Psalm 24:1-10, Micah 5:2-5a, Titus 3:3-7, Luke 2:1-14.
A). THE SONG OF THE ASCENSION.
Psalm 24:1-10.
David, the sweet Psalmist of Israel (2 Samuel 23:1) takes us on a journey from the Cross in Psalm 22, under the guidance of the Shepherd’s Crook in Psalm 23, to the Crown in Psalm 24. These three Psalms belong together, and all ultimately speak of Jesus, but are not unrelated to our own experience.
Psalm 24 itself also divides into three parts. First, there is a statement of the sovereignty of God (Psalm 24:1-2). Second, the question is asked (and answered): Who may approach to worship Him? (Psalm 24:3-6). Third, we see the triumphant entry of King Jesus into heaven itself (Psalm 24:7-10).
The declaration in Psalm 24:1 is emphatic - literally, “To Yahweh belongs the earth!” This excludes all other potential claimants to the Crown. It is His by right as Creator. Whether they acknowledge it or not, all people are answerable to Him.
It is He who “founded” the world (Psalm 24:2), separating the waters (Genesis 1:7), and causing dry land to appear (Genesis 1:9). It is He who sustains it, having “established” it upon the waters. Wise men become fools when they set out to deny God (Psalm 14:1; Psalm 53:1)!
Yet, having said all that, who may approach this God? ‘LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in your holy hill?’ (Psalm 15:1). “Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place?” (Psalm 24:3).
“He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully” (Psalm 24:4). Jesus says that to love God and neighbour is, in effect, the sum of the whole of the law (cf. Mark 12:30-31). Yet who has clean hands &c. outside of Jesus?
We dare not assert our own righteousness but stand in His. We receive it as a blessing, a gift from “the God of our salvation” (Psalm 24:5) purchased by the blood of Jesus (Romans 3:21-23). This being done however, our Christianity is displayed thereafter in the life we lead, and in our fair dealings in the things we do (James 2:18).
Outside of Jesus, we are doomed to separation from the God of Jacob (cf. Psalm 24:6). But if we ‘seek His face’ (Psalm 105:4) and come to God through Jesus (John 14:6), He will receive us (Romans 10:10-11). This is the only way we may claim citizenship of His kingdom.
The rest is doxology: but what a doxology! The Scottish Metrical version of Psalm 24:7-10 is strong here, and lends itself to an antiphonal liturgy, suitable for combined male and female voices.
“Ye gates, lift up your heads on high; ye doors that last for aye,
Be lifted up, that so the King of Glory enter may.
But who in glory is the King? The mighty Lord is this:
Ev’n that same Lord that great in might and strong in battle is.
“Ye gates, lift up your heads: ye doors, doors that do last for aye,
Be lifted up, that so the King of glory enter may.
But who is He that is the King of glory? (The King of glory) who is this?
The Lord of hosts and none but He, the King of glory is.”
(There may follow a chorus of Alleluias and Amens.)
We may refer to a historic circumstance in David’s own life, when he first brought the Ark of the Covenant, symbolic of the presence of God, into Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6:15). ‘The mountain of Your inheritance’ had been anticipated back in the song of Moses, after the people passed through the Red Sea (Exodus 15:17) - in context this was not a reference to Sinai, but to a mountain in the land. The Psalm echoes the celebration of God’s triumph (Psalm 24:10; cf. Exodus 15:1; Exodus 15:21).
“Glory” speaks of ‘weightiness’: majesty, honour; abundance (cf. Psalm 24:1), greatness, importance. When we ‘glorify’ God we add nothing to Him, but ‘ascribe’ the glory that is already His (Psalm 29:1). Even ‘the heavens’ declare ‘the glory of God’ (Psalm 19:1).
Now the Ark was home at last, where Melchisedec had passed through the same gates to meet Abraham with bread and wine, and to pronounce a priestly blessing (Genesis 14:18-20). Yet the Ark of the Covenant is symbolic of something else. The ultimate ‘presence of God with men’ (cf. Ezekiel 34:30) is Jesus, the Word become flesh who ‘tabernacled’ among us (John 1:14).
