What Is So Special About Christmas (?)
Luke 2:1-20
I’ve entitled this morning’s message “What is So Special about Christmas” with a tentative question mark. That’s because the sentence is intended as both a question and a statement. First, as a question, to make us all think. And second as a statement, because, of course, the intent of this message is to make a plain statement as to exactly what is so special about Christmas, from a spiritual and Biblical perspective.
The way people answer that question depends upon whom you ask. Certainly, if you ask young children, the answer is going to be the gifts—all the gifts they receive at Christmas. That’s what really is so special about Christmas to them. And for some of us as we grow older, it’s everything associated with the season. The lights, the tensile, the decorations, the warm feelings, the good food, the merriment. The world has caught on to this, and it’s become a great tradition full of good memories of good times for many people, And then, hopefully, as you grow older, you begin to realize that what is so special about Christmas are the relationships, the love that is shown between family members and special friends. If we mature at all, we begin to realize that what really counts in life are the people, the love and the relationships that we have with one another.
But what is it that ultimately, spiritually and eternally is so special about Christmas? Well, while most of us here this morning know what the answer to that question is, as has been noted time and again, it’s easy to get caught up in everything that goes with Christmas and to forget what made Christmas so special in the first place. And for that this morning, we go back to the basics, a true story, a remarkable, miraculous and wondrous story told of events that occurred in the little town of Bethlehem on the other side of the world more than 2000 years ago. And what we find in the midst of this story is Heaven’s perspective about what makes Christmas so special—what even the angels themselves announced about it!
As we just read, the exact timing of these amazing events was carefully marked by the well-educated physician Luke who has been demonstrated by modern scholarship time and time again to be most accurate in all the history that he provides for us. It was at the precise time that a decree had gone out from Caesar Augustus, the emperor of the great Roman Empire, that a census had to be taken of the, as the text puts it “inhabited world.” This is the way that the Romans commonly spoke of their empire—as though they controlled the entire inhabited world. It was an acknowledged exaggeration—it was simply the world which the Romans inhabited and dominated and it stretched at this time from the isles of Great Britain on the west all the way to the Caspian Sea and the Red Sea on the east, so it was indeed a vast empire.
And it was the first census which took place while a person named Quirinius was Governor of Syria—that is the governor under Caesar who ruled the Roman provinces in which these incredible events took place. We know from other sources that Quirinius likely ruled in Syria for two terms, and that the first census during his rule took place during his first term, from roughly 6-4 B.C. And so we have these events firmly anchored in history, in the time-space continuum of actual human history during this period, which puts the birth of Jesus Christ at approximately 4 B.C.
And what was going on was much like what’s happened in the U.S. today. There was an enrollment period, a registration period with regard to this census. Only it was a much bigger deal than Obamacare, and government was much bigger under Caesar Augustus, and there was no on-line enrollment for Augustuscare, and there was no pretense that Augustuscare was all about taking care of the people. It was all about taking care of Augustus and the occupying force of Roman armies; it was all about taxation, even tribute. And the requirements of Augustuscare were far more imposing than Obamacare. It required the citizens of those nations occupied by Roman forces to return to their ancestral homes where they or their families owned property by a certain deadline—didn’t matter how inconvenient it might be—in order to be properly registered for that all important matter of Roman taxation.
And so it came about that a very special but very poor couple known to us as Joseph and Mary of Nazareth of Galilee were hugely inconvenienced by the Emperor’s Decree. Mary was more than 12 years old, so she, too, had to accompany Joseph on this trip, though she was hardly older than 16. And she, though she was now more than nine months pregnant, had to travel with her betrothed to Bethlehem for this enrollment at a most vulnerable time in her life. The distance was about 90 miles. There were no cars or buses or trains, only a donkey, at best, as a means of easing the rigors of travel. And the reason that both of them had to travel to Bethlehem is that each of them were descendants of the great King David, they were of the royal family of David, and they were members of the tribe of Judah, and so their birthright, their inheritance, the land which they and their family owned was in Judah, and in Bethlehem, the land of their forefathers, not in Nazareth of Galilee, which was part of another tribe’s inheritance.
And if you understand anything at all about the Old Testament and Jewish culture, the whole scene is a very sad scene. Israel, the chosen nation and people of God Almighty, who had been promised if they obeyed their God that they would ride on high, exalted above all the nations of earth, has clearly not fulfilled that promise. The reason—the nation’s repeated disobedience to God-- the nation’s disobedience to the Mosaic Covenant. The result was predicted also in the Old Testament—if the nation disobeyed, it would be greatly humbled, and it would be dominated by foreign, Gentile powers. And so what we see here is that a foreign ruler is now calling the shots for Israel, requiring the now very humbled and impoverished members of Israel’s royal family to travel such a great distance at the most inconvenient time to register in order to pay tribute to this occupying power.
So times were sad in Israel, even desperate, even as many a faithful Jew hoped and believed from their readings of the Scriptures that the time for the coming of Israel’s long-awaited Messiah and deliver was about to be fulfilled. But they would hardly have guessed that the Messiah King and Deliver would come in the midst of such difficult and incredibly humbling circumstances.
And yet in the midst of all this sadness and difficulty for Israel and especially for humble Joseph and Mary, God was working. He was working to show that He was in control and that He cared deeply for the people of Israel, even all the nations of the earth. He Himself had sovereignly orchestrated these circumstances as a fulfillment of many specific prophecies uttered hundreds and even more than a thousand years before about Messiah’s coming.
The prophecies? Micah 5:2 for instance, uttered at least 700 years earlier: “But as for you Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you one will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.” Yes, Bethlehem, so insignificant, so humbled, so small that it was not even worthy to be counted among the clans of the tribe of Judah, despite this, would be the perfect and chosen place for the Messiah to arrive—the one whose goings forth would be from eternity past—who was eternal, and therefore God Himself in the flesh.
And then there was, of course, the fulfillment of Genesis 49:10, that the Messiah would come from the lead tribe of Israel, the tribe of Judah, and since Mary was of the tribe of Judah, so this would be fulfilled. And the Davidic Covenant, God’s promise to King David found in I Chronicles 17;11-12: “When your days are fulfilled that you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up one of your descendants after you, show will be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build for me a house, and I will establish his throne forever.” And so both Joseph and Mary were descendants of David, and now in the very city of David, the town of Bethlehem, so this ruler would be born according to Almighty God’s decree uttered by the prophet Nathan a thousand years earlier.
And of course there’s Isaiah 7:14: “Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call his name Immanuel” which means God with us. All of these would be precisely fulfilled, despite all the failures of Israel, all the turmoil created by the enrollment in Augustuscare, and all the inconveniences that would come upon Mary and Joseph at this difficult time. God is in control, God cares and He’s about to show it in a way he never had before, by becoming one of us in the most humble of all circumstances, a baby who would be born in a barnyard and placed in a manger.
And so it came to pass. “While they were there the days were completed for her to give birth, and since there was no room for them in the inn, they had camped out in a barnyard. They were a poor family in the poorest and most humble of conditions when Messiah, God in the flesh, came.
And we’ve got to ask ourselves a question here: Why wasn’t the Messiah, the Son of God, the God-man born in the lap of luxury, to a rich man and a rich woman? Why was he not born to Caesar or in Rome? Why was he born in such a terribly insignificant place as Israel, and in a town that was too little to be called a clan among the clans of Judah? Why was he born to such a poor and humble family, outside, exposed to the elements, and in such mean conditions that his make-shift crib consisted of the feeding trough of barn-yard animals?
Why? Because God was saying something to mankind. God was making a statement about His nature and His intentions toward mankind. God came as humbly and gently as possible in order to make peace, not war. God was on a mission to be reconciled with man, to identify with the poorest and humblest and most ordinary among us to say He’s for us, He’s not against us, and He will deal gently and humbly with our sins if only we will come humbly to him in faith.
Was not God saying about himself what Jesus said about Himself in Matthew 11:28-29: “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls”?
You see what we have here is Almighty God, the Creator of all the Universe, coming for us ever so gently and humbly, understanding, and seeking to be understood in a way we could understand him. He could have blown us a way with a breath of his nostrils, and He would be justified in doing so in view of our sins. But that’s precisely what He was not willing to do because of his mercy and His love. He was coming to show us we could trust Him, even with our sins, no matter how great—that we could trust Him that he would deal humbly and gently with them, as he did when he died for our sins on the cross some 33 years later. !
Why is Christmas so special? Because Almighty God comes for us ever so gently, ever so humbly, to make peace. Do you know that this morning? Do you know God loves you? Do you know that He sent His son to deal ever so gently and humbly with you and your sins? Do you know that Jesus did so when He died on that cross for your sins—that He paid for your sins so that you wouldn’t have to?
That’s what’s so special about Christmas—this is the God who is, whom we serve, whom we love, who has loved us so much more than we might have ever imagined, despite our sins.
We may not have understood this, but there were some on that day who did. They were from another realm, from the heavenly realm. They were the angels, the cherubim and seraphim, the heavenly watchers whom the Book of Hebrews tells us were sent to minister to those who would inherit salvation. They knew how incredible this Christmas day was. For God had never become an angel, a cherub, or a seraph. He had never humbled himself to become a member of any created order in heaven, or on earth, other than that of the race of human beings. What a privilege the human race had and has as being the only group of created beings for which God has come as one of their number.
And they were brimming with excitement, with great joy, at this incredible event which was now unfolding before their very eyes. They could hardly contain themselves as they saw the Christ-child, the Messiah, the God-man, resting in that humble manger in Bethlehem. And so they had to tell somebody, anybody about this stupendous, earth-shaking, Creation-shaking event which had occurred in such humble surroundings. But who was there to tell but those lonely, humble shepherds who were watching their flocks by night on that incredible day. And so they got permission from the Father on high, and some shepherds got the most shocking visitation they would ever receive in the middle of the night--an encounter of the third-kind, for sure—an encounter that was out of this world!!!
Verse 8: “And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.” As the King James puts, they were “sore afraid.” They were scared out of their minds! Just like you and I would be! “But the angel said to them in verse 10, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people, for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ, the Lord. This will be a sign for you; you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
This is the first time in history it is recorded that anyone preached the Gospel of Christ. For that is the very meaning of the Greek words as the angels said “I bring you good news.” The Gospel is Good News, Incredible News of forgiveness and eternal life that comes through Jesus Christ to any and all who will personally trust in Him as their savior from sin. And this good news was at the very first proclaimed by this angel to these humble shepherds in the same fields where the Christ-child lay.
And I’ll tell you what—the angel here and the angels generally, they themselves understood without a doubt what was so special about Christmas. For they announced it in verses 11 and 12: “For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
There it is, in black and white, spoken by heavenly beings, the eternal and incredible significance of Christmas—for us a Savior has been born, who is Christ, the Lord.”
You may be wondering, Savior, Savior from what? A savior from all that ails us. A savior from what most ails us. A savior from our sins, our evil nature and our evil deeds that causes so much suffering in our lives and ultimately results in death, both physical and spiritual, both temporal and eternal. Oh, if only we could be saved from sin and evil, if only we could be saved from death. And the good news that the angels announced that day, the goods news that God announces to us even on this day is that we can be saved. God has sent for us, for you and me despite our sins, a Savior, who has and will deal humbly and gently with our sins. Who will in fact so humble himself that He will, and He did, die for our sins Himself, instead of us, which is exactly what that Christ-child did 30 and some years later when he was crucified in our place for our sins. It’s exactly what he did when he took hell on the cross so we wouldn’t have to it for eternity, if only we will personally trust Him as our Savior, and follow Him as our Lord and Our God.
What is so special about Christmas—a Savior came humbly and gently for us, a Savior who would save us from our sins and death if only we would come to Him in faith. And that’s our second point this morning. Hear what is special about Christmas—Hear the Good News that for you a Savior has come.
This is what Angels announced, and this is what they sang about before these humble shepherds. Verses 13 and 14: “And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.’”
The angels sang of what would result from the Savior’s coming, both in heaven and on earth. In heaven, there would be glory to God in the highest—great praise and honor among the angels would come before and to God for his incredible work of saving mankind through the Savior. And on earth what we all long for in this troubled world—there would be peace. Not peace for everyone. But peace for some. Peace on earth among whom? Any and every man? No, among men with whom God is pleased. Men with whom God is pleased. They would be men who would hear this message, who would pay attention to the Messiah and would come to Him in faith.
Isn’t that what you want ultimately—peace? Peace with God. Shalom, that ultimate sense of peace and well-being. It can be found ultimately and eternally only when the Savior is found—only when you come to Him in faith and let him deal ever so gently and humbly with your sins.
Would the shepherds be among those would hear and seek and find such peace? Would they hear and seek and find this newborn Savior, this Messiah, God in the flesh.
We find the answer beginning in verse 15: “When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.”
Clearly, the shepherds understood the significance of this heavenly announcement. Man, what a privilege it was for these humble men to receive what these angels who were brimming with excitement had told them. They weren’t going to stand around and wonder. No, the time was now. The time was urgent. They had an opportunity that they might never have again to see the Savior, the Messiah, the one promised and long for by all of Israel as a babe in a manger. And so they had been given a clue, several really, that they could find this baby, this infant in a manger in Bethlehem, out in the open, where anyone might find him. And so they made haste. They came in a hurry from those fields surrounding Bethlehem into the town and they made search and sure enough, right away they found what had been promised-the babe in the manger and Mary and Joseph. And they told Mary and Joseph, and others who were there with them, what they had heard from the angels on high about this babe who now occupied the manger—that was the Savior who would bring to all with whom God was pleased—all who would hear and receive the gift of Christmas—the Savior and the salvation he offers—by faith in Jesus Christ.
Verse 18 tells us that all who heard it wondered at the things that were told them by the shepherds... But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherd went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, for it had been just as had been told them.”
What is so special about Christmas? The angels knew. The shepherds heard and discovered the truth. No, it’s not the gifts that children under the Christmas tree. No, it’s not the tinsel and the lights and the season. No, ultimately it’s not even first and foremost friends and family and the warmth we share with them. Ultimately, most significantly and eternally, what is so special about Christmas is this: A savior has come for you who will deal humbly and gently with your sins and give you peace with God.
This is what is so special about Christmas. This is the gift of Christmas. Have you received that gift this morning? It can only be received by faith. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Do you know that you have everlasting life for sure this morning? Do you know without a doubt that your sins have been forgiven? Do you know that Jesus is your savior from sin—that He died for your sins when he died on that cross and He rose again.
If you don’t that for sure this morning, then do what the shepherds did. Seek, and find the savior for yourself. Put your trust and your trust, in Jesus, and Jesus alone, as the one who died for your sins and rose again, and you will have finally received the ultimate gift of Christmas—Jesus—the Savior who gives you eternal life.
Let’s pray this morning.
