Our reading for Christmas Eve, often used as well for
the day of Christmas, comes to us from the Gospel According to Saint Luke. As
we read this lesson the text reveals the birth of the child Jesus occurred within
the realms of mighty men, and provided great predictions of peace for the lowly.
The scripture reads…
In
those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be
enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was
governor of Syria.
And all went to be enrolled, each to his own
city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to
Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the
house and lineage of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was
with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered. And
she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and
laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
And in that region there were shepherds out in
the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord
appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were
filled with fear.
And the angel said to them,
“Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will
come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a
Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find
a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there
was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory
to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!”
When the angels went away from them into
heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see
this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”
And they went with haste, and found Mary and
Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they saw it they made known
the saying which had been told them concerning this child; and all who heard it
wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary kept all these things,
pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned,
glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been
told them. (Luke 2:1-21)
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The Gospel of Luke: New Cambridge Bible Commentary By Amy-Jill Levine & Ben Witherington, III |
A
Wide World…
Our author in Luke related a history of miraculous
birth to a wider world than his predecessors, or for that matter, even his
Matthean contemporary. As a dedicated historian, he dated the birth of Jesus
with references made as to the decree of Caesar as Emperor, and then further
noted of Quirinius as a governor. As our author, Luke thus anchored his telling
within a given historical time frame. Though the exact day and year of our
Lord’s birth has been since disputed by biblical scholars, because of the historical
reference to the rule of the governor and the wintry season of shepherd
activities… we find that the aim of the writer was rather to inform about the heavenly
signs. Consequently, in keeping with his suspected Greek heritage, Luke tells both familiar
and unfamiliar persons about the divine identity of the Christ child. Concerning
this faith history message then, we see that the gospel spoke to the
knowledgeable diaspora Jew and also to the Gentile. By anchoring the time frame to ruling figures, Luke invited his readers to compare between those prominent
political figures mentioned, and the person of Jesus, the child who was born as the Messiah
(Christ) of God.
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Backgrounds of Early Christianity, Third Edition By Everett Ferguson |
Though the
newborn child is not described by Luke as hunted by worldly powers, such as in
Matthew… our author set the stage for his claim. He clearly stated that his
birth changed the course of history. There was an over-against-ness
established. God had acted to overturn the powerful…
For
I am the Lord your God, the Holy
One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt
as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you.
Because you are precious in my eyes, and
honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for
your life.
Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your
offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you; I will say to the
north, ‘Give up’, and to the south, ‘Do not withhold’; bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is
called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” (Isaiah 43:3-7)
We clearly note that according to the prophetic scriptures, the Law was being
fulfilled in Joseph and Mary. The man-made laws of the Roman Empire, local governances,
and even the religious Law of Moses were being obeyed. However, within this
context of obedience God worked to demonstrate great power. In Luke’s telling,
that divine power was demonstrated first in the declaration of angels. Beneath
the very nose of the Roman world powers then, the history of our salvation was
written. The context of prophetic fulfillment came true as the
newly-married couple made their way to Bethlehem, where it had been long, scripturally-established
that the Messiah would be born.
Take note here!
Given the environment of a male-dominated society, it would seem that only
Joseph would have been required by “decree” to go to Bethlehem. But for the
sake of prophetic fulfillment, though having little or no status… though very
pregnant… Mary went with him to his home town. Thereby Jesus was born according
to the prophetic texts.
We need pay
attention to such details here! We note that as a ruler who would stand by the
love of God above both Caesar and Quirinius and other dignitaries, Jesus was
born in a place that was not in the highest prestige. Therefore Luke stressed
that God stood the hierarchy of the world on its head. Though of divine and
royal birth, Jesus was born into a lowly place. He was cradled in an empty manger…
a feeding trough! In this way, the Christ child was rightly posed as the lowly One,
the Christ child who was born, who would awaken and rise to feed his followers…
even unto our own day.
Then
the Lord awoke as from sleep, like a strong man shouting because of wine. And
he put his adversaries to rout; he put them to everlasting shame. (Psalm 78:65-67)
The divine witness remained with
those of low station as they who were outcast formed for us this view of God’s
redeeming love. Like his ancestor, the shepherd king David… Jesus through the
lineage of his earthly father and the Oneness with his heavenly Father…. would
shepherd his people. The lowly shepherds shunned by society, yet responsible for keeping the safety of sheep in the Migdal Eder (watchtower of Jerusalem), were thus caused
first to see and hear. They were thus brought to witness the manger as the throne of
the sacrificial Lamb. They saw the Christ child who would make strong men weep
over wine poured out and his body given.
Note surely… today we need remember that Luke
related this as a scene occurring during the watch of night, a dark time of sin and
foreboding. Therefore in the dark and dreary way, both the shepherds and the reading
audience of Luke heard the Good News. Decades after the gracious happening, Luke boldly told a persecuted and
lowly people of the angelic choir’s singing. That choir was described as heralding
the glory of God and the peace which is made certain through Jesus Christ. That
announcement was therefore extended to all of the known world of Luke’s day.
This is the miraculous message that yet stands for us today. Such is the eternal power
of the Word.
Glory
to God!
We may ask, “How astounding is this
good news?” Consider this! Amid men and nations who thought and yet still think themselves as
powerful.., working according to the Law given to condemn sinful humanity... God
provided his beloved Son as Savior for his own people. The news was so shocking
that blessed Mary pondered the news silently in her heart… even as the lowly outcast
shepherds rejoiced in the faith message given to them. Some persons like the shepherds, were curious enough to investigate further and some believed what had been told to them.
So it was too with the first readers of this
gospel message… they rejoiced! So it is now with us. We are to ponder these
things… and consider them deeply… then rejoice! We are to consider that this Jesus,
who is the King of kings and Lord of lords, was and yet is God’s salvation
born. Through him and only him, there is lasting peace available between God and sinful
humanity. So it is written by Luke, and so it is even unto this wondrous day.
To view a video on this topic, please be invited to view the video below...
May the Birth of Jesus Surprise You With Gladness!
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