The Real Deal

THE REAL DEAL Luke 2:1-7 December 27, 2020 The first Gospel to be written is the Gospel of Mark. It's written in a hurry. The Apostle Peter is in prison in Rome. It's now certain he will be executed. And, suddenly, the Church realizes it will soon lose its most senior voice. So, John Mark sits with Peter and hastily writes down the story of the ministry of Jesus Christ.1 Its purpose is to preserve the insights gained from being with Jesus, and to give evangelists the tools they need to continue making new believers. To this day Mark is the book which teaches us how to share the good news with others. Next comes the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew is written by a Jew, specifically to Jews. Moses gave them their religion, and their relationship with Yahweh, about 1500 years earlier. Their belief that they are specifically blessed because they are the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is unshakable. Then, along comes a reformed tax collector telling them they need to worship Jesus instead. The Gospel of Matthew answers all the questions, from the Bible, about why Jews should be Christians. Matthew uses the words and prophecies from Abraham and Moses to justify converting to Christianity. The third Gospel written is the Gospel of Luke. Luke is a Gentile. He grew up worshipping hundreds of gods. The Gospel of Luke is written from a Gentile, to other Gentiles, to answer the question - why would I want to give up hundreds of really good gods, and settle for just one?2 Especially, when He's the God of the Jews, and I'm not a Jew? Luke is the Gospel written directly to you and me. Luke never says he sat down with Mary, the mother of Jesus, and learned her story directly from her. But, there is very strong evidence he did exactly that.3 And, I personally believe that happened. Luke is the only one who tells us what Mary was thinking. And, he doesn't just do that once or twice. He does it dozens of times throughout his Gospel. When we would expect Mary to be frightened, or overjoyed, or confused - Luke tells us exactly what was going through Mary's mind. And, what makes the most sense to me, is that he knows these things because she told him so. Many seminaries teach that as fact. I think the other Gospels tend to ignore and overlook Mary because they were written by Apostles. I don't need someone to tell me about Jesus. I was there. I was there when he walked on water. I was there when he fed the 5000. I was there in the locked upper room when he came back from death. Why would I want to interview his mama about what she was thinking? This is one of the many reasons I am so grateful there are four Gospels, and not just one. I believe Luke received the story of the birth of Jesus from Mary. Remember, Luke is writing to Gentiles. So, he begins the story of Jesus' birth by talking about Caesar Augustus - not Jehovah. Augustus started life as Octavian. He was a nephew of Julius Caesar, born into a fantastically wealthy family. When Julius was murdered, Octavian and Mark Anthony and Cleopatra fought with each other to see who would be next. Octavian wins a lucky sea battle. Mark Anthony and Cleopatra commit suicide. And, voila, Octavian is Caesar. He renames himself Augustus. And, in a first ever move, he declares himself a god. I am not just a man. I am not just your Emperor. I am a god. Now, do you think the Roman citizens, and the senate bought into this? Of course not. They remember Octavian. They know Augustus is a fake god.4 They're afraid of him. So, no one is going to contradict him. But, make no mistake. No one thinks he is a god. So, Luke understands right off - it's going to be a hard sell that Jesus, born a human being, just like Octavian, is God.5 That's why he needs inside information from Mary. The next question a Roman would ask is, when and where was Jesus born? And, what kind of family did he come from? So, Luke gives us data points. Quirinius is the governor of Syria. And, a census is being conducted for the purpose of assessing national taxes. Unfortunately, multiple census(es)(i?) were conducted throughout the world at this time. And, it is difficult to pin down specifically which one Luke is referencing.6 I know in this Gospel Luke writes 'a world-wide' census. But, the most logical census was the one conducted in Syria, Palestine, and Egypt. As far as Mary is concerned - that is the whole world. It was certainly as far as she had ever traveled. Even with all the information available to us today, it's still difficult to pin down that specific census. It fell somewhere between 6 BC and 3 BC.7 Yes, Jesus was not born in the year 1 AD. He was born 3 to 6 years earlier. When Pope Gregory XIII commissioned a new calendar based on the birth of Jesus - the monk assigned the job didn't have quite enough information. He did the best he could, but he missed it by 3 to 6 years. Here's