Be a Living Sacrifice - Romans 12:1
Notes
Transcript
The Announcement of Jesus’ Birth
The Announcement of Jesus’ Birth
Introduction: We all would agree that Jesus’ birth was one of the most important events in the history of the universe! Somehow it had to be celebrated and be explained so that people would understand that God the Son had become a Man to save sinners.
How would the news be spread far and wide today? A modern day publicist might recommend:
a press conference
or a full-page advertisement in a national newspaper
or establish a twitter campaign
or on tiktok
or post it on Facebook
or on instagram
But what’s important for us this morning is to look at how did God chose to announce Jesus’ Birth? God chose to send a messenger to a group of shepherds in the field; this was an unlikely announcement even for back then because the shepherds were not well respected class of people.
We’re going to read of the announcement of Jesus’ Birth from Luke chapter 2 this morning.
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.
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.
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.
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!”
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.
From our text this morning I’d like to share with you three thoughts:
the messenger’s announcement
the messenger’s assurance
the messenger’s sign
the Heavenly Praise
and the response of the shepherd’s
The Messenger’s Announcement to the Shepherds
The Messenger’s Announcement to the Shepherds
So God sent an angel, of all creatures, to tell people the good news. What could be more surprising than the appearance of the angel? It just might be that the first people to hear this good news were shepherds.
Why did God choose these men to be the first to learn of the birth of Jesus?
Various explanations have been offered.
Some say that the shepherds make a connection with King David, the royal ancestor of Jesus, who was also a shepherd.
Then there is a prophecy in Jeremiah that God would send the Messiah when shepherds were watching their flocks.
13 In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the South, in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks shall again pass under the hands of him who counts them,’ says the Lord.
14 ‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘that I will perform that good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah:
15 ‘In those days and at that time I will cause to grow up to David A Branch of righteousness; He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.
16 In those days Judah will be saved, And Jerusalem will dwell safely. And this is the name by which she will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS’
By fulfilling this ancient prophecy, the shepherds proved that Jesus is the Christ.
There is possibly another reason why the shepherds were chosen and why Luke—alone among the Gospel writers—included them in his book. Shepherds were outcasts, and thus their presence at the manger shows that salvation is for everyone.
During His public ministry Jesus quoted the following words from Isaiah 61 in Luke chapter 4.
1 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
It is certainly in harmony with Luke’s writings that the first announcement of the Messiah being born was made to poor and downtrodden shepherds.
God does not call the rich and mighty; He calls the poor and the lowly in spirit.
26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.
27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;
28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are,
29 that no flesh should glory in His presence.
A shepherds occupation not only made them ceremonially unclean, but it kept them away from the temple for weeks at a time so that they could not be made clean.
With the exception of lepers, shepherds were the lowest class of people in Israel. Interesting!
The irony is that shepherds with no name given were to hear the announcement of the coming of the Chief Shepherd Whose Name would be above every name.
What the shepherds saw out in the fields that night absolutely terrified them.
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.
The shepherds saw a burning light that pierced the night-black sky. It was nothing less than the glory of God, reflected in the radiance of one of His holy messengers.
Fear was the normal response whenever anyone in Scripture either encountered an angel or saw the glory of God manifest. Remember Isaiah chapter 6 when he said woe is me.
J C Ryle observes – “WE read, in these verses, how the birth of the Lord Jesus was first announced to the children of men. The birth of a king’s son is generally made an occasion of public revealing and rejoicing. The announcement of the birth of the Prince of Peace was made privately, at midnight, and without anything of worldly pomp and ostentation.”
What was the announcement that the angel proclaimed to the shepherds?
Well, in verses 10 & 11 The Messenger gave Assurance and Good News
The Messenger gave Assurance and Good News
The Messenger gave Assurance and Good News
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.
The words do not be afraid offered great assurance. The appearance of an angel is always a terrifying experience, but the angel came to give them good news.
The good news brought “great joy.” Because the Gospel solicits joy, not fear.
The good news, the gospel for sinners must always begin with “fear not,” for it removes sin and fear.
The angelic messenger says in essence in this verse: "I evangelize to you a great joy". Or one could render it “I proclaim or announce the gospel [good news] of great joy to you.”
This joyful news was for “all people.”
In those days “the people” was a common and general term for the Jews. But, of course the good news is not just for the Jews. Later in the chapter we find that it is also for Gentiles. But the angel gave the good news to the Jews first. As the Scripture says in Romans 1:16,
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
Application: What a privilege this messenger had in telling about the first advent of the Messiah!
We too have the privilege of sharing the good news with the world, and angels cannot take our place. So God's pattern in the church age is for saved people to speak the Gospel to the unsaved.
Are you taking advantage of this opportunity to proclaim the Good News?
When we get to Heaven there will be no need.
So, let us sow the Gospel seeds while it is still called today.
What was this joyful good news? Look at verse 11.
11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
If we were studying the book of Luke we would know by the time we get to the end of Luke, we would discover that the good news also includes a death and a resurrection of Jesus Christ.
It is the gospel of the cross and the empty tomb. But here we are given the good news of the manger.
The waiting is over
The Messiah had come
This very day God "invaded" earth, Deity took on Humanity
The fullness of time had come, prophecy had been fulfilled
He came during the First Advent:
as Savior, not a Judge;
One who would deliver His people, not destroy them.
The angel also identified Jesus role as Christ and Lord.
This verse states that the child’s name is Christ, for Christ functions here primarily as an identifying name. Although “Christ” is actually a title (meaning the anointed one), this verse reveals that the title was so closely identified with Jesus of Nazareth that it soon became part of His name—Jesus Christ.
