Please turn in your Bibles this morning to Luke chapter 2 as we look at the birth of Jesus. Tomorrow we will celebrate Christmas, the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Yes, Jesus was probably not born on the 25th of December, most likely He was born in the fall or the spring when the shepherds were in the fields. Then why do we celebrate the birth of Jesus on this day if it is wrong? Because we really don’t know the exact day He was born but I still think it is important to understand the reality of what took place. God became flesh and He dwelt among us for the purpose of pointing sinful man back to God and bridging that gap between God and man that sin had created.
Now, if you look at what is taking place today in regards to Christmas, it is alarming. I can remember that right after Thanksgiving all the Christmas decorations would go up but now, I saw them up at Halloween! You see, it is a consumer frenzy as people buy this gift and they buy that gift. In Chicago, the Friday right after Thanksgiving the stores opened up at midnight. Now I still don’t know what I was thinking, but we went down to see my family and we actually went to the malls, not at midnight, but much later in the day, and I will tell you this, you have to be crazy! There were lines to purchase merchandise that went all around the store and I was in one of them! I think I aged 1 year waiting! Here in Manitowoc, the stores opened at 5 AM and when we left for Chicago that morning, we passed by Menard’s and at 6 in the morning the parking lot was filled! Utter insanity! Sorry if any of you were there, but what in the world is going on?
What is missing from this picture? What is missing from the Christmas season? The whole reason for the season – JESUS CHRIST! Listen to this story and you will see what I mean. We are told:
One of my family’s favorite activities each Christmas is driving around the streets where we like looking at the Christmas lights. For our kids it’s the burning of those Christmas lights as the first sign that Christmas Day is approaching. Our favorite spot is a pocket of houses down the road where every house has made a special effort to create a Christmas lights spectacular.
As we turned into the housing estate this year the kids were really excited, with that excitement that’s unique to 4 and 5 year olds. They’ve remembered the lights from last Christmas and they’re just itching to see Santa and Frosty and Rudolph. But most of all they want to see “baby Jesus.”
First we come to the Frosty the Snowman house. And Frosty is very impressive - a bulbous white snowman with that “I’ve just swallowed uranium” glow softly emanating from his white body and his green nose. Frosty’s good, but we know it’s not gonna be a patch on the baby Jesus house.
We continue driving and come to the Christmas star house. This housing estate is set down low in a valley, so the TV aerials on the roofs extend 10 meters or so into the sky. The people at the Christmas star house have managed to scale their TV aerial and put a vibrant, bright star right up the top. There it sits, an impressive beacon summoning all to come and see. But we know it’s not gonna be a patch on the baby Jesus house.
We head to the end of the cul-de-sac and start heading back down the street, down toward the baby Jesus house. The house sits on a corner, so its decorated on both the sides that face the street. We come to the Santa side. Glowing in the dark is a three-dimensional sleigh and a three-dimensional reindeer lit up by hundreds of fairy lights. It’s the most tasteful display we’ve seen, but we know it’s not gonna be a patch on baby Jesus.
We turn the corner, the sense of anticipation grows, the kids strain forward to see the baby Jesus display. We look up into the garden to where Mary, Joseph and a beautifully lit manger scene appear every year . . . but baby Jesus isn’t there! Mary’s not there. Joseph is not there. The manger’s not there. They’ve been replaced by a plywood cutout of Christmas carolers, carolers that look like they’ve stepped off the pages of a Dickens novel.
And then we hear the kids puzzled question: “Where’s baby Jesus?” I don’t know why baby Jesus wasn’t there this year. Maybe the person who owns the house wanted a change, maybe the display got broken, maybe they decided not to have any religious themes. I don’t know why but baby Jesus was replaced.
It seems to me that what’s happening here is symptomatic of what’s happening across our society. More and more baby Jesus displays are not simply being supplemented by Frosty and Santa and reindeer and tinsel, but the baby Jesus displays are being replaced by them. It’s a sign of a shift in our worldview. Christmas is one of the few shared cultural rituals we have, and like all cultural rituals it expresses the values that lie at the heart of our society. It takes the hopes and dreams and myths we share as a culture and gives them celebration in a special day.
For our society Christmas has become a celebration of the values and myths it holds dear – family and consumerism. And Jesus has been pushed to the margins. The challenge for believers is to make sure that Jesus has not been pushed to the margins of their lives, but remains at the center.
- Scott Higgins
Just drive around our own town and see how many manger scenes you see compared with these extravagant blown up creations of Santa and other things that have nothing to do with Christmas. And so this morning I thought we would look back at the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Why am I going to do that? Because He is not only the reason for the season, but He is everything to us! Thus, may we rekindle those flames of love towards Him and get refocused on why we celebrate this time of year. It is all about Jesus! With that said, let’s begin reading in Luke chapter 2, starting in verse 1 and see what the Lord has for us this Christmas Eve.
As Luke opens up the story of the birth of Jesus he tells us that Caesar Augustus, Octavius, ruled Rome during this time and he ruled from 27 BC to 14 AD. We are also told that Quirinius was the governor, which is a little confusing. You see, he was governor over Syria in 6-9 AD but that is much too late for the birth of Jesus. Here is the thing, he also was in power prior to that, and the birth of Jesus was probably somewhere around 4 BC.
And it is Caesar Augustus who makes this decree for a census to be taken for taxation purposes. Now these men thought they were gods and many people believed their claims. Thus, they did as they pleased, they were in control and Caesar Augustus was no different. But that is not the case at all because apart from God we would be able to do nothing, for because of Him we live and breath.
Now here is the problem, if you call it a problem. Some 700 years before the birth of Christ the prophet Micah proclaimed, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.” Micah 5:2. You see, the Messiah, the eternal God, was going to become flesh and blood, born in the city of Bethlehem and specifically Bethlehem Ephrathah! God specifically pointed out which Bethlehem the Messiah was to be born in – not the one in Zebulun (Joshua 19:15) but the one in Judah, Bethlehem Ephrathah, some 6 miles from Jerusalem!
Here is the problem I was talking about. Joseph and Mary were living in Nazareth, which was 80 miles from Bethlehem. How was God going to get this family to journey that far when Mary is some 8 months plus pregnant? Not only that, the travel was tough, the roads were poor, it was dangerous. There were not fast food restaurants to stop and fill up your food tank. There were no motels along the way were you could stop and get refreshed. No sane, no rational person would travel with his pregnant wife that far, those were not the conditions for traveling. So how was God going to get Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem?
Well, in steps Caesar Augustus and his decree that everyone must be registered and there was no absentee registering! Since Joseph and Mary were from the town of Bethlehem, they needed to travel those 80 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem so they could be registered and ultimately taxed! Now do you think Caesar Augustus felt in control, that this was his plan? Of course he did and God was going to use it to move this family to the place they needed to be when their son was born – BETHLEHEM!
I think Solomon hits the nail on the head when he says in Proverbs 21:1, “The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.” The Living Bible puts this verse like this, “Just as water is turned into irrigation ditches, so the Lord directs the king's thoughts. He turns them wherever he wants to.” Yes, the Lord is in control whether you believe it or not and He will use our actions to fulfill His purposes!
Let me point this out to you also. Remember that Mary conceived of the Holy Spirit before she married Joseph, they were betrothed at this time. Here in verse 5 it says his “betrothed wife” but “wife” was added. It is not there in the original or the best manuscripts that we have. What does that mean? You see, they had not consummated their marriage or Joseph and Mary did not have sexual relations until after the birth of Jesus and then they enjoyed a healthy marriage relationship. In fact they had sons and daughters, according to the Bible.
Also, please understand that Bethlehem was not a happening place. It was so small they could not even gather 1,000 men for war. It surely wasn’t a wealthy city. And yet, in this small, dirty, poor, obscure city, the Messiah was to be born!
So what happens next? Well, let’s see, we need to get some decorations in the town, fix it all up. We need to get the marching band ready to announce His birth. The streets need to be cleaned and paved. The homes need to be fixed up. The town needs to be spruced up, the Messiah is to be born! Obviously that is what the Lord is going to do, isn’t He? Well, not exactly!
I was watching a concert last year and do you know what happened? A Super Bowl game broke out! I am amazed at the millions of dollars spent for these games, all the fanfare, all the interviews and stuff that goes on for just one sporting event and yet, here is the birth of the Messiah and it is nothing like that. When Jesus was born life was going on as usual, not much happening, he was probably born in a cave and Mary, this maybe 15 year old girl with the help of Joseph, births Jesus and He is wrapped in pieces of cloth to keep Him warm.
