An unusually hot wind drove sand like needles into the faces of two dusty travelers as they made their way over yet another knoll.
As his robe slapped viciously about his ankles, the man peered out from beneath his mantle at the small village that had been their destination. From this distance, and through the blanket of blowing dust and dried sage, it appeared as though the place was deserted.
But he knew that as he drew closer he would see plenty of activity; probably more than he wished to see.
He knew that everyone alive who had been born in Bethlehem, with few exceptions, would be crowding into the hamlet for the census being imposed by Augustus.
It was an inopportune time of the year for anyone to have to travel any distance, but even more-so for the radiant young woman who sat on the donkey next to him.
He turned and, squinting against the blowing sand, he looked into her face. Mary wasn’t one to complain regardless of the circumstances; and knowing this about the one he loved so much, he tried to detect, in her expression, the way her eyes met his, the way her mouth was set, any little sign of discomfort. But it wasn’t there.
Though the journey had been hot and slow, and although she was in the ninth month of her pregnancy and waiting to deliver any day, she only smiled back down at him and patted the tanned, rugged hand that rested on the donkey’s flank.
Joseph had wrestled inside himself during the days of travel, over the strange events of the past year, and the changes that the two of them had undergone. There were times that something tugging at his heart told him he should be angry and feel as though his manhood had been violated and mocked. But he would then remind himself that he had enjoyed a closer, deeper relationship to his God than ever in his entire life, in just these nine months.
“On the other hand,”, said that nagging-something, “can you be sure the angel was not a dream? A nightmare? Can you be sure you haven’t been terribly deceived?”
But it only took a glance at Mary as she stooped to wash a pan, or cooled her neck with a wet rag, and he knew deep in his heart that if God chose any woman on earth to be the mother of His Messiah, it would be Mary. There wasn’t a mean or deceptive seed in her. “She doesn’t even know how to lie”, he’d think to himself, and that nagging-something would go away and leave him at peace.
Over the days of journey, the nagging-something had grown steadily weaker. Now, standing across a sheep strewn valley from the little town and looking at her smile, he knew that the ‘something’ was gone for good. All doubts fled at that moment, and as he began his descent down the hillside holding the animal’s reins, he was careful to hide from her the tear that rolled down his cheek, as joy flooded his heart.
“In just a matter of days, perhaps hours” he thought, “her warm smile will vanish under a grimace of pain and labor. My hands will tremble, Mary will cry out in a mixture of agony and gladness and suddenly, in fulfillment of all that the prophets declared, light will shine in the darkness.”
Joseph looked out again at Bethlehem and could now begin to make out the forms of the masses that swarmed over the town; and chuckling to himself he thought, “if only they knew...if only they knew.”
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Obviously, this account is in part, fictional. We have no way of really knowing what was in the heart and mind of Joseph during this time. But it may serve to remind us that they were real people, with real emotions, and this account in Luke 1 & 2 with which we are perhaps too familiar, is an account involving these very real people.
But more importantly, we must note that just as real as the people, just as real as the census and the town, were the miracles and the angels and the Heavenly host that sang. Let’s worship today led, not by a ‘Yuletide spirit”, but by God’s Holy Spirit, and let Him show us the significance these events had in the plan of redemption.
Remember that our title is “Christ Proclaimed”, and that will be our main point of focus as we proceed.
We will see Him proclaimed in three different ways at His birth:
1. As Son of God and heir to David’s throne.
2. As Savior and Redeemer.
3. As light of the world and life for all who will
believe.
By the way; another side note here. If you are having problems with Joseph thinking about “light shining in the darkness” in relation to the birth of Mary’s son, remember that Joseph was a Jew. Jews were very familiar with their scriptures. And I think that if I had been in Joseph’s place during that time, I would have often gone and read from the prophet Isaiah. Read chapter 9 vs. 1-7 later today.
Now down to business. To begin, we have to go to Heaven.
“Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent
from God to a city in Galilee, called
Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man
whose name was Joseph, of the descendants
of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.”
Luke 1:26,27
God called Gabriel to Him and gave him his commission. “Go to earth, Gabriel, and more specifically, to a town in Galilee. A particular town named Nazareth. There you will find a man named Joseph who is a descendant of King David, and he is engaged to a young virgin named Mary. Go to her...”
Oh, listen folks; God has you zeroed in! You’re not just a number to Him. Not just one of the many. If you’re His, you are being shaped and molded to perfectly fit the work He has for you to do. And He doesn’t need any homing-device to locate you. He knows right were you are, both physically and spiritually!
