Alba 12-24-2023
UNTO YOU IS GIVEN – A SIGN
Luke 2:10-12
It is important to be aware of the signs that everyday are all around us. They give us direction, instruction, information, and even warnings. Signs are given along roadways to make sure we don’t miss a turn. There are stop signs and railroad warning signs. All are important to our safety.
Have you ever missed a sign? You were traveling along and then found you were going the wrong way? I did that. Twice. Both my brother and his wife and my sister live in a small town in central Nebraska. To get to the highway that leads to their town, you make a right turn which puts you on two highways. Then fairly soon you take a turn to the left with the second highway going on straight.
The first time I missed both turns completely and drove miles further than I should have. The second time I made the first turn but didn't make the second. I was miles down the road before realizing that, once again, I made a mistake. I am sure that none of you have ever done anything like that!
Signs are important, and it is wise to pay attention to them. In the Bible a sign was intended to give meaning beyond the outward appearance of what was seen. It would point to, or represent, something larger or more important than itself.
When Jesus was born and the angels announced His birth to those shepherds, they were given a sign.
Luke 2:10-12 tells us, “Then the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” A sign was given to the shepherds.
As New Testament believers, we need to be cautious about seeking “signs.” Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for seeking a sign rather than having the faith to believe in Him. In Matthew 12: 38-39 it says, “Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, 'Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.' But He answered and said to them, 'An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.'”
Then Jesus explained that as Jonah was in the belly of that big fish for three days and three nights, He would be in the grave for that same period of time. Of course He was indicating that even as Jonah was released from that fish, He would be released from the grave. The sign of Jonah pointed directly to Jesus' death burial and resurrection.
And then the apostle Paul wrote in I Corinthians 1:22-24 stating that while the, “Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
It is not that signs are bad, because God often provided them. In Genesis 9:13 after the flood, God told Noah, “I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.” The rainbow is a sign of God's promise not to flood the whole earth again. Not for the purposes it is used today.
However, as Christians, we don't have to look for “signs”. We are to focus on Jesus and “preach Christ crucified.” Still, the shepherds were give this amazing sign of the Savior who is Christ the Lord. They would find the babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. There are at least two things that this sign given to the shepherds could signify. The first is obvious.
1. The Sign Gave Direction
A sign had to be given because neither the shepherds in the field nor the folks in the town of Bethlehem were expecting this to be the night of the Savior's birth. And how could they have known that the Savior would come in such a way as this.
Look at what they were told. This Savior, this Messiah was just a baby who had been born in Bethlehem. And not only a baby, but a baby who they would find in a manger! A feeding trough for animals!
Of course it is possible that there were other babies born around that time in Bethlehem, so the instructions had to be specific. Look for the baby in the manger! That would be unusual.
The swaddling clothes may not have been so unusual. For many newborn infants, it was a common custom and is still practiced today in many Mid-eastern countries.
These were strips of cloth wrapped around a baby’s body to keep it warm and give it a sense of security. Some think it promoted a familiar feeling for the infant of being in the womb. A form of swaddling is actually making a comeback today among some parents of newborns.
Luke 2:15 and following picks up on this scene, and it says: “So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, 'Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.' And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child.
“And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.”
It was exactly as the angel had said, they found Mary, Joseph and the baby. And the baby, sure enough, was lying in the feeding trough (the manger), just as they had been told. The sign given to them was right on the mark. The directions could not have been more clear. People today need clear instructions as well. We need to use this Christmas time to point people to Jesus.
They need to know that not only did He come as a baby, they need to know that He lived a perfect life so that He could be our Savior by taking our punishment on the cross. They need to know that Jesus lives today because in three days He came out of that grave, just as Jonah came out of that fish. They need to know that Jesus did all of that out of His great love and kindness for them. He loves them! They need to know! We want everyone to know!
The sign given to the shepherds gave specific directions for them to know what they needed so that it was possible for them to find Jesus. People today also need to know how to find Jesus. The sign gave directions and also...
2. The Sign Was Symbolic
Did you know that Jesus was born in a cave? In Bethlehem the Church of the Nativity is built over a cave that is believed to be the birthplace of Jesus.
