928 Lk.2.11-14 Christmas Peace
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11 for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 “This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”
- The world has always been filled with violence in most parts of its history
- Sadly, people are violent due to the desire for power
Q. What is it about power that makes people walk over others & abuse them?
- Generally, oppression, is a way to keep people compliant & it is a way to maintain power – you don’t want a strong people because your power is at risk of being taken from you
- This was the case under the Pharaoh who had enslaved the Israelites & the case for just about every other tyrant, be it an individual or regime
- The antichrist is a tyrant who’s only law will be his
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- In the time of Jesus, there were people vying for power
- The Romans had conquered the Promised Land & the Jews were subjugated under their rule
- There were freedom fighters who tried to disrupt & put an end to Roman tyranny &, mostly, because they wanted the land restored back to the rule of God
- These people were known as Zealots
- One of Jesus’ disciples was a Zealot – Simon the Zealot
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- Barabbas was an insurrectionist who fought against Rome & tried to disrupt it’s rule the best he could – he probably was one of the Zealots
- They used violence to kill as many Romans – particularly high ranking, influential Romans – to thwart Roman rule
- Notice that this murderer was favoured above Jesus by the people
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- He carried out the inner desire of the Jews – oust the Romans from the land
- They are lording it over us – we want this uprising to happen, not what this Jesus is about
- In fact, this Jesus with His miracles & all, gave up on us & refused to deal with the Roman threat so we will run with Barabbas
Q. What did the crowd say after Pilate remarked, “what shall I do with Jesus of Nazareth”? “Crucify Him”, they replied
23 And he said, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they kept shouting all the more, saying, “Crucify Him!”
- The only way the Jews thought peace would come, was through violence
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- I would like to point out this morning the various groups that were looking for the end of tyranny & the obtaining of peace, but only one of those 4 succeeded
- The 4 are: The Zealots, the Pharisees, the Sadducees & Jesus of Nazareth
- The first 3 could be renamed this way: The fanatical terrorists; the legalists; & the ritualists
1. The Zealots
1. The Zealots
- They thought they could obtain the peace of God’s rule through violence
- Instead of living under the duress of tyranny, they sought to change the situation with the use of violence
- Now, of course, you try & change the situation – who wants to live under tyranny, however, they sought to do it with terror & murder
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- The first act of sin that is mentioned, after Adam & Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden, was the murder of Abel, by Cain
- It may have not have been the first sin committed outside Eden, but it is certainly the one that gets mentioned or highlighted
- Then, it appears that one of the reasons God’s life-sustaining Spirit would not strive with man forever was because of his violence
12 God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth. 13 Then God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth.
- The earth was then destroyed through Noah’s flood
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- Israel had a history of violence & God speaks time & time again about her violence and injustice
- The prophets of God were usually singled out for violence
- When they spoke the truth about what God says, they were punished for doing so - & even killed
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- When Jesus was arrested, the disciples wanted to take up swords, but Jesus told them that violence was not the answer
52 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword.
- Violence was not the answer to securing God’s wholeness & peace!
2. The Pharisees
2. The Pharisees
- The Pharisees were full of religious zeal – Pharisee means “pious one”
- The Pharisees believed that God’s kingdom would come when the nation would keep His laws
- After the invasion of Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC and the subsequent exile of Judah into Babylon – all the Jews who survived got the message loud & clear – God’s law CANNOT be ignored
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- But you could call it a hyper-leap in the other direction - they had gained an unhealthy fixation upon the law
- They went so beyond keeping the law that they were actually breaking the law
- It was right that they wanted to keep God’s law, but they lost their way
- They got so carried away that they would not even allow themselves to utter the divine personal name of Yahweh because they were worried that they might use His name in vain
- So they would substitute the name Adonai instead – Adonai meaning “Lord”
- This obsession with God’s law, can be just as bad as neglecting God’s law
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- Like Eve, when Satan said, “Did God say…” & Eve went on to say what Adam had told her what God had said, but she added more to what God had said
- She said to the serpent that part of God’s word to them about not eating from the tree of the knowledge of good & evil involved not even touching the fruit
- But God had said no such thing – they were just not allowed to eat from the tree - who said anything about not touching it?
- Now it might be wise to not touch it, because touching goes to eating
- Still, God had not said they couldn’t touch it & it is wrong to add words to God’s
- All it does it add more ways to sin - and who wants that since there’s no shortage of ways to sin as it is
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- I think this reinforces the fact that we do need to pay attention to what God has said & what He hasn’t said
- It is not a problem of being obsessive over the word of God, it is only a problem when the word of God is not listened to properly
- Remember, Jesus said that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God
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- But this was not what the Pharisees were about, however
- When we come to the Pharisees, the hope was that the kingdom would come when Israel started obeying the law – as they perceived it
- It wasn’t only the law that they believed had to be kept – you also had to keep all the oral laws that were passed down by famous Rabbis & ancestors
- The oral or spoken laws were different from the law of God but these oral laws became an added extra to obey in addition to the Scriptures
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- But instead of helping the Jews, it became an unassailable burden
- Law upon law upon law – some being the most ridiculous
- Women were not use a mirror on the Sabbath because they might see a grey hair & be tempted to pluck it out – that in not in God’s law, but from the oral law of their ancestors
- But they think it was based on God’s law because God says 6 days you shall labour but the 7th day is a Sabbath to the Lord & you shall do no work – really, is plucking out a grey hair work? If that is work, then so is walking
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- No wonder Jesus said…
28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
- There are books of the Jews – Talmud’s - that record the oral discussions of the laws of God mixed with comment, interpretations and even legends
- These books were reflections & sayings of many pious Jews from the past & they were used to help interpret the OT laws
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- However, like all literature that is inspired by men, it can end up being a replacement for what God had actually said
- Here is an example of how men’s laws & rules can mess up God’s
1 The Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered around Him when they had come from Jerusalem, 2 and had seen that some of His disciples were eating their bread with impure hands, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, thus observing the traditions of the elders; 4 and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they cleanse themselves; and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the washing of cups and pitchers and copper pots.) 5 The Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?”
