Good news of great joy for all people
Notes
Transcript
Good news of great joy for all people
Good news of great joy for all people
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.” 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 among those with whom he is pleased!” 15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 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.
The story of how Jesus was born into this world is a famous scene that many people are familiar with, and yet there is so much depth to this when we stop to think about how precious life is and how fragile babies are.
This was something that has really been on my mind this past week as I had a unique opportunity while visiting family and friends in NY.
Share the story of Baby Kira Traylor - Born last week at home, baby Kira wasn’t breathing and recieved CPR for almost an hour. She finally responded and was rushed to the hospital. There she was immediately hooked to everything they could put on her to keep her alive. Because of the damage done from chest compression for almost an hour, there was fear of internal bleeding. She also would likely have brain damage from a lack of oxygen. The only option the hospital had was to intentionally cool her body to a low temp in an effort to intentionally shut down certain organs and induce a coma. She would kept in this cooling state for 72hrs until they would slowly re-heat her body little bit at a time in an effort to bring different organs back online one at a time. This is best way to asses any damage.
Pic 1 - Mom and Kira in an incubator
Pic 1 - Mom and Kira in an incubator
The next 48hrs of slowly warming her little body are full of major milestone and tests to ensure she is healthy. The prognosis went from, “Don’t expect her to live”, to, “She will have severe issues and may not live long”, to’ “She may live but never eat or function as a normal child”.
Her parents, as believers have simply prayed and trusted the Lord. And over the last week God has been gracious to this family. Little Kira has come through every test so far with nothing short of miraculous results. And while it will be sometime, perhaps even years before everything in known and she is totally healthy, if she ever gets there… My friends are so happy to be leaving in the next few days with a child that is alive. Their child who would never be able to live a normal life and eat, is apparently doing fine.
Pic 2 - Kira smiling
Pic 2 - Kira smiling
Pic 3 - Dad and baby
Pic 3 - Dad and baby
Now why would I tell you a story about this baby.
We need to see that God’s plan for salvation for all people is found in the incarnation of Jesus. That word Incarnation means - The divine God who is Spirit, specifically God the son, was made into flesh. A divine spiritual deity wrapped in flesh, born into this world.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Jesus Christ, the Word of God, who is God, became flesh and dwelt among us.
And as Luke is reporting how this happened, he tells us that this word that became flesh didn’t become a man without first being born as a baby into this world.
A Baby. Can you think of anything more fragile and precious than a new born baby? The hope of all humanity was born in the most humble of ways to accomplish the most difficult task anyone could imagine in redeeming humanity … and it all started with this little baby in a manger.
Sometimes churches and people get the gospel wrong, they believe that it is all about them having favor and blessings from God, that Jesus came to make them rich and powerful… We call this the prosperity gospel, which is no gospel at all. the idea that God wants us healthy and wealthy and prospering in this life. As I lead into this sermon I want to read you a quote from a preacher Dustin Benge
“The King of Kings: Jesus
Born among animals, wrapped in smelly clothes, laid in a feeding trough, breathing in dung filled air, and visited by backwoods shepherds.
Now, tell me again, how God wants you healthy, wealthy, and prosperous?!
The incarnation annihilates the prosperity gospel!”
As we look at this text today, we will notice that this scene is everything different than what anyone we would know would ever do if they were in charge of salvation for all mankind. We are going to see the most unlikely people, hear one of the first gospel presentations, and experience the most amazing encounter that seems more counter-cultural than a democrat and republican agreeing on anything today. Lets dive into the text and see what is really happening...
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.
IN the same region… This is referring to the outskirts of Bethlehem. It says they were out in the field. If you were to go to this region today you would most likely see shepherds tending flocks of sheep and goats.
Notice also that this was at night. And so shepherds are not driving their sheep along at night, but rather they are watching over them by the fire as they sleep.
