Luke's Perspective on the Christmas Story

Introduction

This morning we are continuing in our series of the 4 evangelists and there view of the Christmas Story.

We have looked at Matthew, Mark and this morning we will take a look at the Doctor’s view of the story.

As I said at the beginning of the series, Luke is all about Details, Details, Details.

I had to laugh, this week, I noticed that the Children’s lesson this week is on the topic of Christ’s Birth,

I walked over to Josh’s office and asked, “Why are you teaching this story this week, and not closer to Christmas.

Then I realized that we, during our church, will be discussing the same topic as the children.

God has such a sense of humor as we try to be smart in our planning, but He has a greater plan and works our all things in spite of our best plans.

So as we look at today’s scripture, let that thought hang on in your mind.

What have you planned for your life, and how has God worked out His plan in your life.

Who was Luke

To start off, like the other two Evangelist, we begin by looking at this person called Luke.

If you read the same version as me, you may have seen this in your reading of today’s verses.

English Standard Version Introduction

Luke documents Christ’s life from before his birth through his ministry, death, and resurrection. Jesus carried out his ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit, announcing the good news of salvation. He showed numerous times his compassion for the poor and the outcast. He fulfilled prophecy and carried out his purpose: to seek and save the lost. Luke gives the fullest account of Christ’s birth, and only Luke records the parables of the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son. Luke, a physician and a colleague of Paul, probably wrote this account in the early 60s A.D. He also wrote Acts.

This author’s state,

Luke gives the fullest account of the birth of Christ.

A reminder that all the four gospels together give the entire picture of Christ’s work from Creation to Cradle To the Cross and now in the Celestial World.

This morning as we look through the summary of the book we will look at the various characters in the story.

It is what has been played over the years to tell the story.

so let’s look at the story

Turn with me to the first chapter of the book of Luke and we are going to jump to the 5th verse

Luke 1:5 ESV

5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

When we go to Luke to hear the Christmas Story, we often begin in Chapter two.

Why

Because that is the details of the story of His birth,

But to understand the complete story of Christ’s Birth we must begin with Chapter One.

One person wrote,

Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 35A: Luke 1:1–9:20 The Infancy Prologue (1:5–2:52)

Luke’s story proper is prepared for by an “infancy gospel” which recounts in parallel the origins of John and Jesus, and establishes between them the relationship of transcending parallelism that is to prevail in later life

Luke’s Parallelisms between Jesus and John

Before we go deep into the story outlined in this gospel, I want to draw you back to some parallels in the story that Luke draws out in Chapter One Parallels that give us that

Ah Moments as we read through Scripture. Because there are many in this book.

The First Parallel is the two stories of the early life of Jesus and John the Baptist.

Each have the same pattern in their story.

The Announcement

Both begin with an announcement of the coming child to their parents.

The doctor didn’t confirm they were pregnant. She didn’t take an early pregnancy test. The news came before conception.

News brought to them from an angel.

To John’s father, Zacharias, he was told that Parenthood was just around the corner. News that was treated with doubt and consequence.

To Jesus’ earthly mother, that angel brought the same news of the expected child. News that was treated with questions and submission.

Both of the announcement had a miraculous twist to the news. To the first announcement, it seemed impossible not because she was old, rather advanced in years.

Folks, when you are gathering this Christmas with Family and that feeling of saying, “no, I’m too old to do that”, change your vocabulary to say.

I’m advanced in years. It sounds so much better.

To the second announcement, it seemed impossible because biologically it wasn’t possible.

When Luke, remember he was a doctor, brings the parallel stories together he shows his readers,

that the God we serve has power over the creation He created and can work outside the natural norms of His creations.

He can and brought life through a miraculous events.

The Mothers

The second parallel in the story of the children is their connection with the two mothers.

Cousins, years apart by age, but drawn together unknown to them, that God was working in their lives and will be for a long time.

Mothers that would future weep for their sons as they carry out their God Calling on their lives, but in the beginning there was a celebration and praise for allowing God to work through their lives.

It is a reminder for all of us to know that God has called each one of us, to be an agent of God’s Gospel to the people we come in contact with.

To celebrate God working in our lives.

Birth, Names, and Wonders

The next parallels that Luke points out are the births, Naming of the child, and the wonders that each birth brought forth.

Of course there is more information and wonder of Jesus’ birth, but let’s not forget the wonder John’s birth brought to the people.

Luke 1:64–66 ESV

64 And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. 65 And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea, 66 and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For the hand of the Lord was with him.

a wonder and amazement

The Blessings

Luke then shows the parallel between the two in their presentation of blessing. One from the father one from a onlooker but both of these blessings were done around the context of the temple.

