The Messiah's Birth and Witnesses

The Messiah's Birth and Witnesses - Luke 2:1-20

Luke 2:1–14 ESV

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 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, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 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. And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 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. 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. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

PRAY - Lord, help us to see with fresh eyes your powerful, perfect, and gracious intervention into human history (and into our own lives).

Jesus the Christ Is Born

INTRO: To be honest, you’ve probably heard it too many times—the Christmas story. I’m fairly certain that no other event in human history is any more well-known in the world than this one—the birth of Jesus.

Could it be that there is a single moment in history, or more particularly a singular person in history, whose birth and death, alters the course of human history and can alter the lives and eternal destiny of those who recognize his singular uniqueness?

Our text tells us the best news in the world, but two factors make it difficult for people to appreciate it. First, the Christmas story is perhaps the most widely known story in history. As a result, many people, even Christians, shrug it off as not being especially exciting or relevant to the problems they are facing. Second, many people do not realize what dire straits they are in regarding their standing before God and their eternal destiny. So when they read the familiar story that a Savior has been born in the city of Bethlehem, they yawn and say, “That’s nice. What’s for dinner?” Not seeing their desperate need for salvation, they fail to appreciate the fact that this story is the best news in all of history. - Steve Cole

Luke gives us the simple, accurate, unadorned setting for the moment in history when Christ the Lord, God the Son, came to sympathize and to save a people who are lost and dead in their sin apart from Him.

Historical Setting (vv. 1-3)

Referencing Caesar Augustus gives Luke’s audience (Theophilus and other contemporaries) context of who was the supreme ruler over the Roman Empire (which was in effect the entire known world) at the time. This is contextually helpful for two reasons:

While Octavius (Caesar Augustus’s given name) enjoyed a long and prosperous and peaceful rule from 27BC to 14AD, at least 4 other emperors had come and gone by the time of Luke’s writing—Tiberias, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. (Actually, the last was probably not yet gone, since Luke may have written near the end of Nero’s reign, which ended in 68AD).

The second reason this is contextually helpful to Luke’s audience is that Caesar Augustus was known for his administrative skill, organizing his empire extremely well. One advent of his administration was the process of getting all parts of his empire to participate (as peacefully as possible) in conducting regional censuses for the purpose of taxation.

Also providing historical context, Luke mentions a governor over Syria and Palestine that is likely to be remembered by his audience—Quirinius. - Unfortunately, the modern skeptic likes to point out that the Jewish historian Josephus only describes the controversial census in AD 6 which sparked a Jewish revolt and Quirinius had to deal with. Luke himself is aware of that census and mentions in Acts 5:37 from the mouth of the rabbi Gamaliel. In truth then, with what we know of Luke’s care with historical facts, many of which can be verified with other historical witnesses, there really is no reason to doubt that Luke is here speaking of an earlier and more peaceful registration (according to Jewish custom of familial ancestry, which would have helped with Jewish acceptance, v. 3).

Several plausible explanations for verse two have been suggested (by scholars who are postulating Luke’s accuracy rather than assuming he made some kind of historical blunder here). I’ll mention two of them here.

Might not Quirinius have been governor at an earlier date as well? - We know he governed Syria from AD 6-9, but could he not also have been governor at an earlier date? There is an archeological fragment that describes some accomplishments of someone who governed twice in Syria under Caesar Augustus, but it gives no name. - The evidence is thin, but it could at least be possible that Quirinius also governed around the time of Christ’s birth in 6BC or early 5BC, before the death of Herod (in April of 4BC).

Another simpler explanation would be to accept an alternate, but valid, translation of the verse. “This registration was before Quirinius was governing Syria.” - John and Matthew both use the term at least once in this sense in their writings. —> So Luke would be giving the context of the more well-known controversial census as the way to explain that this wasn’t that registration, but a more peaceful one that occured a more than decade earlier. - I think I prefer this explanation, at least for now. :-)

The point really is that Luke’s historical accuracy has a lot in it’s favor, so one of the plausible explanations is correct. If we still care in heaven, we can ask him.

