Luke 2:1-20
Jesus was
born in Bethlehem
When we meet each other on Christmas
Day, we would greet each other “Merry Christmas”. But why is Christmas a joyful
day of celebration?
The Bible in Luke recorded the first
Christmas, where 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.
And the angel said to them, “Fear
not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the
people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savoir, who is
Christ the Lord (vv.10-11).
The birth of Jesus is such joyful
news, and we are to rejoice and celebrate because of two reasons. The first
reason is:
God's Love Prevails
Among Men
The Bible tells us that God so loved
the world that in order to save the fallen world from sin and destruction, he
sent his only begotten Son into the world, born in flesh, lived among men, and known
by the name Jesus.
Jesus is also called the Christ or Messiah,
the anointed one. In ancient Israel, people poured oil on someone's head to
declare he was chosen as a prophet or king by God. So, Jesus was born to be king
and prophet as Old Testament had long prophesied to come.
About the year 4 BC, Jesus was born
in Palestine during the rule of the great Roman Emperor, Caesar Augustus. So,
Jesus was not really born in 1 AC.
Augustus passed a decree that all the
people should be registered. So, the peoples all went to be registered, each to
his own town.
And Joseph, the father of Jesus 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 his wife, Mary.
And while they were there, the time
came for Mary to give birth.
Mary gave birth to her firstborn son
and wrapped him in cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place
for them in the inn.
Please take note of this: The humble
and fragile baby Jesus is a stark contrast to the magnificent Augustus. By a
royal decree, the incarnated Son of God, who is the King of kings, had to be born
in a humble manger in Bethlehem as a baby.
However, this scenario actually testifies
to the wondrous work of God, that Jesus, born in Bethlehem is to fulfil the Old
Testament prophecy 700 hundred years ago, in Micah 5:2. God’s work is so
wonderful!
Augustus was a great emperor. He ushered
in the golden era of Roman Empire. People hailed the born of Augustus to be
“good news” and the emperor is a “saviour” to all his subjects. Some says, Augustus had made the month of
August to be special for having 31 days.
Luke is here using the same terms to challenge
the imperial claims. Luke maintains that the birth of Jesus Christ is really
the ‘good news’, because Jesus is the real ‘saviour’ who saves all his people
and his kingdom is eternal.
The shepherds, keeping watch over
their flocks by night, came from the social grassroots, the lowly class of people.
The Angel is a mysterious and sublime being, but he delivered the good news to
these ordinary, humble shepherds.
The angel said to them, "And
this will be a sign for you: you will find “a baby wrapped in cloths and lying
in a manger” (v.12)
“A baby wrapped in cloths and lying
in a manger” served as a tag, to enable these humble shepherds to find the Saviour.
The shepherds were the first group of
people to receive the revelation concerning the birth of the Saviour. God is
gracious and merciful to the poor and weak. He lifts them up.
Jesus lived on earth for 33 years. He
was fully divine and fully human. He experienced temptation. He leaned on the power
of the Holy Spirit to overcome the temptation of the world. He lived a sinless
life.
Jesus travelled around Galilee, preaching
God’s word to people so that they could know God and understand the gospel.
Jesus also ministered to peoples’
needs by healing them of sickness and casting out the demons.
At the end, he even sacrificed his
life, died on the cross to redeem sinners. But three days later he rose from
death so that whoever believes in Him, will also overcome death and have
eternal life.
Today, no matter who you are, even as
low as the grassroots shepherds, also can come to encounter Jesus Christ and
receive his salvation.
Many Christians who are seated here
can witness that Jesus has saved them from sin, disillusion and hopelessness.
He has elevated them and transformed their lives.
We have experienced God’s love in our
lives. Our sins are forgiven and we are embraced by God unconditionally. That
is why Christmas is such a joyful day for us.
God is so gracious and loving to us.
For this reason, we also wish that our family members, relatives, colleagues
and friends to know this God. By accepting Jesus as your saviour, you can also
experience the love of God, be blessed by him.
We rejoice over the birth of Jesus
Christ because of the second reason:
In Weak, Lowly
and Painful Situation, God is Working There
Jesus is the King of kings, the Son
of God in heaven, but he manifests the act of love through emptying himself,
undergo self-sacrifice, taking on a simple and humble form.
Can you imagine: “A baby wrapped in
cloths, lie in a manger”, born in such a dirty place, and also accepts the
worship of the humble shepherds. I am sure none of us had been born in such a
lowly situation!
God's promised Saviour, the Messiah was
born in such a humble way so that the shepherds could find him. They could
never find the Messiah elsewhere, not in high and glamorous places.
They found baby Jesus in a weak,
humble, and ordinary state. And then they acknowledged that it was God’s
wondrous act of salvation. They rejoiced at the working of God and gave Him the
glory.
Today, we are prone to find God’s
works taking place in spectacular and glamorous ways.
That is why in lowly state, poverty, in
sickness and pain, suffering and difficulties we would doubt God’s presence,
and refuse to acknowledge that God is working. We ask “Where is God”?
As a result, we miss the wonderful works
of God and thus losing the joy and peace from God, and entrenched in self pity
all the time.
The lowly birth of Jesus Christ
reveals that he is gracious to the lowly people and those who are suffering.
Jesus is here to identity with them, to lift their burdens and sufferings.
Today we can accept our humble
identity, weakness and difficulties we are facing because God's grace and hope is
available in the midst of human weaknesses.
Let’s now look around us and start
appreciating that God is working in our midst and rejoice over God’s salvation.
Likewise, Jesus was crucified on the
cross - the simple, lowly and shameful emblem. Yet it is by the cross that we
are redeemed from sin and receive eternal life.
We can encounter Jesus even when we
are in low and difficult circumstances. Jesus accepts us even when we fail in
many undertakings. Jesus is always there to embrace us, saying, “Come, you are
my precious child!”
This is indeed something great that we
could celebrate with joyfully!
Calling and
Praying
Today,
we struggle very hard to achieve health and wealth, loving relationships, career,
honour, authority, and so on. To desire and go after these things is not wrong.
It is wrong when we think we will surely have lasting happiness, satisfaction,
purpose and fulfilment if we achieve these things.
The
reality is: If we fail to achieve things, people will despise us as losers. Our
lives become miserable.
If we
obtain these things, we soon will realize that they do not bring us lasting
fulfilment and happiness. For these things are “idols”. They are not God. They
can’t give us true happiness and the purpose of life.
Some Christians
may also have “idols” that replaced the true and living God. They have just accepted
Jesus by words of mouth but do not maintain a relationship with Jesus.
That’s
why their lives are also uneasy and overwhelmed by anxiety. People who do not
have a relationship with Jesus, will not have peace and joy, but only struggles
and exhaustion.
Besides,
we ought to know that life is uncertain and changes all the time. For whatever
reason, one day we could lose our fame, profit, power, love, wealth, career.
Then we
will stumble and be depressed. We might even be unable to face reality and seek
to end our own lives by then.
Today the good news is that whether
in richly state or lowly condition, Jesus is there with you. You can accept Him
as your Lord and saviour.
In this
way you are accepted as the sons and daughters of God. With God as your guarantee and refuge, your
lives will be safe and steady, full of joy and purpose.
For God
is not any ‘idol’, but the omnipotent creator of this world and he loves you.
He will take care of you.
Today,
if you had taken the long way round, journeying through countless struggles and
pursuing wrong goals to obtain happiness, it is time to turn back and receive
Jesus as the Lord of our lives.
Through
Jesus Christ, we can return to the embrace of God. And we will be transformed to be a new
man and receive lasting happiness, peace, satisfaction and purpose in life.
