It’s Christmas

Luke 2:1-20

¹In 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. ⁸ And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. ¹⁰ And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹ For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ¹² And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ¹⁴“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” ¹⁵ When the angels went away from them into 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.” ¹⁶ And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. ¹⁷ And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. ¹⁸ And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. ²⁰ And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Even though we are currently surrounded by twinkle lights, red and green decorations, and the hype of modern commercialism / consumerism, we do well to take a moment to embrace the story that inspires the season. The description is quiet and unassuming. A woman has a Baby. Now I’m fairly certain it wasn’t a quiet event for Mary; it was one she would remember for her entire life. A conversation unique (I think) to women is one about birthing. I’ve witnessed several such conversations in my life. We all have a tale to tell when it comes to the birth of our children. And I would have loved to hear Mary’s extended recitation of her first birth experience. She didn’t even get to give birth at home surrounded by her own family. I can only assume that the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem was a part of her story.

Despite the hype that has become Christmas, we don’t know all that much about the birth of the Savior. We know that He was born during a census in crowded Bethlehem, not in His own hometown, to a young virgin and her new husband. We know a little about Joseph and Mary’s heritage from the Gospels of Luke and Matthew, and that’s about it. While the angels did proclaim His birth, it was only to a few shepherds so all in all, there wasn’t much unique about the birth of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Think about the media frenzy that accompanied the births of Prince George and Princess Charlotte in England over the last few years. It was crazy. These kids did nothing except be born into a royal family and the world went wild. Jesus, the creator of the universe is born, and the simplicity and gentleness of the story is overwhelming by comparison. God doesn’t need fanfare and shouting to accomplish His will or execute His plan.

I think that we need to keep that simplicity in mind as we trek through our days as well. God accomplishes a million things every day with quiet strength and power. Most of what He does goes unnoticed by a world that would rather not even think about Him. And yet He moves and operates without our knowledge or permission. And while what He does may go unnoticed, it doesn’t have to. So many times each day I realize I’ve just seen God at work and my heart is overjoyed. This passage also tells us that “Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” Despite God’s sense of quiet workings, we too can ponder His ways and hold them in our hearts because that is where faith is built.

Luke has masterfully set Jesus into human history by giving us enough information to determine that Jesus was an actual person born into human history by setting the historical context for the birth of Jesus. Contrary to the quiet birth of the Savior, His arrival is announced with great fanfare, shouting, and proclamation by heavenly angels. Remarkably, this loud declaration is made in the quietest of settings – to the shepherds in the field at night. God reveals himself to the least expected in Israel.

The angel’s first words to the shepherds are “Fear not”. If I had been one of those shepherds I would have thought “Are you kidding me? Of course I’m afraid. You’re an angel!” But those words carry far more weight than just an admonition to calm down because they weren’t in any danger. This phrase has theological implications as the Apostle John tells us in his doctrinal work in 1 John. For the faithful, the birth of the Christ brings an end to all fear. God’s salvation promise, made back in the Garden of Eden to Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:15) has finally been realized.

1 John 4:18–19

¹⁸There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. ¹⁹We love because he first loved us.

I would suggest that these theological thoughts were probably not at the top of the shepherds’ minds, but that’s okay. We have the gift of hindsight and meditation and can see that truth as we study the Word.

If given the time, I always try to spend some time in research as I write these devotional thoughts. Today was a glorious time of discovery over this well-worn text. It has to do with the “swaddling cloths and lying in a manger”. I will never be able to read these words again without remembering the death and burial of Jesus Christ as He completes the work of dying for our sins.

He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities (Is 53:5). It should be carefully noted that the sign given of the Savior’s birth is not a child enfolded in Tyrian purple, but one wrapped round with rough pieces of cloth; he is not to be found in an ornate golden bed, but in a manger. The meaning of this is that he did not merely take upon himself our lowly mortality, but for our sake took upon himself the clothing of the poor. Though he was rich, yet for our sake he became poor, so that by his poverty we might become rich (2 Cor 8:9); though he was Lord of heaven, he became a poor man on earth, to teach those who lived on earth that by poverty of spirit they might win the kingdom of heaven.

The Venerable Bede as translated by J. McHugh, The Mother of Jesus, 89, from In Lucam I, (Corpus Christianoruḿ Series Latina 120.51–2).

“Can the threefold, deliberate phrasing in the Greek of, ‘wrapped him in cloth strip, placed him in a manger, because there was no place’ perhaps anticipate the same threefold rhythm of ‘wrapped him in linen cloth, placed him in a rock-hewn tomb, where no one had yet been laid’ (23:53) so that birth and burial mirror each other?”

L. T. Johnson, The Gospel of Luke, 53

In His very birth, Jesus foreshadows His own death. This infant came for a reason that was never forgotten or lost by God. While the fanfare over His birth is great, it also leads us to His death for our sins. The Christmas story rings with His crucifixion and we are saved.