Not only does Luke give the historical setting, he reaffirms the Messianic setting for Jesus’ birth.

Messianic Setting (vv. 4-5)

The movement of the narrative narrows again to this Jewish couple (of the lineage of David) that God has chosen to be the Messiah’s earthly parents, and what occurs with Joseph and Mary is tied to the important context of the Messiah coming from the line of David, as well as to this registration in the Roman Empire, currently taking place locally in Palestine.

Luke swiftly and directly explains how Joseph, taking Mary along with him, ended up in Bethlehem. And here Luke gives very little detail that isn’t pertinent to the point (which seems to be that they end up IN Bethlehem for the child’s birth and the humble specifics that prove pertinent to the Shepherds finding them as the angel tells them). For example, how far along is Mary in her pregnancy? Why did Joseph take her along? … and so on. And Luke doesn’t even comment as to why Bethlehem is significant.

Now to our great benefit of course we have more than one inspired account of the gospel, and Matthew’s Gospel has marked out for us (in Mt. 2:6) the Messianic importance of Bethlehem being the prophesied birthplace of the Messiah according to Micah 5:2.

But even with such help from Matthew other details are educated guesses at best. If we take what has occurred so far in Luke, might we surmise that Mary could be at least 3 months pregnant (she spent three months with Elizabeth in the final term of Elizabeth’s pregnancy and the first of her own)? And then from Matthew’s account (in ch.1) we learn that Joseph finds out about the pregnancy and plans to divorce her quietly (either during Mary’s visit with Elizabeth, or after), but an angel appears to him in a dream instructing him to take his betrothed as his wife, that the child conceived is of the Holy Spirit, and that he should call his name Jesus. And he obeys (seemingly immediately) to take Mary as his wife (bringing her into his home), though not physically consummating the marriage as would normally signify that they are truly “married.” - Leave it to doctor Luke then to be so technically accurate in speaking of Mary being Joseph’s betrothed, since they haven’t, and won’t, consummate the marriage until after Jesus’ birth.

Might it be then that Joseph brought Mary with him for this registration journey, whether or not she had to be with him for the census, because she is now his wife (in obedience to the angel’s command) and he is looking after her in this pregnancy? Could it even be that Mary and Joseph are aware of the prophecy of Micah 5:2 of where the Messiah was to be born? (Honestly, we can’t say for certain.) Luke doesn’t mention Micah 5:2, but instead Bethlehem’s connection as David’s birthplace. In fact, calling B the “city of David” is very unusual because many of his audience [even Gentiles] would have associated that terminology with Jerusalem, as is even quite common in scripture. The angel himself calls the birthplace the “city of David” (v.11). Perhaps it is for this very reason that Luke is clear to associate this term with Bethlehem and David’s place of heritage, tracing the Messianic line from Joseph back to David.

Again, in this brief account, Luke doesn’t intend to answer every question we might have about the circumstances surrounding Christ’s birth (and never tries to make up things he doesn’t in fact know), but I believe Luke does want to answer this question: “Who is the real sovereign here? Who is in fact orchestrating the decisions of emperors and governors and the timing of such events?” God is sovereign over the people and events of history to work his purposes, including over those who choose not to acknowledge his presence and goodness.

Let that sink in for application to your life today, this week, this year, this next decade. God is sovereign over all events and people in history. He is sovereign over your life. Slow down and realize: There is not a single moment in time, not a single occurrence in the world and history… or in the details of your life, over which God is not sovereign and good. - There’s a lot of joy and peace and rest and confidence to be had in entrusting ourselves to God’s sovereign care.

Back to the last piece of this setting: The simplicity and humility of the birth of Christ is noteworthy.