Jesus died for us, triumphed over death on our behalf, rose again, and ascended into heaven. As a Man He has entered glory that we may follow. The gates have opened wide for Him, and even now we are bold to enter in to the throne of grace (Ephesians 3:12; Hebrews 4:16).
B). THE DELIVERER.
Micah 5:2-5a.
‘But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting’
(Micah 5:2).
Bethlehem was a small City in Judah.
Here Rachel, who had once said to her doting husband Jacob, "Give me a son, or I die!" was buried after her death giving birth to her second son and his twelfth, Benjamin. It was here that Rachel was metaphorically heard weeping for her children when they were carried into exile, and for the massacred innocents under King Herod.
Amongst those buried in Bethlehem, was the Judge (literally Saviour) Ibzan.
To here the widow Naomi returned from Moab with her widowed daughter-in-law Ruth, and here Ruth found her kinsman-redeemer in the person of Boaz.
In Bethlehem the young David was anointed King. Bethlehem was where David had fed his father's sheep.
This City was once a stronghold of the Philistines, from whence David's mighty men drew water which he poured out as a drink-offering to the LORD.
The City was fortified by Rehoboam for the defence of Judah.
To Bethlehem some of the people fled at the time of the upheavals of the exile: Bethlehemites were also amongst those numbered as returning from exile.
To Bethlehem went a young couple during the census in the days of Caesar Augustus. There was born, "a Saviour, Who is Christ the Lord." Laid in a manger, he would have known the company of creatures of His creation.
Angels acknowledged Him, and shepherds worshipped Him. The wicked sought to destroy Him, for our kinsman-redeemer drew near. The very heavens which He had created led wise men to Him.
And the wise still seek Him in a day when He may be found. Not a child in a manger, but the very birth of God within our hearts.
Bethlehem is, after all, no mean City.
In Micah 4:9 the people of God had been encouraged to think of their troubles like a woman’s labour. It is painful at the time, but the end result is cause for rejoicing.
The image is taken up again in Micah 5:3 - they will be given up until she that travaileth brings forth. There is more than a veiled reference to the birth of Jesus here. Then, says the writer, “the remnant of His brethren shall return.”
The imagery of Bethlehem, of David, of leadership all finds its ultimate expression in the person of Jesus. It is He who shall stand and feed His people “in the strength of the LORD” (Micah 5:4). He is the great shepherd of His sheep.
‘Peace’ had been glib upon the lips of the false prophets. However, the only assurance of peace against the Assyrians in Micah’s near future resided in the One who was to come (Micah 5:5a).
So it is for us. He is our peace, and He gives us the peace which the world cannot give.
C). HE SAVED US.
Titus 3:3-7.
Paul the Apostle describes what we are saved from: “for (because - a word not to be omitted) we once also were…” (Titus 3:3). Then Paul shows us what God has done.
Titus 3:4. “BUT when the kindness and the philanthropy (love of man) of our Saviour God appeared (had its epiphany) …” The first word, “But” connects with what precedes.
The kindness and love of God our Saviour was manifested in the INCARNATION of our Lord Jesus Christ (Titus 2:11). He was born to die for the sins of His people (Matthew 1:21). By His death He conquered death, and overcame the power of death in our lives (2 Timothy 1:10).
Titus 3:5. THE GROUND of our salvation is not discovered in ourselves. Our “works of righteousness” can do nothing to erase sin’s condemnation from our lives. It is only “according to His mercy” that we are saved (cf. Lamentations 3:22).
“He saved us…” This phrase is the hinge of the whole sentence. The contrast of what we were with what we now are is familiar throughout Paul’s writings (e.g. 1 Corinthians 6:11). The Apostle here emphasises that God is the active party in our salvation.
THE MEANS of our salvation. I do not think that “the washing of regeneration (rebirth)” is primarily a reference to water baptism - the word is different here - but it refers rather to the inward reality which baptism signifies (1 Peter 3:21). This washing takes place in connection with the Word (Ephesians 5:25-26).
