Christmas 2024
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good tidings of Great Joy
good tidings of Great Joy
Linus said:
1 And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. 3 So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.
This census was taken in 4 BC. So, the question is often asked, why does BC and AD start 4 years after Jesus was born? We can blame that on a monk that miscalculated the date of Jesus birth. Just like each one of us without a calculator, he got it wrong and it’s too late now to go back. Even if you’d like those years back, you can’t have them.
Why was there a census going on? Every few years a census would be taken to allow Rome to know how many men of fighting age there were in the world. It was important to the might of Rome.
The question as to why they would do a census of the Jews is contentions, because the Jews would normally not comply with Roman law on this matter. So, for the Jews, it was more for taxation purposes. So, all families went to their home towns:
Linus is back up again:
4 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.
Nazareth west and south of Galilee, in the northern part of Israel. The Sea of Galilee is very close to the Syrian border, less than 20 miles at it’s closest.
Bethlehem means “house of bread.” Does anyone know where Bethlehem is on a map of Israel? Just south of Jerusalem. How far is it by road from Nazareth to Bethlehem? It’s about 90 miles, a 4-5 day hike for Joseph and his about 6 month pregnant wife Mary.
Now, Joseph was a craftsman, which means he made things for people. Sometimes it’s translated as a carpenter, and craftsmen in that time would do that too. Something like this would be very inconvenient for their family. If you look at the records, there were several census’ taken from 12-4 bc, so I can’t imagine how hard it would be to live anywhere but where your family line came from, knowing, yet again, there’s another census.
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 cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Now this simple annoyance has become a true hardship on them. They put their lives on hold, and they would have known as well that this would mean that Jesus would not be born at home, or even close to home. That would mean a prolonged stay in Bethlehem for them.
Bethlehem, though, is where the prophecy of Jesus birth would begin:
2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.” 3 Therefore He shall give them up, Until the time that she who is in labor has given birth; Then the remnant of His brethren Shall return to the children of Israel. 4 And He shall stand and feed His flock In the strength of the Lord, In the majesty of the name of the Lord His God; And they shall abide, For now He shall be great To the ends of the earth; 5 And this One shall be peace. When the Assyrian comes into our land, And when he treads in our palaces, Then we will raise against him Seven shepherds and eight princely men.
The Bible is clear about it’s prophecy. 700 years before Jesus came. This is pretty clear. Verse 3 even gives us the why Jesus needed to come. The Lord had given everyone up to their own choices. Sometimes we parents need to let some natural consequences happen, don’t we? If you look between Malachi 4:6 and Matthew 1:1 there’s one page. That single page represents 400 years of silence from the Lord.
Sometimes it seems like He’s forgotten us, but like Noah, the Lord knows where we are, and what we’re going thru. He just needs the right hardship in our lives to remind us of how good He is, and how much we need Him.
This journey was a necessity, and the Lord knew that this would need to happen before Jesus’ birth. You would think that the Lord would want to make sure that His mom would be comfortable as long as possible, because she was carrying the King of the World. A 90 mile journey was a hardship on mother and child, a struggle, not only physically but emotionally as well. 4 days, preparing food, enough water, and at least when you get there you’re husband made reservations...
Nope, Joseph was clearly not that fore-thinking. I don’t think you can even do that in those times. Was the relationship between Joseph and Mary in good standing during their betrothal process? It wasn’t, was it?
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. 20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
Joseph had second thoughts, as most of us men would have. Who would believe that your wife “magically” became pregnant? I wouldn’t, life doesn’t happen like that. UNLESS, God is involved. Joseph needed some reassurance, but he would still bear the stigma. People would know they weren’t married yet. AND, they’re headed to a place where people will ask questions.
Now, where did they stay while in Bethlehem? They were probably going to be staying in the guest quarters of family, which was customary to have those kinds of buildings on your homestead. It could have been a travelers inn, but there was no room for them, so they had to stay in the area where animals were kept, probably detached and away from the home. Mother, father, living in this place until the census was done, and it would be a few months still.
