his promises.
How can he say something and then that thing comes to pass.
Last fall, we did a study on the attributes of God.
And two of those attributes really help us to understand this question.
One of the attributes is called his sovereignty.
This means that the Lord governs and rules over his creation.
Nothing is done or can be done without his permission for it to be done.
The second is b/c of his omniscience.
This means that God is all knowing.
He knows the beginning from the end.
He knows how things are going to play out b/c he plays a sovereign role.
What does this have to do with the birth of Jesus?
Knowing these truths about who God is helps us to see what he’s doing.
Theology plays a big part in seeing what God is doing.
Understanding God rightly helps us to see what God is doing and what he continues to do.
Two of the prophesies in the OT that are directly tied to the birth story of Jesus are
14 Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: See, the virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel.
2 Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are small among the clans of Judah; one will come from you to be ruler over Israel for me. His origin is from antiquity, from ancient times.
Here we see that a virgin will give birth and his name or title will be Immanuel.
God with us.
We see this truth played out in John’s gospel.
When the word was with God, the word was God, and the Word came down to live with his people.
God with us in the person of Jesus Christ.
Micah’s verse tells us that the small and insignificant town of Bethlehem would be where the Ruler of Israel will come from.
And we get this glimpse of Jesus’ eternality, meaning that he has always existed, with the phrase “His origin is from antiquity, from ancient times.”
So this savior has always existed and is going to be born in the small town of Bethlehem, and he is going to be born of a virgin.
And how can this be done?
B/c God has declared it.
So let’s take a look at how God is going to play this out, how he is going to accomplish his will in the birth of Jesus.
1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole empire should be registered.
2 This first registration took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.
3 So everyone went to be registered, each to his own town.
4 Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David,
5 to be registered along with Mary, who was engaged to him and was pregnant.
God’s Providence
God’s Providence
Luke leads out this story talking about a census that took place.
Everyone had to go out and be registered.
The man who called for the registration or census was Caesar Augustus.
Just a little information about Augustus, his given name was Octavius and he was the adopted child of Julius Caesar.
When Julius died, the Empire was handed over to Augustus.
And Augustus was a pretty good ruler.
Augustus was eventually given the chief priesthood over the Roman Empire.
So not only did Augustus rule over the Empire as Caesar, but he also over saw the chief religion of the Roman Empire.
This gave him power not just over the state but over how the empire would worship their gods.
In fact, there was discussion at the time of Augustus’ rule about calling the Caesar’s gods.
That their position would be divinely appointed by the gods that they worshipped.
And so, in this little section of the story we see that Luke is making a theological statement.
He is declaring that though Caesar may be called god among the masses, The God of Human History is being born during his reign.
Back to the calling of the Census.
There were really only two reasons for a census to be called.
The first was for taxes.
In order to properly tax and therefore know how much money the Empire had to operate they would have to know how many people lived within the Empire.
The other reason for a census was to know how many men lived so that the Empire knew who would be able to fight if needed.
So the census was called either b/c of the greed or desire of power from Augustus.
Now for whatever reason, we will call it God’s Providence, this particular census called for all to go back to their own town.
This wouldn’t have been the normal practice for a census.
Generally they would just register with their nearest tax collector.
But this time is different.
This time the registration meant that people would go back to the town of their ancestors.
Where their family came from historically and not just where they were born.
And we learned earlier in the Chapter that Joseph was a descendant of David.
Meaning that he would have to travel to the city of David to register.
Already we see the hand of the Lord at Work.
The Lord is using Caesar to accomplish his mission.
How will the child that Mary carries make his debut into the world in Bethlehem?
How does the Lord move this couple from Nazareth to Bethlehem so that the prophesy can be fulfilled.
He uses a greedy and power hungry ruler to do it.
It is through this census that Jesus is born in Bethlehem.
One theologian said, “Emperors can make fine servants even if they are clueless on what they are doing.”
And that’s exactly what we see here.
Augustus’ census puts Mary on the Move to the city of David, Bethlehem where the King of Israel the one from antiquity will be born.
To go one step further, theologians are curious as to why Mary decided to go with Joseph.
She wouldn’t have needed to. Only the male descendent would have been required to go.
And the trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem isn’t a short one.
The trip is roughly about 90-100 miles and would take about 5 days on foot.
Mary makes the decision to go with Joseph.
And she is very pregnant.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been on a few hour journey with a pregnant lady, and it wasn’t very fun.
But here, this an actual journey. about 5 days on foot or maybe riding a donkey.
Regardless, Mary must have been prompted by the HS to join Joseph.
B/c I don’t know very many pregnant women who would want to travel like Mary did.
And here we read about this humble couple, making their way from their home to the historical city of David.