Why a cave? Because there was no room in the town, everyone was there to register and thus, they had to go to a cave because there was no for them. Folks, is your life so busy, especially this time of year, that you don’t have any room for Jesus? Now I don’t think any of us would admit that, but look at your life, examine your walk with the Lord and see if you spend more time with Jesus or apart from Him. Let me ask you a few questions to help gauge where you are. The focus here is what disturbs you the most. It goes like this:
- The Bible Friend
Folks, look at all that Joseph and Mary went through, they didn’t let anything stop them from reaching the destination that was before them, the birth of their son, the Messiah of the world! Did they understand all that this meant? I don’t believe so, not at this time, but folks, do we really understand the totality of God in our lives? I don’t think so and yet, don’t let that stop you from coming to Him and spending time with Him, being in His Word and in fellowship with Him, worshiping Him!
I do realize that this world seems a mess, in turmoil. Maybe your life right now is a mess, in turmoil. Maybe your marriage is a mess, in turmoil. Maybe your children are out of control, it is a mess, your family is in turmoil. What about your job, maybe it is a mess, in turmoil. And that list can go on-and-on but don’t lose sight of things. Let me explain:
Take the year 1809. The international scene was tumultuous. Napoleon was sweeping through Austria; blood was flowing freely. Nobody then cared about babies. But the world was overlooking some terribly significant births.
For example, William Gladstone was born that year. He was destined to become one of England’s finest statesman. That same year, Alfred Tennyson was born to an obscure minister and his wife. The child would one day greatly affect the literary world in a marked manner. On the American continent, Oliver Wendell Holmes was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. And not far away in Boston, Edgar Allan Poe began his eventful, albeit tragic, life. It was also in that same year that a physician named Darwin and his wife named their child Charles Robert. And that same year produced the cries of a newborn infant in a rugged log cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky. The baby’s name? Abraham Lincoln.
If there had been news broadcasts at that time, I’m certain these words would have been heard: “The destiny of the world is being shaped on an Austrian battlefield today.” But history was actually being shaped in the cradles of England and America. Similarly, everyone thought taxation was the big news – when Jesus was born. But a young Jewish woman cradled the biggest news of all: the birth of the Savior.
- Adapted from Charles Swindoll
You see, you can lose sight of Jesus not only because you are busy, but because you are overwhelmed with the situations you are facing, the things that are happening in your life. Listen to these words of Jesus as He opened up His ministry. We are told in Luke 4:16-21, “So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: ‘The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.’ Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.’”
The Lord has come, and it was the fulfillment of what the Old Testament prophet’s spoke of, what they said would take place, down to the tiniest detail! And Jesus opens up by saying that the Spirit of God has come upon Him to preach the Gospel to the poor, the good news to those who are spiritually bankrupt. Now, before we talk about the good news, was there bad news? You bet, man was dead in his trespasses and sins, separated from God by his sin with no hope of reconciling that problem.
But Jesus comes and says that He has good news for us who are spiritually poor, unable to save ourselves, and that is all of us folks. And the good news is that Jesus has come to pay in full the penalty for our sins, to pay the price completely for us so that we can become the righteousness of God in Him! You see, the only righteousness that God will accept is perfection, the righteousnesses of Christ and the only way to obtain that is by asking Him to be Lord and Savior of your life, to forgive you of your sins and He will! Paul put it this way in II Corinthians 5:21, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” I like the way The Living Bible puts this verse, “For God took the sinless Christ and poured into him our sins. Then, in exchange, he poured God's goodness into us!” I think that is very clear and it is not just good news, it is great news for all who receive Him into their lives as Lord and Savior!
Is your heart broken this morning over a situation you find yourself in? The Lord wants to heal it for you if you will let Him. Whatever the situation you find yourself in right now, you can give it to the Lord and allow His peace to fill your life. Paul put it this way in II Corinthians 1:3-4, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” You see, God the Father is our comfort; He is the God of all comfort!
Not only that, but Jesus tells us in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” You see, Jesus brings to us the comfort that we need, all we must do is come to Him.
And to finish up the Godhead we see the comfort of the Holy Spirit in our lives as we are told in Acts 9:23-31, “Now after many days were past, the Jews plotted to kill him. But their plot became known to Saul. And they watched the gates day and night, to kill him. Then the disciples took him by night and let him down through the wall in a large basket. And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. And he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. So he was with them at Jerusalem, coming in and going out. And he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed against the Hellenists, but they attempted to kill him. When the brethren found out, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him out to Tarsus. Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied.”
Not only do we see the Holy Trinity bring us the comfort that we need, but we also see God’s Word bring to us comfort as Paul tells us in Romans 15:4, “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.”
And lastly, we see our brothers and sisters in the Lord bring us comfort as Paul tells us in II Corinthians 7:5-7, “For indeed, when we came to Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were troubled on every side. Outside were conflicts, inside were fears. Nevertheless God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming, but also by the consolation with which he was comforted in you, when he told us of your earnest desire, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced even more.”