Humble Setting (vv. 6-7)

Where is all the earthly pomp and circumstance associated with the arrival of the long-awaited Messiah, the King who would sit on the throne of David forever? In contrast with his great glory as God the Son, and the majestic rejoicing in heaven (which peaks into earth before the shepherds)... But in contrast to that glory is this quiet and simple and extremely humble arrival of the King of the universe in human form. I’m pretty convinced this is the other main point Luke intends here: not only displaying God’s sovereignty but also the Savior’s humility—coming to earth in the simple form of a baby, born as other men, and under such unadorned and humble circumstances. … both startling and beautiful.

After Joseph and Mary had made the 70-90 mile 3-day journey (more like 90 if going around Samaria) up to Bethlehem (up because the region of Jerusalem is “up” compared to Galilee) while Mary was pregnant, sometime during their stay in Bethlehem-town, Mary reaches full term and Jesus is born. For some reason we seem to assume she was full term upon arrival, but I don’t think that has to be the case. The cause of it is likely a certain reading of there being no place for them in the inn. Rather than referring to the kind of formal inn people pay to have a room to stay in (which were shady and costly), this terminology for inn actually fits better the idea of towns having a place of public lodging, and it also can be the simple term for a guest room in a house. - Here’s what I think: Bethlehem is busier and more full than normal (due to the census), so either public lodging or even a relative’s guest room would have been really full, even if they try to make space to accommodate as many as possible. What there isn’t room for in such a crowded place is giving birth! And the fact that these parents laid him in a manger (a feeding trough for animals), leads to the hypothesis that they found better space and privacy wherever the animals were kept—in a cave or stable nearby but not a part of the normal (and now crowded) family residence.

In Luke’s narrative, all of this of course also gives the necessary details for the shepherds to find the baby in the condition described—wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. The manger was abnormal, but the swaddling cloths were not. I’m thinking this is the way for them to understand that this is a newborn baby. Being swaddled was a normal practice what they believed was for the health and safety of the newborn.

I swaddled our babies… nurses in the hospital taught me how. And I took such great care in swaddling these precious little lives that the Lord had given into our care for just a brief time. They will grow and

Can you imagine being Joseph… and Mary? God had revealed to them that this one, this child they were to name Jesus… this was the one, the Son of the Most High who would reign over the house of Jacob forever. And the shepherds would confirm what they had seen and heard—this is the Savior, Christ the Lord… who is the good news for all people. - Can you imagine worshipping the God of the universe for his glory and grace with that little bundle in your arms, snuggled up tight against your chest?

CONCLUSION: It is with this similar thought that I would like to conclude today.

This is unreal! I just can’t believe it!

Is this purported moment in history too good to be true? Or is it so good and so true that it changes everything? Is it so good that from the moment you realize its truth and confess its truth that everything from that moment forward can be… must be… different because of it?

I am in awe of God’s wisdom… and grace… his perfect plan and the glory her deserves for who he is and all that he does!

Does the personal, hands-on care of God in human history and our very lives sound too good to be true?

What makes it so good is that it is true!

[corporate song]

COMMUNION - I want you to take this same approach we’ve been discussing today with the Lord’s Table. Let’s not allow this reminder to become stale and tepid to us. Jesus literally suffered and died to pay the price of our sin, to offer us forgiveness of that sin. Jesus rose again to conquer the sin that enslaves us, to prove his power over death, to prove his power and authority to give life, so that in him we might have spiritual life and be fully restored to right relationship to God. There is nothing stale and tepid about it. Let us not forget, but let us remember now and in the moment by moment worship in our daily lives, what he has done for us and in us. And may God receive all the glory for it, both now and forever, Amen.

1 Corinthians 11:23–32 ESV

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

I warn you in love, even as the apostle Paul does here in 1 Corinthians regarding the Lord’s Table, that if you allow these truths to become stale and tepid, your relationship to God will be stale and tepid. Take care that you are walking closely in sincerity with your Savior.

[Distribute and take Communion]

First Witnesses to His Arrival

Humble Shepherds Receive the Angelic Announcement (vv. 8-12)

A Heavenly Host Celebrates God at His Coming (vv. 13-14)

An Earthly Contingent Is Blessed to Bear Witness (vv. 15-20)