An act of their faith bringing their child to the temple to honor God.

The Act of Dedicating your child.

That is one of the greatest joys I have as a pastor is to be a part of a families life as they bring their child to the Body, the church for Child dedication no matter what age the child is.

So Luke begins his Gospel with the coming news of the babies and unlike Mark that we looked at last week, he doesn’t get to the story of his ministry until the end of the third and beginning of the forth chapter.

The Christmas Story in Detail

Luke moves us along in his Narrative and in Chapter two, we see and hear what we have all come to be known as the Christmas Story.

Luke 2:1–3 ESV

1 In 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.

Let’s walk through the story and highlight the people, those Luke shows are important to the story.

Non- Believers

The first people mentioned in the developing of God’s Story is the involvement of non-believers.

It always amazes me when I see that God’s plan is not affected by those who don’t follow Him and that they are even used by God to carry out his plan.

The Roman government in all their earthly power were a part of the greatest story and were needed to carry out their power so that God’s power could be shown.

The family needed to be in Bethlehem, to fulfill the prophecy, for the delivery of Jesus and God used the local government to make sure this happened.

We serve a God that will carry out His plan and nothing can stand against it.

The next part of the story are the parents.

Luke 2:4-7

Luke 2:4–7 ESV

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.

The Parents

Notice how you need all four Gospels to understand the full picture of the Christmas Story.

Luke’s lineage lineup is a small comparison to that found in Matthew.

Luke summarizes that he was from David’s line while Matthew went into detail.

Luke seems to gloss over the scandal that was in the story of the pregnancy by simple stating,

His betrothed, Who was with child.

No time for questions.....rumours, or explanations.

then moves on to the delivery of the child, It happened and he was swaddled in cloth, placed in a manger,

because they were not in the hospital

sorry Inn.

There were a few details missing in this story

and some of these details are of a great significance that you may quickly over look as you read through this story.

First off, I’m not sure about you, but I’m glad our firstborn was born in a place surrounded by people who knew what to do and to help.

Who cares about the no room in the inn, Joseph, a new dad to be had to help his young and expecting wife to deliver this newborn miracle of life all by themselves.

There were no doctors, midwives, mothers or aunts around to help it was just them.

I some research I found out that the swaddling cloths were from Joseph that he would have carried around his waist in preparation for this time.

Cloths that would soon be of great significance to the story and another

Ah moment in the Christmas story.

Preparation and parallelism

One of the favourite things of mine to our children was to wrap them up in a blanket so tight that they couldn’t move. It was to help them feel safe and secure.

But this wrapping and swaddling in the story has a greater significance and purpose that will be brought out later in another one of Luke’s parallelisms.

Luke 2:8 ESV

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

The Shepherds

For years I had a view of the shepherds that I believe I had been mislead. As I mentioned the weeks before, I was always typecast in our Sunday School Christmas Pageant as a shepherd. Never Joseph, always a shepherd,

No I’m not bitter, really, because now I have a greater understanding of the role of these shepherds.

For years, through stories and teachers, I have been led to believe that the shepherds in the story were there to show us that God came first to the lowest people in the society.

The shepherds were those in society that were looked down upon, but I see that is a teaching that we have seen through the eyes of our western culture.

Let me give you another perspective. Another way of looking at the shepherds.

We are often told that there were shepherds out in the field, holding down the night shift of the watch.

If you have the NIV version, like I had growing up, the description of the shepherds give us the picture of these shepherds who lived in the fields,

They have taken this from the greek word chora (Kora) which is better translated as a specific region.

You see these were not ordinary Shepherds, They were shepherds that were in the same region as the family found themselves in at this time, Bethlehem.

Does that make it any clearer, Not if you don’t understand the geographical situation and purpose of Bethlehem.

Although the land was controlled by the Romans as this time in History, the Jewish faith was alive and functioning well.

Bethlehem was the bedroom community for the Center of the Faith, Jerusalem. People would make trips to the city to visit the temple and offer sacrifices for their faith.

God had a plan in motion of a sacrificial lamb was to be used to symbolize that access to God was through the blood of a spotless, perfect lamb.

Symbolism that one day God would provide the ultimate lamb that would once and for all take the place of those lambs.

But until that time, a perfect lamb without blemish or marks was used on a regular basis.

The problem, or situation is that there is a supply and demand issue for the people.

Supply of these lambs were needed for the temple and this is where Bethlehem came into play.