some good news. This is not the year 2020. We are somewhere between 2014 and 2017. Turns out, 2020 may actually be a great year! Now, Luke will get to work detailing all the differences between the real God, and the fake god. There was absolutely nothing remarkable about the birth of Caesar Augustus. Just another baby on just another day. Luke goes into great detail to explain Jesus' birth was attended by angels. Not just one angel. An entire army of angels. So many angels it lit up the night sky. And, there were witnesses. Don't just take my word for it. Don't even take his mother and father's word. Ask the shepherds. Complete strangers who witnessed the birth and then began spreading the good news. Augustus' birth was not foretold, and it didn't solve any prophecies. Jesus' birth is predicted and prophesied throughout the entire Old Testament. In fact, prophecies that didn't make any sense - prophecies which seemed confused and misunderstood - suddenly made perfect sense when Jesus came along. Augustus' birth was no miracle. In fact, he may well have been the product of privileged, incestuous, rape. Mary's pregnancy, and Jesus' birth (both fulfilment of prophecy) were accomplished through miracle. And, while Augustus was born into extreme wealth, Jesus was born into extreme poverty.8 Every time Luke discusses Mary he drops another hint that she and Joseph were dirt poor. He makes note that baby Jesus is wrapped in rags. Not a receiving blanket. Only the poorest of the poor tore strips of cloth from their own clothes to bundle their baby. Finally, while Augustus had every door opened for him, and was immediately accepted at the highest levels of society - Jesus would fight exclusion and prejudice his entire life. He didn't come from a priestly family in Jerusalem. He came from Nazareth in Galilee. You make fun of Galileans. You make extra fun of Nazarene's. His first language wasn't Hebrew - the language spoken in Heaven. It was Aramaic - the language of Jews who are almost Gentiles. And, his mother and father weren't even married when he was born. When Luke writes there was no room for Mary and Joseph to stay indoors it was probably an overcrowding issue. That certainly makes sense. But, his Greek can also be interpreted as prejudice.9 We don't want you in our place if you're not even married. You people disgust me. The comparisons and contrasts between Jesus and Augustus would not have been lost on Romans, or Greeks under Roman occupation. They would have jumped out and slapped them in the face. One of these guys is a fake god. The other one really is God. Just as obvious to them would be the fact that the real God, manipulated the fake god. The census was supposedly Augustus' brainchild. Yet, the census was necessary to get Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem - to fulfil a prophecy. It was necessary for them to be in an animal hut - to fulfil prophecy. It was necessary for the shepherds and other undesirables to be the first visitors - to fulfil prophecy. So, was the census from Augustus, or the real God? Perhaps you should be a Christian, because the God of the Jews controls and manipulates all the other gods. Christmas is wonderful. Christmas is family, and presents, and thoughts of peace and love. But, Christmas is also the beginning of the requirement to choose. Who is your god? What is your god? Is it money? Is it exercise? Is it fame? Is it an addiction? When the baby Jesus arrived, the Gentiles were forced to choose between him and Augustus. You and I face that same choice. During the COVID-19 shut-in, where have you been spending your time? That probably says a lot about your choice. We will spend the next four months in Luke. Over and over we will be challenged about our choices. There is one real God. The rest are all distractions, and fake. Which one do you think is the real deal? 1 Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, 2.15 2 David L. Tiede, "Telling the Prophetic Truth: Advent-Epiphany according to St. Luke," Currents in Theology and Mission, 33 no. 6 (December 2006), 472-480. 3 Darrell L. Bock, Luke 1:1-9:50 (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008), 200. 4 Joel B. Green, New Interpreter's Study Bible (Nashville: Abingdon press, 2003), 1855. 5 Kenneth L. Barker & John R. Kohlenberger III. Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary: Volume 2 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994), 217. 6 Wayne Brindle, "The Census and Quirinius: Luke 2:2," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 27 no. 1 (March 1984), 43-52. 7 Eugene William Seraphin, "Edict of Caesar Augustus," Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 7 no. 1 (January 1945), 91-96. 8 R. C. Sproul, general editor. New Geneva Study Bible (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 1605. 9 Bock, 211. --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ 2