Luke 2:1-21

81. Significance of that number?

81 days until… Christmas!

Which means 62 sleeps till CCS carols– mince pies, Hark the Herald, Christmas jumpers…

81 sleeps till Christmas… Except news flash— we’re going there early tonight!

We’ve just been working through the start of Luke’s gospel here at the 6 o’clock for the last few weeks, and tonight we’re arriving at “the Christmas passage”. The shepherds, the angels, the birth of Jesus Christ.

And this is a brilliant privilege. Because so many of us have heard these events retold and retold and retold every Christmas time— it can sometimes make us… Overfamiliar.

Especially as often they’re retold in our culture in a slightly… Mythical, make-believe sort of way. As though they didn’t really happen.

But tonight we’re looking at what really happened when Jesus was born, the real historical, grimy, glorious event.

The scene’s been set in ch1. The angel Gabriel’s told Mary she’ll give birth to a son.

Last week John the Baptist was born, Jesus’ cousin. And we heard his father Zechariah praising God for what that meant was about to happen:

“the rising sun will come to us from heaven, to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

And so, the scene is set for the sun to rise. For light to shine in the darkness. For peace to invade our world. With the birth of an even more extraordinary child than John…

1) The Messiah is born… in humble poverty (1-7)

The Christmas reading, right? But try to forget the turkey and the tinsel, let’s get into it. Point 1, vv1-7– the Messiah is born… In humble poverty

And Luke begins in classic Luke style— by giving us the real life historical context of Jesus’ birth.

He doesn’t say, “A long time ago, in a land far far away.” Luke isn’t making up a myth, he’s reporting actual history.

V1– In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.

Augustus. A real person– Rome’s first emperor, in power 27BC-14AD.

V2–This was the first census [not the 2nd] that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.

Again, we know about governor Quirinius from the history books.

V3– everyone has to go and register, v4– the news reaches Joseph up in Nazareth, so he and Mary have to head down to his hometown Bethlehem to register. Real people, real events, real places.

Now. Brief aside.

Sometimes people take issue with these verses here about whether they really are historically accurate.

And it’s become such a hot topic it’s worth pausing on it for a moment.

There are basically 2 issues people have.

Firstly, dating issues. Historians are pretty sure that Quirinius– the guy mentioned in v2– he didn’t become governor of Syria until about 10 years after Jesus was born. So that seems like a bit of a problem.

Secondly, Census issues. People are like hang on– why would Joseph, a non-Roman citizen, be required to go to his home town to register? We don’t have evidence of Roman census’ requiring that, outside of this account in Luke.

And so their conclusion is, well Luke’s just got it wrong.

Which can be quite alarming if you’re a Christian, or quite offputting if you’re looking into Christianity.

But we have to remember— this is 2000 years ago! Which means— lots of the Roman documents and official records that did exist when Luke was writing, which people could have checked up on back then— they don’t exist any more!

And so when someone says, Well Luke’s the only person who mentions x or y, the Roman records don’t back it up— so what? We don’t have all the records any more– big deal.

Having said that. On the census issues. We do have census documents from elsewhere in the Roman empire that describe non-citizens empire going to their hometowns to register for a census.

— In cases where they owned a plot of land there, and were living away from home temporarily.

Which… sounds a lot like Joseph, here in Luke.

And as for the dating issue. Well, interestingly if you look at the original Greek words in v2– Luke doesn’t actually call Quirinius the “governor” in Greek. Even though that’s how it’s often translated.

Luke uses a more generic word for “ruler” here (hegemon). And we do actually have a later document telling us Quirinius was a procurator in Syria before he was the governor.

So it seems likely to me that Luke’s saying, guys this isn’t the 2nd “Quirinius census” when he was the governor, it the first one from back when he was a different official, the procurator.

As in, Luke’s clarifying. He’s being a helpful historian!

So. There is every reason to think this is real history. Feel free to ask more in the Q&C, there’s a very helpful article that gets into the detail on this I’d be happy to share as well.

But for now, let’s get back to the story.

a) The Messiah is born…

So, v4. Joseph travels goes back to Bethlehem, v5- along with Mary. They make the 85 mile journey south from Nazareth down to Bethlehem.

And they arrive in Bethlehem and find a place to stay, just in time for the baby to be born. But look again at v4.

Luke really wants us to notice something here. Joseph went to “BETHLEHEM” (cough cough). The town of DAVID (cough). Because he belonged to the HOUSE AND LINE OF DAVID.

