The Unexpected Gospel of Peace and Joy
Notes
Transcript
I think most reasonable and healthy people desire peace and joy.
We want to feel a life of peace, where everything is in its place, where everything is working as it should and doing what it’s supposed to do.
We want to go to work and feel no conflict.
We want to go home and feel peace.
We also want to feel joy.
We want to feel the joy of seeing our loved ones succeed.
We want to feel the joy of a new born baby—the joy of good grades, and the joy of doing well in our job and providing for our family and goals.
We want joy and peace.
These feelings are good feelings, and maybe this year these feelings haven’t been as present as we would want it to be present.
Instead of things going as expected, oh, did things go contrary to what we would expect them to go.
It was better this year to expect things to not go as we would want them to go.
This year, we were conditioned to just expect things to haywire.
As a high school teacher, this was so true.
So, we’re going to be online this first semester?
Oh, there is a chance to open up the school for hybrid?
Oh, we have to be completely remote?
Wait, we can open up?
Oh, now we have to close?
I am sure I am not the only one who could relate.
Even within our social lives...
We can go out.
We can eat outside, inside, just at home.
We can’t go out.
We’re not even supposed to meet.
The peace that we found in our little rituals, habits—they were challenged this year.
It was hard to find moments of peace, and even moments of joy.
While there were moments of joy, true and profound joy, the social unrest within this country and the things that happen with our family made things so hard.
But I want to ask you this:
Do we as Christians lose hope in finding peace and having joy in a year such as this one?
Let’s look at The Unexpected Gospel of Peace and Joy.
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
Let’s pray.
In Luke 2:1-3 the first verses we read in the beginning
We find the character Augustus. He had the honorific Caesar, which is the same as Emperor. He was the emperor of Rome from 27 B.C. to 14 C.E.
Here is a picture of him. Some have said that people sculpted his head pretty big bc the Romans saw him as a figure larger than life. They saw him as a divine being. as the savior of the world.
Augustus spread propaganda. He spoke that he had brought universal peace.
He was viewed as someone who was so divine that on his epitaph, it was inscribed that he was the son of god.
This so-called, son of god, this bringer of peace, commanded everyone to return to their hometown for a census, so that he could tax accordingly.
Any reader of Luke should see from the first verses of the chapter that something is very wrong.
The nation of Israel was supposed represent God to the nations, but now they under oppression.
The census meant, according to N. T. Wright,
The census meant not only that the people were going to have to pay up, but that they were being enlisted as subject members in a kingdom ruled by a foreign power.
This foreign king was exerting his authority over a people that according to Moses and the prophets, were supposed to be God’s people.
Verses 1-3 is a reminder of oppression. It reminded the Jewish people of the alien rule of Rome and the demand of tribute that the emperor demanded.
While the verses are a reminder of oppression, this also part of God’s plan.
God used Augustus to serve in his plan.
Augustus unwittingly knew that he was helping the Messiah be born in Bethlehem.
In Luke 2:4-5, we see Joseph and Mary, who is now expecting a child—a virgin with a child, just like the angel Gabriel said.
These two, because of the census, went up to Bethlehem.
Here’s a picture of their journey:
It looks like Joseph and Mary went down, since they went south.
But the people of the land would refer to going up because Jerusalem, the southern region, was on a hill.
So, they went up because they were going up hill.
Joseph was going to Bethlehem because that was the hometown of his clan, his lineage.
He belonged to the line of king David.
Something interesting about the Bethlehem is that a prophet of old said this,
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
from ancient times.”
There was hope that from Bethlehem a king would come.
The king of Rome, Augustus, sent everyone to their hometown, exerting his authority, but little did he know, that by sending everyone home, he was contributing to God’s plan being fulfilled. He was sending the true king to be born in the promised land.
According Luke 2:6-7, while Joseph and Mary were in Bethlehem, time came for Mary to give birth.
She gave birth to her firstborn, a son.
Luke, in his simple terms, wrote that Mary wrapped Jesus in cloths and placed him in a manger.
A manger was like a stall where oxes and donkeys reside.
Here is a depiction of the scene:
It was probably very dark.
This manger could have been something like a cave.
And Jesus was wrapped in cloths and placed in a manger because there was no room available for them.
