When we read the Christmas story of the birth of Christ I think we have a tendency to gloss over and glamorize what really happened. We sing our Christmas songs and envision this postcard picture of Jesus in a pristine creche as he lies in a manger on a bed of hay or straw. It’s beautiful, serene, peaceful, but probably not quite as perfect as we imagine it. Let’s take a moment to consider the realities of the birth story.
In about 4-5 BC, Caesar Augustus, the ruler of the entire Roman Empire, decided to have a census to count the people in his Empire. The purpose of such censuses was either to recruit for military service, like a draft, or to add an additional tax burden on the people. Since Jews were excluded from military service for religious reasons, the purpose of this census was probably to raise taxes, and we know from our own countries history how popular taxation imposed by a ruler who lives in another nation is (think of the Boston Tea Party, American Revolution, taxation without representation). Messengers were sent from Rome to the entire Roman empire until one messenger finally reached the outskirts of the empire to a little known region called Galilee and little known town called Nazareth and announced Caesar’s decree that all people must be accounted for so Caesar can collect on his taxes. Not only was one more tax being imposed on the people but they were forced to travel to their ancestral town in order to register there, probably out of convenience to the Roman officials so they didn’t have to go to every town. So a man named Joseph with his 8 1/2 month pregnant wife, Mary, begin to make the three day journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, not because they wanted to, but because they were forced to by some greedy ruler who lives thousands of miles away. You can imagine travel was difficult especially with a very pregnant wife. I wonder how many times they had to stop for a bathroom break. While we picture Mary riding a donkey, the Scriptures do not mention it one way or another. Because of the cost of a donkey, and Mary and Joseph’s modest background, I find it is unlikely they even had one. So Mary could have walked the 100+ miles on foot.
Finally a few days later they arrived in the bustling town of Bethlehem, normally a quiet village but because of the census it was filled with people. As you can imagine, Mary was worn out, completely exhausted from the trip. So they begin looking for a place to stay the night, but because there were so many people there was no place for them to stay, not even any guest rooms in someone’s home. So of all places they ended up in a stable. Stables in the first century were not what we think of stables today. We think of a large red barn with individual stalls for each of the animals, or perhaps we think of the creche. In this case the stable was most likely a cave; dark, damp, cold. I can see Joseph having to clean a corner of the stable out for his wife, perhaps moving some manure out of the way just to make room for himself and Mary. If it wasn’t enough that Joseph and Mary were exhausted, and had to sleep next to the animals with the smell of manure wafting through the air, Mary began to have contractions, and they became closer and closer together, the child was coming that night, without a midwife, no family in about the filthiest place you can be. If I were Joseph I think I would be a nervous wreck. How many carpenters do you know that can deliver a baby? Joseph wasn¡¯t even trained in Lemans classes, he didn’t have any experience in delivering babies, and here they were all by themselves in a strange village about to have a baby. The Biblical story doesn’t tell us if Joseph went to find a midwife or someone with experience to deliver the baby. I supposed it doesn’t really matter, all that mattered was that Mary made it through the birth, and the child was born healthy. So they wrapped him strips of cloth (a common practice), and laid him in a feeding trough because there was no basinet or crib available. It was less than pristine conditions. It hardly seems like the way any child should be born into, let alone the Son of God.
I have to wonder, did Joseph and Mary question if God knew what He was doing?
The angel Gabriel had promised Joseph and Mary their child would be the king of kings who would receive the throne of his ancestor David and rule forever, he would even be called the Son of God. And yet here they were in a dark, cold, dirty stable in a village far away from home. This hardly seemed a fitting arrival for the Savior of all humanity. I wonder if they questioned God when they heard about the census from the Emperor requiring travel in Mary’s last trimester of pregnancy? I wonder if they questioned God as they walked the long road to Bethlehem? I wonder if they questioned God when they arrived in Bethlehem and went from place to place without finding a place to stay. I wonder if they questioned God when the Christ child was born in a stinky, dirty manger. Did it cross their mind that maybe God might have goofed, or was playing with them all along? Or perhaps they doubted what God had promised them about the child, maybe Joseph’s dream about the angel visiting him to tell him not to leave Mary because she was going to bear the Son of God was just that a dream and not from God. The reason I have these questions is because I think I would have been questioning God at that point. Why would a loving heavenly Father treat the parents of his Son in such a way?
Truth be told, I think we all feel the same way about ourselves and our experiences from time to time, don’t we? We wonder if God knows what he is doing. We question why God would allow something like that to happen to me, one of his children, or to someone I know? Someone we love passes away, perhaps ourselves or someone we are close to receives an illness, a disease, or some other poor health condition. Doesn’t God care? Isn’t God loving? Didn’t he promise he was going to take care of me? If God is in control of the universe why doesn’t he make it so these sorts of bad things don’t happen to us? Sometimes we question God’s sovereignty, and love. It appears as though God is not doing everything in his power for our best. That’s why I wonder if Joseph and Mary had doubts about God’s plan for their life and the life of the baby in their arms.
