MIRACLES OF CHRISTMAS
LUKE 2:10-20
THE CHRISTMAS NARRATIVES ARE A COLLECTION OF EVENTS THAT SPEAK OF JESUS BIRTH, AS RECORDED IN THE BOOKS OF MATTHEW AND LUKE. MARK AND JOHN ACTUALLY START WITH JESUS’ PUBLIC MINISTRY AND DO NOT INCLUDE THE BIRTH NARRATIVES AT ALL.
NEITHER MATTHEW NOR LUKE GIVE US A COMPLETE ACCOUNT OF THE EVENTS SURROUNDING CHRIST’S BIRTH, BUT WE CAN GET A MORE COMPLETE ACCOUNT WHEN WE STUDY THEM AS ONE UNIT.
LUKE MAKES A MORE DETAILED ACCOUNT OF THE EVENTS LEADING UP TO AND THE ACTUAL BIRTH OF JESUS. IT WAS HIS INTENT TO GIVE AN ORDERLY WELL RESEARCHED ACCOUNT OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST.
LUKE 1:1-4:
Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3 With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.
LUKE STARTS HIS BIRTH NARRATIVES BY DESCRIBING THE MIRACLES SURROUNDING THE BIRTH OF JOHN WHO WAS THE FORERUNNER OF JESUS. HE GOES INTO GREAT DETAIL DESCRIBING THE ANGEL’S VISIT TO MARY AND MARY’S SONG OF PRAISE, BUT SPENDS LITTLE TIME TALKING ABOUT JOSEPH.
MATTHEW’S ACCOUNT DEALS MUCH MORE WITH THE EVENTS LEADING UP TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIST, AND THE EVENTS FOLLOWING HIS BIRTH. MATTHEW LISTS A DETAILED GENEOLOGY FOR CHRIST, SHOWING HOW BOTH MARY AND JOSEPH COME FROM THE LINE OF DAVID, AND AN EVEN DIVISION INTO THREE EQUAL GROUPS OF FOURTEEN FROM THE TIME OF ABRAHAM TO THE BIRTH OF THE MESSIAH, BUT ONLY LISTING HIS MOTHER IN THE GENEOLOGY.
MATTHEW SEEKS TO SHOW JESUS AS THE FULFILLMENT OF ISRAEL’S STORY. HE HIGHLIGHTS JESUS AS THE NEW KING DAVID WITH HIS BIRTHPLACE IN BETHLEHEM, AND THE WHOLE ACCOUNT IS LITTERED WITH REFERENCES TO THE OLD TESTAMENT AND JESUS’ JEWISH ROOTS.
THE MAGI’S VISIT SHOWS THE IMPORTANCE OF JESUS AND HIS PROMINENCE AS THE |KING OF THE JEWS. MORE ABOUT THAT THOUGH TOMORROW NIGHT.
MOST COMMENTATORS AGREE THAT THE AUTHORS DID NOT HAVE A CHANCE TO READ EACH OTHERS WORK, AND SO AS A RESULT THERE ARE SOME AREAS WE ARE NOT CERTAIN ABOUT, BUT THESE AREAS ARE NOT MAJOR AND DEAL JUST WITH TIMING RATHER THAN SUBSTANCE.
THE MIRACLES OF CHRISTMAS WITH THE EXCEPTIONS OF ELIZABETH AND MARY’S CONCEPTION DEAL WITH THE CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUNDING JESUS’ BIRTH. THE FIRST CHRISTMAS WAS ACUTALLY A VERY BAD DAY FOR MARY AND JOSEPH. MARY HAD TO ENDURE A LONG TRIP WHILE BEING JUST ABOUT READY TO DELIVER, GO TO A PLACE WHERE THERE WAS NO ROOM AVAILABLE TO HAVE HER BABY IN, AND HER BIRTH PROCESS WAS JUST AS NATURAL AS ANY MOTHER’S WITHOUT THE BENEFIT OF THE MEDICAL PROFESSION. MARY AND JOSEPH MAY HAVE CELEBRATED JESUS’ BIRTHDAY, BUT THEY DID NOT CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS LIKE YOU AND I DO.
COMBINING THE TWO ACCOUNTS WE COME UP WITH THIS ORDER OF EVENTS.
FIRST THERE ARE THE ANGELIC APPEARANCES TO ZECHARIAH, JOSEPH AND MARY. NEXT COMES THE BIRTH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST, AND THE PREGNANCY OF MARY. THE ROMAN CENSUS WOULD BE THE NEXT EVENT DRAWING MARY AND JOSEPH TO BETHLEHEM. MARY THEN GIVES BIRTH TO JESUS. THE ANGELS APPEAR TO THE SHEPHERDS WHO GO INTO BETHLEHEM TO SEE THE CHILD.