The Savior is also the Lord. Lord is clearly a Christological title and refers to Jesus.
We know the realization of the authority of the titles “Christ” and “Lord”, however, it wouldn’t be fully understood by those around Him until His resurrection.
Spurgeon writes that this "anointed Savior has full power to save, for He “is Christ the Lord;” and therefore He is able to save unto the uttermost all that come unto God by Him.”
This was more than the shepherds understood, but by saying that Jesus was the Savior, the angel was telling them to look to Jesus for salvation.
Application: Do not miss the phrase born to you - You is in the plural form. Jesus came to the shepherds, to Israel, but also to redeem humanity and for you dear reader.
This personalizes this Good News of a Savior who in a manger had open arms just as He did on the Cross!
To help the shepherds believe, the Messenger gave them a sign to confirm His promise, this is our next thought.
The Messenger Gave The Shepherds A Sign
The Messenger Gave The Shepherds A Sign
Much like the signs He gave to Mary and Zechariah. The angel said in verse 12,
12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
Notice the sign was not a palace, or a throne, for Jesus was born NOT as any other baby.
In that night to find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths would not actually be the sign, but to find such a baby in a manger would have been unique and thus it would have been a clear sign.
Under normal circumstances, one would NOT expect to find a newborn in an animal feeding trough.
Pastor Steven Cole commented,
“How simple and yet how sublime is God’s means of salvation! Who would have thought that the Messiah would be born as a baby, and in such humble circumstances, at that! I would have thought that God would send His Savior as a full-grown man, a mighty warrior riding on a white stallion. Or if He were to be born as a baby, I would have looked in the palace, expecting to see the infant wrapped in fine purple, lying in an ivory and gold cradle, attended by servants. Many would have stumbled over the angel’s directions.”
After giving the shepherds the good news of the gospel, the angel punctuated his announcement with praise.
The Messenger and Heavenly Choir Broke Out In Praise
The Messenger and Heavenly Choir Broke Out In Praise
The Messenger did NOT do this alone according to verses 13 & 14.
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!”
Keeping the context in mind for it had been over 400 years since the Jews had received a word from God.
What makes this event so different from the others is that it was sung by a chorus of angels. It was not a hymn that rose up from the earth, but an anthem that came down from heaven.
God the Son had always enjoyed the adoration of angels.
From eternity past, those sinless creatures had worshiped Him with perpetual praise.
But now God was sending His Son into the world, where He would be despised and rejected to death for the salvation of a lost and fallen race.
This was the most glorious demonstration that God had ever made of His grace. Therefore, it was only right for Him to receive the highest praise.
J.C. Ryle commented on this,
“Now is come the highest degree of glory to God, by the appearing of His Son Jesus Christ in the world. He by His life and death on the cross will glorify God’s attributes,—justice, holiness, mercy, and wisdom,—as they never were glorified before.”
The skies opened up and the glorious chorus streamed from the courts of heaven—an army (host) of angels revealed in all its glory.
They were singing in a new venue, praising God on earth as they had always done in heaven.
Imagine what joy they had in going out in the middle of the night and scaring people half to death with the glory of God.
So after giving glory to God in the highest, they announced peace on earth.
This meant peace with God, first of all. Until we have peace with God, we cannot have any true peace at all.
before being saved by the grace of God our sins cry out against us and we are afraid to die, because deep down we know that we deserve judgment.
But Jesus came to give us peace with God by paying the penalty that our sins deserve. The Bible says that in Christ, God was making peace through the blood of Jesus death on the cross (Col. 1:20).
20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
Once we have peace with God, we can have peace with one another by the power of His Holy Spirit, but not until then.
The peace of God comes according to His sovereign pleasure.
The shepherds are a perfect example of this
They did not choose God; God chose them
They had to respond in faith, but it was by the sovereign grace of God that they heard the good news and believed.
When we come to God through faith in Jesus Christ, we have real peace. We do not always gain the full benefit of that peace because sometimes we forget to trust God for it.
But as we trust in Him, He gives us peace.
Which means:
We do not need to be anxious about the future.
We do not need to be afraid what people will think.
We do not need to try to solve our problems on our own.
We do not need to worry how God will provide for us.
We do not need to despair if we lose what we love.
And all that is needed is trust in God and He will give us peace.
Real quickly, when the angels had gone what did the shepherds do? They responded to the divine word!
Shepherds Response To The Divine Word
Shepherds Response To The Divine Word
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.
The shepherds found the Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, laid in a manger just as the angel had said. So, the shepherds told everyone about the angels and the Babe in the manger.
What happened next is important because it shows how to respond to the gospel that the shepherds were given.
Different people responded to the good news in different ways. Everyone agreed that it was amazing. Luke tells us, “And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.” (Luke 2:18).
This is not surprising. Just think of it: all those wonderful happenings
an imperial decree,
angelic messages,
divine directions
centering on … an infant lying in a manger, a child born in a stable!
Being marveled is fine, but it should lead to something better; as an example in Mary’s case in verse 19.
19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.
Mary was treasuring, carefully storing away, all these things; such as:
what an angel had told Joseph,
what Gabriel had told her,
what her experience had been upon arriving in Bethlehem,
what the shepherds had reported with respect to voices of angels, etc.
And as for the shepherds? Their story ends climactically as well.
20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.
Their faith was even strengthened when they reflected on the fact that they had found everything to be exactly as they had been told.
When was the last time you fell on your knees in wonder, awe and adoration for God’s plan of salvation in your life?
Or perhaps a better question is have you ever fallen on your knees before Jesus, the King of kings? If not, may God's Spirit divinely touch your heart with the truth of the Good News the Christ was born and the Christ has died for you personally that you might live with Him forever and ever.