According to one scholar of the New Testament, Fred B. Caddock,
Luke has kept the story clean of any decoration that would remove it from the lowly, the poor, and the marginal of the earth. In the history of the church there have been many so poor and abandoned as to be able to identify with this scene.
In this humble place, the king has come.
God has come.
This king is so much different than the officials of Rome:
Here’s an observation I found:
Monarchs are shut up in their palaces, and the palaces are surrounded with soldiers. It is not easy to have audiences with princes. Those who would speak to them must expect to have their patience tried; they will often be sent away and told to come again—that this is not the hour of audience. Jesus Christ does not do so. He remains in that cave, and He is there as little child, attracting all who come to seek Him. And the cave is open without guards and without doors, so that all may go in when they please to seek Him and speak to Him; and even to embrace this infant King, if they love Him and desire Him.
ALPHONSUS LIGUORI (1696–1787)
He’s is not beyond grasp, he comes as a child, vulnerable and accessible.
People during the time could, and we can join the world to go to the cave, to the manger.
The same person who said the previous quote, Alphonsus Liguori, said this
Go to the cave of Bethlehem. There adore the Infant, which you will find laid on the straw, in a manger, and shivering with cold. Know that He is your God, who would not consent to send anyone else to save you, but would come Himself, that He might gain for Himself all your love.
In that cold manger, there was the Infant. A baby.
People came to worship him, because the baby was no mere human.
He was God made in flesh.
Who didn’t send anyone but himself to come.
He came to save you.
He came to gain for all of your love.
And he came as a child.
He came as a child, and his mom, Mary.
The king has come when there was a king, Augustus, who wanted to tax the people.
Ephrem the Syrian said,
At the birth of the Son the king was enrolling all men for the tribute money, that they might be debtors to Him. The King came forth to us who blotted out our bills, and wrote another bill in His own name that He might be our debtor.
The kings of the world wanted to charge the world, but the real king of the universe wanted to give himself to pay our debt—to blot our debt.
Yet, this king was born in the habitation of animals, because there was no room for him in human history.
In nearby fields, there were shepherds, keeping watch over their flocks at night.
Shepherds were not part of the upper class.
No, they were not anybody in Ancient Rome.
Actually, shepherds had a bad reputation. Because they were always working, they were not religious people.
They didn’t go to the temple like everyone else did.
They were considered unreliable and therefore bad witnesses in legal courts.
Yet, just like the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, an angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds.
And like Mary, and like most people, when the shepherd had an experience with an angel, they were greatly terrified.
In verse 10, the angel addressed the terrified shepherds by saying the same words that the angel Gabriel said to Mary:
Do not be afraid.
These are words we need to hear, and that’s why these words frequently reappear in the Scriptures:
Do not be afraid.
Instead of being afraid, look at this...
There is good news.
Even though Augustus was king, there is good news.
The word for good news can be translated as gospel.
Gospel could be a royal announcement or proclamation.
It was customary in the Roman Empire for poets and orators to declare peace and prosperity at the birth of the person who would become the emperor.
There is something similar here.
The gospel does not come from a poet or orator.
But instead it came from heaven, from an angel,
who started to proclaim good news.
The angel proclaimed this good news was not proclaimed in the fancy halls of the Emperor’s palace, but it was proclaimed to the poor and the lowly: to the frightened shepherds.
What is the Gospel?
What is the good news?
Well, first, the angel says, it brings joy for all the people.
The good news is not just a historical event, a mere announcement.
It actually brings joy!
Real joy, not a superficial type of joy.
But real joy, that affects everyone, not just those who lived under Augustus.
The good news that the angel brings joy to all people.
A shepherd could experience joy.
And the people during the Roman period can experience joy.
And we who live in the 21st century can experience joy.
And what is this good news that will bring great joy?
What is the message of Christianity?
What is the message of joy?
What is the message of Christmas?
It’s not consumerism.
It’s this.
Look at what the angel explained:
Today in the town of David, in Bethlehem, a Savior has been born.
And he is the Messiah: The Christ
Messiah=Christ
They are the same thing.
Messiah is from Hebrew and Christ is Greek; Christ is not Jesus’s last name.
And “Christ” means anointed one.
It was a title used to talk about God’s chosen king who would to bring peace and salvation to the world.
The angel had cried out that the king has come!
And this is the sign that the savior/king/lord has come:
There is a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.
