When a King Becomes a Baby
Luke 2: 1-7
When Matthew quoted the prophet to declare that one of the names of the little baby would be “Immanuel”, he was making a statement about who the child would be: God with us. He was God long before the stars began to send forth their light or the earth began its steady rotations. He was God while He carried out His earthly ministry. He is God now, seated at the right hand of the Father in glory. Paul told the Colossians that in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. 2:9. David Phelps put it this way on His Christmas album a few years ago…
He left behind His throne of pure light Gave up His crown that we might be free
He chose a manger that Bethlehem night And reaching through time and space He saw me
With no joy, no peace, no hope in sight
So He came with starlight and love in His eyes No regal welcome for His infant cries
There have been many babies to become a king But only one King became a baby
He could have chosen to break through the sky With anthem and angel wing
But He knew we'd understand a baby's cry And learn love from a servant King
So He came with starlight and love in His eyes No regal welcome for His infant cries
There have been so many babies to become a king Only one King, one King became a baby
I. GOD Is In Charge The evidence from the text reveals that He
A. Arranges Things for those who belong to Him. The Christmas story reminds us that the world may seem to be running amuck, but God is still at work. If you and I had been in charge of the birth of Jesus, we would certainly not have had Him born in a manger. We would have placed Him in a royal palace in a capital city. Nothing would have been lacking in regard to the arrangements surrounding the Son of God. But, the plan of the Father was to have His Son placed in a manger! The place, the time and the manner were all in the divine plan according to the word of the prophets. God was not caught by surprise when Jesus was born in such a lowly place. There have been many babies born to be king of their land, but only one king ever became a baby.
There is a great lesson here for us. Mary and Joseph were in the center of God's will, but they were still having a difficult time. There are some who preach and teach that following God's will means you will travel the easy road. For that Christian who walks with God through life every valley will be filled and every mountain will be lowered. Mary and Joseph were in the midst of one of the greatest moments in eternal history, but the way was not easy. They understood the words of gospel song writer Phil Johnson over 30 years ago went like this, “He didn’t bring us this far to leave us, He didn’t teach us to swim to let us drown, He didn’t build His home in us to move away, He didn’t lift us up to let us down.”
The long trip for Mary was part of the plan of God. 85 to 90 miles across hilly terrain, it was an arduous trip for a woman ready to give birth. Note this carefully - often God's plan for us takes us through the valleys, over the rough roads and high mountains! But He arranges His plans in a way to bring about ultimate victory! He doesn't lead you down a road to leave you on your own! Imagine the embarrassment that Joseph must have felt to place Mary in so lowly a place and to have the child he knew to be the Son of God born in a cattle stall. Yet, that was God's plan. Joseph believed that God was arranging things. The Lord had not brought Joseph that far to leave him.
At the
B. Appointed Time the labor pains would begin. This birth did not catch the Lord God by surprise. The days were completed for her to be delivered. The birth announcement was given long ago in Micah 5:2 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. There were over 300 Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament that were fulfilled in the birth, life, and death of Jesus Christ. Every detail of the birth narrative can be found in those prophetic utterances from hundreds of years before Mary and Joseph would witness these events. Matthew’s account repeatedly quotes the prophets Jeremiah and Isaiah with the words that it might be fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet. Galatians 4:4 When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
This entire passage is about the amazing timing involved in the birth of Christ in Bethlehem. God orchestrated everything. Part of God bringing together the details and all the components of the birth of Messiah, right time, right place, was to move on the mind of a pagan, godless Caesar who knew nothing about the Old Testament, nothing about the coming of Messiah, nothing about God whatsoever. Caesar Augustus was in every sense a pagan wannabe god and yet he played a critical role in the fulfillment of prophecy at the birth of the God/Man, the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Because an earthly ruler called for a census to be made, a Heavenly King was born in the place prophesied. God was in charge and made the arrangements for the birth to happen at the appointed time.
