December 21, 2003 Hebrews 10:5-10
Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; 6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. 7 Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, O God.’”
8 First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them” (although the law required them to be made). 9 Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Out of all the places I would have thought the Armed Forces would find Saddam, it wasn’t in a little rat hole under the ground of an old run down house. I expected him to go out in a blaze of glory - a huge battle to the death. But when the troops got to him, he gave up and said, “I am Saddam Hussein, and I am willing to negotiate.” Ha, what a joke. Here he was, supposed to be the king of Iraq, leading this great insurgency to free Iraq from it’s captors, and he ends up in a hole in the ground! Why? Because he was afraid.
There’s actually a somewhat similar story to that found in the Bible. After the Israelites had requested a king, Samuel personally told Saul ahead of time that he was going to be it. So Samuel had a public showing, choosing one tribe, then the family, then finally narrowing it down to Saul. Finally Saul son of Kish was chosen. 1 Samuel 10 says, But when they looked for him, he was not to be found. So they inquired further of the LORD, “Has the man come here yet?” And the LORD said, “Yes, he has hidden himself among the baggage.” Saul - the future king - was hiding among some baggage! Why? It appears he wasn’t ready to be king or didn’t want to be king.
Even more strange than these findings - is how and where Christ came into the world. How? By taking on flesh - what a strange thing! And where do we find Him? Not in a palace or in the capital of Jerusalem - but in a manger outside of Bethlehem. What was he doing there? Why did he come into the world? That’s the question the writer to the Hebrews answers as we see today -
The Mission of the Manger
I. Is found in the choice of birth
You and I didn’t choose to be born where we were or to have the parents we did. We didn’t have that power. God says that HE chose where and when you would be born. But imagine if you could have. What would you have chosen? There would be several options - depending on what you wanted out of life. As to where we’d want to be born, I would think most of us would at least choose a hospital in America - with nice equipment and a heat lamp to be put on you. Then, you’d obviously want parents that were first of all faithful believers. Knowing that, then it would depend on what you wanted to do with your life. If you wanted to be smart, you’d probably pick a doctor or professional. If you wanted to be admired, you’d probably pick some good looking parents. You name it, you’d want someone who’d give you some “good genes.” If we wanted to be honest, most of us would probably pick the best possible path there was.
The writer to the Hebrews stated that Christ came into the world. Since He existed beforehand - He could have chosen anyone He wanted. He could have been born anywhere He wanted. Jesus could have chosen to be anyone’s son - Caesar’s, Herod’s, Ananias’, any priest’s, you name it. But Jesus chose to be born of a virgin - a lowly handmaiden who was engaged to a carpenter, not a priest - of David’s heritage. He chose to be born in a cattle stall, not a palace.
Why? It wasn’t because He was afraid of Herod. He wasn’t trying to hide from his duty either. His purpose was stated in Psalm 40 - I have come to do your will, O God. God had predicted in Micah and Isaiah -
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
So when Christ came into the world - He chose Bethlehem and the lowly virgin Mary - of the clan of David - because He wanted to do God’s will. God’s will was for Him to be born where He was - in this lowly cattle stall - and to be born of the tribe of Judah. So that’s what Jesus did.
Life would be much easier if we approached it in this simple way. But unlike Jesus, we come out of the womb and say, “I have come to do my will, O God.” We act as if we are the masters of our own destiny. We pray, “thy will be done”, but what we really mean to pray is “my will be done.” God created us as humans - to live UNDER him. It’s funny. Dogs are happy with their dogginess. Sheep with their sheepiness. But as humans we are forever trying to climb up into God’s throne and tell Him how to rule this world. We don’t like being under God. None of us like it when things don’t go OUR way. But things aren’t supposed to go our way. They’re supposed to go God’s way.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Mary because God wanted Him to. That would be enough for us, but God gives us more reasons - explaining WHY it was God’s will for him to be born of the tribe of Judah. The writer uses Psalm 40 to explain what Jesus WAS avoiding by doing it this way. He repeats it twice. “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire.” Again he elaborates - “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them” (although the law required them to be made). Jesus did not come to make sacrifices and burnt offerings, even though that’s what the law required to be done. If Jesus came to make daily sacrifices or to be the regular high priest, he would have had to be born through the tribe of Levi. But that’s not why He came. Why not? Verses 1-3 of Hebrews explain that The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. . . . 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, 4 because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. The sacrifices of bulls and goats ultimately were not actually taking care of God’s wrath - because the bulls and goats were sinful and merely animal’s blood. Ultimately, God wasn’t pleased - He wasn’t satisfied with those sacrifices. They were doing nothing but pointing the people forward - like a shadow - reminding them of a greater sacrifice that was to come. God had something greater - more important and special for Jesus to do.
Jesus chose to be born of the lineage of David - of the stump of Jesse. Why? Isaiah said that this child would be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. By choosing the offspring of David, Jesus was fulfilling a different role - that of King. Jesus was fulfilling a higher role - that of a conqueror - a ruler - a hero. That’s why He chose the tribe of Judah - the son of Mary and step-son of Joseph. He came to be the King.
II. Is found in Psalm 40
Sometimes people think that being a king is a great thing. A lot of people would probably like to be President of the United States. They might look at the White House and the power and the Secret Service and think that’s great. But they forget that the President often has difficult decisions to make. They forget the He often gets ridiculed, and people often get angry with him and even hate him when he has to take an unpopular stand. He is called on to go to funerals, disasters, and other sensitive situations that none of us would want to be a part of. In the same way, even though Christ came to be King - that also meant doing whatever this King would be called to do.