So God said, “Go to her and give her this message”:
“And the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid,
Mary; for you have found favor with God.
And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son,
and you shall name Him Jesus. He will
be great, and will be called the Son of
the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him
the throne of His father David; and He will reign
over the house of Jacob forever; and His kingdom
will have no end.”
And again, we see Christ proclaimed. This time, by a special messenger of God, to the godly woman who was chosen to be His mother.
But see that his proclamation itself was in accord with, -and even part quotation of - the prophets:
“There will be no end to the increase of His
government for of peace, on the throne of David and
over his kingdom...”
Isaiah 9:7
“Behold, the days are coming” declares
the Lord, “When I shall raise up for David a
righteous Branch; and He will reign as king
and act wisely and do justice and
righteousness in the land. In His days Judah
will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely;
and this is His name by which He will be called,
‘The Lord, our righteousness’.”
Jeremiah 23:5,6
Also for your reading: Ezekiel 17:22-24 and 37:24-28,
Psalm 45:6, 89:35-37; Daniel 2:44 and 7:13,14
We cannot pass on from here without turning over to Matthew chapter one. We find that God, in addition to all else, is a gentleman. He is fair, and concerned about our feelings. So, He sends the angel to Joseph also.
“And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man,
and not wanting to disgrace her, desired to put her
away secretly. But when he had considered this,
behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in
a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be
afraid to take Mary as your wife; for that which
has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit...”
“...and Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as
the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took
her as his wife, and kept her a virgin until
she gave birth to a son; and he called His name
Jesus.”
Matthew 1:19,20,24,25
In verses 19-25 we can discern that God’s purpose in the visit to Joseph is two-fold:
1. To give him peace of mind concerning what had happened
to Mary, and;
2. So that he, by being aware of the facts, could take
his rightful place as head of the home.
Joseph had plans “to put her away secretly”, probably meaning he was going to send her away to a place where no one knew her, so she wouldn’t be stoned to death.
This was a noble gesture, as his reputation was at stake, not to mention the fact that he may never have seen his beloved again.
But Joseph fit into God’s plans as much as Mary. Friends, you may not be in the spotlight like some others that God uses, but you are just as vitally important to His plans.
If you let Him use you where He wants you, you’ll be blessed. Just remember that those who have a level of fame and glory in this world also carry some heavy burdens of responsibility that go with that glory.
Let’s go on now to Luke 2:8-20.
In the story of the shepherds who sat watching their flocks on the night of Jesus’ birth, there are five very significant steps for us to learn from.
The first one is contained in verse 10; that it is “good news of a great joy, which shall be for all the people.”
It is a message for all people, no one excluded, and it is a message of good news and a great joy for all people.
“And this will be a sign for you; you will
find a baby wrapped in cloths,
and lying in a manger.
And suddenly there appeared with the
angel a multitude of the heavenly host
praising God, and saying, ‘Glory to God
in the highest, and on earth peace among
men with whom He is pleased’.”
Luke 2:12-14
Step 2 is contained in verse 15:
“And it came about when the angels had gone
away from them into heaven that 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’.”
“Let us go straight...and see.”
When a man’s heart has been touched by the good news of the Savior and he has gladly accepted that news, the immediate evidence is that he wants to go and search out its truth. I’m a bit wary of those who begin to claim Christianity as their faith, yet there seems to be no hunger in them at all to “see this thing...which the Lord has made known”.
Verse 16 says, “They came in haste and found their way to...the baby”.
Has your heart been filled with excitement for the good news that you have heard? Have you made diligent search yourself? I hope you are not content to sit back and exist on the word of others only. In these verses we see belief in action. They showed their faith by moving out to see for themselves.
But in verse 17 we have step #3, which is the result of their search. Not only did they find things just as the angel said they would be, but they were spurred by what they saw to “Make known the statement which had been told them”.
That’s why God wants us to seek His face! Not only for our sake, but because the natural result of our meeting with God will always be a desire to share Him with others. To spread the news! To want to see others finding Him also.
So, there is step #4. “And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds.”
Step #5 is simply this; that another natural result of meeting with God, is glory and praise rising up to Him, under the inspiration of His Grace and Holiness. (Read vs. 20)
Listener/Reader, do you wonder at the testimonies of those who have actively sought the Lord in prayers and supplications? Is your spiritual life meagerly sustained by an occasional sermon and the testimonies of those who ‘come back’ from the Lord’s presence glorifying and praising God?