From this passage we also discover a corollary that
II. GOD Is In Control This birth would bring about
A. Inevitable Change Everything Jesus touches, He changes! Especially those people and places that open up willingly to HIM! Note how He took a lowly cattle stall and turned it into a beautiful hospital labor/delivery room. NOT! Most of us have manger scenes in our homes or in our yards during the Christmas season. Isn't that something strange? Just think of it, a cattle stall, once a symbol of the lowliest of earthly places, has become an image of divine life. The presence of Jesus changed it forever! Anything Jesus gets into is changed for the better and for the best, and He changes it forever! That is what happens to a man or woman who lets him in. He changes you and makes you a child of God.
The verses that follow tell of the announcement to the shepherds watching over their flocks outside of Bethlehem. Shepherds of that era were despised, disdained and scorned. One reason was because the Shepherds had to watch their flocks even on the Sabbath day. According to the strictest interpretation of the rules they were breaking the Old Testament Law. They were outside for months at a time and weren’t able to keep cleanliness rules. Sheep had a terrible odor and the shepherds often had this same odor on their clothing. They were not the most pleasant people to be around. Yet, angels appeared to them and invited them to have priority tickets to the manger, the birthplace of our Lord. From that time forward, shepherds would never be viewed the same.
We may not understand all the reasons that Jesus was born in that place, but I believe that He was born in lowly circumstances to reveal that He had come to save the least, the last and the lost. He did not come just for the "up and in crowd", He also came for the "down and out crowd." The story is told of a little boy wandering through the streets of London following a bombing raid in WW II. A civil defense worker asked where the boy lived and offered to take him home. The boy told this stranger that his mother was dead and his father was dead, and he could not think of any other family member to whom he could go. The kindly man said, "But son, you must have someone". The little lad said with tears in his eyes, "No sir, I got nobody. I guess I'm just nobodies nothing". Jesus came to say that everybody is somebody's something because God loves you and will save you. Jesus came for one and all!
There have been many babies through the centuries who have grown up to be kings, but only one King has ever come down to become a baby. You see the
B. Incarnation Completed the eternal plan of salvation. The young couple travelled to Bethlehem to pay their taxes because they were supposed to register in the hometown of their ancestors. Again I remind you, all of this is critical in the perfect plan of God. He providentially got them exactly where they needed to be because the Messiah was a son of David and was to be born in the city of David. The prophet said so 700 years before Christ. In order to fulfill that prophecy that couple had to be there and God made sure they were in the right place at the right time.
When Jesus came into the world then He came in the most comfortless conditions...smelly, filthy...this is the wonder of grace though, isn't it? And this is part of the story that when God came down He came all the way down. Philippians 2 tells us that He thought His equality with God not something to be held on to but He gave it up and humbled Himself. The King of all creation became a baby born in a cattle stall. He humbled Himself all the way down...not just to a stinking stable but to become a substitute for stinking sinners and bear the stench of our guilt in His own body. He came down to the poor and the lowly and the humble and the base and the wicked. He came down to the common people to bring His glorious salvation. It was fitting, in a sense, then that He was born in a stinking, smelly stable because nothing smelled worse to the nostrils of God than the odor of our sin. He sent the Savior all the way down into the lives of the lowly and the whole picture of that scene is a metaphor for the stench of sin which Jesus bore in His own body.
God arranged the birth of His Son, and He is working in your life as you trust and follow Him. It doesn't matter how things look to the world or even how they look to you, keep on following the Redeemer and remember that another message that Christmas displays for us is that
Yes, often God's plan involves our being humble in a world that prizes wealth, accomplishments and image. Yet God was in this plan all the time, carrying out His will and purpose. The world could not see it or appreciate it at that time. And we have a difficult time with it also. His plan often leads us down the humble paths. He did not bring you this far to leave you!
The manger reminds us that Jesus changes even the most insignificant things!!! The Lord of the universe proved on that night His awesome concern for every last one of us. The incarnation completed God’s plan and He was definitely in control. Imagine that: to be God and come down a birth canal, to be laid in a manger, to live much of your life as an outcast, to die as a stranger, to bear the abuse and the curse of the law. He made Himself nothing according to Philippians 2:7 in order that you could have everything.
Jesus came down to say, "I am here to love you and to save you and there is nothing between us - except for your sin." Come today and receive Him as your own Savior! Allow the Christmas story to come alive in you today as the Savior forgives you of your sin.
