BEYOND HUMAN IMAGINATION
Luke 2:8-20
There are several reasons as to why the shepherds’ episode of the Christmas story could not have been a story of human imagination, or a man-made story.
1. If you or I were to make up a story about the birth of the long anticipated Messiah, it would have been out of the ordinary to mention the angel who proclaimed the good news of his birth. Throughout the entire O.T., angels appeared to proclaim judgment and divine wrath. That was why both, Mary and the shepherds were terrified at the appearance of an angel. That was also why the angel in both cases began with a word of comfort saying “FEAR NOT”. It never occurred to the human mind that an angel of the Lord would appear proclaiming “good news,” but that is precisely what took place. Contrary to common understanding, and opposite to what was expected, the angel brought good news of great joy.
2. If you or I were to make up a story about the birth of the long expected Messiah, King of Kings, we would not come up with a story, like the one in the Bible. This was a time when Rome knew no other king but Caesar. It was the law of the land not to proclaim or confess another Lord, beside the emperor. So who would, in his or her right mind, risk their lives by announcing the news of the birth of another Lord beside Caesar? The story had to be true because the risks of telling it as it was told, were too great.
3. If you or I were to make up a story about the birth of the God of heaven (his coming as a man) we would not give the story the context in which it was written i.e. the context of lowly shepherds seeing and hearing the heavenly hosts. Rather, we would replace the shepherds with priests and the teachers of the scriptures. We would also portray him as being born not in a manger but in a mansion.
This story had to be divine in origin, because if it originated in human minds, we would give it the best possible surroundings and circumstances.
I once heard a humorous story about the Pope who was on a visit to America for a period of time. On his last day of the visit, he was delayed due to meetings and was unable to break away to catch a flight.
Since he couldn’t depend on his Pope Mobile, he phoned for a limousine. When the limousine arrived, the driver was joyfully surprised that it was the Pope who called for him. The driver became nervous and was beside himself. He proceeded to drive very slowly. The Pope became nervous and told him to hurry up. It did not make a bit of difference. The driver went slower; he wanted to keep the Pope in his limousine as long as he could. The Pope could not be delayed any longer so he asked to drive the limo himself. The Pope sped off and reached the speed of 85 miles an hour. The policeman who stopped him was shocked when he discovered the famous personality behind the wheel. He frantically phoned his police chief and said, “Chief, I have stopped a very important figure for speeding. I don’t know what to do?”
--“What do you mean? Give him a speeding ticket!”
--“Sir, in all honesty, I can’t.”
--“Why can’t you? The law is the law. Who is it anyway that you stopped? Is it the mayor?”
--“No, sir.”
--“Is it the governor?”
--“No, sir.”
--“Is it a congressman?”
--“Is it the president?”
--“No, sir.”
--“Well, then, who is it?!”
--“I don’t know sir! All I know is that the Pope is driving him to the airport.”
It would make sense to anyone that if the Pope is the driver then the passenger must be a divine visitor.
We would have given the story of Christ’s birth a similar twist if we were to write it ourselves.
We would have recorded that the Messiah was born at the home of the High Priest, or in the palace of Caesar.
But that is not the story as it was told, and it had to be God who was behind the details. God’s ways are not like our ways. He has always done things in the unexpected. His choice is often for the meek, the poor, the weak, and the rejected.
Luke intentionally and purposefully writes the names of the authorities in whose time Jesus, God incarnate was born. “IN THE DAYS OF CAESAR AUGUSTUS OF ROME, KING HEROD OF PALESTINE, AND QUIRINIOUS, THE GOVEROR OF SYRIA.”
By such names, Luke implies first that the incident of Messiah, God’s incarnate birth, was a historical fact. Second, that it took place in a time full of political tension. Such tension could have made an end to it quickly, had God not intervened. And third, that it happened during Rome’s oppression and persecution of the Jews.
Let us not forget that it was during the days that Rome occupied the land, defiled the temple, increased the taxes on non-Roman citizens, and demanded of the Jews, blind submission to the Caesar, that Christ was born.