We entitled the theme of Advent this year as silence breaks. This is in reference to the fact that before these stories in the NT there was approx. over 400 yrs of perceived silence from God, meaning that there was no prophets speaking for him and very little to no angelic or supernatural activity happening. The nation that had been constantly talked to by God’s prophets now had no one talking to them. No one warning them. They were simply repeating the same religious activities over and over in a cold dead going through the motions sort of way. All the promises of a Messiah had sort of been forgotten for the most part, or were only held on to as a sort of political expectation from God, since they were under the oppression of a foreign ruler, Caesar in Rome.
And if you have been with us the past couple weeks you heard about The Angel of the Lord coming to Zachariah and telling him about the birth of John the Baptist, then the story of the Angel telling Mary - a poor teenage girl - that she would have a baby, even though she was a virgin, that God would plant in her the seed by his Spirit and she would deliver a baby and call him Jesus. Then we heard of how this happen with Joseph and Mary at an Inn, which was a public place that many strangers were staying at because of a census they were being forced to participate in.
And today we see the Silence is broken again to these Shepherds. And notice how an Angel of the Lord just appeared to them. They didn’t see him coming, he was just there where he wasn’t a moment before. And it wasn’t just an Angel that appeared, but the Glory of God shone around them… these shepherds in the field with their sheep, at night, were all the sudden in the presence of an Angel and God’s glory is surrounding them… Is it any wonder why the very next thing we learn is, “ they were filled with great fear.”
What we need to understand is that in their culture shepherds were outcasts. Shepherds in those days were despised, distrusted and deprived of basic civil rights. This was considered a job for thieves and x-cons that no one wants to be around. (I suppose their is something to be said about the progression of the idea of a shepherd in the Bible, since in many ways the scriptures tell us that God is like our shepherd who leads us, and cares for his people, even protecting them from the attack of enemies. And here we see that this once honorable idea is now a job for those who no one wants to be around. Which is something that is redeemed in the rest of the NT because the leaders of the church Jesus established is now cared for by under-shepherds. Just a thought…)
These guys are probably scared not only because seeing angels everywhere in scripture seems to be a fearful sight, but they also most likely have lots of sinful things they are running from. Shepherds were transient men, meaning they were guys who would come and go, and they would be moving around a lot. Most of their animals were to be used for temple worship and this also made them ceremonially unclean. It was said that in those days shepherds were considered too unreliable to even give testimony in court.
And yet here we have this stories not shying away from the fact that God in his wisdom, decided to have for an audience, of one of the first gospel presentations be shepherds in a field at night.
The gospel is for ALL people
The gospel is for ALL people
It would seem as though God were trying to make it crystal clear what kind of people the good news about Jesus comes too. While the Gospel Message will go out to the whole world, it is those who have a sense of their need that are most welcoming of such a message of hope. See God didn’t reveal his plan of salvation and his announcement of the birth of Christ to the Caesars of the world, but rather to the shepherds.
This is not the method that advertisers today would take. This is not the birth announcement we are used to seeing go viral. And these are not the people you want to send into the villages to tell others what they saw and heard. Yet one thing is clear from scripture… God has wisdom that makes no sense to us. And he exercises this wisdom in his plan for one reason… To make much of him. What the world sees as foolishness, the Bible calls wisdom. And what the world calls weakness, the bible calls strength.
25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
You see God is not like us!
God does not do things like us and he is most glorified when he shows us how unlike us he really is. And so his Good news goes out to all people and so often that message is received by the seemingly lowest of people. In fact, the gospel says that all people are unworthy and considered lowly compared to the Glory of God.... We all fall short. And yet here are the outcasts hearing from angels about something that would mean great joy for them… ,look at the message the Angels tell them.
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.”
luke2.10
Now one of the most amazing things to me is how the original language captures these statements here. We read that the angel says, “I bring you good news” and we also know that the Gospel is another word for good news. But… This is more than the angel saying, “here is the Gospel”.... The literal translation sound more like this… “I evangelize you with great joy for all people”.
To say you are bringing the Gospel or good news to someone is to say that you are evangelizing them.
The shepherds were scared because they didn’t know what was going to happen to them upon seeing an angel and bright light from heaven… but they hear, I am evangelizing you… bringing you news that will change you and be for everyone!
In fact i would submit to you that this is one of the best ways to sum up the gospel as a message...