“Regeneration” refers to being “born again” - as explained by Jesus to Nicodemus (John 3:3-7). The BIRTH OF JESUS makes our new birth possible. Death no longer holds us in its clutches: we are citizens of a new heavens and a new earth.
“Renewal” is an on-going process of renovation (2 Corinthians 4:16), and transformation (Romans 12:2). The agent of both our initial regeneration, and our daily renewal, is the Holy Spirit.
Titus 3:6. The Father “poured out” the Holy Spirit upon us “richly (abundantly) through Jesus Christ our Saviour.” This is clearly Trinitarian: earlier Paul had referred to God as our Saviour (Titus 3:4). This “outpouring” of the Holy Spirit connects us individually with Pentecost (Acts 2:16-21; Acts 2:33).
Titus 3:7. Simultaneously with our new birth, God “justified” us. He gave us a new status whereby He declared us to have been made righteous through the shed blood of His dear Son Jesus Christ. This is also a gift of His “grace” (cf. Romans 3:24).
THE END of our salvation. As well as being saved FROM something - our sins - we are also saved TO something. We are made “heirs” - “heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17).
D). THE BABE, LYING IN A MANGER.
Luke 2:1-14.
1. A ROYAL NATIVITY (Luke 2:1-7).
When Jacob blessed his sons, he prophesied that the sceptre would not pass from Judah “UNTIL He comes whose right it is” (Genesis 49:10). Even the hireling prophet Balaam recognised that a king was still to arise out of the stock of Jacob, though not yet (Numbers 24:17). There may have been a long interregnum when the dynasty of David was carried away into captivity in Babylon, but the promise remained.
There had to be a fullness of time (Galatians 4:4-5). There was to be a right time both for the birth, and for the death of Jesus (Romans 5:6). Our times are in God’s hand (Psalm 31:15), and even mighty Augustus Caesar, the first Roman Emperor, is but putty in the hands of the One who has always been working ALL things together for the good of His own people (Romans 8:28).
In fact Luke the evangelist is at pains to tell us who ruled where before getting on with his narrative (Luke 2:1-2). The writer does the same thing when he talks about the ministry of the forerunner (Luke 3:1-2). All these powerful potentates are subservient, whether they know it or not, to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Augustus’ decree that the entire world should be taxed seemed to illustrate just how much Judah was under the yoke of Rome. It seemed that the sceptre had been falling out of Judah’s hands for centuries. Yet the Jews still had sufficient self-determination three decades later to VOLUNTEER the final surrender of their sovereignty (John 19:15), rather than yield to their own promised Messiah.
It was this decree which brought Joseph and his espoused to Bethlehem (Luke 2:4). This was the right place at the right time as the Virgin Mary was about to give birth to her firstborn son, Jesus (Luke 2:6-7), in fulfilment of another prophecy (Micah 5:2). The king of glory was not born in a palace, but in a manger because there was no room for Him anywhere else.
A manger, a long trough for feeding horses or cattle was hardly the ideal place to lay a new-born child. Yet this was the measure of what God was doing when He thus manifested Himself in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16): the LORD of glory made Himself of no reputation, and humbled Himself (Philippians 2:6-8), in order to accomplish our salvation. Let us anew make room in our hearts for Him.
2. SHEPHERDS AND ANGELS (Luke 2:8-14).
To be a shepherd was not necessarily considered to be one of the higher occupations in the Judean province. This is surprising, since some of Israel's great leaders had been shepherds. Abraham had his flocks, as had Isaac. Jacob kept the flocks of his father-in-law, as did Moses of his. David, the author of the well-known and much loved shepherd's hymn, Psalm 23, was drawn out of the fields of Bethlehem and anointed King!
Somehow Judean shepherds came to be known as the lowest of the low, vagabonds, outcasts, thieving rascals. They may have brought that stigma upon themselves. However, it is typical of society – any society – to do-down their rural cousins.
Tinkers and Romani people, circus-folk and travellers have all historically been treated as outcasts. The Christian world conveniently forgets that John Bunyan, the author of Pilgrim's Progress, was a tinker himself. One of the world's largest democracies has a whole cast of people known as untouchables, yet I have been in a building of these people filled with love and beautiful Christian song.
Whatever reputation they may have had amongst men, it was to humble shepherds watching their flocks by night that the angel of the Lord appeared (Luke 2:8-9). There is nobody so low that the Lord cannot reach down into their situation, and raise them up. There is nobody so far from God that He cannot draw them to Himself with cords of everlasting love.
The sudden appearance of the angel at first struck fear in the hearts of these hardy country men. The original Greek text of Luke 2:9 tells us that “they feared fear great.” The dynamic of this idiomatic expression is captured in such English translations as “they were sore afraid” (K.J.V.) “they were greatly afraid” (N.K.J.V.)
People who have time to share scary stories by night might be susceptible to suggestion by the smallest incident, so that the appearance of just one angel has a negative effect upon his reception. It is therefore better not to scare ourselves with silly stories at all. The imperative “fear not” of Luke 2:10 should shake us awake from such folly, and in the shepherds' case alerted them to the gospel message which followed.
The gospel is “good tidings of great joy” to vanquish all fear. Why can't people understand that? It is not a list of rules and regulations, but “only believe” for “by faith alone” we are made “right with God by the Lord Jesus Christ.” Israel's redeemer has come, which is good news to be shared with all people.
The name Jesus, which He was so named when the angel had appeared to Joseph nine months before (Matthew 1:21) means the LORD (God) saves. Now the angel announced other names and titles to the shepherds (Luke 2:11). There was a hint as to His identity even in the fact that it was in the city of David (not Jerusalem, but Bethlehem) that the child was born.
First, the new born infant is a Saviour for sure, but what does He save us from? The world, the flesh, and the devil. He is come to save us from ourselves, from the guilt of sin, and the legacy of death and hell. He is come to overcome death, the wages of sin, and to usher us into a new kingdom of life, righteousness, and heaven itself, into the presence of God forever.
Jesus is named secondly as Christ, the Anointed One, the Messiah. Prophets, priests and kings were anointed, and He fulfils all their ministries in His own Person. He is the chosen one who will bring salvation to Israel, and light to the Gentiles – thus fulfilling Israel's ministry to the wider world.
And thirdly, He is Lord. Amongst Greek speaking Jews this meant He is the God of Israel, the true and living God whom they dare not name. Let no-one be deceived into thinking that the Bible does not teach the deity of Christ!
There was more than one occasion during Jesus' ministry when He was asked for a sign, in order to establish His authority. The shepherds did not even ask: the angel offered the most beautiful, and perhaps one of the most well-known and well-loved signs of all: the babe in the manger (Luke 2:12). It is a simple sign, but carries all the magnificence of the incarnation into the realms of the familiar.
God is come in the flesh to redeem mankind, nothing less. He is born King, and yet born to die. He alone can bear away the sins of His people, making reconciliation with God by His own blood. He alone can conquer sin and death on our behalf. Mysteries which even the angels are left desiring to look into (1 Peter 1:12).
Now, suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host (Luke 2:13). Heaven cannot contain the love of God, but must reach down in the Person of his Son. And whilst the gates are open, there is nothing to prevent the angels also bursting forth. Such is the joy when a child is born – this child, Jesus!
A whole multitude to sing the Gloria. What a magnificent spectacle it must have been! Yet this was not in the Temple but in the fields. No building can contain God, and no church has exclusive rights to Him.
A multitude, then, to sing God's praises amongst the highways and hedges. It is from there, from amongst the despised and rejected, that the Lord gathers a people to Himself. For He too is despised and rejected, and when He comes to His own, His own receive Him not: there is so often no room in the inn of their hearts.
What an anthem (Luke 2:14)! Glory is sung in the highest places to God, for salvation is of God alone, through Christ alone. Peace - Shalom – is pronounced on earth: peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. God has shown His good pleasure towards all men, both Jew and Gentile.
