November 30, 2005 The First Sign: The Baby
Luke 2:12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
There aren’t a whole lot of stories in the Bible about babies. Actually, when I did a word search, there were only four distinct stories that came up. One was with Moses - when he was put in the Nile River as a baby. A second one was when two women fought over one baby in 1 Kings chapter 3 - where Solomon offered to chop the child in half and give one half to each of the proclaimed mothers. The third one doesn’t come until many years later, as John the Baptist leapt for joy in his mother’s womb. The final and the greatest story of a baby is of course in the birth of our Savior. Babies don’t play prominent in the stories of the Bible.
Babies by their very nature don’t do a whole lot. They cry, they eat, and they go to the bathroom. As far as their usefulness, they don’t provide a whole lot of service. They are good to look at and to cuddle with. Beyond that, they are more a drain of time and effort in their few months than anything. Yet babies are precious in the sight of their parents because they still look at them as gifts of God. They know they won’t remain babies forever. They look at their baby and wonder to themselves, “I wonder what this little child will do with his life? Will he be a good athlete? Will he be famous? Will she be a strong Christian gal?” In that baby there is a tremendous source of potential and hope. Therefore, when the angels point the shepherds to a baby, we will see that -
The Birth of the Baby Brings Hope
I. The hope was clearly written in the Old Testament
Even though there aren’t a whole lot of stories about babies in the Bible, the whole history of the Old Testament focuses on the birth of a baby. Genesis 3:15 starts out with the first prediction of the Savior. God said to Satan, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” The word “offspring” denotes children and descendants. This special offspring would be the one who would crush Satan’s head. When Eve gave birth to Cain she literally said in Genesis 4:1, “I have received a man -the LORD.” She didn’t call him a child but a man, and assigned him to the LORD. This could mean that Eve hoped that right away God had answered his promise of the Savior in Cain. If only she were so fortunate. When Cain turned out to be a murderer, the hope was pushed back for generations to come. Yet it was kept alive, as God promised Abraham in Genesis 12:3, “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Years later, Isaiah reiterated this promise at several points.
Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Isaiah 53:2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
These verses made it clear that the Savior would not come as a man in the clouds, but as a baby in the womb - through a normal birth and childhood. Therefore, it should not have been a surprise to the shepherds that night when the angels told them to go to Bethlehem and look for a baby. Scriptures told them to look and hope for a baby.
II. The hope was declared in spite of the danger
There’s a story in 2 Chronicles 22 about a woman by the name of Athaliah. In what must have been a power hungry trip she decided to kill any royal blood that would even have a possibility of taking over and dethroning her. As a result of her murderous intentions, Joash was on the chopping block next. So Joash’s aunt decided that she had best hide him as soon as possible. She hid him for six years at the temple until he was old enough to be king. The reason I mention this story was that it would have been foolish for her to expose the fact that Joash was alive ahead of time - before he could be protected. She had to keep it private. This is a big contrast to what God did on the night Jesus was born. Even though Satan and his followers wanted Jesus dead, God announced Jesus’ birth with angels to the shepherds watching their flocks - to go to Bethlehem and look for this baby. There’s a new baby King in town.
Yet the God of the heavens didn’t worry about what the demons would think or how Herod would respond at the birth of His King. The truth of the Savior needed to be known. Even though Jesus was only a baby, He wanted people looking to Him from day one for their salvation. Even though Jesus would then have to be taken to Egypt and Nazareth in the subsequent years, the message would have been spread that there’s a new king in town. He was born in Bethlehem, just as the prophets said. The same LORD who brought forth the miraculous birth could see to it that the baby would stay safe.
III. The hope is only grasped through faith
I find it amazing that God would choose to bring about the salvation of the world in such a fragile way. When you consider how many women and children have died in child birth, especially back then, it seems like a risky proposition. When you think about how weak a child looks, again - it isn’t an easy thing to believe. If I were to tell you my baby is going to be President of the United States and end up saving our country from terrorism by getting rid of terrorists, how would you know? It would seem like such a far distance off, there would be so many variables, and you’d wonder if it would do you any good when the time came.
In order to believe that Jesus would be the Savior, God was calling for patience and faith on the part of the shepherds. He didn’t want them to look at the baby as just another child - but as one who would grow up to save the world - including them. They had to throw aside the weakness of this baby and the size of Him and just have faith that He would grow up to be a man. That had to take the word of the angels as the gospel truth and forget about what their eyes saw. They had to trust that God could take care of that child through His parents - Mary and Joseph. They had to trust that this baby would save them from their sins. The same rings true for us. We have to have a patient faith as we approach Christmas, and remember what this boy is promised to do in the future. We need to look at this baby with hope for the future.