Jesus didn’t come to make people comfortable, did he? No, he came to bear burdens. Royalty came to earth in the lowliest of places, to two parents who would have to spend months under scrutiny because of their relationship and this child that was coming. There could be no other way.
Back to Linus...
8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 14 “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
In the livestock community, cattle is king. That is true today, and it held true back then too. Sheep weren’t bred for meat so much as they were for sacrifice and their wool. Sheep weren’t even owned by their shepherds. Shepherds were hired hands. They were paid very little to be in charge of a lot of money, not only for their wool, but because they were sold to the people going to the temple to make their sacrifices.
These shepherds knew their flock they were in charge of, and would band together with others for fellowship because it’s a lonely job out there on the plains, watching them, making sure they don’t get stolen, hurt, or sick. Especially when you’re in the business of knowing which lambs would be without spot or blemish as per the custom needed for the sacrifice.
These men are met by an angel of the Lord. Not THE angel of the Lord, there’s a difference. We were just talking last week about Jacob wrestling with The Angel of the Lord, and whom Jacob was clinging to and would not stop wrestling with until He blessed Jacob. This angel of the Lord was probably Gabriel, that’s who spoke to Mary and Joseph, and he is known as a herald, one who fortells the coming of the King. Every time he’s mentioned, that’s what he’s talking about.
This angel shows up and shines, not just all around him, but all around the shepherds too, they are enveloped in the Glory of the Lord. Today, we’d think we were being abducted, right? You’d be terrified too if a light just appeared and lit up everything around you and someone talked to you.
He says don’t be afraid, I bring you good news, today Christ, which means the anointed one is born, the Messiah. He told them they needed to go find this baby, lying in a manger which was probably a stone carving as opposed to a wood manger as we see in most nativity sets.
Then, there was a MULTITUDE around them of these heavenly hosts. Revelation talks about these
11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!”
This is cliche’d in movies today, the light and the choir sings, the a-ha moment! But these men witnessed it. Millions of angels burst onto the scene all around them. They were given a vision to motivate them to come and see.
I believe the New International Version gives a better definition of what verse 14 means:
Luke 2:14 (ESV)
14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased!”
Jesus will eventually bring peace on earth, when He returns to reign on this earth. But He came for something different this time.
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
God had lived thru our rebellion for 4000 years. He saw how evil our world was, and he destroyed it before in the days of Noah because of that evil. We, however, are sinful, evil filled people. Look at the content we consume today. Horror movies at Christmas. Ultra violent and realistic video games. Our eyes and our ears are filled with evil.
But God, like any good parent, loves even his most rebellious kids. If you’re a parent, you know that love is not commutable. It can be filled with disappointment, but you still love them because you gave so much up for them. You want what’s best, you just want them to make the right choices, and that’s why God sent His only son Jesus for us. He made a way where there was no way for us to spend eternity with Him in Heaven.
It all hinges on one verse, but more than that, one word in that verse, it’s the word whosoever. The Greek is the word pas. That word means all. What does all mean? It means ALL. ALL who believe in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. Do you know what that means? I don’t get to tell you that you are going to heaven. I am not your judge. There are requirements, however. You must not only believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and believe He died to save you from the penalty of your sin, and that He rose again on the 3rd day conquering sin and death so we can spend eternity with Him.
There is a clause in this statement too, and it’s spelled out in the next verses in John 3 that says the light came into the world but men love darkness rather than light. Lots of things happen in the darkness and we’re glad it’s there because it hides our sin and our shame from those we don’t want to know about it. It says in John 3:21 “21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.””
How do you do the truth? It’s the word Repentance - it means to turn and walk the other direction. If there is no repentance, you’ve got no shot. Here’s another “Christianese” word called sanctification, it means to make pure. Once you turn your life over to Christ, the process beings, and if you put it on a graph it’s not a wall on that y axis where you can go “Look, this day there was no more sin in my life. Dec 22, 2024.
No, it’s a curve. It’s a change in direction that becomes more and more pronounced. It gains and it will never get straight up, we can’t be Him. It’s too hard for us. As long as we’re on that trajectory, Jesus will do the rest. Jesus also says there are 2 ways you will know those who love Him and that’s those who have love for one another, and those who keep His commands. That’s the fruit we should see in a believer too. We don’t have it figured out, but it should be an upward climb. There are hiccups, but with every hiccup, we get back on the curve.
