Celebrating with the Angels

Luke 1:26-37, 2:1-20

Every person should celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ because of the facts the angels tell about him.

Introduction:

In just a few weeks a new president will be sworn into office. There will be festivities going on to celebrate this momentous occasion. There will be a parade. There will be the ceremony. There will be private times and there will be public times.

Fact I. He is great

A. On the History Channel they sometimes have a show called mega movers. They usually show big machines that do big jobs. On one show they had this giant mining machine that had a foot print that was probably about as big as a football field. When it was compact it was probably as tall as a five story building, and this machine had to be moved several miles to a different mine. It was amazing to see all that was involved in moving this machine from one location to another. It was worth the effort because it was such an efficient machine.

B. I tell that story because the word used in v. 32 is translated for us “great”. It is the word that the angel uses to describe Jesus Christ. In the Greek the word is “megas”. Jesus is said to be great or megas. The mining machine was moved because it did such a good job of what it did. Jesus is called great because he is the only one who is able to do what he does. If we think of great men in history, none of them can make the claims that Jesus has made. There is no one who is great like Jesus. The angels recognized who Jesus was and they wanted the shepherds to realize what a great blessing he was. They wanted the shepherds to pass the word along that Jesus was great.

C. If we are Christians we can celebrate anytime because we are a part of this greatness. If we are not Christians then it could be pretty frightening to know that Jesus is great and we really don’t belong to him. You might think of it like being on the winning team. We can call ourselves winners as Christians because we have Jesus and he is great. He is greater than any person the world has ever known.

Fact II. He is of God

A. One reason that Jesus can be called great is because of who he is. In the second half of the sentence we just read it says, “(He) will be called the Son of the Most High.” Jesus Christ is the Son of the Most High. He is the son of god, and as we looked at last week this means that Jesus Christ is God. He is not some sort of a Jr. Version of God. He is God. This was addressed to Mary. Perhaps this was so that Mary did not become proud about the son she would give birth to. She was the physical vessel that God used to bring this child into the world. His birth certificate might read that Mary and Joseph were his parents, but she would know without a doubt that Jesus was the son of God. His origins came from God and not from a human act.

B. I am sure that I have told you about the Christian Athiest I met in England. He believed that Jesus Christ was a good teacher and leader, but there is no such thing as God. According to an Atheist there is no God and there is no higher power. He wanted Jesus but he did not want God. When you take God away from jesus you really don’t have much. Much of what Jesus said was focused on God. One of the most powerful statements from jesus is "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” John 5:19. Without God Jesus really does not amount to much. He had to be God in order to have the impact that he had.

C. Jesus is so much more than a good teach or a fine example. He is God and we need to accept him as God. If we try to take anything away from him we lose everything about Him. He must always be God. He will not stop being God, but he can stop that in our minds. We must always allow him to share that position of God in our minds and our hearts. We can celebrate with the angels because we have a God who cares enough about us that he sent Jesus to this world for us.

Fact III. He is eternal

A. We are accustomed to things coming and going in our world. In v. 32 we are told that he will have the throne of David. This could just mean that he will be the king of Judah. This would not really be a big item. This is something that people would expect. He was of royal lineage, so he would become a royal himself. This would be a very earthly understanding of what was being said here. In v. 33 the angel shifts the focus from something physical to something much greater. It says that he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end. It would be humanly impossible for Jesus to reign over Jacob forever, and for his kingdom to never end. This is something that only God would be able to do. The reign of Jesus is something that is taking on a much larger significance than an earthly king. His kingdom is going to exist like none before and ever to come.

B. When the people of Jesus day were looking for the Messiah it seems that many were looking for a man to come as king and overthrown the Roman rule they were under. You might imagine them talking about a king who would rally the people together like no one else had been able to do. He would amass a great army and they would teach the Romans a lesson and they would win back their freedom. The message the angel is giving to Mary is a very different one. He is speaking of a man who will come and rule forever. His kingdom will not be marked by the downfall of Rome. His kingdom will extend far beyond the rise and fall of a nation.

C. We can rejoice with the angels today because we have a savior who is eternal. In the play we saw a baby in a manger about 2000 years ago. Sometimes we get stuck in that 2000 years ago. The truth is the Jesus is still alive and active today. Those who have accepted Christ as Lord and Savior can know for certain that he is eternal in their lives also. Our savior is still alive.

Fact IV. He is King

A. Kings can come in all forms. You can have good kings who really seem to look out for the welfare of their people. You can also have kings who are only interested in their own agenda. A man like Saadam Hussein would probably fall into this category. We would hope that a king would make laws and enforce laws that govern the people. He would be able to see what is best for the entire kingdom and he would do everything within his power to make the kingdom the best it could be. That might mean there are times when things are not overly pleasing to the residents of that kingdom. No matter what happens the king is looking out for the best of the kingdom as a whole. He is not overly concerned about his legacy or advancing himself. He is concerned with serving his country.

B. The angel does not give Mary a lot of details about what kind of king her son will be. You can assume that since the child will be coming from God he will be a good king. Jesus will serve as a king like none other and his kingdom will last forever. This kind of news had to create a lot of anticipation. This could only mean that the Messiah that the whole Jewish world had been waiting for was finally coming. For some this was a great sigh of relief. For others it created a spiritual dilemma, because Jesus did not match what they thought he should be like.

C. We can rejoice that Jesus Christ came into the world to be a king. He would not sit on the throne for one generation. His kingdom is eternal. That means that 2000 years later Jesus is still reigning. His reign does not look like an earthly king’s reign. His is everlasting and spiritual.

Fact V. He saves

A. In 2:11 the angels announce to the shepherds out in the fields, “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” Among all of the other words used to describe Jesus “savior” is included. This is something that might try to be applied to other kings but it does not fit as well as it does with Jesus. Jesus is a savior like none other. A king might be able to save his people from oppression of another government. He might be able to provide help during lean times. He might be able to do a lot of things that people would consider saving them. Jesus is different.

B. The angels announce to the shepherds that “a savior has been born to you.” This is a word that had been used to describe God a few verses earlier. That use of the word savior ties Jesus to God. The use of the word Christ indicates someone who has been anointed for a specific task. In the Old Testament a priest was anointed indicating that they had been given the position of priest. It was a way of demonstrating respect for a person and perhaps for the office they held. By using the word Christ it is indicating that he had been anointed. Finally the angels call him Lord. This was a title that was held by someone who was a ruler or leader over a person or a group of people. When you put these three terms together you have an awesome person being pointed out. Jesus is not just a child. He is something extraordinary. Jesus is much more than just a man. He was something worth the shepherds going and seeing.

C. The angels rejoiced at this news. When I think of the reason for Jesus coming, I really don’t think much of it would have a direct impact on them. Yet they are rejoicing over the news they are sharing. If the angels are rejoicing over this news, it must be really important. It is something we should rejoice over also, and it is something we should act upon.