IV. The hope is already grasped in just holding the Baby
When you hold a baby in your arms for the first time, it always brings a sense of excitement and joy. There’s just nothing like it. Even though the child doesn’t do much, you look forward to the day he or she will make you laugh and interact with you. Christmas is a time that God directs our eyes to the manger, and tells us to take Jesus in our arms and just enjoy this baby for a little bit. We know what great things He is going to go on to do - to fight Satan, release people from the possession of demons, take on death and hell, and come out smelling like a rose. We know that Jesus is now ruling over the universe and will come again to judge the world. We know all the things about His future. It makes us excited to relive His birth once again, because we know what great things He went on to do.
But for now, God says - just look for one thing - look for a baby. There’s something comforting about looking for a baby as our Savior. We know this baby is God Almighty. Think about what an incredible thing that is - that the God who created the Universe and has the whole world in HIS hands, would allow HIMSELF to be held in OUR hands. It shows us that God in His love didn’t want to be so high and mighty and holy that we could never grab Him or love Him or touch Him. He wanted to make Himself “holdable” - so to speak. He wanted us to take Him in our arms and adore Him. When we know what this baby would go on to do, we are more than glad to take a few moments to hold Him in our arms of faith, aren’t we? When we know the time and effort this Baby would go through to make us holy with God, it makes us want to take an extra little time to remember what Christmas is all about. God became man. It’s good for us, as we prepare for Christmas - to just focus on this little baby for a moment through the hopeful eyes of faith - and enjoy the soft moment in presence with our baby LORD.
When you do this, it will strengthen your faith. How? You will be assured that God is not a God of the heavens alone. He is a God who came on a rescue mission to our earth - in order to rescue us from Satan and hell. You will also be reminded that our faith is not in the strength of men. He promised salvation through a baby. A baby has nothing to do with strength. This is all about faith in the Word of God. As we look at this baby, we are reminded very quickly the very essence of faith is based on the words and promises of God. It also assures us of God’s confidence in His own power. God did not worry about becoming a baby. He didn’t worry that since this baby was so weak that he would some how die in a freak accident. God was confident that the future was in HIS hands, so He went ahead and declared to the world exactly where Jesus was born and who He was. When you think about all of the freak accidents and different ways that children can die, especially in Jesus’ time - it should fill with a remarkable sense of calm in knowing that God had no worries in becoming a man and putting Himself in the hands of Mary and Joseph.
I have a fringe relative who is afraid of holding babies. He’s afraid of holding babies because he might drop them or hold their heads wrong. He is scared to death of diapers or having the child start crying. So when he is in the presence of a baby, he will stand off in a corner or peer over the shoulder of the person holding the baby so as to look at the baby. But if you were to put the baby in his arms, his whole body would stiffen up and act as if he was holding an alien. Once our children get older, he does great with them. But until that time, he just isn’t real comfy with babies.
When it comes to holding Jesus, it seems that the world isn’t so afraid of embracing the story of Christmas. It’s such a non-threatening picture to have God become man in order to save the world. It’s such a story of love. Many people aren’t afraid to hold Jesus in their arms. Now, when they see Jesus grow up and tell them to repent and believe in Him or be judged to eternal hell, they might tend to drop the baby on His head. But as an infant who doesn’t say anything - they can live with that. Christmas is a non-threatening message of love to most. Another nice thing is that we don’t have to take Jesus before King Solomon to determine whose baby He is. Jesus doesn’t have to be sliced in half. There is plenty of this baby to go around.
Isaiah said in Isaiah 9:6, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given.” Even though this baby will grow up to be King and Judge of the Universe - even though He would provide the ONLY way of salvation - don’t be afraid to take him in your arms. He was born TO US - He wants to be held. If you can see Him in this non-threatening and sacrificial way, if you can hold Him now as a baby and grasp Him as Savior through the arms of faith, then by God’s grace you will grow attached to this baby - even when He’s been beaten and crucified - like Mary - you will stand at the foot of the cross and still say, “I love you.” As His dead body comes down you won’t be ashamed to still hold Him. Then, when you see Him as an adult coming in the clouds, He will be glad to take you in HIS arms. But for today, take Him in your spiritual arms - and wonder at the amazing grace of our Almighty God to be born as a baby for you. Let that baby give you hope. Amen.