While under Roman oppression –in the worst of times, when nothing good could have been expected, the angel of the Lord announced a new hope. Heaven had finally broken the silence of ancient prophecies by exclaiming, “FEAR NOT, FOR I BRING YOU GOOD NEWS OF GREAT JOY WHICH IS TO BE FOR ALL PEOPLE, UNTO YOU IS BORN THIS DAY IN THE CITY OF DAVID A SAVIOR, THE MESSIAH THE LORD.”
The shepherds listened in amazement to the divine proclamation. This was not the voice of a prophet, a priest, or a rabbi. This time the message is not from a pulpit in the temple. This time it is not a prophecy about a future promise. This time the words are not theological and perplexing but simple and convincing. This time the message is from on high. The speaker is an angel, the pulpit is the sky, the topic is the present. “TO YOU IS BORN THIS DAY IN THE CITY OF DAVID A SAVIOR, WHO IS THE MESSIAH, THE LORD. THIS WILL BE A SIGN FOR YOU: YOU WILL FIND A CHILD WRAPPED IN BANDS OF CLOTH AND LYING IN A MANGER.”
With such simplicity, the angel did not leave room for a variety of interpretations.
God has come to humanity in love and humility, with the plan to atone for their sins and give them hope.
Karl Barth, a theologian in modern times, was asked by a Princeton student of theology, if God was revealed in other religions, as he was revealed in Christianity. His answer was non-compromising. God is not revealed in any religion including Christianity.
God is revealed in the person and the activity of Jesus Christ.
Yes, the shepherds took the matter to heart, they rejoiced over the good news of the Savior’s birth.
The greatest news ever proclaimed has ignited the greatest love story ever told. God’s love for the human race—the love that compelled God to come to us, extending his hands to us that we may meet him as a person, to love him as our constant companion and to cherish him as our friend. God could have not made this possible had he remained hidden and mysterious.
Oswald Chambers wrote a book of devotions titled “MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST”. A title that could be given to the incarnation is GOD’S UTMOST FOR OUR LOWEST” or GOD’S BEST FOR OUR WORST.
So, Christians of all phases of life, if this news of Messiah’s coming to us to deal with our basic human problem of evil sin, suffering and death does not excite us as it excited the shepherds, you and I need to ask ourselves what more can God do to compel us to know him?
God has indeed entered history, walked our planet, spoken our language, and died our death. Is there anything that God did not do for us?
The shepherds rejoiced. We too share their enthusiasm.
But the shepherds did not only listen joyfully. They took the news to heart, and went seeking to make of the news of the Messiah’s birth their own personal experience.
Verse 15 tells us that when the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another: “LET US GO NOW TO BETHLEHEM AND SEE THIS THING THAT HAS TAKEN PLACE, WHICH THE LORD HAS MADE KNOWN TO US.”
Their desire to go beyond what they heard was not to see if it was true, but to have a first hand experience of it: to encounter for themselves the blessings of Messiah’s birth.
By their coming to Bethlehem, the shepherds professed faith in God and acknowledged their desperation for Messiah’s salvation.
They came to Bethlehem though it was nighttime, without anxiety about the care of their sheep, without reluctance to leave behind familiar surroundings. They came counting the cost, taking great risks, attempting a new venture. Yes, the news was too good to be false.
Like the shepherds in the Christmas story, we too come to Jesus. We come to experience for ourselves what God is like. We come to meet God, to embrace God, to bow down and worship God through our own experience and no one else’s. We come proclaiming him Lord of our lives and promising loyalty to experience of him.
We come with the full assurance that God has finally intervened on our behalf—that from now on, salvation is nearer to us that when we first began.
We come to touch God and be touched by him, knowing beyond the shadow of a doubt that God did indeed take a giant step toward us, identifying with us, and participating in our conditions making it possible for us to acknowledge the ultimate answer to our basic needs.
Like the shepherds, we too come to Bethlehem and proclaim: “Jesus, the Savior has been born.”
We have experienced him for ourselves.
The shepherds believed the news; the shepherds experienced the news for themselves
