Luke 2.10-11 - The Fulfillment of Christmas - Good news, great joy

Luke 2:10-11 “Good News Great Joy” Pastor R. Green Dec. 24, 2020 (The fulfillment of Christmas) ChristCentral BC Introduction – 2020 has been a difficult and challenging year across every spectrum you can think of because of a virus named COVID. It has caused much difficulty, heartache, fear, sickness and death around the world. The resulting upheaval from decisions made to try and prevent the spread of this virus has brought with it even more heartache, sadness and the tragic loss of income and even more life. On top of that, 2020 has brought 30 named tropical storms or hurricanes with several pounding the US coast, especially the state of Louisiana. Add into the mix a still uncertain and hotly contested Presidential Election and the scandal that has gone along with it, and you have the perfect storm of a disastrous 2020 that everyone wishes would just go away. And yet, by the grace of God, here we are tonight, gathered together on Christmas Eve 2020. It truly is by the grace and mercy of God we’re here! With so much bad news dominating the headlines; Christmas has brought with it so much encouragement and hope! I was even ready like just about everyone else to put up Christmas decorations early; which is unusual b/c I’m determined Thanksgiving isn’t going to get pushed aside. As we began this Christmas season, on Sunday mornings, we’ve looked at the gifts of Christmas, the fear of Christmas with Zacharias, the faith of Christmas last Sunday with Mary’s faith response. As I thought and prayed about this special night and what I’d share, I was struck by the Angel’s proclamation to the lowly shepherds in Luke 2. For just a few minutes this evening, I’d like for us to consider “Good news of great joy & the fulfillment of Christmas.” Read Luke 2:8-14 The Shepherds were the lowest end of the social ladder. They were dirty, uneducated and poor. Nobody was inviting them to a Christmas party or any other kind of party for that matter! Yet angelic messengers came to share “good news of great joy!” By appearing to the lowest members of that society, the Angel was demonstrating this was in fact good news for all people! Literally this news is intended for every one in the entire world! So what is this good news of great joy? I’m so glad you asked! 1. It is personal news! “There is born to you!” Yes you! Not just born to Joseph & Mary, not just born to the rich and affluent, the movers and shakers, the who’s who of who knows where. There is born to you, and you and you and you! Everyone who hears this 1 Luke 2:10-11 “Good News Great Joy” Pastor R. Green Dec. 24, 2020 (The fulfillment of Christmas) ChristCentral BC good news of great joy must listen to, heed and ultimately act upon this good news of great joy. It is very personal news! 2. It is urgent news! “This day” - The day was over, the shepherds were stretching out with their flocks we are told by night. That 24 hour day was drawing rapidly to a close but this news was so urgent, so important, the angelic messengers didn’t think twice about rousting the shepherds from their slumber! It was & is urgent news you should act on this day Christmas Eve 2020. 3. It is prophetic news! We read earlier the promise of God to send someone to crush Satan’s lying rebellious head in Genesis 3. We read of God’s promise to old Abraham that in and through his seed all the nations of the world would be blessed. We know now it was because the Messiah, the Christ, God’s holy & anointed Son of God would come through the line of Abraham. 700 years before the birth of Christ, the Prophet Micah promised the COI the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, the hometown of King David in Micah 5:2. The Angel pointed to the fulfillment of that prophecy telling these shepherds in the fields around Bethlehem the Savior was born this day. Not only is it personal news, urgent & prophetic news, it’s also: 4. It’s redemptive news! Who’s born? A Savior! His name is Jesus, Jehovah is salvation! There’s been much turmoil in 2020, there was incredible turmoil in the Shepherd’s day - Caesar’s decree; wicked Herod at helm in Judea. No doubt those folks living at the time of this announcement wanted desperately to be rescued from their circumstances also! Yet the Savior purpose in coming was not to rescue from political & societal turmoil. Oh no dear friends no! Jesus Christ came to rescue and save us from something much more sinister and eternally deadly! Our sin problem! CF Matt. 1:21 “You shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” 2 Luke 2:10-11 “Good