Life Lessons from Bethlehem
Selected Passages
December 16, 2007
Evening Service
Introduction
Of all the events that have shaped human history, one moment stands above the rest. The moment was not filled with fanfare or frills but fantastic nonetheless. It is a moment when the temporal and the eternal came together. It is a moment that seems so utterly absurd that it could not be real but it was. It is a moment too good for this world because it was touched by the next. It is a moment when two worlds came together to create a hope that has never died. It was the day when God became a man.
What was this moment? The birth of Jesus called the Christ. The reason we celebrate Christmas. What lessons do we learn about life in this one amazing moment in time?
1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to his own town to register. 4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 2:1-7
What do we learn about life from that stable in the backwater town of Bethlehem?
There are a number of priceless things.
Nothing is Impossible for God
For nothing is impossible with God. Luke 1:37 The words of Gabriel to Mary
The human and the divine merged in one being. God had become a man, born to a virgin. It was impossible in the realm of the physical world. The virgin birth was impossible in the abilities of humanity. This was impossible in the mindset of the world. Just as the angel said to Mary, nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37). Impossible does not exist in the vocabulary of God. There is no such thing as impossible for God. The virgin birth is just another reminder of what God is capable of doing. We need to call the virgin birth what it is, a miracle. In fact, for the New Testament it is the miracle. Think about it, if there was no virgin birth, none of the other miracles of the New Testament are true.
Theological truths that must begin with the virgin birth
Jesus could not be God – No eternal promises
Jesus dying is nothing more than historical fact – No atoning sacrifice
Jesus could not have experienced the resurrection – No reality of heaven
Jesus could not be the savior – No hope of salvation
Jesus could not be the Messiah – No fulfillment of prophecy
The virgin birth must be the central miracle of the New Testament, absolutely everything else depends on it. It is the link that holds the chain between heaven and humanity together. What we may think is impossible is child’s play for God. Do you honestly think that the God who made all things, can’t enter His creation? Do you think God would make us and then leave us alone? Do you think that a loving God could not show us the depth of His love?
Jesus traded heaven for humility
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 2:4-7
One moment Jesus stood in heaven the next He rested in the womb of Mary. One moment Jesus was worshipped the next He was hunted. One moment Jesus was among the angels, the next He was with the animals of the stable. One moment Jesus was at the throne and the next He was in the manger.
There are many times that this fact is incredibly hard for me to understand. Jesus traded all of heaven for humility of human life. It was not enough for Jesus to come to earth, but He came to humble circumstances. Even in earthly terms Jesus came to a humble life.
Earthly royalty would have had specific circumstances
1.) Political Power
2.) Privilege
3.) Position
4.) Prestige
5.) Provision
6.) Possessions
As we look at the life of Jesus, did He really have much in these kinds of things? Not really. Jesus gave up what we might consider the perks of position but look at what he gained. He is the exalted one over all creation. Jesus experienced a season of loss in exchange for an eternity of gain.
The manger was filled with Good News
But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Luke 2:10
The chill of the night air was pierced with the cries of a young mother in the pains of labor. With pain in her body and perspiration on her brow, Mary gave birth to her firstborn, a son named Jesus. We must remember that Mary gave birth not in a hospital, nor the in comforts of her home or even the home of a friend or a relative. Mary delivered Jesus in the midst of the sights, sounds and smells of the Bethlehem stable.
The more I think about this, the more questions come to mind. Here are just a few: Were the cries of Mary mixed with the bleating of sheep? Did Joseph try to comfort her while pushing away the cattle? Was Mary nauseated by the smell of animal fur and manure?
The first Christmas we were given a matchless gift. Jesus traded the glory of heaven for the grime of earth. Jesus exchanged the majesty of His Kingdom for the humility of the manger. The divine now dwelled with the
Jesus is the embodiment of the good news of salvation. His name literally means God saves. When the angel appears to the shepherds out in the fields of Bethlehem, he tells them: I bring you good news of great joy. The message of the angel to the shepherds was essentially this: We have good news, the Messiah has arrived; the savior had been born. The stable that held goats and the manger that held grain, now held the good news of God.
All of humanities wildest dreams came true the night that Jesus was born. Jesus had come to mend the rift that existed between God and humanity. He came to do what no one else could, bring us back to a right relationship with God. The news just keeps getting better and better.
People have to be looking for Jesus to find Him
1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." Matthew 2:1-2
The people who missed the birth of Jesus
It might surprise you that so long ago, so many people who were searching for hope and the hand of God in the coming of the Messiah totally missed it. Either through an unwillingness to believe or an unwillingness to look, they missed the Messiah.
The people of Jerusalem
The people of Jerusalem had missed the coming of the Messiah even as it was written in the stars. People missed the sign of the newborn king. They missed the coming of the Messiah. They missed the promise of God
Jewish Religious leaders
Of all the people in Israel at the time of Christ’s birth, the religious leaders should have seen this as a glorious event but they missed it. When Herod asked them about the birth of the Christ, they gave the right answers. The religious leaders knew where the Christ would be born and they knew that the Christ had been born. However, they never made an effort to know Jesus. They never made an effort to find the promised messiah. They knew the promises but missed the promise in flesh.
Herod
Herod feared the birth of Jesus. He feared that his power might be threatened. He feared that he might be removed as king over Judea. It was a threat that he could not live with and so he sent soldiers into Bethlehem to kill the male babies. Herod tried to get the Magi to tell him the location of the child but they outsmarted him. In his fear, Herod missed the Messiah.
The people of Bethlehem
After the shepherds saw Jesus they told people of the visit of the angel and finding the baby. The people who heard the message did nothing with it. They did nothing with the good news that they were given.
The people who sought out Jesus
Shepherds
After the message of the angel, the shepherds leave their flocks and search until they find the baby Jesus. One of the key reasons why so many people miss seeing Jesus in Christmas is because they just don’t look for Him. The shepherds seek Jesus out of obedience,
Wise Men
The Magi came out of the east searching for the one born king of the Jews. The wise men sought Jesus out of observation. They saw the star in the east and came searching for the baby. Both the wise men and the shepherds came to give glory to God for the new born king.
Jesus loves you with an indescribable love
The first Christmas we were given a matchless gift. Jesus traded the glory of heaven for the grime of earth. Jesus exchanged the majesty of His Kingdom for the humility of the manger. This raises one more question: why? What would motivate God to do such a thing? Why take the risk of rejection? Why bother with us at all? The answers to my final Christmas questions are not found in the manger but at the cross.
16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
John 3:16-17
This question comes to one simple answer. Jesus would rather die than be without you. You cannot remember the cradle of Christ without remembering the cross. Jesus came to demonstrate the love of God in living and in dying. Jesus came give all people the gift of grace, the gift of hope and the gift of love. Christmas is about Jesus giving us more than we could ever ask for, He gave us Himself.