An article from the website, See the Holyland.net says,
“Today’s basilica, the oldest complete church in the Christian world, was built by the emperor Justinian in the 6th century. It replaced the original church of Constantine the Great, built over the cave venerated as Christ’s birthplace, and dedicated in AD 339.”
The article continues, “The Gospels do not say that Jesus was born in a cave, but there are written references to the Nativity cave as far back as AD 160. Even today in the Judean hills, families live in primitive houses built in front of natural caves used for storage or to shelter animals.”
That gives us a different picture of the birth of Jesus doesn't it? And according to Life Application Bible notes on verse twelve, “Mangers were not little wooden boxes with crossed legs on the end we have traditionally seen in every Nativity scene. Instead, they were rocky ledges that had been carved out of the rock walls at the height where animals could eat feed out of them.”
So if we put this all together, Jesus was born in a cave and placed on a rock ledge carved out from the rock wall. The body of the baby Jesus was wrapped up in strips of cloth lying on a rocky ledge in a cave stable. This is symbolic.
Was there another time when the body of Jesus was wrapped in bands of cloth? Yes, after Jesus’ death on the cross, we are told that that Joseph of Arimethea and Nicodemus prepared Jesus’ body for burial. John 19:40 says, “Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury.”
So, the body of Jesus was wrapped in strips of cloth at His burial, just as it was at His birth! And where was the burial?
In a tomb which was a man made cave! And where did they lay him? On a rock ledge carved out from the wall of this man made cave! The similarity of these scenes is too great to be a coincidence.
Again, at His death, the body of Jesus was wrapped up in cloth just like the swaddling clothes He had been wrapped in when He born. His body was taken into a tomb which was a cave just like the stable where He was born. And then they laid His body on a shelf carved out of rock just like the manger He was placed on after He was born.
The sign given by the angel certainly seems to have a significance beyond just giving directions to the shepherds. The scene of Jesus’ birth foreshadowed the scene of His burial! It was a sign or picture that this little baby Jesus wrapped up like a little mummy lying on a stone ledge in a cave like a tomb was a baby who was born to die!
It was a sign that Jesus was indeed the Christ child, the Messiah. He was the Lamb of God who came to be sacrificed for the sins of the world. God the Father was orchestrating the minutest details of His Son’s birth to show the real reason why Jesus came - not just to be born, but to die for us.
Indeed, the day of Jesus’ death and burial was better than the day of His birth, because the day of His death was His substitutionary sacrifice that liberated us from the bondage of sin.
His death-day became our new birth-day when we could be born again into the spiritual freedom we have in Christ.
But, praise God, Jesus did not stay dead in that cold cave tomb, but rose again after three days as a sign to us that His death had been acceptable to the Father as a sacrifice for sin. And He proved to be victorious over sin and death.
This is the mystery of Christmas, that God became flesh in the form of His Son Jesus Christ. He came for the purpose to die on the cross for our sins, so that we could live an abundant life now and forever with Him who is eternal in the heavens.
God calls all people to respond to the gift of His Son through obedient faith in Jesus and to receive His sacrifice for sins.
And when we do that, we can join the angel's chorus, and say with them, “Glory to God in the highest.” And we will have the peace that passes understanding.
It is good to pay attention to the signs God gives. And we had better be paying attention to road signs. Jesus said there is a wide road and a narrow road. The wide road leads to destruction. But the narrow road leads to life. Choose that narrow road and it will bring you to the Savior, Jesus Christ.
CLOSE:
In the classic Christmas movie from 1947, “A Miracle on 34th Street,” it tells of a little girl who lives with her single mother. The mother has taught the child not to believe in miracles, and certainly not Santa Claus. When the girl goes to see the man playing Santa, (the story is he's the real guy), he asks the girl what she wants for Christmas.
“Nothing thank you,” is her reply. “Oh come now, you must want something.” “Whatever I want my mother will get me, if it’s sensible and doesn’t cost too much.”
Where are we this Christmas season? Have we come all this way to view the manger just to say, “Nothing thank you,” “Just looking…”?
Wouldn't it be better if we, like the shepherds, would desire to find Jesus and have Him as our Savior, Christ and Lord?
