Luke 2:1-21 - Peace on Earth

Why did heaven erupt with the sound of a multitude of angels on the night when Jesus was born? What did all those angels all say? And why does Christmas still seem to awaken feelings of joy and generosity in so many people?

In one of my favorite Christmas stories, A Christmas Carol, Scrooge’s nephew says that Christmas is a “kind, forgiving, [and] charitable… time; the only time I know… in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts… and to think of [other] people… as if they really were fellow-[travelers] to the grave, and not [some other] race of creatures bound on other journeys.”[i]

I think he’s right, but I want to spend a little time this morning thinking about why… From where does this sense of Christmas magic or Christmas joy or Christmas generosity come?

Well, to answer questions like these we need to start long before any of us were born, even from before Jesus was born 2,000 years ago. We need to start at least as early as the last prophet of the Old Testament, whose name was Malachi. You see, on the night when Jesus was born, some people in the world were eagerly waiting for His arrival. They knew God had promised a Messiah, and they believed the words of the prophets, so they hoped and waited for Him.

400 years before the birth of Jesus, the prophet Malachi spoke from God about a coming “great and dreadful day of the LORD” (Malachi 4:5-6). Now this promise may not sound so joyful or generous – who can really be excited about a “dreadful day of the LORD”? – but this is a common reference in the Old Testament to a day when God would bring both justice and peace to the earth.

3-400 years before Malachi, the prophet Isaiah also predicted the Messiah and that coming day when God would both judge sinners and bring peace on earth. Isaiah said, “those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone… For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this” (Isaiah 9:2, 6–7).

Now this prophecy gave people a lot more detail about the Messiah who was to come! All of those titles – “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” – they speak to the Messiah’s nature and His work. He would reconcile sinners, display wisdom, and last forever. The Messiah would also (in some sense) be the Almighty God, and He would usher in a reign of peace like no other. And the Messiah would do all of this as the true heir of the “throne of David” (Is. 9:7).

Now, this prophecy taps into one of the deepest and most wide-spread themes of the Bible! The “throne of David” is that seat of the king of Israel, but David was not the first, and Israel was a nation unlike all the others in the world. God Himself was the first king of Israel, and God Himself had formed the nation and people of Israel from the miraculous offspring of one obscure man – Abraham. Way back in Genesis 12, God called Abraham out of obscurity, and God made a promise to him that echoed the oldest and most profound promise God ever made.

It was right at the opening chapters of the whole Bible, when sin first entered into creation, and humanity became utterly guilty and deserving of God’s judgment. And just then, God made a promise that humanity would not always suffer under the pain and sorrow and darkness of sin. No, God promised that one day an “offspring” or “seed” or “child” would come, and He would bring peace… but He would also suffer terribly as He did it (Gen. 3:15).

With all of this in our minds as background, and knowing that 2,000 years ago many people were waiting for the promised “offspring,” the prophesied Messiah, the true heir of David’s throne, and the Prince of Peace… let’s read what Luke says happened one night in the region of Judea.

Scripture Reading

Luke 2:1–21 (ESV)

1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town.

4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.

6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.

10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

13 And suddenly there was 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 those with whom he is pleased!”

15 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.”

16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

21 And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Main Idea:

Peace on earth is the gift of God through the miraculous and historical person and work of Jesus Christ.

Sermon

1. True History

One of the first things we should notice about this Christmas story is that the Bible says it’s true. It’s not an imaginary story, and it’s not merely a parable or a fable. Joseph and Mary were real people who really lived during the time when “Caesar Augustus” made a “decree” that “all the world should be registered” (v1). Of course, in this case, “all the world” means all the Roman world, and Rome was a massive empire that stretched out as far as anyone could measure back then.

Registrations like this were not frequent, but they did happen every so often as a way for Roman officials to count their citizens and to calculate their taxes. Luke says that this was “the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria” (v2), and some people think that Luke’s dating here cannot be right. But if we thoughtfully consider the facts, it’s not hard to see that Luke is a faithful historical witness.[ii]

It was probably between 2 and 6 AD when “all went to be registered, each to his own town” (v3). And since this “registration” or census was not optional, Mary and Joseph had to make their way to “Bethlehem” (v4), even though Mary was “with child” or pregnant (v5). It’s important to note here that “Bethlehem” was also “the city of David,” and the reason why Joseph and Mary were going there was that Joseph was “of the house and lineage of David” (v4). This means that the baby in Mary’s womb was a true heir of King David’s throne, even though the kingdom of Israel was nearly non-existent at that time. God was fulfilling His promise against impossible odds, and God often works that way.

In the beginning, God created the whole universe out of nothing. When no one seemed to worship or fear God, He created a whole kingdom of people to show the world what true worship looks like. And when the people of Israel turned their back on God for hundreds of years, He sent His own Son into real human history to carry out His plan to save sinners and bring peace on earth.

