The Proclamation of Peace

Transcript

JRS 22
12/18/2022
The Proclamation of Peace
Luke 2:8-14
Jesse Randolph

Well, these are special days. The snow is falling. And I notice here it falls sideways. It doesn’t fall straight down like in the snow globes. The temperatures are dropping. The ground is freezing. The fireplaces are crackling. The scents from the kitchen are traveling. The eggnog is flowing. The tree is sparkling. The decorations are glittering. The stockings are hanging. The songs are playing. The children and grandchildren are wondering. The anticipation is building. Christmas is just about here.
And what a special time of year this always is. And, I do have to say, this is a really special Christmas for my family, to spend it with all of you, our new church body, and our new home state. It’s just a joy. It’ll even be a joy this coming Thursday, when it’s going to be like 10 or 20-below zero, is what I’ve been hearing lately. I don’t even know how to process that, what that even means.

But seeing as we’re relatively new here still, this first Christmas in Nebraska has presented many opportunities for us to compare, you know, our pre-set California ideas about what Christmas is, or what it ought to be, with the Nebraska version of Christmas, whatever that is and whatever that ought to be. For instance, back home in California, you can get sunburned pretty easily hanging your Christmas lights. If fact, it happened to me several years in a row. Here in Nebraska, I have not heard many stories about that. In fact, I hear more stories about folks making sure they hang their lights before Thanksgiving, before it gets too cold. That ship has sailed, my lights aren’t up, nor will they go up this year apparently. There in California, you throw a few logs on the fire when the temperature gets beneath about 60 degrees. Here, I’ve heard that anything under 10 degrees feels all about the same. There, you wash your car. I think it’s in the law somewhere. You wash your car in the days leading up to Christmas to make sure that its sparkling as you’re rolling up to your family get-together in that 72 degree California sunshine. Here, it seems like you just have to scrape your windshield to make sure that you can see the road to travel wherever it is you’re spending Christmas this year. There, you fill up your bellies with tamales. Here, you fill them up with chili and cinnamon rolls. You get the idea . . .

You know, I think we all tend to do this at some level. And by “this”, I mean evaluate and judge and measure what Christmas is or what we think it should be by some artificial yardstick that we’ve created in our minds. You know, we’ll say things like I wish I could experience Christmas in New York, snow globe Christmas. I wish I could experience Christmas in Vermont just like all those Hallmark movies. I wish I could experience Christmas every year like it was “It’s a Wonderful Life” all the time. I wish at Christmas it was more like it was back on the farm, back in the day. I wish Christmas was more like the days when the kids were around. I wish that Christmas was done more my family’s way as opposed to my spouse’s family’s way. I wish . . . If only . . . But its not.

Now, in many cases those types of statements and those types of sentiments can be innocent enough. Since in many cases they do represent some good desire to return to these good memories. Or a desire to create better memories that are centered around the actual Christmas holiday. But we have to be very careful about though is that we not allow our thoughts about Christmas, our preferences about Christmas, our opinions about Christmas, that we not allow our Christmas practices, our Christmas routines, our Christmas traditions to serve as a substitute for what Christmas is really all about. And better stated, who Christmas is really all about.

And so, this morning’s sermon is simply going to be one pastor’s attempt to pull each of us away for an hour, from traditions and preferences and practices. To pull each of us away for an hour, from the idea of a Nebraska Christmas verses a California Christmas. To pull each of us away for an hour, from the idea of a Randolph Christmas or a Jacobsen Christmas or a Frahm Christmas or a Jordison Christmas. And to pull us, instead to one particular scene. The original nativity scene, in fact, as we spend some time reflecting this morning on the true meaning of Christmas.