It became the place to raise these lambs.

It was a special occupation, these shepherds in this same region where the shepherds contracted to supply the sacrificial lambs.

Some would even describe their role in the likes of Royal Shepherds.

You see they would need to be with their sheep in the night and with them in case baby lamb was born in the night.

If the lamb was a male, these royal shepherds would take the newborn lamb and do all they could to protect this lamb. To keep it from being blemished.

They had a special birthing place and a holding place for these lambs.

This place or on the shepherd’s person would be strips of cloth and a process to wrap the newborn lamb so they would not thrash around and injure themselves.

These newborn lambs wrapped in cloth would then be placed in a special location that often looked like a manger.

Not a feeding trough for the animals, rather a special holding place for this sacrificial lamb.

With all that in our mind,

Let’s go back to the text.

Luke 2:8–12 ESV

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.”

The Angel announced the birth to the Royal Shepherds

This will be a sign.

A baby wrapped in cloths like your lambs, but this child will be the promised lamb of God.

The many years of wrapping lambs, placing them in the holding spot for protection, are now seeing and hearing that this promised lamb has come.

To me this was an Ah moment....

John’s view of the Christmas story starts to make its appearance,

More next week, but let me give you a sneak preview

John 1:29 ESV

29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

These shepherds knew what was happening, It was starting to make sense. The years of preparing their lambs were coming to an end.

As they begin to contemplate this wonderful news, they are accompanied by a host of angels praising God for the coming of the messiah as a child.

Have you grasped this wonderful story.

The news of this Child coming to the Shepherds were not to the lowest of people but to the very folks that for years have been preparing the lambs now are part of the story of the Lamb of God coming to the world.

Do you hold onto his excitement today.

Has the Lamb of God come into your world today.

The Christmas story that you have come to know can be a personal story for you today.

You see this Christ Child that came is God’s Son.

God, the creator of the world, the sustainer of life, left His place in Heaven to come and dwell with us. Immanuel with us.

Christ came to take the place of my sin, of your sin,

But there is a requirement for us today.

The free gift of salvation has come through this lamb but we need to come and accept this gift.

We need to come with our willing hearts and accept God gift for our lives.

To believe that Christ died for your sins, ask God to forgive your sins and come into your life. To Immanuel with you. To have his Spirit come into your life and live with you.

If you have not given your life over to Jesus, you need to do that this Christmas season. It would be your greatest gift recieved ever.

You see as the shepherds made their way into the town they knew where to go.

They had seen it time and time again with their lambs and now wondered with amazement and awe as they saw the true lamb of God lying in the manger.

A figure of things to come when Christ would be on the cross taking the place of our sins.

It’s now wonder what happened next.

Luke 2:17–20 ESV

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.

Imagine hearing this story from the shepherds,

The Greek word is a word of wonder and amazement.

Not marvelling at the shepherds part,

but that of the story.

It’s no wonder that they left the scene praising God and glorifying His name.

Does this Christmas season bring about glory and honor to Him.

Are you going around sharing the Good News, That this Christ was born to redeem us from our sins.

To redeem those around us from their sins.

We have the greatest gift to give to anyone who can hear.

That this season of celebration is not just during the holidays, but every day of our lives.

Luke ends his Christmas story bringing back the parallelism to John’s life before ministry.

He was named that name given to the family from the Angel like John,

He was brought to the temple to praise God.

His arrival was blessed by two individuals,

Finally He grew in grace and truth.

What was consistent throughout this narrative and the last thing I want to bring to our attentions

is Mary’s response to the whole event.

From the first hearing of the news from the angel to the time of the temple visit when Jesus was 12, Mary was storing up treasures of God’s Goodness for her life.

Luke 1:38 ESV

38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Luke 1:48 ESV

48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

Luke 2:19 ESV

19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.

Luke 2:33 ESV

33 And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him.

Luke 2:51 (ESV)

51 ....And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.

Mary heard that the promised Messiah was her child, the child she delivered would soon be delivering her.

As you fast forward to the day that Mary sat at the foot of the cross, weeping for the apparent loss of her child, she must have wondered once again on the Promise of God for her life.

And God did not fail. He raised her Son from the dead so that through faith in this,

we like Mary can have eternal life.

In Summary

As the worship team comes forward to lead us in the song of response, will you respond today to the Good news of Great Joy.

As Charlie brown cries out in His play, “Does anyone know the true meaning of Christmas?”, and Linus comes forth and tells the Luke narrative,

That great news is for us today.

This child born this day, is the saviour of the World.

Response to Worship

Benediction