Here is Linus one more time, sounding like me:
15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.
17 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. 18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.
We saw from the picture earlier, the Temple is in Jerusalem, which is not far from Bethlehem. That means that these shepherds would have a main purpose for their sheep and would know them well. There were at least 2 sheep sacrificed morning and evening in the temple, not including any brought by people for other sin offering reasons, or for special events.
Like any good storyteller too, God takes the minor details to us and blows our minds with the fact that these shepherds who were tending and living with these sheep that would become atonement for someone’s sins would be the ones who would heed the call of the angels to seek out this baby to see for themselves.
Who were they to be singing praises to everyone around them? Who would listen? This is how rumors get started…could it be true? Why weren’t they hearing from the religious leaders about the Christ. Surely they would have known. That’s not how the Lord operates. See, He uses the weak, the forgotten, the broken, the alone things of this world to confound the wise. He loves starting rumors, but His rumors are true and they are for those who are ready to hear the news.
Connecting the Old and New Testaments are what brings this story of the history of this child into focus as we finish out the last few verses here today. Like any good author knowing the beginning and the end and how to pull them together in these last 4 verses:
21 And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. 22 Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”
The name Jesus was given to Mary, then to Joseph by the angel Gabriel. The shepherds were right there, right? Why didn’t they donate a lamb to them? Well, they couldn’t. When a male child is born in that time, the woman wasn’t unclean for just 7 days like during her monthly cycle. She was considered unclean for another 33 days per Leviticus 12. That makes a total of 40 days to be purified of the blood shed during child birth.
Then, they were to make a sacrifice to the Lord for their child at the temple according to their income level. Lambs were for wealthy families A pair of turtle doves were brought, the sin offering of a poor family. What is the manor of this sacrifice you may ask? In Leviticus 1, Moses is given instruction about some of the many sacrifices that the people would need to carry out, and in verse 14-17 we read this:
14 ‘And if the burnt sacrifice of his offering to the Lord is of birds, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves or young pigeons. 15 The priest shall bring it to the altar, wring off its head, and burn it on the altar; its blood shall be drained out at the side of the altar. 16 And he shall remove its crop with its feathers and cast it beside the altar on the east side, into the place for ashes. 17 Then he shall split it at its wings, but shall not divide it completely; and the priest shall burn it on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire. It is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the Lord.
As the priests were performing this sacrement, they had no idea of the significance of what they were doing. Pouring out the blood of those birds, would signify the blood of that child when He became a man poured out to cleanse us of our sins. The crop of the bird is the puffed out chest, where we would see our chests puffed out showing our pride, Jesus would not only live a humble life, but would be stripped, broken and beaten. Like the feathers being pulled out as well, like His beard being plucked out by the roman soldiers that mocked and humiliated him.
Then, the wings, being spread out unnaturally wide, in the birds they would be split down the back but not pulled apart, signifying the stretch of Jesus’ arms on that cross as the nails struck home at the base of each palm. Every strike of the hammer securing Jesus the man to that symbol of death.
I might as well have been swinging the hammer. Those are MY nails. Those are YOUR nails. Jesus whole life was preparing him for that moment. Leviticus pointing to Jesus’ family sacrifice, which would be descriptive of the events of His death, which would be a sweet smelling aroma for the Lord. Jesus wish of a White Christmas, knowing how much red it would take to wash us all white as the fallen snow.
He knew what it would take. He knew you and I were worth it. The question is, can you accept it? Can you accept the gift the Lord has prepared for you? All you must do is accept it and repent. Because the story isn’t over. You can see, there are pages and pages beyond the Gospels. 3 days later, Jesus defied all of the religious leaders and walked out of that grave, and you can too to be with Him. All you have to do is repent and believe. 4000 years of history are contained in this book. A love letter from Him to you. Full of people who are just like us, who need one thing, the Savior of the World. Christmas isn’t about us. It’s about the gift He has given us. Glad titings of His great joy. Accept the gift, change your ways.
