Peace On Earth Series

Theme: Peace on Earth

Text: Luke 2:8-14

Greetings: The Lord is good; His Love endures forever!

Illustration: 

Christmas always means a Gift. 

After the Christmas holidays, 

A boy told his uncle, ‘Thanks uncle, for the electric guitar you gave me for Christmas’ "It's the best present I ever got."

His uncle said ‘Oh, nice to know about it. That's great,"

Then his uncle asked, "Are you enjoying playing it?"

The boy said "Oh, No Uncle, I don't play it," because

"My mom gives me Rs. 50 per day not to play it during the day,

And my dad gives me Rs.500 a week not to play it at night”.

Introduction:

Santa Claus is merely a gift-giving, fourth-century Saint Nicholas of Myra known for his piety and generosity. Santa's modern look comes courtesy of a Coca-Cola advertising campaign in the 1930s. "In 274 C.E., the Roman emperor Aurelian established a feast of the birth of Sol Invictus (the Unconquered Sun) on December 25." The true biblical story of Jesus' birth has been syncretized into a non-Christian festival.  The vast majority of mainstream Christians celebrate Christmas on December 25 or January 6 (Eastern Orthodox), depending on their denominational allegiance.

1. Good news to All

The Greek word ‘e?a??e????µa? – evangelízomai’ literally means "I evangelize you," for "I bring good tidings," is a matter "of great joy."

In a way, this is the beginning of the preaching of the gospel, as this is the sense of the Greek term. He is informing the shepherds that God had sent him as an evangelist to let them know that the way of salvation was beginning to open to all people.   

Good news "to all people." In the Greek text, a definite article appears before "people," so it should read, "all the people." Whenever we read "the people," in Bible, it usually refers to the people of Israel. So, all the People refers to the whole universe, all nations, all tribes, and all languages.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is a message of reconciliation and hope (John 3:16–17), that hope is only accessible to those who believe in Him (John 3:18, 36). So, the angels are declaring good news to all but Peace to those who follow His will by accepting His Son (John 6:28–29; Hebrews 11:6).  

It is clearly affirmed in Luke 2:10 and 2:14. Kindly observe carefully the words coined by Luke in this passage. There is a sharp contrast between those addressed in v.10 with those addressed here in v.14. The angel declared in “good news of great joy” to all people (v 10). In other words, the coming of Christ has a universal, or general, benefit for all humanity. No one by birth, nationality, language, or prior creed or behaviour, has been excluded. No matter where you have come from, or what you have done, God offers good news, the gospel—and we will get to what that means in a moment—to all.

The “People” (Greek laos) at this point likely points to the people of Israel, but in the larger narrative of Luke-Acts indicates that God’s people will expand to include all people regardless of nationality. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles.  James makes this point at the end of the Jerusalem council.

Proclamation has five elements. First, reason not to be fearful but rather joyful. Second, “good news” for everyone. Third, a saviour has been born. Fourth, the saviour is the anointed one of God. Fifth, the baby in the manger is the “sign” that affirms the truthfulness of this proclamation.

The birth story of Jesus comes in three parts: the pregnancy and the birth (Luke 2:1-7), the proclamation of the birth to the shepherds (Luke 2:8-20), and the circumcision and naming (Luke 2:21). This is similar to many ancient and modern stories. We can very well see the same structure even in these days: The birth, the announcement of the birth to others; and the circumcision and naming of boys, or of girls, or dedication or infant baptism.

Illustration:

Christmas Gift:

A wealthy English family once invited friends to spend some time at their beautiful estate. The happy gathering was almost plunged into a terrible tragedy on the first day. When the children went swimming, one of them got into deep water and was drowning. Fortunately, the gardener heard the others screaming and plunged into the pool to rescue the helpless victim. That youngster was Winston Churchill. His parents, deeply grateful to the gardener, asked what they could do to reward him. He hesitated, then said, "I wish my son could go to college someday and become a doctor." "We'll pay his way," replied Churchill's parents.

Years later when Sir Winston was prime minister of England, he was stricken with pneumonia. Greatly concerned, the king summoned the best physician who could be found to the bedside of the ailing leader. That doctor was Sir Alexander Fleming, the developer of penicillin. He was also the son of that gardener who had saved Winston from drowning as a boy! Later Churchill said, "Rarely, has one man owed his life twice to the same person."