The Gospel is - good news of great joy to all people!
The Gospel is - good news of great joy to all people!
The Gospel is a message of joy because it declares that a Savior and Lord has arrived to Save his people and reign over them for all eternity. It is a message of Joy because this Savior and Lord is the One who brings peace and acceptance from God himself.
To be sure, we have often taught you that the Gospel is the message of God saving his people from their sins. God forgiving sinners who repent or acknowledge their sinfulness. That this is gift of God who gives us the faith to believe him for such great forgiveness. And we have also often said that before we can know the good news we need to know the bed news… that the bad news is the backdrop to the good news. Meaning we must know that we are sinners, and we need a savior. When we know this, the Gospel is a message that burns so bright in our hearts because it declares something to us that we cannot fix in and of ourselves. This is true Joy!
Back to the narrative of this text… We have the Gospel… an Angel telling shepherds that he is there to evangelize them.... And what are the specifics of this gospel?
This very day a Savior is born in Bethlehem, the city of David. And just in case they don’t believe the Angel, here is the sign they will find to know this is for real… The Baby will be wrapped in Swaddling clothes and laid in a manger...
Look for a baby in shabby stinky clothes lying in a manger? where animals feed? This will not be a common sight and should easily be something that proves what they heard was truth. Its not like the angel said look for a baby that is crying. They all cry, that proves nothing. But no one who has a baby and lays it in a manger wrapped in swaddling cloths. And just before they can process this info something extraordinary happens...
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 among those with whom he is pleased!”
luke2.13-
All of the sudden it went from one angel to a multitude of heavenly hosts??? What you need to know is that whenever the Bible talks about the Hosts of heaven it usually is talking about an army of Angels. This is a military term if you will. And look what they are here to declare? Glory of God and Peace??? Have you ever heard of a mighty army coming to tell of peace?
It makes more sense to our minds if an army comes to bring peace, even at the cost of War with the end goal of bringing peace. But this army is declaring God’s Glory and peace coming. Armies aren’t usually the messenger, they are the tool or instrument in bringing that peace. But here God uses them to proclaim a message, His glory and peace coming! And that peace is coming to those who in this translation says, are “those whom he is pleased” with. But the literal translation reads more like a “people of good pleasure”. It is meant to speak of people who receive peace because of the glory of God they can perceive. Meaning God’s glory changes people and brings peace.
This was the message of an army of angels to a group of shepherds in the night out in the fields.
What would we do with such a message? Well… what did they do?
15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”
luke2.15-
It was real simple… Let’s see if it is true. But we need to think deeper about this… they went from being afraid to being excited to go see if it was true? It is amazing to read this and think about how this must of looked and felt to these guys.
Why do these guys who are despised and dejected by society going from fear to excitement that propels them to go look? They would have to leave their sheep or bring them with them into the city, which would not have been allowed. So they need to leave them in the pasture.
That is an extraordinary act for a group of guys in a trade that is looked down upon. and it would’ve caught the attention of many people in Bethlehem. They no doubt would’ve been asked what they are doing wondering around the streets and these guys would’ve told people what they saw and heard.
How many is that? Who knows, but they are all proclaiming the same message… Glory to God in the highest!
The boldness that overcomes them to be obedient to the Lord is a direct results from gaining hope in the message.
The Gospel is a message that brings hope, and hope encourages obedience.
The Gospel is a message that brings hope, and hope encourages obedience.
Hearing the gospel releases them from fear and brings a freedom, joy and an eager desire to seek after the Lord.
This is all because they are now hopeful to find this baby. If they do, it means the Angels are right and that the Messiah is here. The promise that everyone is forgetting about has arrived. This is Advent… the coming of someone promised.
They immediately act on this and go find the baby.
16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 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.
With Haste they go. And they actually find Mary and Joseph. They find the baby just like they were told they would. So then they tell everyone around them what happened to them. They are now telling people about this child. Well what was told to them about this child? He is the Savior. He is Christ the LORD. This is a title that these people would’ve known. He is the messiah, the promised one. This is no small announcement.