The way the Psalmist wrote it was, “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; This is an interesting quote - it’s actually a quote from the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Old Testament which the hearers of Hebrews would have been familiar with. The interesting thing is that Psalm 40 actually says, Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced - or “you have dug a hole in my ears.” In the Old Testament, if you wanted to be remain someone’s slave for life, the potential owner would then pierce your ears as a symbol that you are his slave until death. (Exodus 21:6) That was a part of what God called on this special King to do - it was the main mission of the King - not to sacrifice other people or sheep or bulls - but to use His own His body for the purpose of His Master. The body that God prepared for Jesus - was one that would be enslaved to death. This was very specifically laid out in Isaiah 53 when he says,
it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
11 After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
Being a King was not a glamorous job - not at first. It meant doing whatever the Father told Him to do. So the Bible says in Matthew 4:1, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. The Father led Jesus to chase out demons, heal the sick, and raise the dead. Day and night Jesus worked telling people about the Kingdom of God. But ultimately, the will of God said to Jesus, “I want you now to go to the cross and sacrifice YOURSELF.”
That’s what the Law ultimately does to everyone. It says, “it’s not enough to give me an hour a week! I want your heart, your soul, your mind, your life! You have to perfectly serve me every minute of your life! And if you don’t - you have to be punished!” But we didn’t. And so God said to Jesus, “now I want you to go and die for all of those sins of the world! I want you to go to hell!” That’s why our King was sweating drops of blood in the Garden of Gethsemane. The will of God - for the King - was no easy thing. It was telling Jesus to go to hell on the cross! Yet even there, Jesus said, “not my will, but yours be done.” The King came to do the Father’s will. It all started by being born in the filthy and dirty manger.
III. Is fulfilled in the sacrifice of His body
I took great pleasure in seeing “King Hussein” beg for his life in a hole under the ground. A king like that deserved to be found in a hole - to have his hair spread apart looking for lice - to have him begging for his life like a helpless vagrant. But when we see our King - Jesus Christ - be born in a cattle stall - it doesn’t seem right. When we see Him have to go through a crucifixion - and be forsaken by His own Father, it doesn’t seem right and proper for a King. The writer to the Hebrews shows us the ultimate purpose in this lowly birth of our King. He sets aside the first to establish the second.
Jesus came to set aside the first - the laws - with all the sacrifices - to literally put an end to the many commands of the Law. The only way the law could be set aside was if it was fulfilled. It had to be accomplished by someone who would act on behalf of the world. It had to fulfill it’s wrath on Someone who could take the place of the world. This couldn’t just be anyone - it would take the life of a King, God Himself. So Jesus chose to be born of the virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit - to fulfill that role of King - and take on the Law - and set it aside - destroy it.
The good news for us, is that the baby in the manger accomplished His mission. God continually said of Jesus, “with Him I am WELL PLEASED.” And so the writer to the Hebrews says, And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. The body that Jesus took on in the manger accomplished - fulfilled - all that God demanded of us. He says, “we HAVE BEEN MADE HOLY.” Notice, the writer doesn’t say, good, ok, or even better, but he says we have been made HOLY. In God’s eyes - because Jesus did all that God asked of you - you look completely holy in God’s eyes. There are no more sacrifices that you need to make to satisfy God’s demands, no more gifts to give - nothing. You already are holy. Yes you - the sinner that you are - are proclaimed HOLY because of what Jesus did for you two thousand years ago. Notice who it says Jesus sacrificed Himself for - Jesus lived and died for ALL. Martin Luther once remarked that if God’s Word said that “Jesus died for Martin Luther” he wouldn’t take any comfort in that - for he could be talking about a different Martin Luther, and everyone would probably name himself Martin Luther in hopes that God was talking about him. But God’s Word says that Jesus sacrificed Himself for ALL. All people were made holy through the ONE sacrifice of Jesus two thousand years ago.
Anyone looking at that manger would have to wonder, “how could this baby save me!” Yet, beyond reason, the shepherds worshiped. Even though they were seemingly high and mighty, the Wise Men worshiped the baby also. They took God at His Word - believing that Jesus really was the Christ. This Christmas, God wants you to believe His words to you today. In 1 Timothy 2 Paul told Timothy that God wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. God wants you to be saved. Watch that baby go on to the cross, and believe the Word which says you have been made holy through HIS sacrifice. There are no sacrifices left to be made. Your salvation is complete in Christ.
In the fall of 1775, the manager of Baltimore’s largest hotel refused lodging to a man dressed like a farmer, because he thought this fellow’s lowly appearance would discredit his inn. So the man left and took a room elsewhere. Later, the innkeeper discovered that he had turned away none other than the Vice President Of the United States, Thomas Jefferson!
Immediately he sent a note to the famed patriot, asking him to return and be his guest. Jefferson replied by instructing his messenger as follows: “Tell him I have already engaged a room. I value his good intentions highly, but if he has no place for a dirty American farmer, he has none for the Vice President of the United States.”
God became man - born in the manger with one mission. He had to take on our flesh - born of a virgin - so that he could fulfill God’s will - and save us. He fulfilled his mission of dying for you. He fulfilled His mission of making you holy. That’s the reason for Christmas. The manger has a cross on the horizon. It isn’t a typical picture of a King - being born in a manger and dying on a cross. Many look at that baby and reject him for that very reason - he doesn’t fit their picture for what a king should be. Believe it or not - this baby is the King. Keep Him in your house and your heart this Christmas. Amen.