THEN ON THE EIGHTH DAY THE BABY JESUS IS TAKEN TO THE TEMPLE TO FULFILL THE RIGHTS OF THE LAW. IT IS HERE THAT HE MEETS SIMEON AND ANNA.
MARY AND JOSEPH SET UP RESIDENCE IN BETHLEHEM, AND FOR A PERIOD OF SEVERAL MONTHS EVERYTHING IS QUIET. THEN THE MAGI COME TO THE HOUSE AND WORSHIP JESUS. HEROD SEEKS TO LEARN FROM THEM WHERE JESUS IS, BUT THEY ARE WARNED NOT TO RETURN TO HEROD SO THEY RETURN HOME BY A DIFFERENT ROUTE. HEROD ANGERED BY THIS GIVES THE ORDER THAT ALL HEBREW MALES LIVING IN BETHLEHEM UNDER THE AGE OF TWO ARE TO BE KILLED.
JOSEPH IS WARNED BY AN ANGEL TO FLEE TO EGYPT WHICH HE DOES UNTIL HEROD IS DEAD. UPON RETURNING JOSEPH AND MARY MAKE THEIR HOME IN NAZARETH TO FULFILL PROPHECY CONCERNING CHRIST.
THE NATIVITY SCENES THAT WE SEE ARE ACCURATE IN THAT THEY DISPLAY ALL OF THE MAJOR CHARACTERS OF THE CHRISTMAS STORY, BUT IT DEPICTS WHAT HAPPENED OVER A PERIOD OF SEVERAL MONTHS, NOT ONE NIGHT IN BETHLEHEM.
LUKES ACCOUNT DEALS WITH JESUS BIRTH AS IT INVOLVES THE SHEPHERDS, AND JESUS’ BIRTHPLACE OF BETHLEHEM. WE ARE GOING TO LOOK AT THREE SPECIFIC EVENTS THAT I HAVE CHOSEN TO CALL MIRACLES AS THEY ALL REQUIRED GOD’S INTERVENTION IN THE NORMAL ORDER OF THINGS:
1. THE BIRTH TOWN OF BETHLEHEM
2. THE CENSUS
3. THE ANGELIC APPEARANCE TO THE SHEPHERDS
EACH OF THESE THREE AREAS HAVE SPECIFIC AREAS OF PORPHETIC FULFILLMENT AND SYMBOLISM WHICH BRING A DEEPER MEANING TO OUR CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION.
POINT ONE: THE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM FOR JESUS’ BIRTH
THE CHOICE OF BETHLEHEM AS THE BIRTHPLACE FOR JESUS IS VERY SIGNIFICANT. BETHLEHEM MEANS “HOUSE OF BREAD”. JESUS WOULD LATER MAKE THIS STATEMENT:
JOHN 6:35: Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty
BETHLEHEM WAS PROPHECIED OVER 400 YEARS EARLIER TO BE THE BIRTHPLACE OF THE MESSIAH.
MICAH 5:2: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
SIGNIFICANT ALSO ABOUT BETHLEHEM IS THE FACT THAT ONE OF IT’S MAIN INDUSTRIES WAS THE BREEDING OF LAMBS TO BE USED AS SACRIFICES IN THE TEMPLE. THIS MADE THE ANGELIC APPEARANCE TO THE SHEPHERDS ALL THE MORE MEANINGFUL AS THEY WOULD BE THE EXPERTS IN DEALING WITH SHEEP, AND COULD UNDERSTAND THE UNSPOKEN MESSAGE OF THE ANGEL TO THEM.
JESUS WAS BORN IN BETHLEHEM AND WOULD BE OUR PASSOVER SACRIFICE. PAUL TOLD THE CORINTHIANS:
1 CORINTHIANS 5:7: Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
THE SACRIFICE OF THE PASSOVER LAMB WAS OFFERED BY THE JEWISH PEOPLE. JESUS CRUCIFIXION WAS INSTIGATED BY THE JEWISH PEOPLE. HE WAS TRIED IN THEIR COURTS BEFORE HE WAS TAKEN BEFORE PILATE. IT WAS THEIR DESIRE THAT HE BE EXECUTED.
FROM BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF TIME GOD HAD FORMULATED A PLAN OF SALVATION. IT WAS A PLAN THAT INCLUDED JESUS BIRTH, SINLESS LIFE, AND SACRIFICIAL DEATH IN PAYMENT FOR OUR SINS. IT WAS SOMETHING ONLY GOD COULD PROVIDE, AND AS ABRAHAM WOULD FIND OUT WHEN HE WAS ABOUT READY TO SACRIFICE ISSAC:
GENESIS 22:8: Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
GOD DID PROVIDE THE LAMB FOR THE SACRIFICE, AND HE WAS BORN IN THE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM.
POINT TWO: THE CENSUS
THE CENSUS BY ITSELF IS NOT MIRACULOUS IN NATURE. THEY HAVE BEEN WITH US THROUGHOUT HISTORY. IT IS THE CIRCUMSTANCES AROUND THIS ONE THAT MAKE IT MIRACULOUS.
WHEN WE CONSIDER THE CENSUS THE IMPORTANT QUESTION THAT MUST BE ASKED IS WHY AT THIS PARTICULAR TIME WAS THIS CENSUS TAKEN.
EMPEROR AUGUSTUS ORDERED THE CENSUS TO BE TAKEN, MOST LIKELY A PRELUDE TO THE RAISING OF TAXES, AND FOR THE DEPLOYMENT OF MILITARY IN OCCUPIED LANDS. IT JUST SO HAPPENED THAT QUIRINIUS HAD JUST BECOME GOVERNOR OF SYRIA.
A CENSUS WAS NOT NEW TO ROMAN GOVERNMENT. THEY WERE OFTEN TAKEN OF INDIVIDUAL PROVINCES, AT DIFFERENT TIMES. THIS WAS UNIQUE IN THAT IT WAS THE FIRST TAKEN OF THE ENTIRE ROMAN OCCUPIED AREA.
THE MIRACULOUS NATURE OF THE CENSUS WAS THAT IT FORCED MARY AND JOSEPH TO GO TO BETHLEHEM. THIS WAS A TRIP THEY WOULD NOT HAVE MADE HAD THERE NOT BEEN A CENSUS. MARY WAS DUE TO HAVE HER BABY, AND THE PROSPECT OF MAKING A LONG DANGEROUS JOURNEY EITHER BY WALKING OR RIDING A DONKEY, PROBABLY DIDN’T THRILL HER. WHILE IT IS ONLY CONJECTURE ON MY PART, THE JOURNEY MIGHT HAVE BEEN THE REASON MARY WENT INTO LABOUR WHEN SHE DID.
SO YOU CAN SEE THE PIECES FALLING INTO PLACE. MARY AND JOSEPH ARE BOTH OF THE LINE OF DAVID. THIS MEANT THAT WHEN THE ROMAN CENSUS WAS ORDERED BY AUGUSTUS, AND I SHOULD SAY FOR CLARITY THAT IT WAS NOT OUR AUGUSTUS, MARY AND JOSEPH WERE FORCED TO TRAVEL TO BETHLEHEM. THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME THIS TYPE OF CENSUS HAD BEEN USED ON ALL THE ROMAN WORLD. THERE MUST HAVE BEEN TIME RESTRICTIONS ON THEIR REGISTRATION OR ELSE THEY WOULD HAVE WAITED UNTIL AFTER THE BIRTH.
1. POINT THREE: THE ANGELIC APPEARANCE TO THE SHEPHERDS
AN INDIRECT CONSEQUENCE OF THE CENSUS IS THAT THE POPULATION OF BETHLEHEM HAD INCREASED AT THE TIME OF JESUS’ BIRTH. THERE WAS NO PLACE FOR THEM TO STAY WHEN THEY GOT THERE. THERE WAS “NO ROOM IN THE INN”
WHAT I DIDN’T REALIZE UNTIL LES PLAYED PART OF A UTUBE MESSAGE GIVEN BY A RABBI, JUST HOW IMPORTANT THIS WAS. JESUS COULD NOT HAVE BEEN BORN IN ANY PLACE OTHER THAN A STABLE AS I WILL SHOW YOU IN A MOMENT.
WHEN JOSEPH AND MARY GET TO BETHLEHEM THE TIME CAME FOR MARY TO GIVE BIRTH. NOTE WHAT LUKE SAYS ABOUT THIS:
KJV VERSION: LUKE 2:6-7:
And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
LUKE THEN TAKES US TO WHERE THE SHEPHERDS ARE TENDING THEIR FLOCKS, AND SPEAKS OF AN ANGEL COMING TO TELL THEM OF JESUS BIRTH.
THE FIRST THING WE ARE TOLD IS THAT THE SHEPHERDS ARE TERRIFIED. I THINK IF YOU’RE MINDING YOUR OWN BUSINESS, WATCHING YOUR FLOCKS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT AND NOT EXPECTING TROUBLE, TO HAVE AN ANGEL DROP BY AND BEGIN TO SPEAK TO YOU WOULD MAKE ME AND I DARE SAY YOU AS WELL VERY FRIGHTENED.
THE ANGEL TELLS THEM NOT TO BE AFRAID TELLS THEM OF JESUS BIRTH, AND THEN HE TELLS THEM HOW TO FIND HIM. THIS IS WHERE THE RABBI COMES IN AS HE SHARED WITH US SOMETHING THAT ONLY THE SHEPHERDS WOULD RECOGNIZE.