Last week, in our first message in this “Peace on Earth” series, we looked at “The Promise of Peace.” And we looked at it through the lens of Isaiah 9:6-7. That familiar Old Testament passage in which Isaiah the prophet foretold the one-day coming of Israel’s Messiah. The One who would be called Wonderful Counselor and Mighty God and Eternal Father and Prince of Peace. Today’s message is titled “The Proclamation of Peace.” Because in it we read these words proclaimed through the lips of an angel, “an angel of the Lord.” That are more powerful, souls stirring, and joy inducing than perhaps any other words that have ever been spoken on the planet. And those are the words, “there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord,” [Luke 2:11]. And then, those are followed by the words, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased,” [verse 14].

Turn with me in your bibles, if you would, to Luke 2. Luke 2, and as you’re turning there, I’d like you to file away any thoughts you might be having about candy canes or elves on the shelves, roaring fireplaces or hot chocolate, department stores or Amazon delivery drivers. I’d like you to file away all your past Christmas memories. The past Christmas memories of the family you grew up with, and even the past Christmas memories of the family you’re a part of now. And I’d like you to travel with me back 2,000 years to a desolate field in Judea. A field that sat adjacent to the tiny village of Bethlehem. Just six or so miles from the great city of Jerusalem. There would have been no snow in this field. There would have been no Christmas lights hung anywhere in this field. Wrapping paper wasn’t being crumpled up and thrown across this field. There were no chestnuts or reindeer spotted on this field. But on this field on one particular night a group of lowly shepherds saw things in this field and heard sounds in this field that would utterly change everything. For all of mankind, and for all of time.

Our text for this morning is Luke 2:8-14, the true nativity scene, the bible’s account of what actually transpired in Bethlehem. But to give us some context for the entirety of this passage, I’m actually going to start reading in Luke 2:1, all the way down to verse 20. Luke 2:1, God’s word reads, “Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”

“In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 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.’ ”
“When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, 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.’ So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.”

Now, in the first seven verses I just read for you, we see this description of the actual birth of Jesus, our Lord, as He was born to the virgin Mary. We see here that Jesus was born in this little hamlet of Bethlehem. After His parents traveled up, meaning in elevation, “from Galilee”, it says “from the city of Nazareth . . . to the city of David which is called Bethlehem.” We saw that there was no place for Joseph and Mary to stay when they arrived in Bethlehem. We saw that they had to lay their newborn child in a manger, which really was an animal feeding trough. An object whose guests to that point would have been hay and straw and filthy snouts and scratchy tongues. We saw that the birth of Jesus Christ was anonymous at first. Though both parents had received angelic visitations and by now understood what was happening, to the watching world, meaning to any inquiring Bethlehemite, this was just another young couple. And this was just another your baby. The Lord of glory was born in obscurity. It was just Him and Joseph and Mary. This Holy Spirit-crafted family of three.

That all changes though, in verse 8, because on that very night the Lord Jesus Christ was born . . . and this news quickly went public. Verses 8–14 again, will be our focus this morning. And as we get ready to work through this text, I do want to issue to all of you a word of caution. And that word of caution is this. That there’s always this risk of becoming so familiar with the Christmas story. Especially for those of us who have been Christians for any length of time. Or for any of us, related to our text today, who’ve even see the Charley Brown Christmas Special. That the verses that we’ll be going through today, can quickly go in one ear and out the other, rather than driving deep down into our hearts. Let’s not allow that to happen this morning. Let’s not be drowsy or deadened to these great truths. Let’s instead be alert and awakened to them. Let’s not have hearts that are numb to the bible’s teachings about Christmas. But instead let’s be moved and gripped by them. Let’s not allow the familiarity of this passage to impact or to take away from its profundity.

Here's how I’ve outlined our text for this morning.
In verse 8, we’re going to see “An Unlikely People.”
In verses 9-10, we’re going to see “An Unveiled Presence.”
In verses 11-12, we’ll see “An Unrivalled Peacemaker.”
In verses 13-14, we’ll see “A Universal Proclamation.”
And in verses 15-16, if there’s time, if I can get there, we’re going to see “An Unbroken Path.”

Alright, starting in verse 8, “An Unlikely People.” Luke 2:8 says, “In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.” Now, in this section of scripture, which some have called the delivery room of Jesus Christ, there’s no mention of doctors. No mention of nurses. No mention of baby monitors or scanners. There’s no mention, you’ll notice, of kings or wise men. They arrived about a month after this scene. Instead, we see mentioned here only shepherds. And, here in verse 8, it says these shepherds were “in the same region.” In the same region as what? Well, in the same region of where Jesus had just been born, meaning Bethlehem.

‘Luke continues, he says, “there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.” Let’s start with those words, “There were some shepherds.” Note, Luke here doesn’t give us an adjective of any sort to describe these shepherds. We’re not told how many of these shepherds there were. We’re not told how old these shepherds were. We’re not given any insights into their shepherding techniques. In fact, in the original Greek here, the word “some” doesn’t even appear in the text, meaning that the actual Greek text says there were shepherds. The text gives us very little descriptive data about the individual shepherds being described here. What we know, as we stitch together other passages of scripture is that these shepherds were shepherding on the outskirts of Bethlehem. The city of David. The same city where the great king of Israel was born. The same city where the prophet Samuel first found David, back in 1 Samuel 16, as he searched for the one whom God had set apart to be Israel’s king. And you might recall what young, scrawny David was doing on that day, when Samuel approached Jesse, his father. There in 1 Samuel 16:11, Jesse says to Samuel as he’s referring to his sons, he says, “There remains yet the youngest”, he’s talking about his sons, “and behold, he is tending the sheep.”

See, David was a shepherd. And bringing it back to Luke 2, the timeline here, by the time that these shepherds of Luke 2 lived, David would have been like a superhero to these men. You know, David came from their city. David was the great King in the glory days of an earlier unified kingdom. It was through David’s line that the Messiah of Israel would one day come. And to top it all off, David was just like them, a shepherd. Right? Think of all the little kids these days, especially these days, in fact it might even be today, who’ve been watching the World Cup from all over the world, wanting to be like their favorite soccer player from their home country. I want to be him one day. From a little kid in Tunisia, wants to be like the greatest Tunisian soccer player. Right? Little boys in Bethlehem wanted to grow up to be shepherds just like David had been a shepherd. There was a certain honor in being a shepherd who came from Bethlehem. Just like David had come from Bethlehem.

Now, at the same time, there was great dishonor that came with being a shepherd. Because in these days, no matter how proud a little homegrown boy from Bethlehem might be that he had become a shepherd, shepherds were looked upon by the culture as being on the lowest rung in society. They were thought of as dirty and filthy and smelly. Because of how closely they worked with the sheep. They were very much up close and personal with the mud and the dirt, the excrement and the waste, the births and the diseases and the death, the bleating and the bleeding. They were considered, shepherds were, to be ceremonially unclean. Because of the nature of their work. Because of the nature of their work, they were Sabbath-breakers. Because sheep never take a day off, shepherds couldn’t take a day off. They couldn’t stop and wouldn’t stop, and they were breaking the Sabbath. So they were banished from the temple. Though it sat just six miles away from where these particular shepherds shepherded. Shepherds during this time, were viewed as thieves and liars and scum. And because of this, they couldn’t testify in courts of law. They were notoriously poor. In fact, shepherds were the poorest of the poor. They had very few earthly possessions. If they were fortunate, they might have a cloak made of sheepskin, to protect them from the cold. A small sack made of goatskin to carry their food, their provisions. A sling made of goat hair to protect them from beasts and other kind of enemies, robbers. A staff they might have, a walking cane to keep the sheep from straying from the fold. They might have a pipe, a flute made of reeds, to entertain themselves on those boring cold nights, and to even lull some of their sheep to sleep.

All this to say, while being a shepherd may have been a point of pride for the average little boy from Bethlehem, in the eyes of everyone else around them, to be a shepherd was a bad thing. A shepherd was somebody you felt sorry for, someone you pitied. Oh, how sad for him, that he became a shepherd, he could have become so much more. Well, the average shepherd of his day wasn’t there to entertain the opinions of others about his role or his status. He was there to care for his sheep. It was the sheep the shepherds were willing to protect at any cost. And it was the sheep that he would call by name. The sheep that would follow the shepherds wherever they went. The sheep that the shepherds would stay up late to watch, and rise early to protect. They would carry the lambs that were sick, and they would tend to them and nurse them back to good health. The shepherds loved their sheep. They lived to protect their flock. No matter how hard or difficult their life might be. And it was a hard and a difficult life.

Well, adding to this difficult and taxing nature of the shepherd’s life, was the reality that the sheep that they were tending, the sheep that they were protecting, the sheep that they loved, were being raised to die. It is well documented historically that the sheep that were offered in the sacrifices in the temple were fed in the pastures of Bethlehem. Meaning, that these shepherds, the shepherds described here in Luke 2, knew that their sheep would one day have their legs bound, their throats cut, and their blood spilled, for the sins of the people. They were being cared for on the hillsides of Bethlehem, these sheep were, in preparation for their date with death, just outside the temple.

I’m sure many of you have had this experience of taking a dear pet, maybe a dog, maybe a horse, to the vet to be put to sleep. You know, it’s never a cheery day. You’re not sending balloons out. It’s not a day of celebration. It’s a sad day. Well, for you, that has probably only happened maybe once, maybe a handful of times in your entire life. For these shepherds, this was happening all the time. They were continually breeding and feeding their sheep. Loving and caring for their sheep, knowing that one day, those very sheep would be handed over as living sacrifices. And knowing that those sheep were being handed over as living sacrifices to be offered in payment for the sins of the people. It was a gruesome, and at the same time sad, profession. See, no one, other than the priests of Israel, who actually got their hands dirty in slaughtering the animals was more personally aware of the costs and sacrifices associated with sin than the shepherds of Israel. No one yearned more and longed more for the Messiah. For a deliverer, for a ransomer, for the ultimate lamb, to literally stop the bleeding, than the shepherds of Israel.

It was these shepherds, verse 8 says, who were “staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.” They were “staying out in the fields”, that’s a reference to what they were doing during the daytime with their flocks. During the day directing them, protecting them, and watching them. But as this scene builds, daylight has now faded, nighttime has now come. And now it says they are “keeping watch over their flock by night.” These shepherds would have been watching their sheep in a sheepfold, in an enclosed area, where the sheep could be more easily guarded from predators and thieves. That allowed the shepherds to actually rest and take turns keeping watch over their flocks during the night. I mean, picture with me this hard day that you’ve had as a shepherd. It’s been another labor-intensive day. Another head-on-a-swivel kind of day. Another work-your-fingers-to-the-bone kind of day. Another sweaty day. Another smelly day. The sheep are protected. The sheep are now enclosed. The shepherds are dog tired. Some are sleeping. Some are keeping watch to make sure no robbers or invaders penetrate the flock. There’s total blackness out there in the field. Cool darkness. Total night. But all is calm, all is bright.

And the stage is now set for this incredible event that’s about to take place in verse 9. If you’re taking notes, this is now where we see The Unveiled Presence. Verse 9, “And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.” This verse changes everything as this rather mundane night out on the night watches now turns into this amazing spectacle of light and fright and glory. You know, you can picture these dog-tired men, on this pitch-black night. In the middle of this field in Judea, suddenly experiencing this amazing projection of light. And when they turn their eyes to see what’s causing this light, Luke here tells us, that they turn, and they see this “angel of the Lord.” And the suddenness of the appearance of this angel is pointed to by those words “suddenly stood.” That’s the Greek verb “ephistimi,” and the verb literally means “to stand near somebody.” Ever had that relative or friend that you turn around and they are like there? That’s what’s happening. Meaning, one minute the angel wasn’t there, but the next minute he was. One minute, this angel was present in the courts of heaven basking in the glory of God, and the next minute he’s standing next to these shepherds in this non-descript field outside of Bethlehem.