News Great Joy” Pastor R. Green Dec. 24, 2020 (The fulfillment of Christmas) ChristCentral BC 5. It is satisfying news! “Who is the Christ” The Messiah, the anointed one of God who meets us at the point of our deepest need. Over and over again in the NT we see Jesus meeting real, tangible and personal needs! If people were afraid, He calmed their fears, if they were lepers, He healed them, if they were blind, He restored their sight! If they were crippled, he made them to walk, if they were demon possessed, He set them free! But most of all He set them free from the bondage of sin! He’ll set you free to if you ask! “The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight!” From O Little Town of Bethlehem. Share the ABC’s! Not only is it personal news, urgent, prophetic, redemptive and satisfying news 6. It is worshipful news! “The Lord” This little baby born in a humble stable and laid in a manger, a feed trough is the the Creator & Sustainer of the Universe. The word Lord means Master; it is the NT equivalent of the OT covenant name of God Yahweh, Jehovah. JTB worshipped Jesus from his mother Elizabeth’s womb, Mary worshipped Jesus, Zacharias worshipped, the Shepherds worshipped according to vs. 20, the wise men from the east came and worshipped Jesus and Philippians 2:9-11 tells us someday everyone will worship Jesus Christ the Lord! You can worship Him as Savior, or you’ll be forced to worship Him as judge. Finally, notice: 7. It is proclaiming news! The Angel proclaimed it to the Shepherds, vs. 17 tells us after the Shepherds left the stable, where Jesus was, “They made known widely the saying which was told them concerning the Child.” They shared the good news of great joy, the fulfillment of Christmas; the long expected, long searched for and long awaited coming of the Messiah, the Savior of the World. It truly is good news of great joy which is for all people. In a world full of constant 24/7/365 bad news; you and I have the wonderful ability to proclaim this good news about Jesus Christ! Will you proclaim it like those Shepherds? They went out and told 3 Luke 2:10-11 “Good News Great Joy” Pastor R. Green Dec. 24, 2020 (The fulfillment of Christmas) ChristCentral BC their God story and how they met Jesus! You can proclaim your God story! You must proclaim your God story. Vs. 20 tells us the Shepherds worshipped and praised God for all the things they had heard and seen - worship and proclaiming the good news go hand in hand! Close – While the Shepherds were considered “low-class” in that culture; it is significant that the first people beside Zacharias & Elizabeth, Joseph & Mary, of the news of Jesus birth were shepherds. Of course Jesus is the good shepherd! One Christmas Eve, Ira D. Sankey was traveling by steamboat up the Delaware River. Asked to sing, Mr. Sankey sang the “Shepherd Song.” After the song was ended, a man with a rough, weather-beaten face came up to Mr. Sankey and said: “Did you ever serve in the Union Army?” “Yes,” answered Mr. Sankey, “in the spring of 1860.” “Can you remember if you were doing picket duty on a bright, moonlit night in 1862?” “Yes,” answered Mr. Sankey, very much surprised. “So did I,” said the stranger, “but I was serving in the Confederate army. When I saw you standing at your post I said to myself: “That fellow will never get away from here alive.” I raised my musket and took aim. I was standing in the shadow completely concealed, while the full light of the moon was falling upon you. “At that instant, just as a moment ago, you raised your eyes to heaven and began to sing. Music, especially song, has always had a wonderful power over me, and I took my finger off the trigger. “Let him sing his song to the end,” I said to myself. “I can shoot him afterwards. He’s my victim at all events, and my bullet cannot miss him.” But the song you sang then was the song you sang just now. I heard the words perfectly: We are Thine, do Thou befriend us, Be the guardian of our way. “Those words stirred up many memories in my heart. I began to think of my childhood and my God-fearing mother. She had many, many times sung that song to me. But she died all too soon, otherwise much in my life would no doubt have been different. “When you had finished your song it was impossible for me to take aim at you again. I thought: “The Lord who is able to save that man from certain death must surely be great and mighty” and my arm of its own accord dropped limp at my side.” Jesus Christ is good news of great joy! Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (pp. 886–887). Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc. 4