The Christmas story isn’t like most of the movies we see or the songs we sing at Christmas time. I’ve watched The Polar Express and The Grinch and Frosty the Snowman at least 20 times each over the last 10 years, but the Bible tells us about a Christmas story that really happened. The story of Jesus’s birth is true! There really was a Joseph and a Mary, and Mary really was pregnant with a baby boy named Jesus, and God really used a Roman census from a pagan Caesar to bring about the perfect fulfillment of the promises God had made centuries earlier.

But the true history of the Christmas story is not the most fascinating aspect of it. At least I don’t think it is. It really did happen in history, but it was also the most special miracle ever.

2. True Miracle

Luke says, in v5, that Mary was “betrothed” or “espoused” or “pledged to be married” to Joseph. And back in chapter 1 of Luke’s Gospel, he wrote about the special visit Mary had received from “the angel Gabriel,” when he told her that she would “conceive” a son by the power of “the Holy Spirit,” and not in the natural way (Luke 1:26, 31, 35). Mary’s pregnancy was special and unique, and eventually the “time came for her to give birth” (v6). But, like Sarah and Rachel of old, who both conceived sons in barren wombs, Mary conceived and “gave birth to her firstborn son” by way of a true and great miracle (v7).

You know, a lot of people think that Jesus’s humility was most on display in the “swaddling cloths” and the “manger” and in the fact that there was “no place for them in the inn” (v7). But that’s not really where we see the beginning of His humility. Theologians talk of Christ’s humiliation starting when He became human in the first place. As the Bible says in Philippians 2, God the Son “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:7).

This truth, this miracle, is a profound mystery that the Bible never really explains. And it’s a miracle that we can never fully comprehend. In a sermon on the birth of Christ, a famous preacher from the 300s AD, John Chrysostom, said, “What shall I say! And how shall I describe this Birth to you? For this wonder fills me with astonishment. The Ancient of days has become an infant. He Who sits upon the sublime and heavenly Throne, now lies in a manger. And He Who cannot be touched… now lies subject to the hands of men. He Who has broken the bonds of sinners, is now bound by an infant’s bands. But He has decreed that [dishonor] shall become honor, [degradation] be clothed with glory, and total humiliation the measure of His Goodness.”[iii]

The Bible teaches us that the goodness and grace of God are especially visible in this one act of humiliation. When God the Son put on human flesh, He humbled Himself beyond explanation. It was a miracle like no other miracle! The God who created everything… the One who holds the universe and knows every molecule… He became a human and lived among us!

John 1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (Jn. 1:1-3, 14).

If you’re like me, you can get caught up in the feeling that Christmas is a time of magic and wonder. But this feeling finds its origin in the true Christmas miracle that started it all. And the true miracle of Jesus’s birth – that this baby boy was God in human flesh – not only displays profound wonder, but it also speaks to the gracious generosity of God. Jesus’s birth was a gift from God Himself!

3. True Gift

Joseph and Mary weren’t the only people who got special visits from angels, telling them about the miracle-baby, this God-man who was the promised Messiah. Luke says, in v8, that there were “shepherds out in the field” who saw “an angel” who announced a message of “good news of great joy” (v8-10). The shepherds (like everyone in the Bible who ever sees an angel) were afraid, but the angel said, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people” (v10).

The “good news” was that there was “born” in “the city of David” a “Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (v11). And that “Savior” was explicitly “to” or “for” “you” (v11)! It was as though the angel was announcing this good news to all the people of the world: “God has sent the promised Savior to you!”

The Bible says, in Galatians 4, “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law…” (Galatians 4:4-5). Nearly 40 times in John’s Gospel alone, Jesus talks about His having been “sent” into the world from God the Father. For example, Jesus said, “I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me” (Jn. 6:38). And, “the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me” (Jn. 5:36).

But what was Jesus sent by the Father into the world to do? Well, Jesus was sent into the world to “make” God “known” to us (Jn. 1:18). In order for us to truly know who God is and what God is like, we must come to know Him through Jesus Christ. Jesus was also sent into the world to “teach” us the “word” of God (Jn. 7:16, 8:26 12:49). The Bible makes it clear that God and His word are inseparable – to know God’s word is to know God. And Jesus was called “the word” of God “made flesh” (Jn. 1:14). Jesus is (in some sense) the embodiment of God’s word.

But the central purpose for which Jesus was sent into the world was not merely to preach or teach, but to reconcile guilty sinners with God. Jesus came to reunite sinners with the God who made them, not because they became worthy or deserving, but because God loves them (Jn. 17:20-26). As the Bible says in John 3:16, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish [or “be destroyed” or “be lost”] but have eternal life.”