A carpenter, a pregnant virgin operating within God’s beautiful plan.
From the outskirts of the Roman Empire.
The man behind the census would never know the part he played in the salvation of the world.
He would never meet Jesus.
He wouldn’t have heard about his birth.
And yet he played an intricate part in the fulfilment of prophesy.
He was used by God to accomplish God’s plan without even knowing it.
What a beautiful picture of God’s grand providence.
The Ruler of the Roman Empire being used by God
And the humble servants of the Lord being used by him.
Show that God’s authority and sovereignty has no boundaries.
Those who worship him are under his influence
As are those who don’t.
All because when God makes a promise he follows through
The two threads of promise and fulfilment are tying together with two sets of people from opposite ends of the world.
The Savior of the world came under the circumstances that he desired.
And what do we hear about Jesus’ birth
6 While they were there, the time came for her to give birth.
7 Then she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him tightly in cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
The Incarnation
The Incarnation
One of the Beautiful things about Christianity is the fact that God came to dwell with us.
Every other religious belief system is how we can become gods or how we get closer to god.
How can we climb up the mountain to meet with god.
But Christianity is unique in that God came down from the mountain to live with his people.
But he didn’t just come to live like a human being.
He came to live as a human being.
Jesus didn’t skip the childhood or the awkward teenage years, he came to live fully like humanity.
Jesus came as a baby.
In the most humbling of circumstances.
He was born to a poor couple.
A couple that wouldn’t have held any sway or influences.
A father who worked with his hands and a mother who watched after their children.
The Lord could have chosen anywhere in the world to send Jesus to be born, grow up, and live, but he chose a humble couple in a humble town.
And it all began with a simple and humble birth.
And I don’t want us to over look the reality that even Jesus’ birth was under the providence of God.
“The time came for her to give birth” is a nod to the perfect timing of God.
Remember the Lord had made the promise that the savior would be born in Bethlehem.
And the fact that Mary was far along in her pregnancy meant that Jesus could have been born at any time during that 5 day trip on the road.
He could have been born before or after the trip.
But the timing was right and perfect for Mary to give birth.
The king of the universe was born in the little town of Bethlehem.
Here we also read that Mary gave birth to her first born son.
This means that most likely their were other children.
There are other ways in the Greek language that Luke could have called Jesus her only Son, but here it distinctly says firstborn
In fact, we read about these other brothers and sisters in Mk 6.3, Luke 8:19-21, and other passages that refer to Jesus’ family relationships.
I just want us t take a moment and reflect on the scene that we just read about about.
It’s pretty straight forward and simple Mary gave birth.
The Nativity scenes that most of us display are quiet, tranquil, and serene.
Everything is in it’s place.
The night is calm.
There is no chaos, there is only peace.
Now I was in the room for all 3 of my children’s birth.
I can assure you that this scene in reality wasn’t peaceful, quiet and tranquil.
Childbirth is beautiful, but it is also very real.
And after a child is born, there is usually wailing.
This birth wouldn’t have been much different.
Jesus’ birth would have been like all the birth’s that came before and all the one’s that came after.
The reason I’m wanting us to think about this is b/c I want us to understand that the Incarnation, God in flesh, is just that.
Jesus didn’t take on the appearance of humanity.
He didn’t live like a human, he was truly human and truly God.
And often we can miss this reality.
We can polish and beautify this to the point where it is past all recognition.
But Jesus came to live as a human so that he could sympathize with his creation.
We have a great high priest who knows what it is like to be tempted.
We have a great high priest who knows what it’s like to feel pain.
We have a great high priest who knows what it’s like to have a friend betray him.
Immanuel, God with us, means exactly that. God. With. Us.
Jesus as a baby was fragile and fussy.
He was cared for by his parents.
He had to have his diaper changed.
He was like us in every way, except with out sin.
And we see this in the humble birth of Jesus.
Mary has this child and she wraps him in cloth and then lays in a manger, which is feeding trough for animals.
I like the way that the CSB translates this last phrase “there was no guest room available for them.”
In most translations, it say there was no room at the inn.
But the reality was in the Little town of Bethlehem there wasn’t a Motel 6.
Most would stay with their relatives.
And what is most likely happening here is that they are staying at a relatives home and attached or outside the house is the barn, for lack of a better word.
Everywhere else had been occupied, so the only place left for them was this barn like area.
Sometimes this would even be a nearby cave where the animals were kept.
What I’m saying is that there is no bad guy in this scenario, there was simply no room for them.
And even more than that…This space is exactly where Jesus was supposed to be born.
The triune God of the universe would have known what his birth would have looked like.
meaning that Jesus was well aware of his humble and even messy birth.
Yet the one who existed from eternity past decided to enter into humanity in the least respectable way.
He donned flesh and was born to this humble girl away from the comfort of her own home.
And placed in an animal’s feeding trough.
This is the birth that the creator of the universe chose.
He wanted us to see that humility is the way to honoring God.
He could have been born in a palace.
He could have been the son of a king.
Yet he chose this humble teenage couple to be his parents.
He chose to be born among his creation and be placed in a manger.
Jesus took the lead in living with humility.
This is why Paul can write in Phil 2:5-8
5 Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus,
6 who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited.
7 Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man,
8 he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death— even to death on a cross.
From his very birth he emptied himself.
At his death he emptied himself.
Living a life of humility and service to the Lord.
Living as an example for all those who would follow him.
Why?
B/c God elevates the lowly and rejects the proud
If the God of the universe.
The Infinite, All-Knowing, All-Powerful, and All-Present God could choose to take on the limitations of humanity, what is holding you back from humility.
If we are to live a live that follows and imitates the life of Jesus how can we walk around with our noses held high and chests puffed out as if we are owed or due anything in this life.
We could take some notes from Jesus’ birth.
Humility is the path to living like him.
And he demonstrated it from his very birth.
Now just b/c Jesus’ birth was humble didn’t mean it was any less amazing.
The Incarnation is something we should still wonder at.
It’s an amazing reality that Jesus left his heavenly home to come and dwell with sinners.
He was born, lived the perfect life, and died a sinners death.
All the while not sinning himself.
The birth of Jesus was the initiation of God’s fulfilment of his promise of redemption.
And while his birth was humble, the announcement of his birth to the shepherds in the field was grand.
8 In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock.
9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.
10 But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people:
11 Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord.
12 This will be the sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped tightly in cloth and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying:
14 Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people he favors!
Words of the Angel
Words of the Angel
Luke shifts his focus from the scene in the guest room to a field outside of Bethlehem.
There are shepherds outside tending to their sheep.
They are out there providing protection against thieves and predators.
These sheep would have been used for temple sacrifices in Jerusalem.
So it was important that they were well guarded and taken care of.
Now shepherds weren’t the most popular of people.
They were a lowly crowd without much honor and respect among the elites.
They had very dirty jobs and were seen by most to be the outcasts of society.
They were those who didn’t have much money and spent their time among the animals.
Not the people who we believe God would have made his announcement to.
If we are using human logic, if the Messiah is born.
Who would naturally be the first people we would want to tell.
The religious leaders.
Yet the Lord makes this profound announcement, not to the priests, but to these lowly shepherds.
And if we really think about it, for most of the Scriptures Shepherds were seen positively.
David was a shepherd.
Jesus talks about being the good shepherd.
Even the Lord is seen as a good Shepherd in ps. 23.
So regardless of how society saw them, the Lord saw something good within them.
And this continues the theme that the news of the savior is for everyone.
Jesus came to save all.
Even the poor in spirit.
This is a key theme throughout Luke’s gospel.
Jesus came to lift the hearts and eyes of the poor.
And the Shepherds are greeted by an amazing sight.
An angel of the Lord stands before them.
We don’t know which angel it was.
But a messenger from the Lord shows up.
And not only that, but we also read in v. 9, that “the glory of the Lord shone around them”
This would have been a bright light.
The Lord’s Glory at this moment represented God’s presence with the Shepherds and at this announcement.
This is beautiful.
The Creator of the universe shows up to the outcasts of society to proclaim his good news about the birth of His son.
And naturally…The shepherds are terrified.
Imagine the scene.
It’s dark outside. The only light comes from the moon and the stars.
Your overseeing your flock.
Then all of a sudden there is a blinding light and an angel standing in front of you.
You have no context for what’s happening. All you see is bright light and a shinning figure standing before.
I would be overcome with fear as well.
But the angel speaks in v. 10 Luke 2:10 “10 But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people:”
There’s no need to be afraid, Why?
B/c the angel is there to bring good news of great joy.
What a comfort that must have been for the shepherds.
There is good news for them.
But more than that the good news is for all people.
Rich or poor.
Slave or free.
Male or female.
Jew or Gentile.
The good news is for all people.
All people who will believe.
And what is this good news?
The angel gives three descriptors for them.
The first is that a Savior is born.
This means that there is a deliverer or redeemer that is born.
The question might be what do we need a savior for.
We need a savior b/c we are all sinners who stand under the wrath of God.
And the truth is unless we have a savior we will continue under his wrath.
This savior is born in the city of David, again another allusion to the fulfillment of scripture.
The angel also says, he’s the Messiah or Christ.
The anointed one of God meaning that he is the promised King from the city of David.
Fulfilling once again the promise God made to King David.
Finally, the angel says that he is The Lord.
