Happy Birthday Jesus
Text: Luke 2:1-7
By: Ken McKinley
(Read Text)
God’s eternal plan for redemption was perfectly laid out. When you look at the details you can’t help but be in awe of that fact. God planned redemption from the foundation of the world. Sending Jesus into the world was not a back up plan, it was the original plan, from the beginning. A couple of Sunday’s ago, we looked at Paul’s words from Galatians 4:4-5 where he wrote, “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” We looked at how the birth of Jesus took place at exactly the right moment, exactly as God had ordained it. The prophet Micah had prophesied 700 years earlier that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem; Micah 5:2 says, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.” And here, 700 years later, a young couple who just so happen to be descendents of King David, are living in Nazareth, Joseph and Mary. Mary was due to give birth any day, and in the natural mind we would think there’s no way that this girl is going to make the 2 to 3 day trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem being so close to delivering her first born son. But God’s Word and God’s prophets have said that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. So when you look at the details you can’t help but be amazed at how God worked all these things out. The birth of Jesus shows us that God is in complete control of the events of human history.
Let’s look at our text there in Luke again (Read vv. 1-2).
When Christ was born, Israel was part of the Roman Empire. Caesar Augustus was the emperor. He ruled from 27 B.C. to 14 A.D. Julius Caesar was his grand uncle, and he had adopted Augustus and made him the heir to his throne. When Julius was assassinated in 44 B.C. Augustus returned to Rome to claim his throne and a power struggle broke out that resulted in a civil war of sorts. But in the end Augustus managed to take the throne, and eventually peace was restored to the empire. And it was around 5 B.C. or so that Augustus decided that he would take a census of the people under his rule. The census was taken in order to levy a tax later on. At this same time Herod the Great was king in Judea, and the Herod family was known for its cruelty and brutality. Augustus once said, “I would rather be Herod’s swine than his son.” And that’s because Herod was so paranoid that he was going to be usurped that he murdered his own wife and several of his children.
The entire Roman world was a peace thanks to Pax Romana, the “Peace of Rome,” but in reality it was peace at the point of a sword. But it was still a type of peace, and this peace brought about empire wide travel, roads, protection, a common language used for trade, all of that would be important for the spread of the Gospel later on.
Also, the Greek philosophies were falling into decay, and the so called “mystery religions” left a vacuum in people. And in Judaism people were becoming more aware that complete obedience to the Law was impossible, and that a better sacrifice was needed.
So God had set things up perfectly, His timing is always perfect. Not only that, but God is sovereign, He is in complete control.
Proverbs 16:9 says, “A man’s heart plans his ways, but the Lord directs his steps.” Proverbs 21:1 says, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, like the rivers of water, He turns it wherever He wishes.” Ephesians 1:11 says that God “works all things according to the counsel of His will.” And Daniel 2:21 says God, “changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings…”
Caesar Augustus was the Emperor of Rome because God allowed him to be. Caesar Augustus ordered a census because God works all things according to the counsel of His will. God’s Son, the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, and that’s exactly what happened.
We may not know why things happen the way they happen, we don’t understand everything or the reasons for everything, but one of the many truths that the Christmas story teaches us is that God is in control.
So, “Joseph went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.” God had worked all the details out, so that His Word would be fulfilled. That should be a great source of encouragement to us. God will direct the plans of kings and emperors in order to fulfill His Word. Not only that, Mary was with child… but remember she was a virgin, so again not only does God direct the plans of kings and emperors, He will also transcend the laws of physics, biology and the very laws of nature, in order to fulfill His promises. What does God’s Word promise us? “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved!” John 6:39-40 says, “This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise them up at the last day.” Romans 8:28, “All things work together for good to those who love the Lord and are the called according to His purposes.” Those are just a few of the promises of God’s Word; and if you belong to the Lord, if you are a Christian, if you’ve been born again by the power of God and saved by His grace, those promises are yours. And you can rest assured that God will move heaven and earth to fulfill His Word and keep those promises.
Let’s go back to our text there in Luke chapter 2 and look at verses 6 & 7 (Read). Luke writes, “Her first-born son…” which tells us that Mary continued to bear children after Jesus. The names of Jesus’ half-brothers are mentioned in Matthew 13:55, “James, Joses, Simon, and Judas.” A reference is made to His half-sisters in Matthew 13:56. Jesus was Mary’s first born, not Joseph’s. Joseph was the legal father by adoption, not by conception. Probably the half-brother of Jesus that was Joseph’s first was Joses, the one that had his fathers name sake.
And so Jesus was born, and He was wrapped in swaddling clothes; a small, square piece of cloth with a really long bandage like strip coming diagonally off one corner. Jewish mothers would take their newborns and lay them on the square cloth and wrap it around their child, and then take the long strip and wrap it around and around their child. Of course we can see the connection between Jesus being wrapped when He was born, and being wrapped after He had died on the cross. But that may be over-spiritualizing things a bit too much, because most people experienced the same things at birth and death .
Then Jesus was placed in a manger, a feeding trough.
And so there He was, the Messiah, the Anointed One of the LORD. God in human flesh, born to deliver mankind from sin.
Philippians 2:5-7 says that Jesus, “who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and came in the likeness of men.”
And so Mary laid Him in a manger because there was no room at the inn. The inn was probably over-crowded with the regular travelers who would’ve normally been there, but also with people who had come to Bethlehem because of the census. And you would think that surly someone would’ve seen this young girl who was about to give birth and had compassion on her and given up their spot at the inn… but no, that didn’t happen. They had probably already paid for their place in the inn. Most of the time we think of this and we think of a cruel inn-keeper turning them away. I don’t think it was the inn-keeper who was cruel, it was the patrons of the inn who were cruel. The inn-keeper didn’t have any room, and no-one was willing to give up theirs for this mother-to-be. Of course I guess we could say that the inn-keeper himself could’ve given up his spot, but didn’t’. And so Joseph and Mary had to trust and rely completely on God to provide for them and to ensure Mary’s safety during child birth.
No one was willing to make room for Jesus… in more than 2000 years nothings changed. There are some hearts that never welcome Jesus. And I would say around here, its not because of some hatred they have towards Him. If asked they would say they love Jesus… but rather its because their hearts are already overcrowded with other things. Thoughts of riches, honor, prestige, pleasure, power, materialism, etc… There’s no room, no time to reflect on His will, no desire to step out of our comfort zones to do for Him, no desire to give up our comfort and security for Him. Sometimes we are like the inn-keeper; we say, “I would if someone else would first.” But in the end, there’s really no difference. Some people crowd Him out by their lifestyles, some people like the dark rather than the light because the light exposes the darkness.
Come back another day Jesus, when it’s more convenient for me. And with their mouths they wouldn’t, but their lives show it every day. Some people have no room by their attitudes in life. Come back another day when you don’t interfere with MY goals and plans. You can come back when I’m about ready to die Lord, or right before the rapture Lord, but not today.
The apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 3:16-18 that Christ wants to settle down and make Himself permanently at home in our hearts. He doesn’t want us to wait for some more convenient time, but today is the day of salvation. And once He becomes Lord of our lives, then we work on getting rid of the clutter, and we do that through the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit and God’s Word.
Christmas is the time of year that we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ; how do we tell Him happy birthday?
PRAYER
PUBLIC PROFESSIONS
CLOSING