THE ANGEL WAS CAREFUL TO SAY THAT THEY WRAPPED THE BABY IN “SWADDLING CLOTHS” AND LAID HIM IN THE MANGER. THERE IS GREAT SIGNIFICANCE OF THE “SWADDLING CLOTHS” AND IN FACT PULLS THIS WHOLE ACCOUNT TOGETHER.
WE HAD SAID THAT BETHLEHEM’S MAIN INDUSTRY WAS THE PRODUCTION OF LAMBS TO BE SACRIFICED AT THE TEMPLE. THESE LAMBS HAD TO BE WITHOUT ANY IMPERFECTION ON THEM, NOT ONLY WHEN THEY WERE BORN, BUT ALSO THROUGHOUT THEIR SHORT LIVES. THIS MEANT THAT THEY HAD TO HAVE SPECIAL PROTECTION, AS A BURR IN THEIR WOOL, STEPPING INTO DIRT, ANYTHING LIKE THIS WOULD ALSO DISQUALIFY THEM FROM BEING LAMBS WITHOUT BLEMISH AND THEN COULD NOT BE USED AT THE TEMPLE. I CAN JUST SEE THE LAMBS NOW “WHERE IS THAT PUDDLE I CAN STEP INTO.”
WHAT WOULD HAPPEN AFTER THE LAMBS WERE BORN, THEY WOULD BE WRAPPED IN “SWADDLING CLOTHS” AND TAKEN TO A CAVE WHERE THEY COULD BE PROTECTED FROM BLEMISH UNTIL THE TIME THEY WERE TAKEN TO THE TEMPLE FOR SACRIFICE.
STABLES AT THE TIME JESUS WAS BORN WERE NOT THE STRUCTURES WE SEE TODAY. AT THAT TIME THEY WERE CAVES, WITH WOODEN STALLS AND MANGERS, BUT THEY WERE JUST CAVES.
SO LETS PUT THIS TOGETHER.
PASSOVER LAMBS WERE BORN IN BETHLEHEM.
JESUS WAS BORN IN BETHLEHEM
PASSOVER LAMBS WERE BORN AND WRAPPED IN “SWADDLING CLOTHS.”
JESUS WAS BORN AND WRAPPED IN “SWADDLING CLOTHS.”
PASSOVER LAMBS WERE PLACED IN A CAVE FOR THEIR PROTECTION.
JESUS WAS PLACED IN A MANGER IN A CAVE.
THE ANGELS WERE TELLING THE SHEPHERDS IN LANGUAGE THEY WOULD UNDERSTAND THAT JESUS WAS THE MESSIAH, THAT HE WAS:
JOHN 1:29: The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
WE ARE TOLD THAT THE SHEPHERDS WENT INTO BETHLEHEM TO SEE WHAT HAD HAPPENED. THIS MEANT THAT THE EVENT WAS SPECIAL AS THEY WOULD NOT NORMALLY LEAVE THEIR FLOCKS FOR DANGER INCREASED AT NIGHT.
MOST LIKELY, NOT ALL OF THEM WENT AND SOME STAYED TO WATCH THE FLOCKS. WHAT A WODERFUL COMMENTARY ON THE FACT THAT SALVATION WAS A GIFT TO ALL. SHEPHERDS WERE A HATED GROUP. THEY COULD NEVER GO TO TEMPLE BECAUSE THEY WERE ALWAYS CEREMONIALLY UNCLEAN. THEY WERE SEEN AS PEOPLE OF LOW ESTATE. YET TO THOSE PEOPLE OF LOW ESTATE, GOD ALLOWS TO BE THE FIRST WITNESSES OF JESUS’ BIRTH. JESUS’ BIRTH IS A CELEBRATION FOR ALL PEOPLE, AND WE CAN BE PART OF THAT CELEBRATION.
CONCLUSION:
THE SHEPHERDS EVENTUALLY WENT BACK TO THE FIELDS, THE BABY AND JOSEPH WENT TO SLEEP, AND MARY HAD TIME TO THINK ABOUT ALL THAT HAD HAPPENED.
I WONDER HAVE WE TAKEN TIME TO THINK ABOUT THE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS, OR ARE WE ENGROSSED IN THE PREPARATION FOR OUR CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION.
I CHALLENGE YOU ON THIS DAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS EVE, TO READ AND STUDY THE CHRISTMAS ACCOUNTS IN BOTH MATTHEW AND LUKE. PERHAPS YOU TOO WILL DISCOVER THINGS YOU MAY NOT HAVE KNOWN THAT WILL GIVE DEEPER MEANING TO CHRIST’S COMING.