This is the divine proclamation that this child isn’t just a savior and king, but that this baby is God in the Flesh.
The title Lord is Kyrios in Greek.
This is the name given to the Lord in the Greek translation of the OT.
So this child isn’t simply a baby.
He carries the name and divine essence of the God of the universe.
And this announcement is the good news that brings great joy.
The Promised Divine Messiah and Savior has arrived.
And to prove it to them, the angel tells them where they will find this child.
In a manger or feeding trough wrapped tightly in cloth.
Then Luke takes our eyes off of the shepherds and the angel, and focuses our attention to the scene that no doubt would have blown us away.
Thousands and Thousands of God’s heavenly host are celebrating the birth of Jesus.
13 Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying:
14 Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people he favors!
Don’t miss this, the birth of Jesus isn’t just good news to sinners.
It’s good news to all of creation.
The heavenly host or army is rejoicing that God’s plan is moving forward
God is being praised, honored and glorified by those who stand in his presence day in and day out.
And they now see the beauty of God’s Plan.
The coming of this Divine King and Savior has a cosmic impact.
The birth of Jesus is felt throughout the whole of the cosmos.
This multitude is praising God for his good news and telling those listening that there will be peace on earth to those who worship and serve this baby.
This isn’t universal peace, like we saw two weeks ago with Mary’s Song the peace that’s offered is for those who fear and worship the Lord.
That’s the only caveat to having Jesus as our savior.
Recognize that we need saving and bow down to worship and serve the king.
then we will have peace, forgiveness and grace.
This means that even the worst of sinners can be saved by the grace of God.
That though our sins are many his mercy is more.
What Good News that Brings Great Joy.
That even I can be saved.
And what is the proper response to this good news?
Praising God. That’s what we see the heavenly host doing, and their not even receiving the salvation God is offering.
But they are so aware of how good this news is that it stirs up in them the desire and response of Praise.
So that was the response from the crowds of heaven.
What was the response of the Shepherds?
15 When the angels had left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”
16 They hurried off and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger.
17 After seeing them, they reported the message they were told about this child,
18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
19 But Mary was treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating on them.
20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had seen and heard, which were just as they had been told.
Witness of the Shepherds
Witness of the Shepherds
The Shepherds wanting to see this great sight, so they hurried off to Bethlehem.
They were excited about the good news that they had heard and wanted to see this new born king.
Imagine for a moment the reaction of Mary and Joseph to this scene.
A bunch of random, roughneck Shepherds come out of no where to see your child.
After they verify what the angel told them, then they reported why they were there.
The spoke about the Angel, the glory of the Lord, and the Heavenly Host.
They conveyed the beauty and magnificence of the message.
They brought with them the great message of Joy that this child is the Divine King and Savior promised by the Lord.
And all those who heard were amazed.
The the message of the Shepherds brought with it awe and reverence to the plan and purpose of this child laying in a feeding trough.
The promised king’s first throne was this manger.
And eventually he would sit on the heavenly throne above.
Ruling and reigning with all authority in heaven an on Earth.
Mary’s response was to store all this information.
All this joy. All these accounts in her heart and ponder upon them.
She didn’t know what this child’s life was going to look like, but she did know that moving forward she would have this moment to look back on.
This account of Mary meditating on these events also helps scholars to believe that she was one of the Sources Luke used to compile his gospel message.
Nevertheless, Mary would have never forgotten about this trip and event.
She would never forget the faithfulness of the Lord.
This is something that we must take away from this account.
The Lord is tying together those two strings of promise and fulfillment.
and the knot is the birth of this child.
This child that brings joy, peace, redemption, hope and salvation.
This child that would change the course of humanity.
This child that would have an impact that exceeds all that Mary could have imagined.
This child that would grow into a man and lay his life down for the sin of humanity.
That would offer his life to save those who are his enemies.
That should bring immense joy.
That’s what we see in the Shepherds as they walk away.
They leave Glorifying God b/c they saw the promise fulfilled.
The birth of Jesus changed the whole course of human history.
These shepherds wouldn’t have recognized it at the time.
But they do know what they saw and the message they recieved.
And for them that was enough to bring joy.
So what did they do… they praised God for all that he had done.
I want to close with this quote that should challenge each of us.
Luke, Vol. 1—That You May Know the Truth The Effect (vv. 15–20)
is not enough to hear about Jesus. It is not enough to peek in the manger and say, “Oh, how nice. What a lovely scene. It gives me such good feelings.” The truth is, even if Christ were born in Bethlehem a thousand times but not within you, you would be eternally lost. The Christ who was born into the world must be born in your heart. Religious sentiment, even at Christmastime, without the living Christ is a yellow brick road to darkness
Let’s pray.