No Christmas Eve candlelight service would be complete without singing the song we are going to look at today. In fact, I had expected this one to easily hold the top spot in our survey. As you have probably guessed the song is “Silent Night.” This song has the ability to bring peace to even the most troubled heart and to carry the message of Christmas across cultural and denominational boundaries. Joseph Mohr was born in the year 1792 in Salzburg, Austria. In 1815 Mohr was ordained a Roman Catholic priest. While serving as an assistant priest at the Church of St. Nicholas in Obernorf God used an apparent crisis to inspire Mohr to pen the words to “Silent Night.” On December 24, 1818 it was discovered that the church organ was broken and this really put damper on the carefully planned out music for that night’s Christmas Eve Service. Scrambling to salvage the Christmas Eve service Mohr decided that he would write a new song for the service that could be played without the organ. Hastily, he penned the words to “Silent Night” and rushed them over to his organist Franz Gruber so a simple melody could be composed. So that evening “Silent Night” was sung for the first time as a duet accompanied only by a guitar. “Silent Night” would be published for the first time for congregation singing in 1838 in a German hymnal. The song was first translated into its current English form in 1863. “Silent Night” may have never written if it wasn’t for a broken organ in a church on Christmas Eve. Today, our goal is to discover the lessons that God can teach us through the simple but extraordinary message of this timeless Christmas favorite.
I. The silence that night would be broken by the cries of a baby that was born in quite an extraordinary way.
A. Matthew zeros in on how Jesus’ birth was a fulfillment of prophecy.
1. This interpretation of Isaiah 7:14 would have been revolutionary considering Isaiah’s context.
2. This sign was promised due to Ahaz’s refusal to ask God for a sign. The structure of the passage leads one to believe that this prophecy would be something that would greatly impact the Davidic dynasty that Ahaz would witness.
3. When studying Biblical prophecy one will quickly discover that some prophecies have an immediate fulfillment and will realize a much more profound and greater fulfillment in the future.
4. What Matthew addresses is the fact that the birth of Jesus brought Isaiah’s prophecy to its complete fulfillment.
B. The extraordinary aspect lies in the fact that it is a virgin that gives birth to the Messiah.
1. The angel announcing to Joseph that Mary’s pregnancy was the fulfillment of prophecy would have removed the doubts that he may have had in regard to Mary’s faithfulness.
2. A virgin giving birth to a child would most definitely be an unmistakable sign because only God would capable of pulling this off.
3. As Mary holds her firstborn child, one can only imagine how she must have reflected on the extraordinary circumstance surrounding this birth.
4. By establishing how Jesus fulfilled prophecy links the Old and New Testaments together and shows how God had been preparing for the birth of His Son for centuries.
5. The sign of the virgin birth leaves no doubt as to the full identity of Jesus by establishing His deity.
II. The silence that night would be broken by an extraordinary announcement resulting in extraordinary praise.
A. The angel will announce that the long awaited Messiah had finally arrived.
1. This announcement is loaded with terms that are jam packed with meaning.
a. City of David: This establishes the connection with the Davidic dynasty.
b. Savior: This identifies the child as a great deliverer.
c. Messiah: This identifies the child as the promised King.
2. The fact that the angel chooses to say “today” established the fact that the Messianic age begins that day in Bethlehem.
3. As these Jewish shepherds hear the words of the angel little doubt is left that all their hopes and dreams had finally been realized.
4. The announcement is not wrapped in mysticism it is tied directly to concrete events that could be easily verified.
B. Though the announcement was one of great news the shepherds would still quake in fear.
1. Undoubtedly, the shepherds were caught completely off guard by the sudden appearance of this angelic messenger.
2. The angel was also accompanied by the glory of God, as we read throughout the Old Testament whenever people encountered the glory of God they were seized with fear.
3. Even looking at it from a strictly practical stand point the reaction of the shepherds is not unexpected.
4. When one comes face to face with the glory of the Holy God, one becomes conscious of their own sinfulness and their need to worship Him.
C. One angel announces the event but countless angels join in lifting praises up to God.
1. To confirm the announcement that the angel had given to the shepherds, a large angelic chorus comes to praise and glorify God in Heaven.
2. The angels then announce God’s blessing that will be extended to all of mankind.
3. God is making peace possible through His grace. This peace is what results from the forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life.
4. God’s word has become a reality; His plan is again strategically at work. They break out in praise to God because he has sent Jesus, the Savior, Lord and Christ.
III. That night God would break His silence in a most extraordinary way.
A. The announcement of Jesus’ birth brought God’s 400 years of silence to an end.
1. With the end of Malachi’s prophetic ministry, the people would endure four centuries of not hearing direct message from God.
2. The Jewish people were undoubtedly feeling like that God had either forgotten them or worse yet abandoned them.
3. In general we humans are not very good at waiting. Can you imagine waiting thousands of years for a promise to be kept, then going 400 years without hearing from the one who made the promise?
4. The birth of Jesus announce in a mighty way that God stilled cared about His people and that He was still working on their behalf even though they failed to realize it.
B. Matthew will use Isaiah’s prophecy to show that God was going to interact with mankind in an extraordinary way.
1. Matthew you uses the Hebrew term Immanuel to show the scope of Jesus’ mission.
2. Immanuel is not a proper name, it is an adjective describing how through Jesus God would be present with His people.
3. Throughout his Gospel, Matthew focuses on Jesus’ presence with the people. The implications of this is huge, where Jesus is, there God is.
4. Matthew throughout his Gospel will focus on Jesus’ being the fulfillment of prophecy. He clearly shows the unfolding of God’s divine plan leaving no doubt that the words of Scripture are trustworthy.
C. God’s intervention in human history on that silent night would forever change the course of mankind.
1. God is never so close to His people as He is through His virgin-born Son.
2. God “stooped into an actual identification with human nature, and by that stoop lifted human nature into the spacious fellowship with God.” –G. Campbell Morgan
3. When you read Matthew you discover that his focus is not on trying to prove the virgin birth. Fully convinced of the reality of the virgin birth Matthew’s main focus is on God’s presence with man.
4. Isaiah also wrote of the great impact the Messiah would have on human history.
5. 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this. (Isaiah 9:6-7—NIV 2011)
6. Craig Keener in his commentary on Matthew writes this: “But as God “with us,” Jesus is also the fully human one who saves his people by the cross. Matthew thus invites us to consider and worship the God who accepted the ultimate vulnerability, born as an infant to poor and humiliated parents into a world hostile to his presence.”
Closing:
The announcement went first to the shepherds. They didn't ask God if he was sure he knew what he was doing. Had the angel gone to the theologians, they would have first consulted their commentaries. Had he gone to the elite, they would have looked around to see if anyone was watching. Had he gone to the successful, they would have first looked at their calendars.
So he went to the shepherds. Men who didn't have a reputation to protect or an ax to grind or a ladder to climb. Men who didn't know enough to tell God that angels don't sing to sheep and that messiahs aren't found wrapped in rags and sleeping in a feed trough.
A small cathedral outside Bethlehem marks the supposed birthplace of Jesus. Behind a high alter in the church is a cave, a little cavern lit by silver lamps.
You can enter the main edifice and admire the ancient church. You can also enter the quiet cave where a star embedded in the floor
recognizes the birth of the King. There is one stipulation, however. You have to stoop. The door is so low you can't go in standing up.
The same is true of the Christ. You can see the world standing
tall, but to witness the Savior, you have to get on your knees.
So....
while the theologians were sleeping
and the elite were dreaming
and the successful were snoring,
the meek were kneeling.
They were kneeling before the One only the meek will see.
They were kneeling in front of Jesus.