And it is made by Shepherds. When we think, “how can I preach the gospel?” Or “Who will listen to me?”… Remember the shepherds. No one should listen to them and that doesn’t stop them at all. Because they have heard and now they see, so they tell everyone who this child is. They preach the gospel! And they do it with obedience even leaving behind their sheep in the pasture. They simply trust the Lord and go see and tell others what they heard and saw.
Can you find encouragement from this? I came across a commentary from J.C.Ryle where he tells of a story of a Bishop that uses to encourage those who have been falsely arrested for having public prayer.
Expository Thoughts on Luke, Vol. 1 Notes. Luke 2:8–20
“Read the second, chapter of St. Luke, and there ye shall see how the shepherds that watched their sheep all night, as soon as they heard that Christ was born at Bethlehem, by and bye must go to see him. They did not reason nor debate with themselves who should Keep the wolf from the sheep in the meantime, but did as they were commanded, and committed their sheep to him whose pleasure they obeyed. So let us do, now we be called; let us commit all other things unto him that called us. He will take heed that all things shall be well. He will help the husband; he will comfort the wife. He will guide the servants; he will keep the house; he will preserve the goods; yea, rather than it should be undone, he will wash the dishes, and rock the cradle. Cast, therefore, all your care upon God.”
Oh that we would care more for the things of God and trust God with the things of this life. I hope this may cause you to stop and ponder your life. And yet this story is not about the shepherds and how they are an example to you. This is a story about God incarnate and those he used.
And this part ends with looking at those he used in his plan… Mary and the shepherds.
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.
luke 2.
To read the scriptures and declare that they are all about God is right, and true. But to never acknowledge that it has extraordinary impact on his people is wrong. In this case we see Mary and the shepherds.
Mary is left pondering and thinking… treasuring all these things up in her heart.
What was she treasuring? Well how about the fact that she should be ostracized from everyone because this could’ve been ruin for her life if she was found to be pregnant with being married first. and yet here she is, with a perfectly healthy baby that an angel told her she would have. Her husband by her side, surrounded by animals in a somewhat public setting and now all these shepherds come to tell them that angels told them they were here and this child is the Christ!
She is treasuring the fact that God keeps his word.
Do we treasure it when we see God keep his word? Well how does he keep his word. I don’t mean in the ways that are very private in your prayer life, I meant it the same way it was for Mary. He said he would do ti and he did. Just because we are not there doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t also treasure this scene just as much, because we are all here as recipients of this Grace as proof that this scene really happened. So treasure it in your heart, God kept his word.
and these Shepherds… They respond with joyous singing and praising God. They saw it. It is true! If you believe it to be true then you, like them should praise God for his truth!.
This is what Christmas is a celebration of. Truth., God did what he said he would do. We are now the ones who receive this gift from him. That gift is peace with him because of the life of him!
today if you are hearing this and this has never been your perspective, I would submit to you that God by his Spirit is showing you that he really saves sinners from his wrath and forgives sin. He does this in Jesus. Born of a virgin, lived a perfect life and died and innocent death, in order to trade you for your sin and his perfection.
Christmas is the celebration of God taking our sin from us in Jesus. It is a celebration of Joy, and hope, and truth! It is a time of forgiveness for ALL PEOPLE! ALL those who believe.
13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Will you call on the name of Jesus, the one who Mary treasured and shepherds went to seek out. the one who made kingdoms rise and fall. Do you believe that this is more than a celebration of giving gifts? God gave us a gift greater than any of us could give to one another. If there is one thought to keep in mind with every gift you unwrap, it is this...
I unwrap a gift for temporary enjoyment, but god wrapped the greatest gift in flesh for my eternal good. This is something people need to know and i need to believe. This is the point of this whole season and nothing else matters compared to this.
question 1 -
question 1 -
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.
The greatest gift we can receive is this gift… the richest of heaven bestowed on us in Christ. He will forgive your sins, so acknowledge them before him and ask him to forgive you.
He will save you for all eternity, so don’t be distraught over things that happen here and now, because he is coming back for a people who have received the greatest gift. Him!