Christmas is Tomorrow! Who is Truly Celebrating?
Notes
Transcript
Luke 2:15-20 ESV
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.
Today marks the “eve”, the precursor of an event that has rocked God’s creation ever since it took place. But though that is the case, the society and culture in which we live today by and large does not recognize that inaugural Christmas morning as anything really all that special.
Of course, we know how society has transformed the day and the season into a commercial extravaganza, and we know how a lot of people just look at Christmas as though it’s just a special day for people to get the day off work, to exchange gifts, and gather with family and friends, to such an extent that even atheists, agnostics, and non-Christians “recognize” and celebrate Christmas.
But do even those of us who are self-professing Christians really recognize what happened on that first Christmas morning? If I were to ask a random person what happened on the first Christmas, I’m almost positive that that person would say that on the first Christmas, Jesus was born; I mean, even most unbelievers believe that Jesus was a real Person, and that Christmas is the time that we celebrate His birth.
So, basically everyone who quote unquote “recognizes” Christmas, recognizes it as Jesus’ birthday. But you know, there are still people who show up to birthday parties of people who they don’t like just so that they can get a piece of the cake. And to be quite honest, when I look at our society and how they view Christmas, it seems to me like there are millions of people just in this country who have insisted on attending the birthday party of Jesus yet are fairly apathetic toward the One Who is being celebrated.
But though that is the case, there is yet a remnant who recognize what Christmas is truly all about, they recognize and embrace the implications of what it means, and with fear and trembling, with deep reverence and awe, they worship; they worship the God Who formulated such a glorious plan of salvation.
That is what it means to truly recognize Christmas; it means to worship… yet I dare say that there are many people, even many church attendees who fail to properly recognize Christmas.
Thus, there is a variety of reactions that people have to Christmas. But as much as we would like it to be so, we don’t live in a world where truth is relative. There is only one truth and truth does not vary on my feelings at any given moment. Rather, truth is the truth.
And in regard to the purpose of Christmas, the meaning of Christmas, and the right reaction to Christmas, the truth is all singular.
And what we see in our text for today are two different ways that two different groups of people reacted when they heard the news of Who had been born that first Christmas morning.
But before we get to the exposition of the text, let’s talk for just a minute about Who exactly it was that came into the world that first Christmas morning.
Now, like I said, most will people say that the reason why Christmas is so important is because that is when Jesus was born. Well ok, yeah, but what does that mean? What does it mean for creation? What does it mean for those whom He came to die for? And most of all, we need to ask, Who exactly is Jesus anyway?
Well, let me tell you first Who Jesus is and why Him coming to this world is such a massively, eternally sized big deal.
Many people believe that Jesus was just a really good Guy. They believe that inherently He was just like anyone else, but still His teachings are really good. So, that large group of people think that Jesus is an exceptionally moral Person, but still… just a regular person.
Then there are others, and I am extremely pained to say that even many church members belong to this group who believe that Jesus is the Son of God, but that He is the Created Son of God, that God the Father created Him. Thus, He is special, He is unique, but He is merely Someone Who God created.
And then there is the last group, and this group I believe is in the minority, but nonetheless, it is the group that has the correct understanding when it comes to Who Jesus is. This group rightly believes that there was never a time when the Son was not, that He is begotten, not made, that He is God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God.
Thus, what the orthodox Christian believes is that when Jesus came to this world what was truly happening was that the God of heaven and earth in the form of Man came to this world.
Thus, we orthodox Christians believe that when Jesus came, the One Who is both fully God and fully Man came into the world that He created. Who, as Paul tells us in his epistle to the Philippians chapter 2, verses 6-8
Philippians 2:6-8 ESV
6 …though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Thus Jesus, the very God-man came, by taking the form of a lowly servant so that He may humble Himself to the extent that He would die for the sins of His elect, those He had chosen to save before the foundation of the world.
The shepherds who this angel of God had appeared to and announced the birth of Christ to, recognized this awesome reality, and we see in verse 15 of our reading how they reacted upon receiving the message that Christ was born, when it says:
Luke 2:15 ESV
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.”
This angel of God had told the shepherds that the Christ had been born in Bethlehem, the City of David, and they believed. And because they believed, they knew that this was something that they did not want to miss out on, so they unanimously decided to go to Bethlehem that they may see and worship the Christ.
Then verse 16 tells us what they saw when they arrived when we read:
Luke 2:16 ESV
16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.
The text says, “with haste”, with joy and anticipation in their hearts, with reverential fear abiding on them, they headed out for Bethlehem, and just like the angel of the Lord told them, they found the Baby, the Infant Christ, lying in a manger, an animal trough, wrapped in swaddling cloths. Here is the God of heaven and earth, the King of kings, born into poverty, coming to serve God and die for His elect people.
