Christmas 2012 Part 3

Christmas 2012

Part 3

“The Arrival”

Luke 2:4-7 “Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into 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 wife, who was with child. 6 So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”

So far we have looked at the Immaculate Conception of Jesus in the womb of Mary, then the Journey she and Joseph made from Galilee to Bethlehem.

Now this time we’re going to look at the arrival itself, and focus on the fact that there was “no room for them in the Inn.”

One of the things that strikes me—this was the birth of God in flesh.

The King of all Kings, the very incarnation of God in human form was about to take place as Joseph and Mary knocked on the door of this Inn in Bethlehem.

Very God was invading earth to become one of us—to feel our pain, to identify with our condition, to walk among us, and ultimately to die on a cross for our sin.

And yet people all around the event of His birth missed it.

Aside from the story of Christ’s birth the first Christmas morn, this is a story of different people that missed the greatest defining moment in the history of man!

So, let’s look at four people that missed the birth of Jesus Christ, and the reasons why:

The Innkeeper

We read, “There was no room for them in the Inn…”

That one fateful night a knock came at the door.

Outside stood a concerned looking man and a very pregnant young woman.

Clearly they were distressed.

The Innkeeper was told that she was about to give birth and they needed a room.

Anyone’s heart would have been moved by the sight.

They were cold, tired, had traveled 80 miles over around a week’s time, and now the Child was coming.

Yet the Innkeeper had no room, both in his home and in his heart.

We have to wonder where his compassion was?

Not only did he turn them away, but there is no sense that he attempted to find them lodging elsewhere.

The Innkeeper’s problem was his BUSYNESS—he was just too preoccupied with making money, paying bills, taking care of his own concerns to be concerned with them.

If only he had known that the most significant Person in the history of mankind was at his door in the womb of His mother, he would have flung it wide open.

He would have offered his own room, or removed others to make room for the King!

After all, if Jesus had been born there, his hotel would have gone down in history as the most famous hotel of all time!

As if to perhaps calm his conscience a bit, he tells Mary and Joseph they can go around back to the stables.

There they could lay their blanket down and hope for the best.

He did not call for any help as with a nursemaid, or some helpful woman—he had no time to be bothered.

In the Innkeeper we see so many of us—we have no time, no place for Jesus.

Some of us in an attempt to ease our conscience relegate Him to the backyard of our life.

He is not front and center, not given a place of prominence, but we can at least say we haven’t done away with Him completely.

The Innkeeper missed an event that billionaires would give their billions to see, that hundreds of millions of others would have traveled from any distance to behold.

Are we too busy for Him today?

The SECOND PERSON to miss Jesus was:

Herod

Matt.2:1-3 “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled…”

Herod was a politician.

He was concerned only with power, wealth, fame and with keeping his position.

So on hearing of the birth of a king, Herod’s immediate response was to feel threatened.

In Matthew’s account, we see that Herod pretended to want to find this new King and worship Him.

But in reality, he only wanted to kill the baby Jesus to remove the threat.

Our world is full of Herods—people who greatly fear that someone else will take their throne away.

Modern-day Herods are people who want to determine their own careers, be masters of their own fate, chart their own destiny.

They won’t allow anything to interfere with their ambitions, their power, or their positions.

They loathe the idea of Jesus Christ taking top place in their life.

They see Jesus as a threat and so they miss Christmas—they miss Jesus Christ taking residence in their own hearts.

Later, Jesus would say to these kinds of people:

“For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matt.16:26)

A THIRD GROUP that missed the first Christmas were:

The Religious leaders

We are told that when Herod was told by the wise men of the King of the Jews that had been born, he “…gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, and inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:”

This is stunning!

Why? Because these religious leaders knew exactly where the Christ Child was to be born!

They had studied the Messianic prophecies ever since Moses had told them in Deut.1815 that a great Prophet would one day be born.

At the time of Jesus’ birth they were under terrible Roman oppression.

The entire nation longed for the arrival of this Promised One.

And yet here are the theological experts, the guardians of spiritual truth, and they don’t even bother to walk a few miles to Bethlehem to find out if the Messiah has been born!

The religious leaders missed Christmas out of indifference, good old apathy.

In truth, they felt they didn’t need Him.

In their minds they kept the law and were everything God could want them to be.

They were good in their own minds and profoundly proud.

People like the Religious leaders are all around today.

These are the ones who boast of never getting a traffic ticket, of living a good life, of doing good things for others, of leading a law abiding life.

Through their arrogance they do not see a need for a Savior.

Like the religious leaders wouldn’t travel a few miles to Bethlehem to find the baby Jesus, they won’t walk down the block to a church to find Him.

They don’t care about the remedy for their sin because they don’t believe they have the disease.

Yet Scripture says:

“Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.”—2 Cor. 4:4

The Bible says that we all need a Savior, that:

“There is none among us that is righteous, no not one.”

“No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless.”

“No one does good, not a single one.”—Rom.3

We have all broken God’s law and have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God!

This is why the Prophet Isaiah said:

“But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. 6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.”—Is 53:5-6

These Religious leaders knew these verses like the back of their hands yet even they missed the first Christmas through INDIFFERENCE.

And then finally, a fourth group that missed the first Christmas were:

All the inhabitants of Jerusalem

Again, King Herod did not hear of the birth of a king alone.

The Bible records that, “King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem.”—Matt.2:3

Out of all the inhabitants of Jerusalem that heard of Jesus’ birth, only a group of shepherds watching over their flocks by night came to see Him after angels told them of the birth.

These shepherds were considered the low rung in the ladder of Jerusalem society.

It was their job to take care of the sheep that would one day be used for sacrifices in the temple.

How fitting that the only citizens of Jerusalem to visit the manger scene were those that played a part in caring for sacrifice lambs!

These were the first to know the Lamb of God!

We are told, “After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished,”

And yet none one other person went to see for themselves.

What was their problem?

They were worshipping the “right God” in the “wrong way.”

They were trapped in their Old Testament religion,

They loved “being religious” and found no place for the real reason for which their religion was founded.

These are the hardest people to reach with the true Savior.

Because religion and ritual can make you believe you are righteous, that you need no Savior.

Yet religion is one of Satan’s best traps; it is here that he disguises himself as “an angel of light.”

Busyness, jealous fear, prideful indifference, and religion caused almost everyone to miss that first Christmas.

Have you been missing the real Christmas?

Has Jesus come to live in your heart?

Do you genuinely know Him as your Savior?