This is the gracious and miraculous and incomparable gift of God! One of the reasons we are so happy to give and to receive presents for Christmas is that we feel loved, and we like to show our love for others. A gift is a tangible way to show our love, and there can be no greater gift than God the Father giving us His Son… since it is through God the Son – Jesus Christ – that sinners like us can truly know peace.

4. True Peace

The climactic verses of the story in Luke 2 are v13-14. After the one angel made his announcement to the shepherds in the field, the whole sky exploded with the brilliant light of “a multitude of the heavenly host” (v13). This giant choir of angels was “praising God” (v13), and they were saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (v14). This simultaneous declaration of God’s glory and peace on earth is fascinating… because of what it implies and because of what it says.

It implies that there was not peace on earth before Jesus came, and it says that God was glorified in bringing peace to the earth when Jesus was born.

Indeed, there was not peace on earth before Jesus came. This is not to say that there was constant war or conflict in the world, though fighting is common in the post-Genesis-3 world. But I’m referring here to peace between God and man… and before Jesus came, there was none.

When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, they were kicked out. God cursed humanity, and humanity hated God (Rom. 1:30). The Bible teaches us that all people everywhere are naturally hostile toward God. We are born sinners, and we are at war against God, against His word, and against His rules. We do not naturally have peace with God; and before Jesus came, there was no reason for God to have peace with us.

So, when the angels sang out about peace on earth, they implied that peace was something new worth singing about! And the occasion for their song was the birth of Jesus Christ! So, when Jesus came, the angels said that there was now peace on earth… to the glory of God.

But how could there be peace between a holy God and the sinners who are at war against Him? Ah, here we see the connection between the Christmas story and the whole story of the Bible itself. This announcement of peace was not arbitrary… The angels weren’t just making a blanket statement that all sinners everywhere are now forgiven for their rebellion and sin. No, the angels were singing about the peace that had arrived in the form of the infant Jesus, and they were singing about the peace that Jesus would bring in full through His person and work… to all those who would repent and believe (turn from sin and trust in Jesus).

In the New Testament, the gospel is called the “good news of peace through Jesus Christ” (Acts 10:36). When the Apostle Paul wrote letters to various churches, he almost always began with a greeting of “grace and peace” (Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 3; 2 Cor. 1:2; Gal. 3; etc.). And it is in the book of Romans that we can read explicitly about having “peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” because Jesus is the one who has “justified” guilty and hostile sinners (Rom. 5:1).

Peace is what Jesus brought when He suffered God’s wrath against sinners and exchanged His righteousness for our sinfulness. Peace is the result of Jesus’s life and death, having satisfied God’s justice on behalf of sinners. Peace is the ultimate resolution between God and sinners… it’s blessing where once there was a curse… it’s salvation where once there was only judgment… it’s joy where once there was sorrow and pain!

Peace on earth is the announcement that what happened in the garden with the first Adam… what happened in ancient Israel with disobedient and idolatrous people… what happened every day of my life, as I have sinned more times than I can count, has been taken care of by the person and work of Jesus Christ!

As the Christmas song goes, “Joy to the world! The Lord has come! Let earth receive her King! …No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground. He comes to make His blessings flow, far as the curse is found!”

Friends, this joy and peace, which Christmastime highlights so well, is available to everyone who genuinely turns away from their sin and unbelief and turns towardJesus with trust and faith.

What a great Christmas day this would be if we would all know and have such peace in the person and work of Christ.

Conclusion

Today, as we all head home in just a little while to celebrate Christmas some more, some of us will open presents, some will eat big meals of good food, some will observe a family tradition, and some of us will do all of that… and maybe more. I pray that the Lord will help us to be able to enjoy afresh that angelic announcement that we’ve considered this morning.

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased” (v14).

May we trust in Jesus Christ who is the Prince of Peace… May we enjoy the pleasure or favor or blessing of God, not because we are good, but because Christ has been good for us… And may we glorify God in the highest for this marvelous and gracious gift He has provided for us.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Aland, Kurt, Barbara Aland, Johannes Karavidopoulos, Carlo M. Martini, and Bruce M. Metzger. Novum Testamentum Graece. 28th Edition. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2012.

Biblical Studies Press. The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible. Biblical Studies Press, 2005.

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.

Sproul, R. C., ed. The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version. 2015 Edition. Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust, 2015.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016.

The Holy Bible: King James Version. Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009.

The Holy Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1984.

Endnotes

[i] Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol. https://www.amazon.com/Illustrated-Christmas-Carol-200th-Anniversary/dp/1952433037/ [ii] Some readers may be interested in studying the historicity of Luke’s account of this registration. This article is a helpful introductory address of this subject. https://tyndalehouse.com/explore/articles/was-luke-wrong-about-the-census/?mc_cid=10a5d99b45&mc_eid=3edc03f407 [iii]See the full text of Chrysostom’s sermon here: http://ww1.antiochian.org/node/21955

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