I do realize it is easier said than done, right? As I shared with you last week what Paul had to say about this and it is something we need to do and apply to our lives. He tells us in Philippians 4:8-9, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy — meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.”
You see, fill yourself up with the things of God and His peace will fill your life. You are to not only fill yourself up with the things of God, but do them, live out your faith, help others. I think a great way to lift your spirits is to help others, minister to them. You see, the reason so many Christians are down, depressed, discouraged is they are so focused on self and what they don’t have instead of dying to self and ministering to others. You need to focus on JESUS, OTHERS and then YOURSELF, and you will experience the JOY of the Lord in your life!
He goes on to speak to those that are in bondage to sin, and He is telling them that He can set them free. Folks, He is speaking to all of us! In John 8:31-32 we are told, “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’” Freedom from bondage of sin is accomplished by surrendering our lives, giving our lives to Jesus and let Him set us free from that bondage we find ourselves in!
Those that have been blinded by Satan’s lies need not be blind any longer because the Lord can open the eyes of the blind, and not only the physically blind, but more importantly, the spiritually blind!
And folks, we don’t need to be oppressed any longer because Jesus has given us liberty over this. That is the point that Jesus makes in John 10:10 as He compares the destructive works of Satan in people’s lives and what the Lord wants to do in us. He said, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
Tragically, as Jesus finished speaking these words in Luke chapter 4, we are told, “So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, ‘Is this not Joseph's son?’” Luke 4:22. They knew Jesus was special but they could not believe that He was the Messiah, come on, He was the son of Joseph! What they were doing was rejecting what the Scriptures were saying because it was going against what they believed. They rejected the words of Jesus and that is a dangerous thing to do!
Many do the same today. The Scriptures are clear, the babe in the manger grew to be the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world and He is coming back as the Lion from the tribe of Judah to set up His kingdom on this earth! You might find that hard to believe as did the people of Jesus’ day, the people of His hometown, but it is what the Scriptures are teaching us!
Listen carefully to what Paul tells us in Romans 5:12-21 regarding the sin we have through Adam and the life we can have through Christ. We are told, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned — (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous. Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
That is what our Lord has done for us, given to us this free gift that we must receive by faith, you can’t work your way into heaven because Jesus finished the work on Calvary for us. As I begin to rap this up this morning, let me share this story with you. We are told:
Pastor Clifford S. Stewart of Louisville, Kentucky, sent his parents a microwave oven one Christmas. Here’s how he recalls the experience: “They were excited that now they, too, could be part of the instant generation. When Dad unpacked the microwave and plugged it in, literally within seconds, the microwave transformed two smiles into frown! Even after reading the directions, they couldn’t make it work. Two days later, my mother was playing bridge with a friend and confessed her inability to get that microwave oven even to boil water. ‘To get this darn thing to work,’ she exclaimed, ‘I really don’t need better directions; I just needed my son to come along with the gift!’” When God gave the gift of salvation, he didn’t send a booklet of complicated instructions for us to figure out; he sent his Son.
- Source Unknown
It is not complicated; salvation is so simple that a small child can understand it. That is not the problem; the problem is our hard heart in not believing it. What a precious gift we have in Jesus. What a precious gift God has given to us, but why? Jesus said in John 3:16-21, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
That is our God, that is His love for us that He sent His Son, Jesus to pay for our sins and Jesus willingly stepped into a body of flesh to accomplish the payment for our sins! Folks, may we not be too busy to enjoy that fellowship with Him, look at what it cost Him so that we may enjoy that fellowship! And, if you don’t know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, what a gift that would be if you would receive Him today, before you leave this building this morning. All you need to do is say, “Lord, I know that I am a sinner and my sin has separated me from you. There is nothing that I can do about this in my flesh and thus, I come to you and ask you to forgive me of my sins and to be Lord of my life!” And do you know what happens when you do that? You are adopted into the family of God, you are a child of God!
Folks, Jesus is the reason for the season and not only that, He is the reason for everything we do and apart from Him we can do nothing! You see, He is not only our Savior but He is our Lord and we need to obey Him and follow after Him, His direction for our lives. And may we take the time to thank Him for the gift of life that He has given us, not just this time of year, but all year long! It is as Peter said, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.” I Peter 3:18. May you rejoice in all that God has done, is doing and will do in your life. Jesus is the reason, may we not forget that!