Things probably did not go the way Joseph and Mary’s thought they would when they imagined Jesus’ birth. But God did have a plan, he did care about Joseph and Mary, and he did love his Son, Jesus. God took the bad things that happened, the choices of Caesar, the no vacancy signs in Bethlehem, and the dirty stable, and worked it all together to bring something good out of it. Through the events surrounding Jesus’ birth, we realize the Son of God has come to be just like one of us to identify with us in some of the worst our world had to offer, so that he might be deliver us from it. To illustrate imagine some of the events of the Christmas story happened in completely the opposite way. Jesus was born to Caesar, or perhaps to King Herod, or some religious leader. Instead of being laid in a manger in a stable he was placed in a feather bed in a palace somewhere pampered, then raised in royalty like Moses who was raised in the Egyptian palace. While it may seem like an appropriate treatment for a king of kings, God would not be able to identify with us unless he came to experience life with its ups and downs, including a filthy manger. Even though Jesus was and is the king of kings, he didn’t come into the world to be pampered or to control and dominate others like Caesar. Instead he came to experience life as an ordinary person just like one of us, to be placed in the humblest conditions so that he could understand our suffering and struggles, so that he might lift us out of them. The book of Hebrews tells us God’s plan in coming in such a way.
Hebrews 2:14 Because God’s children are human beings-- made of flesh and blood-- Jesus also became flesh and blood by being born in human form. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the Devil, who had the power of death. 15 Only in this way could he deliver those who have lived all their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.
17 Therefore, it was necessary for Jesus to be in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. He then could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. 18 Since he himself has gone through suffering and temptation, he is able to help us when we are being tempted.
The difficult circumstances Mary and Joseph had to endure, and the humble place where the baby Jesus was born were all part of a purpose. God was sending a message in a manger in Bethlehem, because of his great love for us he came to us in the humblest way to give us a hope and a future. We have hope that no matter who we are, no matter how low life has gotten for us, no matter where we live, or what position we have in life, God meets us exactly where we because he has been there himself. We are never too far beyond God’s reach, God frees us from our slavery to sin, fear, and even death itself because God’s Son came to us, experienced life at the lowest, was crucified on the cross, just for you and for me.
If you have a hard time dealing with the image of God coming to earth as the baby Jesus in such unusual circumstances because of his love for us consider the story of the Cunningham’s, the missionaries we support in Haiti. When God first called the Cunningham’s to the mission field (reluctantly at first), they finally decided to go all way. When they first arrived as missionaries to Haiti, they sold their brand new Ford Expedition, their comfortable 2000+ sq. foot home, and their combined six figure income in order to live in a hut, with no electricity, no running water, the only source of heat was the charcoal they used to cook with. And they had their children with them. As you can imagine, life was very difficult for the Cunningham’s for about the first two years. Finally, some Haitian pastors and friends convinced the Cunningham’s find a nicer, safer place to stay because they thought they couldn’t survive. Most of us cannot imagine leaving the comforts of our home for such a dismal existence, even if it meant identifying with the Haitian people. But I let me ask you, what message did that send to the Haitian people living in the town of Montroius (pronounced Moey)? The people knew the Cunningham’s were either crazy, or they were passionate about spreading God’s love to the Haitian people.
We can say exactly the same thing about God’s Son, either he was crazy, or he really did love us that much, that he wanted to identify with us. Even if it meant arriving into the world in a filthy stable, and living as a limited human being in a blue collar family. Imagine giving up the comforts of heaven for this world. Yet this is what he did out of love.
The Shepherds - Our Response to God’s Message of Hope
That is also the reason why the first people invited to see the boy child in a manger in Bethlehem were shepherds. The shepherds were one of the poorest people, and their job was no envied one. It required being outside all of the time, sleeping in tents, moving from place to place. It was a lonely job. But the angel appeared first to the shepherds as if to put an exclamation point on what God was doing through Jesus in a manger. God was letting the shepherds and us know everyone would be included in his kingdom, nobody would be left out as long as they were willing to respond to the Good News about Jesus the Messiah. God has brought hope to all.
Our Response to God’s Hope (this is abridged and can be added to as necessary)
So what is our response to the hope God gives us in Jesus? We can learn that from the shepherds response to the invitation of the angels to see the Christ child for themselves.
1. Go and See - Run don’t walk
"Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
Once the angels gave them the message they quickly went to see the child for themselves.
Application
Many people hear the message of Christmas. One of my favorite Christmas programs is the Charlie Brown Christmas special. For over two generations this special has shared the true meaning of Christmas. And yet how many people pay attention and then go to check it out for themselves? If God has truly sent his Son to earth, shouldn’t we check out what this means and investigate for ourselves. There are eternal consequences hanging in the balance. The very purpose of God is at stake here. We need to look into this child, who did he become, what did he teach, how did he live his life, what was God accomplishing through him?
2. Worship with Praise and Rejoicing
After witnessing the child and the truth of the angels claim, it says the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God. That’s worship. I like the way the Message reads, "the sheepherders returned and let loose, glorying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen."
This was also the angels response as they told the shepherds about the Christ child and where they could find him it says, "Suddenly a great company of heavenly hosts appeared¡praising God and saying, ’glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.’" Which in Latin is Gloria in Excelsis Deo.
Worship is offering ourselves, our praise, our time, our talent, and our treasure to God. This is a natural response to experiencing Jesus in our life. What type of worship are we offering to God, not just during the holiday season, but throughout the entire year?
3. Share the Good News With Others
The shepherd’s lives were changed that night because they encountered Jesus. As a result of their encounter the shepherds became the first evangelists. They shared the Good News of what God had told them about this child with everyone they encountered.
Luke 2:17 Then the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child.
Notice the shepherds simply shared with others what they had heard and seen, their experience with the Christ child.
Application
Our experience with Jesus is intended to be shared with others. Has Christ made a difference in your life? How are you sharing your experience of Jesus with others?
NIV 1 Peter 3:15 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,
I encourage you to invite family members, neighbors, and coworkers to our Christmas Eve service to hear the Good News of Jesus.