Lot of emphasis on the David stuff, isn’t there.

Why? It’s because, Luke wants us to connect this baby who’s about to be born… With Old Testament prophecy about him.

Two prophecies in particular actually that he wants us to be aware of. Firstly Micah 5:2, writing 700 years earlier.

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”

This insignificant little village, Bethlehem… Micah’s prophecy says it’s going to be the birthplace of a ruler. A king, a Messiah.

But he’ll be a Messiah who’ll be somehow… born, ancient. There’s a hint of the divine about him isn’t there– “whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”

But this is why Bethlehem is significant, this is why Luke’s drawing attention to it. “This is the place with the prophecy guys!”

Second OT prophecy: Isaiah 9:6-7, again 700 years before Jesus. Similar prophecy, but takes things further:

6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.

So the Messiah will reign on David’s throne— as in, he’ll be descended from David, part of David’s dynasty.

And he really will be divine. He’ll be called mighty God, everlasting father.

Again, Luke’s really drawing attention to this— “the house and line of David”.

Confession– I’ve been known to get really into epic fantasy novels. Been reading Wheel of Time recently– anyone read/watched?

Typical part of genre— one of the characters discovers they're the focus of ancient prophecies. 

In WoT— the main character keeps finding out more and more of these prophecies and how they apply to him. Very exciting!

All these books get the idea of prophecy fulfillment from LotR of course. You know, Aragorn, the promised King, the sword that was broken, being remade etc.

But LotR… Gets the whole idea— straight from the Bible.

We have all these OT prophecies about a ruler, a Messiah. What he’d be like, which family he’d be from, where he’d be born…

And so here — Luke’s using all his writing techniques to put red flashing arrows around the coming birth of this baby to say— this is the moment. The prophecies are being fulfilled, right now.

Bethlehem. A descendant of David. A baby born who is ancient. Mighty God. Come to rule and bring ever-increasing peace. It’s happening. He’s here.

But isn’t the way he arrives… Extraordinary?

V6– “While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and Mary gave birth to her firstborn, a son.”

Now there’s nothing unusual here, this is a normal human birth. By which I mean— have 3 children, seen 2 births (missed one by a few seconds– ask me about that another time).

But normal human births are messy, and noisy, and there’s blood and other fluids, and they almost never go according to plan, often traumatic, and just very very very undignified.

And isn’t it extraordinary… That the Messiah, the promised one, the Lord God himself— that this is the way he chose to enter our world? Extraordinary.

And not just the manner of his birth but the circumstances of it.

This is where most babies in the UK are born.

But for this baby. Remember— quite comfortably the most important baby who’s ever been born through all time…

V7— She wrapped in in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

Now most of us are so used to this from nativity plays, christmas cards, christmas carol services all our lives that we just– it’s almost impossible for us to feel the right level of shock at this.

But if you can delete the Christmas card from your head a moment, what we’re talking about here is probably an overcrowded, single-roomed peasant home.

The family and guests would all live and sleep upstairs on like a raised floor, the animals would be downstairs. Mary’s going through labour in these conditions.

And because it’s so overcrowded and people are trying to sleep upstairs, she’s relegated downstairs to the animals with her minutes-old baby.

Where it’s dark. And it stinks of manure. And there’s wet straw poking into your back.

And when she’s finished breastfeeding him, or needs to change his nappy or anything– she has to lie him down in an animal feeding trough, because that’s cleaner than the floor. And otherwise he might be trampled by a cow or something.

I mean— isn’t it totally disgusting?

For a modern day prince, if they were born here that would be considerably below par. We’d be shocked they only got that kind of treatment.

For the Messiah. Just— extraordinarily humble beginnings. Outrageously humble. And poor. And lowly.

And I want to say… It’s brilliant. Isn’t that brilliant?

Watched film earlier this week, Good Fortune. Recommend— quite funny, Keanu Reeves from Matrix plays an unintelligent angel. With tiny wings.

Point of film is to expose what life is like for people in the zero hour contract, gig economy.

That level of stress and poverty, film’s saying— you just can’t appreciate what that’s like if you’re rich and stable unless somehow you get to walk in the shoes of someone on a zero hours contract.

Which is what happens to Seth Rogan’s character, who’s this multibillionaire tech bro. Kind of swaps places with a zero-hours guy, to hilarious effect.

But when it comes to God. When it comes to Jesus.

He can appreciate what it’s like to live in stress. In poverty. In humble circumstances.

Because that’s how his life began— at the very bottom rung of society. And that’s how his life continued.

When God comes to earth— he doesn’t do it in the way you’d expect. He comes in humility, and I love him for it.

I was thinking— how would you expect the Messiah to arrive on earth?

Probably you’d expect him to pick an era of human history after the advent of modern medicine.

Surrounded by all the top doctors

In a top hospital. Or more likely, private residence.

But then I thought— in fact you’d probably expect him not to be “born” at all but to just arrive, already as a man, right?

But the fact that he is born. He enters the world— if I can put it starkly— through a birth canal. And then arrives in such humble circumstances.

Doesn’t it make the Messiah, the Lord— so much more… approachable?

He’s humble. He’s not above us, mere mortals. He’s not above the grit and grime of normal life.

He’s not going to be aloof if I approach him as I am, dirty, normal, unpolished. Like– he’s literally down to earth.

He’s always going to take an interest in my “little” worries and concerns. He’s always going to be able to empathise. He’s been there.

Another thing that’s brilliant– doesn’t the weirdness and the shock of Jesus’ birth make it all the more believable? As in, you wouldn’t make up a story like this, it seems too… blasphemous. 

Like, some of the old pagan religions have stories about their gods coming to visit earth but it’s nowhere near as demeaning or humbling as this.

The madness of this event actually helps me to believe it’s true.

And one more thing I love— doesn’t this make Jesus… all the more magnificent.

That even though he is God, the eternal one, God the Son… He’d step down as far as this. For us. He is a brilliant Messiah.

But. The circumstances of Jesus’ birth are not the last time God does something completely unexpected in his life.

Point 2– angels proclaim the news… to humble shepherds.

International friends— I don’t know if this is normal where you come from but in the UK it’s traditional for school kids before Christmas to put on a nativity play every year, acting out the story of Jesus’ birth.

And it’s quite big deal which part you get… Hands up— anyone been

Shepherd?

Wise man?

Innkeeper?

Mary or Joseph?

Donkey?

But again, this just means we’re SO used to the story, the characters– yeah obviously there were shepherds— we just completely miss the shock factor of v8.

As in, I think we’re meant to be completely thrown by the change of scene, “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.”

OK Luke, I mean obviously there are shepherds around but what has that got to do with anything?

Bit of context— 1st century shepherds in Palestine? Nobodies. Lowest rung of society.

In fact, worse than nobodies in this Jewish context, because their job actually makes them ceremonially unclean.

They’re too busy with the sheep to go through with all the ceremonial handwashing and rituals– they can’t keep up, and so not only are they poor, and busy, and unimportant, they’re also looked down on. Morally despised.

And so v8 it’s like, Why are we talking about shepherds of all people.

Which means what happens next is completely… Bananas!

V9— an angel suddenly appears next to them. Yes, you heard that right— an angel. Of the Lord. Appears to these nobodies, these shepherds.

And they’re terrified. Of course they are, angels are terrifying beings, sinless, mighty, they exist in the presence of the glory of the Lord.

And so the angel says, No no calm down, v10— “I bring you good news– gospel– that will cause great joy for all the people.”

And he goes on to announce Jesus’ birth. To these guys. To shepherds, nobodies. Before anyone else hears about it.

I mean, wow. Brilliant isn’t it— in the same way Jesus being laid in a manger is brilliant. Humble shepherds get to hear first.

So the angel tells them about who’s just been born, v11. This baby is the Davidic King, born in David’s town, the Messiah we’ve been waiting for. 

And he’s also the Lord– God himself, at last coming to visit his people. 

And he’s also the Saviour. The hopes of a solution to our sins, the burden being removed– this boy can do that for us.

It’s a dizzying constellation of promises and hopes and longings… All gathering together in this one baby boy, Jesus. Everything we’ve been waiting for, desperate for, is being fulfilled in this one person, all at once!

Good news. Of great joy. For all the people.

This is the day the world changed. From languishing to laughing. From expecting to experiencing. From BC, before Christ– to AD, Anno Domini, in the year of the Lord.

You know the 6th century Monk (Dionysius Exiguus) who originally worked out the dates that give us our calendar BC and AD– he got it a few years off, Jesus was probably born in 5 or 6BC.

But the idea behind it— to center all of human history around this one event, the birth of the Saviour, the Messiah, the Lord. 

Everything before was countdown to that moment. Everything after is the Year of the Lord. Exiguus got that bang on, didn’t he.

