Luke 2:1-21 "Christ the Lord" Our story today is one of the most familiar in the Bible How Joseph and Mary went to the city of David, to Bethlehem, to register during the census of Caesar Augustus. How Mary and Joseph came to the inn, but there was no room. How Mary gave birth to Jesus in a stable, and laid him in the manger. And how the angels brought good tidings of great joy to the shepherds, who promptly came and found the baby Jesus. A familiar story, but one that we need to hear again and again. Because it is here, at Bethlehem, where our salvation begins. 1. Born in Bethlehem (2:1-7) God had said through the prophet Micah that from Bethlehem of Judah would come "one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days." (Micah 5:2). The ancient of days himself would become incarnate. The lesson the prophets had taught was that the line of David had failed. Isaiah said that our only hope was if God himself defeated our enemies! And yet at the same time, our hope had something to do with Bethlehem. But Joseph and Mary resided in Nazareth in Galilee. So God had to do something to get Mary to Bethlehem in order to fulfill what had been said by the prophet! And so in God's providence, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. Luke even identifies the particular registration (or census) as the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. [look at Quirinius/Quintilian] This would put the birth of Christ around the year 4 BC. And so 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, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. Each household was registered in their home town. Joseph, being a descendant of David, still considered Bethlehem his ancestral home. And so he went to Bethlehem to register. And he took Mary with him. After all, when Mary was found to be with child, everyone would have assumed that Joseph was the father. The way to deny responsibility would have been to divorce her which was the only way to get out of a betrothal. But since Joseph did not divorce her, everyone had every reason to believe that she was carrying his baby. Since she was pregnant, she was now his responsibility! So even though the wedding hadn't happened yet, they were considered as good as married. And so Joseph took Mary with him to Bethlehem. We tend not to think a whole lot of Joseph. But he obviously was a man of high character and firm faith. He would have to endure patiently the gossip ("he couldn't wait til the wedding!") and as they traveled, everyone could see that his betrothed was very pregnant. After all, if he told the truth he would be mocked and jeered: hey, I didn't do it, it was the Holy Spirit! That line wouldn't go very far. "Sure, buddy!" wink, wink, nudge, nudge, "we know all about that!" But all this managed to get Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem in time for the Christ to be born there. But when they reached Bethlehem, there was no place for them in the inn. Where have we heard this before? Back in the book of Judges we heard the story of the Levite from Ephraim and his concubine from Bethlehem in Judah (Judges 19-21). When he came to Bethlehem (the city where King David would be born), he was wined and dined and given splendid hospitality. But when he came to Gibeah in Benjamin (the city where King Saul would be born), there was no room for them and they would have had to spend the night in the square, had it not been for a kindly old man from Ephraim. But now, when the son of David arrives in his own hometown Beth-lehem, which means the House of Bread there is no room in the inn. There is no hospitality even for the son of David! A woman who was obviously nine months pregnant was denied hospitality. There is no hospitality in Bethlehem. He came to his own, but his own did not receive him. Even at his birth he was scorned and slighted. And so the Prince of Peace, the King of Kings, the one in whom all the promises will be fulfilled, is born in a stable. His first bed is a manger. When the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, he did not come as royalty he did not come with the pomp and ceremony of a royal birth: he came as an outcast, he came in poverty. 2. Proclaimed Christ by Angels (2:8-14) But there was one announcement fit for a king! And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. This seems to be a typical response when the angel of the Lord shows up! When the glory of the Lord is revealed, humanity responds with fear. And understandably so! Because the glory of God reveals our sin. When the glory of the Lord shines, we see how we have fallen far short of that glory, and we tremble. And the angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Why did God choose shepherds? I've heard some pastors say that shepherds were the down and out of society. If God wanted to pick someone who was down and out, why not tax collectors? Why didn't the angel appear to fishermen? Or bakers? Why shepherds? The answer is found in the importance of shepherds throughout Israel's history. The prophets regularly speak of the kings of Israel as shepherds which was rooted in the image of David as the shepherd-king. And Jesus was born in David's city, so it was fitting that the angel should appear to shepherds who were watching their flocks in the very hills where David had watched his flocks a thousands years before. But you gotta go back even further. The Israelites in Egypt were shepherds. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were shepherds. Even Abel was a keeper of sheep in Genesis 4. The seed of the woman, the Seed of Abraham, my Servant Israel, the Son of David all of these are associated with shepherding. And Jesus is both the good shepherd who cares for his sheep, and the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And so the angel appears to the shepherds, announcing the birth of the Messiah the anointed one the Christ, the one who will gather all the wandering sheep and bring them into his fold-- the one who will do this by laying down his life for the sheep! And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.' This is a strange sign! If you would see the Christ, then go to Bethlehem, and look for a baby in a cattle trough! For God's ways are not our ways. He sends his Son as a servant to endure humiliation, to endure the cross for us and for our salvation! And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!' God has done this he has sent his Son for his own glory. In order to bring peace to his people. In all the business of the Christmas season, hear the Word of the LORD! What are you looking for? Why are you so stressed out? If you have been caught up in the commercialization of Christmas, then hear the message of the angels: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!" It is only when you behold the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, that this peace comes to you! A baby in a cattle trough. What kind of sign is this? How do you see the glory of God in a stable? 3. Seen by Shepherds (2:15-20) But that is not what the shepherds said. The shepherds said, Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us. They believed the message and so they left their flocks, and they went to Bethlehem and found the child, and told Mary and others of what they had heard and seen. Truly, God's ways are not our ways! The Messiah does not arrive with the fanfare of a royal birth. Luke says nothing about the arrival of the wise men from the east. Luke speaks only of the visit of these humble shepherds. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. What do these things mean? Many wondered at the news that this baby was the Christ. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. Luke will use this phrase "treasured up" twice (again in 2:50). Gabriel had told that her son would "reign over the house of Jacob forever." But what did that mean? And how would it happen? Now she hears that her son is the Christ. So she receives the word of the Lord, concerning her son, and she ponders it. Luke is saying, Listen, O Theophilus! Listen, O you who love God! Heed the call of the angels! And give glory to God in the highest, because God has brought peace through the incarnation of his son, Jesus who is Christ, the Lord. 4. Circumcised and Named Jesus on the Eighth Day (2:21) 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. Just as John was circumcised on the eighth day, according to the covenant that God made with Abraham, even so was our Lord the Christ. It had to be the eighth day because there must be another day! There must be day beyond the seventh day beyond the Sabbath a day when God will give rest to his people. A new day, when God will bring a new creation! And as the circumcision of the foreskin signified: A day when the flesh of the Seed of Abraham will be cut off. And so on the eighth day, the son of Mary was circumcised, and was named Jesus Yahweh saves! How much did Mary understand? We don't know. Did she realize that this baby was both truly God and truly man? She knew that there was no human father! She knew that the Holy Spirit had done this in her. But whatever Mary understood, Luke calls us to believe that this Jesus is Christ the Lord. And that he was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary. Rejoice, O people of God! Because God has been faithful to his promises! And this baby lying asleep in the manger is no one other than the eternal Son of God, the one who was with God in the beginning. Because only God can save.