ONCE UPON A STARRY NIGHT
LUKE 2:1-20
Around 700BC, Israel had become a dark place. Judah had greatly sinned and fallen away from God. There was great spiritual darkness and enemies surrounded them that threatened their very existence. But God sent His prophets to give them hope for the future. These prophets revealed that God was going to send the Messiah to bring the people back to God and bring hope to the world.
700 years later, the nation struggles under Roman rule, many are languishing in the hopelessness of their sins, and even the religious leaders have lost their way. Israel and the whole of the earth are crying out into the darkness, “Is there any hope?” And one dark, starry night Hope came to the earth.
1. THE NIGHT HEAVEN CAME TO EARTH.
Lk 2:1 Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. 2 This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city.
Rome had conquered much of the world. They had brought with them Pax Romana (The Peace of Rome) and great Roman roads. But to fund all of this, they needed to gather taxes from its subjects. The census wasn’t just so all subjects would be known, but so that all subjects could then be taxed.
Lk 2:4-5 4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David,5 in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child.
Months before His birth, an angel appeared to both Mary and Joseph separately informing them that the Messiah, the Son of God would be born to Mary, Joseph’s betrothed.
So, here Joseph and Mary travel to Bethlehem while she is 9 months pregnant. Possibly they wondered why God would allow this census to happen at the worst possible time for Mary. Yet, it was likely God whispering in the Roman Emperor’s ear to institute this census at exactly this time. Why? To fulfill the prophecies that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Perfect timing.
Lk 2:6-7 6 While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
No Room- the innkeeper was not evil or uncaring, there simply was not enough rooms in this little town to house all the people coming to register. But, it is symbolic of the many people throughout history and especially today that have no room for Jesus in their heart.
The Manger- I’ve always been intrigued about Jesus being laid in a feeding trough. He was born in Bethlehem, which means “House of Bread” and laid in the feeding trough. During His ministry, Jesus introduced Himself as the Bread of Life which came down from Heaven.
** Jesus was called Immanuel, which means “God with us.” On this night, the God of Heaven came to the earth to bring hope and salvation to the world.
2. A RUSTLE OF ANGELS’ WINGS.
Lk 2:8 In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.
Shepherding was a lonely job. In the ranks of Jewish society, they were the overlooked and forgotten. Most were poor, uneducated, with little to no social standing. But this night would be very different than any night before. I wonder, there in quiet of night, did they hear the rustle of angel’s wings just before the magestic entered the mundane.
Lk 2:9 And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.
We see paintings and statues of angels today portrayed as plump little babies or females beautiful to look up. In reality, though, angels might be beautiful to look at, but they are terrifying to behold.
Lk 2:10-1210 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; 11 for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Imagine being one of these shepherds, one of the overlooked and forgotten of society..... But the God of Heaven chose them to be visited by God’s messenger. God did not choose to speak to a king, He did not visit the religious leaders, nor did He speak to the high of society. He chose to announce the birth of the Messiah to the meekest of society.
* This reminds me that Jesus came to save the world and even the seemingly most overlooked people of the world are not overlooked by our Savior.
Lk 2:13 And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”
The Angels’ Message?
A. GLORY TO GOD.
Glory could be described by His brightness, His splendor, or His majesty, and His radiance.... but I think His true glory is His character, His worthiness to be worshiped. He is our Creator, our Salvation, and the Lover of our souls. He is awe-inspiring. He is glorious and Holy.
B. PEACE
1). Peace with God- we’ve talked about this recently. Personal Peace. Jesus is Yeshua “the Deliverer of Salvation”. He restored to us our ability to commune with God.
2). Peace among people- as believers, we are united with Christ and can have peace with one another. As a community of believers, our churches must be a community of love for one another and peace with one another.
3). Peace on Earth- there is a day coming when Jesus will return and establish His kingdom here on earth and peace will be established.
C. GOD'S FAVOR- This refers to His grace. As we choose to believe in Jesus and glorify Him, God’s favor is bestowed upon us.
3. THE BABE IN THE MANGER.
Lk 2:15-16 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.” 16 So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger.
Excited by the Angel’s message, they decide to immediately go to see this wonderful Savior that was born to all the world. They arrived and marveled over the Babe in the Manger.
Lk 2:17-18 17 When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds.
Good News is a joy to share.
* When our team makes the playoffs, we are thrilled to talk about it.
* When a young lady is given an engagement ring, she loves showing it to everyone.
* When his child is born, Dad would tell a brick wall about it if there was no one else around to tell.
** I wonder how the world would be impacted if we got similarly excited about our Savior and we enthusiastically shared Jesus with everyone we meet.
Lk 2:20 The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.
This starry night that they met the Savior of the World changed them forever. They have served God by sharing the Good News and they head back to their sheep praising God for His Salvation.
Lk 2:19 But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.
A lot has happened to Mary in the past 9 months. She has experienced fear, wonder, excitement, concern about her reputation. She has experienced all the joys and hardships of being with child. And, she experienced the pangs of childbirth. Now, in this little sheep barn, she has a moment to catch her breath and reflect on everything that has happened. There is so much in store for her, though, that she is totally unaware that she will experience. She will experience great joy during her Child's life and ministry and heartbreaking loss as Jesus hangs on the Cross. But on this night, she holds the baby that she delivered, knowing that He will one day deliver her. She is holding in her lap the Salvation of the World.
My prayer is that this Christmas season we will ponder in our hearts how Jesus Christ our Savior has come into the darkness of our own lives and gave us hope and salvation. Merry Christmas.