Seek Him yourself! He is never far from you. On the contrary, He is “closer than a brother”. Why? For our blessing only? NO! It is for the glory of God. Because when man meets with God; when he follows the Spirit’s leading and in obedience seeks the face of his Lord, there can only be one result. Christ is proclaimed!
I mentioned that there is a third way that Christ is proclaimed in this portion of scripture.
“And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem
whose name was Simeon;
and this man was righteous and devout,
looking for the consolation of Israel;
and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And
it had been revealed to him by the Holy
Spirit that he would not see death before
he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came
in the Spirit into the temple; and when the
parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry
out for Him the custom of the Law, then he took
Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said,
‘Now Lord, Thou dost let Thy bond-servant depart in
peace, according to Thy word; for my eyes have seen
Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared in the presence
of all peoples, a light of revelation to the Gentiles,
and the glory of Thy people, Israel’.”
Luke 2:25-32
He is proclaimed again, as the light of the world. A light of revelation.
Lifted up in the withered hands of a righteous and devout old man of God; was God’s revelation of Himself to man.
To all of mankind, God was revealed in the flesh through Jesus Christ, and His mission was to open the way for all who believe to come humbly yet confidently into the presence of the Almighty Sovereign; to praise and glorify His name throughout the ages of eternity.
And this, Simeon proclaimed to all who looked-on, as they stood in the temple that day. The nature of Simeon’s song of praise in verses 29-32 is as a servant, in the words of Matthew Henry, “...who had been instructed by his master to watch carefully for a certain star to arise; and then to declare it.”
Simeon had waited patiently and diligently for the “Sun of Righteousness” to arise to bring light and healing to the nation of Israel and to all who would believe. When he saw and knew by the witness of the Spirit that this was the Christ, he proclaimed Him to all who would hear; then asked to be dismissed as a servant who had faithfully fulfilled his assigned task.
But there was another in the temple who walked so close to God that even in His infancy she recognized the Redeemer. What an evidence, what a testimony of the blessing of close communion with God! Read verses 36-38 of Luke 2.
When Jesus was in His thirties, performing miracles, preaching the good news of the Kingdom and by His very life, fulfilling the words of the prophets day by day, the Pharisees didn’t recognize Him. Yet here were a man and woman whose spiritual eyes knew Him even in His infant state.
And so sure was she, so confident, that verse 38 says she “Began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem”.
From the private announcement of the angel to Mary, to the public declaration of the holy woman of God in Jerusalem, Christ is proclaimed as Son of God, Savior/Redeemer and light of men revealing the every character of God.
Let me leave you with these closing thoughts:
When the Spirit announces Christ to you, do you turn a deaf ear? Or do you receive the news gladly, submitting yourself to whatever place God has for you in the plan of His coming?
Do you seek Him eagerly? When His messengers declare Him to you, do you seek out the things that have been made known to you (and in turn make them known)? Or are you content to eat the crumbs of testimony from those who have sought and found?
Do you truly wait in faith and expectation for His coming, and do you faithfully project His light; revealing Him to all those about you?
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Luke, the physician, rose from his stool beside the fire. He slowly, reverently rolled the parchment on which he had been writing and tucked it carefully beneath his cloak. Then, looking at the elderly woman who for hours had been dictating facts of long ago events, he graciously excused himself and departed. Though she was tired and it was late, Mary sat gazing into the fireplace and retraced again in her memory the steps she had taken this evening with the gentile believer.
He had come to her door early in the day, explaining that he desired to give a detailed account of Christ’s life to the Roman officials with whom he, Luke, had come in contact. It seemed he felt this would help to show those under the Caesar that Christ’s kingdom was indeed, not of this world, and was no political or military threat to Rome.
“Well,” she said to the dying embers, “I suppose it was time to tell it all”.
But she couldn’t help feeling a little strange tonight. She had shared things with Luke this day that before now she had only pondered now and then in her own heart; things that all her life had been, to her, private, and just between her and her Lord. Today however, she had felt moved to verbalize freely concerning every event, every secret thought of hers from the angel’s visit to her son’s baptism in the Jordan.
As she sat and studied the now glowing coals, a slow smile crossed her face, wrinkled with time and weather and labor and grief; and she spoke once more to the ashes. “Yes, it is in the hands of these young men and women now, to be passed from generation to generation. Soon, my son, my Lord, will come to take me home. So it is good that these things be written down for all to read; that by faith they might believe and be blessed. Written down to proclaim Him through the years, through the wars that He said will come, the cultures that will blossom and diminish, the generations that come and go; until the day He returns as He promised.”
Raising her eyes to the ceiling and bidding a warm good night to her son, her Savior, she stood and walked slowly to her room.