Good news. Great joy. For all the people.

And then— BAM suddenly there’s a whole army of angels (that’s what “host” means– army) right there on the hillside with them.

And– in case you think this is kind-of standard Bible fodder, angels appearing. It’s not.

Even to have seen 3 angels so far in Luke is extremely unusual in the Bible, and to have a whole company, maybe hundreds, maybe more— visibly present on earth, that just doesn’t happen.

This is a special, once-in-an-epoch moment. And they’re not quiet, these angels– they are bellowing out praise to God.

I mean I wonder what it sounded like. Whether you could hear the noise from Bethlehem? Like sometimes I can hear the big gigs down at St Mary’s stadium from my house? I wonder what the poor sheep made of it all?

But the angels’ song— They’re praising God for everything Jesus’ birth signifies.

“Glory to God in the highest heaven” – they’re saying, God has revealed his true colours, his glory- in this moment.

The Lord, the Saviour, the Messiah— lying in a manger. That’s our God, glory to him, he’s the Lord who is humble.

And “on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests”-- They’re saying, this baby is here to bring peace. Remember Isaiah 9 earlier?

6 And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.

This is what it means for the Messiah to arrive. Peace- total spiritual and physical rest and wellbeing is now available.

Peace on earth… Salvation. For all who come to this King.

So the angel gig finishes. And the shepherds obviously rush straight to Bethlehem. Like there’s any other option— of course they go to find this baby.

And they find the house, and Mary and Joseph, and they see the baby in the manger.

And it’s so interesting the angel had said back in v12– the sign that this extraordinary baby has been born will be… That you’ll find him lying in a manger.

As in, you might expect the sign to have been— an army of angels will appear and start singing.

But no, the sign that God has come to earth, that the Messiah has arrived— is his humility. The manger.

The shepherds must’ve been experiencing such theological whiplash— one minute thousands of angels, the next minute– straw, manure, a newborn probably still covered with birth fluids.

But that’s the sign. That he is the Lord.

And they believe it. And they go home spreading the word. Glorifying and praising God.

That’s their response to all this. Praising God, spreading the word.

And just as we come towards an end, into Q&C… What’s your response?

It’s a bamboozling series of events here in Luke ch2. The Messiah born in humble poverty. Angels proclaiming the news to humble shepherds.

I think responding like the shepherds- praising God, telling anyone and everyone about what’s happened– that’s a great response!

But I’d love us to spend the final couple minutes responding like Mary in v19. Mary’s response? Mary treasured up all these things. And pondered them in her heart.

Can we just sit with her and ponder for a moment? What is she pondering, I wonder?

The events of the day— of course. Giving birth for the first time. In such extreme circumstances.

The visit from those shepherds, their story about the angels. I guess she’s also thinking about the last few months, how much her life has changed.

But above all. Surely what she’s pondering must be this.

The contrast between who her baby is. And who he seems to be for.

Who her baby is. The Messiah. The Saviour. God himself.

And who he seems to have come for. The humble. Born in filth and poverty. Announcing himself first of all… To simple shepherds.

And maybe as Mary turns this astonishing, paradoxical contrast over in her mind…

Maybe she’s starting to realise that… The salvation Jesus brings really will be for… Anyone. 

The people God is interested in really will be… The unexpected. The lowly. The humble. The sinful. The weak.

Let me ask you — Is that something you’ve pondered? Something you’ve grasped?

Maybe you’re not quite sure where you stand with Jesus. You love the idea of what he brings. Salvation. Peace. But could it really be for me, you think? Even… Even me?

Answer. Emphatically, yes. Jesus has come for you.

Or maybe you’re someone who really does believe. But you often find yourself… disqualifying yourself?

I believe, but… I’m a terrible Christian, I don’t know enough, I’m always messing up, will I really be OK with God?

Jesus’s birth— it’s very clear. Yes, he has come for you.

Maybe it’s different, maybe you’re someone who thinks— well of course Jesus came for me. I’m pretty together, pretty well-behaved. Maybe I’m pretty religious, a church-goer.

Jesus’ birth says to you— actually be warned. He didn’t come and associate with the entitled. He came for the humble. Is that you?

And all of us. Those of us who do know Jesus, who see how brilliant he is, how little we deserve him but yes- he came for us.

Is there anyone in your life. Or perhaps on the periphery of your life. Who might think at this point, Jesus isn’t for me. Who we could gently and warmly say— well actually. He is.

Moment to ponder.