Christmas
Eve 2017
“From Heaven Above: A Savior Is
Born” (Luke 2:1-20)
“From
Heaven Above” has been our theme this Advent and Christmas. We looked at three times when God appeared as
a man in the Old Testament. This was
prior to the time when God really and truly did become a Man in the flesh of
Jesus of Nazareth. The Second Person of
the Holy Trinity, the Son of God, entered into his own creation to walk right
alongside of his own people, to bear their burdens, to heal their diseases, to
release them from their bondage to sin and death and hell, to point them to
himself as the source of forgiveness and everlasting life. A thousand years before, his birth was
promised to King David of Israel. The
Lord told David that an offspring would come from him whose kingdom would last
forever. This offspring, this Son of
David, is the King of Kings. Christmas
tells the story of the birth of this King.
“From
Heaven Above” came a humble king. This
is in sharp contrast to Caesar’s kingdom.
Caesar Augustus was the emperor of the mighty Roman Empire, ruling with
an iron fist from western Europe and into the Middle East and northern
Africa. Caesar Augustus also welcomed
the title “divi filius,” which means “son of a god.” The seeds of worshiping the emperor as a god
were sewn at this time. And here in Luke
chapter 2, the power of the mighty Roman emperor was felt all the way in the tiny,
backwater town of Nazareth. A new tax
plan had been put in place! But just
like today, not everyone was thrilled about it, especially since everyone had
to travel to their ancestral home to register for tax purposes.
“From
Heaven Above” came the true Son of God who humbly took up residence not in a
palace or a castle, but in the womb of the Virgin Mary. The Son of God allowed himself to become
completely dependent upon his mother, growing within her like all other babies
do … cells multiplying, body parts developing and growing week after week.
Knowing
she was obviously close to her delivery date, why would Joseph take Mary on
such a journey? Perhaps there was hardly
any family in Nazareth to care for Mary had she stayed at home while Joseph
traveled to Bethlehem. It turned out
that there was hardly any place left in Bethlehem appropriate for a woman to
deliver her child. Just a stable. Again, a humble place for our humble king
from heaven.
It was
about a hundred-mile journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. It would have taken them 8-10 days to
walk. We have pictures of Mary on a
donkey, but Scripture doesn’t tell us whether there was a donkey or not. I like to think there was, though. People traveled in caravans for safety in
those days. Someone must have had a
donkey among them. What a beautiful
preview that would have been of Palm Sunday when, about thirty years later, Jesus
rode as the humble king into Jerusalem and to his crucifixion later that week.
The
Son of God allowed himself to be carried by his mother. He also allowed himself to be carried along
by the whims of the forces of worldly power … although this was all in God’s
plan. Jesus was not a mere helpless pawn
to be used by the power brokers of this earth.
Caesar Augustus ordered the taxation which forced Joseph and Mary to
travel to Bethlehem where it was actually necessary for Jesus to be born. The prophets declared it to be so. The prophet Micah said, “But you, O Bethlehem
Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall
come forth from me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from
of old, from ancient days” (Micah 5:2). Later, the Jewish rulers brought him to
Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea and nailed him to a cross where it
was necessary for him to die. The
prophets declared it to be so. The
prophet Isaiah said, “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed
for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and
with his wounds we are healed” (Is. 53:5).
It's
clear this humble king is a heavenly king.
The birth of a royal child is usually announced by heralds. The announcement resounds throughout palaces
and castles, in public squares throughout the kingdom. This still happens today at the birth of a
prince or a princess. It’s plastered all
over the news. But that wasn’t the case
with the birth of Jesus. No one except
Joseph and Mary seemed to care that Jesus was born. No one except the herald angels that announced
the birth of this royal Child. But even
then, their announcement was not to everyone, but rather to poor shepherds on
the hillside outside of the city.
Another example of the humble way in which this heavenly King entered
our world.
The
glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. That’s a natural reaction when the glory of
the Lord shines upon you. With the holy,
righteous glory of God shining brightly, all the unholy, unrighteous, ugliness
of humanity is exposed … sin, guilt, shame, all our wicked acts, all our evil
thoughts. There is no hiding from God. And maybe you recognize yourself in
this. Maybe you’ve thought you could
hide from God. The glory of the Lord is
shining upon you through these words tonight.
But the very first words from the angel are “Fear Not.” Take courage.
He has come to bring good news of great joy for all the people … a
Savior has been born. There is now no
need to be afraid. God’s favor has
fallen upon you. This Savior will rescue
you from all that separates you from God and his love … the walls that each of
us have built by our disobedience and unfaithfulness. This Savior has come to tear those walls
down. He has come to forgive you of all
your sins. He has come to bring peace with
God and humanity. This is God incarnate. God in the flesh. Love incarnate. Love in the flesh. St. John wrote in 1 John 4:8, “God is
love.” This is love like it has never
been demonstrated before. St. John
continues, “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent
his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God
but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1
John 4:9-10). God has entered into our
world to become one of us, to be weak for us, to suffer for us, to shed his
blood for us, to bear our sins for us, to reconcile us to himself through Jesus’
death and resurrection.
Good news
of great joy for all the people. Perhaps
there are some who respond, “Really? For
all people? Even for someone like
me?” Perhaps the shepherds thought that
way. They were on the fringe of
society. They were smelly, dirty, living
among the animals, unclean, often coming into contact with dead carcasses,
living outside the city. They may have
compared themselves to the city dwellers and considered themselves unimportant
and unnoticed.
Perhaps
you feel that way sometimes, too. You
feel unimportant, insignificant, unnoticed.
You may have a loving family, but there’s no else who cares about you. Or maybe you feel like an outcast even
amongst your own people. Does God even
notice me? How can God love someone like
me? Jesus is the Savior of the world, a
Savior for all people, but I feel like I get lost in the crowd, I’m nobody in
particular … like those shepherds.
The
angel speaks directly to those shepherds and says, “For UNTO YOU is born this
day in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” UNTO YOU.
YES, YOU! Specifically,
particularly, you. Jesus is the Savior
of all people. He is the Savior of
individuals, too. Like you.
God
gave the shepherds a sign of his love for them … a baby wrapped in swaddling
cloths and lying in a manger. He gives you a sign of his love for you …
water, spoken words, bread and wine … these are the swaddling clothes in which
he wraps his love up for you and delivers it to you personally. Water that washes away your sin. Words that declare you are forgiven and
free. Bread and wine that are the very
body and blood of the Baby born in Bethlehem, shed for you at the cross of
Calvary.
He
is your humble King sent “From Heaven Above.”
A Savior for all people. A Savior
for you.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment