Luke 2:1-20
Christmas contrasts
It is a time of great rejoicing in the palace, for a prince has just been born. Near the throne there is a lively discussion going on as the king’s advisers are making their suggestions concerning the best way to announce to the wonderful news. They have suggested some elaborate ways to publicize & celebrate this great event.
All but one have expressed their opinions, & now the king turns to him & asks, "How about you? Do you have any ideas? What do you suggest?" "Well," came the reply, "I think that we should send a messenger out at night into the fields to tell some shepherds about it."
What a ridiculous idea! And yet, that was God’s way of announcing Jesus’ birth. God’s ways are certainly not our ways, are they?
Somehow, when we hear about shepherds coming to the manger & seeing the Christ-child it makes us feel warm inside. If shepherds are important to God, then we are important, too. God loves the common people, & God loves us!
Now turn to another very familiar passage in Matthew 2:1-12, (READ Matt 2:1-12)
The story of the wise men is also a story of love & worship & adoration. They represent the aristocracy of the time - the rich, the educated, the learned. And they are valuable to God too.
Whenever we think of the shepherds & the wise men, we invariably see scenes of love & joy & worship.
But when we think of King Herod we see darkness & hatred & death. In verse 16 we read this terrible statement, "When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, & he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem & its vicinity, who were two years old & under."
Why do people react like Herod did? Why are some people filled with love & happiness, while others are filled with darkness & despair?
I think we can learn something about that as we look again at what these Scriptures tell us about the shepherds & the wise men & Herod. Maybe through it all Christmas will mean even more to us.
I. GOD CAN WORK WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE PREPARED TO RECEIVE HIS MESSAGE
First of all, I think that God chose to announce to the shepherds & the wise men the wonderful news of the coming of Jesus because they were prepared for that event. Somehow the soil of their souls had been plowed & made ready for the planting of that glorious news.
Who understood the idea of sacrifice better than shepherds? Do you realize how close Bethlehem is to Jerusalem? They are just a few miles apart, separated only by some hills on which shepherds raised their sheep.
History tells us that many of the sheep raised on those hills between Jerusalem & Bethlehem were raised specifically to be used as sacrifices in the Temple at Jerusalem. You see, once a year every Jewish family was supposed to come to Jerusalem & offer sacrifices in the Temple for their sins. And the animal that they sacrificed was generally a lamb.
They didn’t bring a sacrificial lamb along on the long journey from their homes to Jerusalem. Instead, they waited until they got to Jerusalem & then bought a lamb there to use as a sacrifice.
So these shepherds knew about sacrifice. They spent their lives on the hills outside of Bethlehem watching little lambs born. Watching them grow to maturity & realizing that someday a priest would come & buy them & take them back to the temple to offer as sacrifices for the sins of the people.
They realized that sin was so awful in God’s sight that it required the shedding of blood & the giving of life. So how appropriate that these shepherds should be the first to hear about the "lamb of God" who would be "the Savior, Christ the Lord."
They were ready for that. Their minds were uncomplicated. They were not great theologians. They didn’t think of reasons not to believe. They just believed. Their hearts & their souls were ready & when God spoke through angels they listened & accepted the news with great joy.
The wise men were also prepared. Evidently they had studied the great prophets of Israel. Undoubtedly they came from the area where Daniel, the prophet, had had such great influence & power. Daniel 2:48 tells us that he was placed by the king to be in charge of the wise men. Daniel 4:9 and Daniel 5:11 also speak of Daniel being chief of the magicians and astrologers. It was here that the seeds of prophecies were planted.
Somehow, these Magi were waiting & hoping. And when they saw that bright light, that star shining, they knew it meant something special. They recalled all of the things they had learned & they were ready to make their journey, because they knew the star meant that somewhere a king had been born & they wanted to worship Him. They were prepared & ready for Christmas.
In Contrast, King Herod wasn’t ready. Have you ever wondered why Herod didn’t see the star? If it was bright enough for wise men to see it in far countries, it was bright enough for Herod to see it too.
Why didn’t Herod hear the announcement of the angels? Why didn’t he see the heavens lit up on that first Christmas night? He could have seen. He could have heard. But he didn’t have eyes to see or ears to hear.
Christmas came to Herod as surely as it came to wise men & shepherds. But Herod didn’t know it because Herod was not prepared.
You see, if we resist God; if we ignore what God has done through Jesus Christ, then Christmas will come on Dec. 25, as it always does, but it will mean almost nothing to us because our hearts are cold & insensitive to what God is trying to do in our lives.
Christmas is almost here. Are you prepared? Is your heart soft? Are your ears sensitive? Can you hear God telling you of His love for you?
II. THEY WERE WILLING TO TAKE A JOURNEY OF FAITH TO SEE JESUS
Secondly, when they heard the message the wise men & the shepherds were willing to step out & take a journey of faith, but not Herod.
I love the words of the shepherds. Shortly after the angels went back into heaven they said to one another, "Let’s go to Bethlehem & see this thing that has happened." They didn’t say, "Let’s go to Bethlehem & see if this thing is really true." They didn’t question the message of God. They didn’t question the announcement of the angels. They didn’t sit around & think about all the impossibilities & how humanly speaking it didn’t make sense. No, they just rushed to Bethlehem to see the baby. It was a journey of faith for them.
How about those wise men? Have you ever put yourself in their place? Can’t you see them standing out in their front yards getting their camels ready for the long journey? They are loading up their saddlebags with food & clothing, gold, frankincense & myrrh.
Just then some neighbors walk by & ask, "What are you doing?" The wise men reply, "We are getting ready to take a trip." "Where are you going?" "Well, we’re not sure." "Do you have a map?" "No, we are going to follow a star."
"Oh! What are you going to find when you get there?" "We are going to find a king." "What’s the king’s name?" "We don’t know. All we know is that we have seen His star & we are going to follow it until it leads us to Him, & then we’re going to worship Him."
It was a journey of faith, you see. And faith doesn’t make sense to people who don’t know the message & who don’t share the faith. It was a journey of faith, & faith can only be explained by a heart that understands what faith is all about.
But for Herod there was no faith. He heard the message from the wise men. The wise men came to Herod’s palace & asked, "Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star in the east, & have come to worship Him."
When Herod heard this he was troubled. "Where? Where is a king? I haven’t heard of any king." Quickly he called together the chief priests & they told him that the prophets had foretold that the Messiah, the Christ, would be born in Bethlehem.
You know the story. Herod sent the wise men on. He had an opportunity to learn about the new king. But he didn’t have eyes of faith or a heart that believed. So while the king was born only a few miles away, he was not ready to receive Him because there was no faith in his heart.
That is a problem, isn’t it? There is a whole lot that can’t be explained. You can’t explain a virgin birth. You can’t explain the heavens lighting up & angels announcing the birth of a king. You can’t explain a mysterious star shining above. You can’t explain all of the drama & glory & wonder. It’s divine. It can only be understood with a heart & a mind of faith.
Before Christmas will ever be real to us, our journey must be a journey of faith too. We must realize that we will never completely understand the wonder of God’s love, but in faith we must be ready to accept it.
III. THEY WERE WILLING TO PAY THE PRICE & MAKE THE SACRIFICE
Finally, the wise men & the shepherds were willing to pay the price & to make the sacrifice.
Think about the shepherds. When they said, "Let us go to Bethlehem & see this thing which is come to pass," that was a major decision for them. When they went to Bethlehem they had to leave their sheep. Everything they owned was wrapped up in their sheep. It was at night, when wolves could come & attack & kill their sheep. So it took faith. They had to say, "We will leave behind all that we have to seek the Lamb of God, & we will trust our flock to the Good Shepherd who will take care of them."
I have always hoped that when they came back they found all of their lambs safe & sound, & that from then on God prospered them in ways they never even dreamed, because they were willing to place everything in His hands.
The wise men paid a price, too. They left behind families & businesses, & all that was familiar & dear to them. They left it all to follow a star - to travel a strange & possibly dangerous journey - just to pay homage to the new king, & to give Him their gifts of gold, frankincense & myrrh.
But not Herod. Herod learns about a king & quickly rushes to his throne & puts his arms around it, saying, "Where is He?" He wants to cling to all that is his - his silver & gold, his power & prestige. He was afraid that he was going to lose it all.
Christmas means surrender. It means that the sovereign God of heaven looked down & saw us dying in our sins & said, "I can’t let this go on. I must do something about it."
He surrendered His glory & His power. He became a baby. He walked among us. He breathed our dust. He let us persecute Him & spit on Him & drive nails into His hands & His feet. That’s surrender.
Christmas means giving. Not just brightly wrapped gifts to people that we love but giving ourselves.
So here we are. Some of us may be like the shepherds. We don’t have much, & we may not know a lot that the world considers important. But we are ready to listen to what God has to say.
Others may be more like the wise men, searching for the truth, asking questions, knowing His promise that if we will seek the truth with our whole heart that we will find Him.
Unfortunately, there are many like Herod who are antagonistic towards God - who hate Him rather than love Him & will not receive what God wants to give. And every year, at Christmas time, this great line is drawn. Here are people who are like shepherds & wise men coming to Jesus to worship Him. And there are people like Herod who stand hard & cold, resisting all that God is trying to do in their lives.
Into which category do you fall? Who best represents you? God wants to take all the Herods & make them into shepherds & wise men. But that can only happen when you are willing for it to happen. When you are prepared to receive His message. When you are willing to make the journey of faith. When you are willing to surrender to Him.
The invitation is extended this evening & God invites you to come to His manger, to come to His throne, to come to His cross, & to know His love.