At seeing this, the humble, lowly shepherds were surely overwhelmed, trembling, knowing Who they stood before, but also overwhelmed with joy, because of Who they stood before.
Seeing the Babe lie there, the shepherds knew that what had been delivered to them by the angel of the Lord was true, they see the fulfillment with their own eyes!
Thus, they make known how the angel of the Lord appeared to them and told them that this would be so. We see this in verse 17, where it says:
Luke 2:17 ESV
17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.
Like I said, when the shepherds saw the Baby Jesus lying there, they knew that the message that the angel of the Lord delivered to them was true.
Because of this, they couldn’t just sit there and be silent. The Christ had finally come! The Deliverer had finally come! And thus, the shepherds tell everyone that they can about what they have seen and heard. The visitation of the angels, the message that was given to them, how the Baby Jesus was the promised Christ.
And like I said, at hearing this, the response was mixed, so let’s go ahead and take a look at the responses in the remainder of our text, verses 18-20, where it says:
Luke 2:18-20 ESV
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.
So, overall, the response was “wonder”, the text says that all who heard the message of the shepherds “wondered” at what the shepherds had told them.
Now, “wonder” can mean several things; it can be good, and it can also be bad. For example, you may be looking up at the night sky one and suddenly, a shooting star flies overhead. Seeing this, you’re filled with wonder. You say to yourself, “Wow! What a beautiful sight! I can’t believe that I just saw that!” You’re filled with wonder…
Or, like I said, wonder can be a bad thing too. You might, for example, let’s say, hear one of our excellent political leaders blatantly lie and so your mouth opens wide, your jaw drops low, and you’re in shock that anyone could ever so blatantly lie. Thus, you’re in wonder, you’re amazed that such a thing could happen.
Now, when you take what has just happened here in our text, how God had willed to reveal Himself and His Word to lowly shepherds, that God would choose some lowly shepherds of all people to be the first who hear of the good news of the birth of the long-awaited Christ, and how the long-awaited Christ is revealed as a helpless Infant, born into poverty, lying in an animal trough, with parents of no standing whatsoever, those who heard may wonder, may be in awe of how God has chosen to bring His Word to pass.
They may be in awe at the fact that God would come to this world not in the form of a royal prince, a king’s son, or the son of a wealthy and influential man, but as a poor Child, born to poor parents, who dwell in a tiny, insignificant town with about 400 people in it. That’s less than one third of the population of Bethany!
But most of all, it may surprise them, they may be in awe and wonder that God didn’t reveal this first of all to some great religious leader or to some kind of royal aristocrat, but that He revealed this to lowly, humble, insignificant shepherds who were working the graveyard shift.
They may recognize this and praise and worship God for revealing Himself, for coming to this world in a way that no one would have ever expected.
But then again, as was said, wonder is not always a good thing. I’m sure that there were many people there who heard the report of the shepherds and immediately disbelieved.
Why? Because the report was that the Christ was a humble and lowly Infant, born into poverty, to insignificant parents, but worst of all, because of who was delivering the report. Like I said in our message last week; there was nothing special about shepherds in Israel, they were about as common as ticks in a forest, and they were extremely insignificant.
“Why would God reveal this news, this earth-shattering news to a few insignificant shepherds?” they asked. And they answered that question by saying, “He wouldn’t. He wouldn’t do that. He would reveal it someone a lot more significant and influential.”
So, they didn’t believe the report. Their wonder was wondering how anyone could ever have the gull to do what these shepherds had just done.
But in the midst of all the wondering, Mary, the mother of Jesus, remained calm. She wondered like everyone else, but her wonder was a good wonder. She heard the report, and she treasured what was said, keeping them in her memory, and pondering on them as Jesus grew, seeing before her very eyes the fulfillment of God’s Word.
But regardless of what the people thought, the shepherds knew what they had heard and what they had seen. They heard the Word of God, then they saw God fulfill His Word with their own eyes, thus, they joyfully returned to the field, glorifying, praising God for everything that He had caused to happen amongst them, seeing that that which they had heard was indeed a blessed reality.
You see, wonder is always what is produced within the hearts and minds of those who hear the true Christmas story and take in all of the implications that surround it.
Some wonder and praise God for coming to this world the way that He did. They are overwhelmed by it. They are amazed by it. And most of all, they worship God because of it, they worship God because He is Who He is.
Yet there are still others who when hearing the true Christmas story will scoff. They’ll say that it isn’t true. Or maybe they will verbalize that they believe that it’s true, but inwardly, they don’t. They’re unmoved. They don’t love the One Whose birth they are supposedly celebrating, but I guarantee you that they will still open their presents and eat their Christmas Day turkey tomorrow, quote unquote “celebrating” a Christ that they don’t even trust or love.
Beloved, may those of us who are the sheep of Christ, the elect people of God take most seriously and reverently what this day represents.
Amen?