Peace on Earth Luke 2:1-20

Introduction

All throughout the Christmas story beginning with the promise of the coming of John the Baptist to prepare the way for the Lord to Zacharias and Elisabeth who were both old and Elisabeth was barren to the promise of the coming of Jesus through the virgin Mary, God showed what the Angel told Mary in Luke 1:37 “37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.”

This morning we are going to see that Jesus would be born in the right place at the right time to the right people to save the world. God orchestrated this from before the beginning of time and now we will see the fulfilment of numerous prophecy of the coming of Jesus Christ.

While there was lots of hustle and bustle going on in Bethlehem, and yet they had no idea that God in the flesh in the person of Jesus Christ was being born in a manger.

The Providence of God vs. 1-5

One commentator wrote about the account of Luke this way “He demonstrates how God sovereignly orchestrated events to bring about a direct fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy. Divine intervention was required because in the normal course of events Jesus would not have been born in Bethlehem as the Old Testament predicted since Joseph and Mary lived in Nazareth.

God uses humans to fulfil his plans.

Notice in verses 1-3 we find the Israelites under Roman control.

This was part of God’s plan as he would use Caesar Augustus to pass a tax or census on the world to bring every person to their country of origin.

This taxing began when Cyrenius was governor of Syria, and we know this was in 4 B.C which is confirmed by archeology.

Isn’t it amazing that people try to disprove Jesus, but all of the details can be confirmed through world history, because remember all history is His story!

I like what Wiersbe said “Caesar Augustus was ruling, but God was in charge, for he used Caesar’s edict to move Mary and Joseph eighty miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem to fulfill His words”

Some 6 or 700 years before Christ the Prophet Micah declared this Micah 5:2 “2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, Though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”

God laid out his plan for Jesus throughout the whole old testament

God promised the Saviour would be human and not an Angel

Genesis 3:15 “15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”

Hebrews 2:16 “16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.”

He would be a Jew

Numbers 24:17 “17 I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: There shall come a Star out of Jacob, And a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, And shall smite the corners of Moab, And destroy all the children of Sheth.”

He would be out of the tribe of Judah

Genesis 49:10 “10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh come; And unto him shall the gathering of the people be.”

He would come from the line of David

2 Sam 7:1-17.

He would be born of a Virgin

Isaiah 7:14 “14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, And shall call his name Immanuel.”

he would be born in Bethlehem

Micah 5:2 “2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, Though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”

Notice in verses 4-5 that Joseph and Mary went to Judea and specifically to Bethlehem the city of David, because Joseph was of the House and Lineage of David.

The humility of Christ vs. 6-7

As they were in Bethlehem for the Census, it came time for Mary to give birth to Jesus.

When we think about a king being born, I don’t think any of us would imagine a king being born in a stable and being laid in a feed trough.

The King of Kings humbled himself and left his throne in heaven to come to earth as a baby to be born in a stable and laid in a feed trough.

Can you imagine being the person who owned the inn that sent Mary and Joseph away telling them there was no room in the inn.

There is a lesson for all of us in this story

We must make room for Jesus in our life, Jesus could of easily forced the owner of the inn to make room for him, but he didn’t

Jesus isn’t going to force his way into your life, you must leave him room.

Jesus wants to come and live inside of you, but you must trust in him and the finished work on the cross.

Jesus came to earth to a people who didn’t have any room prepared for him, I believe that if Jesus came today, most people wouldn’t have any room for him either

Have you made room for Jesus in your life?

The enthusiasm of the angels vs. 8-14

All of a sudden we find ourselves in a field with some shepherds taking care of their flock.

Out of nowhere the glory of God lit up the night sky with His Glory and the Bible tells us that the Shepherds were sore afraid.

Again we see the Angel telling them to fear not and then tells them why

The angel brought good tidings of great joy, which was to all people

The angel brought Good news, the good news was that the savior of the world, the messiah had come to pay for the sins of the whole world.

This was good news to the Shepherds and it is still good news for us today, the payment Jesus made for sins doesn’t expire or run out!

The good news was that a saviour was born in the city of David a saviour which is Christ the Lord

The angel gave them a sign of how they could know it was Jesus

You will find the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger

Can you imagine the questions going through the Shepherds head as they just heard that Christ would be found in a feed trough?

The angels didn’t give them much time to think about it as the sky suddenly was full of the heavenly host praising God and saying Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, Good will toward men.

In this time the world didn’t have much peace, the Romans boasted of Pax Romana or Roman peace that they constantly had to fight to impose. Napoleon said “if you want peace, prepare for war”

The peace that Jesus brought was first and foremost peace with God

Romans 5:1–2 “1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

Have your recieved the peace that Jesus brought to earth?

The searching of the Shepherds vs. 15-20

The Angels are gone and the Shepherds are alone in their fields and they speak among themselves and decide to go to Bethlehem to find what the Lord had made known to them.

They didn’t mess around they came into Bethlehem with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in the manger

Everything the Angel had told them was true

After the shepherds saw this they made it known abroad what was told to them concerning the child

Every one who heard wondered at the things the shepherds told them.

After all of this the bible tells us that Mary kept all of these things and pondered them in her heart

She kept every detail in her heart and replayed it over and over and thought on the things that had taken place.

The Shepherds are good examples for us to imitate today, they recieved by faith the message that God sent them and the responded with immediate obedience. After finding the Baby they went and told others glorifying God and Praising him for all the things that the had heard and seen, and that everything they were told was true.

Conclusion

When we think about the Christmas story, we see the providential hand of God and we can know that God is still guiding us today. We also see the humility of Christ, a king willing to come to earth leaving his throne to be born in a manger. We see the enthusiasm of the Angels, and realize that we should be praising God as the angels do, and then we see the searching of the Shepherds, who took the Angels at their word went and found baby Jesus and told others before enthusiastically praising God and returning to their field.

On the opposite side we see a city with no room for a saviour. Maybe you’re here this morning and you have never made room for the saviour, why not now as we celebrate his birth? Come this morning and we can show you from Gods word how you can be saved.