- Here is where the authority of men’s ideas overrule the authority of God’s word & in this case here, the law of God
- They put their own reasonings above what was written in the law
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- It’s like the battle in the courts that is currently raging
Q. Do the courts interpret the constitution of Australia according to its original meaning, or do judges have the authority to ignore the original intention since times have changed?
- It probably sounds reasonable to some that they should consider that times have changed, but it is not that simple
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- The problem for judges who ignore the original intent of the constitution is that they can make it mean what they want it to mean or what they think reflects the modern perspective – in other words, it becomes like a boat where you can pull up anchor & put it down wherever you want
- If you are not an originalist – the term they use for judges who interpret the constitution by its original intended meaning - then you run the risk of becoming the ruling authority rather than a servant of the ruling constitution
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- Here is how Jesus responded to the Pharisees push for His disciples to obey their oral, thus, man-made law/tradition
9 He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition. 10 “For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, is to be put to death’; 11 but you say, ‘If a man says to his father or his mother, whatever I have that would help you is Corban (that is to say, given to God),’ 12 you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother; 13 thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.”
- Thinking they were doing God a favour by adding parameters to God’s law, it turns out that they were also invalidating it
- It is also clear that they were feathering their own nests with the use of these oral traditions
- “Corban” was an invented means of setting your money aside in an account that you specifically designated for God’s use - it might be, say, your giving account where you set money aside as offerings to God
- Only, the money could be taken out by you if you needed it
- It just turned out to be handy when the ageing mum & dad might have needed it, that all you had to say was that it was dedicated to God & so you had a handy excuse to not use it on your needy parents - very convenient wasn’t it
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- The Pharisee’s had no hope of securing peace through their man-centred legalistic attempts – they only made it a burden
3. The Sadducees
3. The Sadducees
- Here we have another bunch that were more interested in rituals
- The Sadducees were a sect of Judaism that were possibly of the priestly caste
- The Levites were responsible for the Temple and were “law” enforcement officers regulating the Temple precinct
- The Priests and the High Priest were the ones who performed the services at the temple
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- The Sadducees relied heavily on the first 5 books of Bible – these they called Torah
- When it came to the resurrection from the dead, the Sadducees did not believe in it – which is why we have the saying, that’s why their sad, you see
- We see here in this Scripture, the Pharisees & Sadducees going at each other during Paul’s trial
6 But perceiving that one group were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, Paul began crying out in the Council, “Brethren, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead!” 7 As he said this, there occurred a dissension between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8 For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. 9 And there occurred a great uproar; and some of the scribes of the Pharisaic party stood up and began to argue heatedly, saying, “We find nothing wrong with this man; suppose a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” 10 And as a great dissension was developing, the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them and ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force, and bring him into the barracks.
- The point of all this is that the Sadducees, likewise, had nothing to offer
- No peace, no way forward & certainly no hope for the future
4. Jesus of Nazareth
4. Jesus of Nazareth
Q. What about this Person, Jesus of Nazareth?
- We have this grand announcement from the host of angels
13 And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”
- The angelic hosts are praising God conferring peace on earth among those to whom have the Father’s favour
- The thought is captured well by the NIV…
14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”
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- This suggests that peace is not conferred on everyone, but only those whom we know as the children of God
- Those who have heard the Gospel & responded to that Gospel’s call
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- Peace in this verse is equivalent to salvation
“And on earth peace (salvation/wholeness with God) among those on whom His favour rests”
- In other words, there is no peace without the prince of peace
- There is no salvation without the Saviour
- This is God’s offer of peace to those who know Him & are involved in His kingdom
- The Gospel is good news for those who accept Jesus of Nazareth as Lord & Saviour
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- Men strive to find such peace through violence, through legalism, through ritual, but peace is only able to be secured by divine grace
- It is God who has established His peace & He did this through Jesus
- Not by violence, but by absorbing the violence of men; not by legalism, but by truth; not by rituals but by the Spirit of the living God
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- Peace comes by having the inner enemies defeated
- There can be turmoil all about, but if you trust in Christ & live by His word, then you too can know His peace, His salvation
21 “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
- Peace is something Israel sought but never obtained
- They sought it through all sorts of ways as I have mentioned today
- But they did not go for it in the way God wanted them to
- They chose their own way
41 When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, 42 saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.
- Unfortunately, there are many, many, people today, just like the Jews, that are barking up the wrong tree looking for peace
- The problem they have is pride – they, like the forceful, the legalist & the ritualist, want to achieve it by human ingenuity & effort
- That will never happen since it is unattainable by Man
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- Only God can grant you His peace & salvation – but you need to accept His gift of grace while you can – as the door will not always be open
- If, however, a person can swallow the pride & go His way, then they can know His peace
- Even in a world of turmoil, you can know His peace
- If you don’t have His peace, may you reach out to discover His peace this Christmas time