I love what Ambrose said,
New Testament III: Luke Christ Became a Humble Child
CHRIST BECAME A HUMBLE CHILD. AMBROSE: He was a baby and a child, so that you may be a perfect human. He was wrapped in swaddling clothes, so that you may be freed from the snares of death. He was in a manger, so that you may be in the altar. He was on earth that you may be in the stars. He had no other place in the inn, so that you may have many mansions in the heavens.23 “He, being rich, became poor for your sakes, that through his poverty you might be rich.” Therefore his poverty is our inheritance, and the Lord’s weakness is our virtue. He chose to lack for himself, that he may abound for all. The sobs of that appalling infancy cleanse me, those tears wash away my sins. Therefore, Lord Jesus, I owe more to your sufferings because I was redeemed than I do to works for which I was created.…
You see that he is in swaddling clothes. You do not see that he is in heaven. You hear the cries of an infant, but you do not hear the lowing of an ox recognizing its Master, for the ox knows his Owner and the donkey his Master’s crib. EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 2.41–42.
Salvation came because God came from heaven to become an infant.
And then, in verses 13-14, a host of angels appeared, and began to praise God and sang,
Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.
After hearing the great news of the Savior coming,
the only thing the angels could do is sing and praise God.
They gave glory to God.
They gave God all the credit.
And they also recognized that peace has come to earth.
This earth that has been corrupted by human affairs, war, battles, sin, murder, rebellion, oppression, pandemics,
There has been chaos.
Similar to the picture of Gen 1:2.
The earth was without form and void.
The earth was tohu vabohu
And I bring this up again, bc part of the good news is that the chaos has been dealt with.
Through the birth of Jesus, peace has come to the earth.
No more chaos. No more tohu vabohu.
There is shalom.—Peace. completeness. Peace between people and God.
Something much needed today.
Because of the birth of Jesus, the wholeness of life which God intended for his people is now available. Restoration is accessible to persons and societies.
And it’s available to all those on whom God’s favor rests on.
The idea behind God’s favor is God’s good will. His own good pleasure. He desire people to have peace and that’s why he has chosen people to experience his peace.
The shepherd wanted to go check the sign that the angel had proclaimed.
They wanted to go see if this was actually true.
Sometimes we want signs through what is apparent glorious and majestic.
But the sign was that there was a son laying in a manger.
And the shepherds found the sign: Everything was as the angels had said.
They found a child in the manger.
And this brought them great joy.
They couldn’t keep their joy to themselves.
They couldn’t keep good news to themselves.
They spread the good news of what had happened.
That the prince of peace has come.
He has come and is accessible to all.
Everyone who heard this were amazed.
Even Mary treasured these thoughts and began to think about what this meant.
There are two things that come with the Gospel of Peace and Joy:
They had to spread the good news that they had heard and seen to all the people they knew.
And they worshipped God.
There is this truth that we could be reminded about today.
There may be a lot of chaos in the world today.
A lot of chaos in this year.
We haven’t experienced the peace and joy we wished to experience.
But I am here to remind you of an old story.
2000 years ago, God came in flesh.
The Messiah came.
And he came to bring peace and joy.
I pray that today you find joy and peace in him.
That there is king who came who gives true peace.
He’s not like Augustus propagating his own type of superficial peace.
No, Jesus came to give real peace.
And he is accessible to everyone.
He came as a child.
Humble, relate-able, and accessible.
And this should make us worship.
Let’s join with everyone and be joyful.
that the lord has come
do not be sad.
God has acted.
Christ is born.
He has come from heaven.
The famous preacher, Charles Spurgeon, of the eighteen hundreds said,
If the birth of Jesus was so gladsome to the angels, what should it be to us? If it made our neighbors sing who had comparatively so small a share in it, how should it make us leap for joy? Oh, if it brought heaven down to earth, should not our songs go up to heaven? If heaven’s gate of pearl was set open at its widest, and a stream of shining ones came running downward to the lower skies, to anticipate the time when they shall all descend in solemn pomp at the glorious advent of the great King; if it emptied heaven for a while to make earth so glad, ought not our thoughts and praises and all our loves to go pouring up to the eternal gate, leaving earth a while that we may crowd heaven with the songs of mortal men?
Let’s worship the kings who brings peace and joy.