Now, before we go any further, I have to say this, because I recognize that we do here have newer believers and visitors each and every Sunday. Praise God for that. But what you see marketed as angels in our day, whether that be at Hobby Lobby or Mardel, or in the movies, or in sports mascots, those aren’t angels. I’ve seen the representations. I’ve seen the angels who are portrayed in Christmas cards and nativity scenes as always having those flowing gowns and feathery wings and chubby cheeks and curly hair. But that’s not the biblical picture of angels. The bible never portrays an angel that way. Instead, the bible describes angels as frightening, even terrifying beings, right? Consider the picture of the seraphim, a class of angels described in Isaiah 6. The name “seraphim” literally means burning ones. Not feathery ones, cute ones, cheek-pinching ones. Burning ones. They’re portrayed in Isaiah 6 as hovering around the throne of God with six wings, two with which they cover their face, two with which they cover their feet, two with which they fly. They’re portrayed just in that scene as having these foundation-rocking, booming voices. That’s a picture of angels in the heavenly atmosphere.

Now, when angels appear on earth, as we see recorded several times in scripture, there’s never a mention of wings. Rather, angels appear as humans. They take on the appearance of men. Not even women. Not even chubby-cheeked, childlike creatures. They appear as men. And they’re portrayed as these majestic and powerful creatures. So much so that when the shepherds here in Luke 2 encountered this angel, the text says they were “terribly frightened.” What frightened them, by the way, was not so much even the makeup of the angel, the physical constitution of the angel, but rather what was shining around this angel, what was emanating from this angel. What shook these shepherds down to their sandals was that this angel was aglow with the radiant “glory of the Lord” shining through him.

So, what was going on here? Well, this was no ordinary angel as the text itself indicates. This was “an angel of the Lord.” Now, in the bible, we do see one described as “the” angel of the Lord. You’ll see that in the Old Testament, and most theologians would agree, that that’s a pre-incarnate manifestation of the Lord Jesus Christ. But the angel here is not referred to as “the” (definite article) angel of the Lord. He’s described instead as “an” angel of the Lord. And the most likely candidate for who this angel is, is that he's the angel Gabriel. The same angel who appeared to Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, back in Luke 1. In fact, why don’t we turn over to Luke 1, just a page or two behind here, and starting in verse 18. Here we have the birth of John the Baptist being foretold, as the angel appears to John the Baptist’s father, Zacharias. Look at Luke 1:18, Zacharias (is visited by this angel) says to the angel, “How will I know this for certain? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years. The angel answered and said to him, ‘I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.’ ” That same angel appears then to Mary. If you turn the page to Luke 1:26, as now Jesus’ birth is being foretold. Look at Luke 1:26 – “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.” And drop down to verse 31, we see the words of Gabriel here to Mary, he says, “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name His name Jesus.”

So, now as we get over back to Luke 2 with the angel visiting these shepherds, what we have here is one of many angelic visitations surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ. The first angelic visitation is the one I just mentioned, Gabriel announcing to Zacharias that he and his wife Elizabeth would have a child in their old age, and that that child would be the forerunner of the Messiah. The second angelic visitation, the one we just looked at, is when Gabriel visits Mary and tells her that she’ll conceive a child through the Holy Spirit, and that “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.” The third angelic visitation is actually found in the gospel of Matthew. Matthew 1:10-25, where we see “an angel of the Lord” telling Joseph, that the child Mary was carrying had been conceived by the Holy Spirit, and that Joseph was to name that child “Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” The fourth angelic visitation, what we have described here in Luke 2:9, with this “angel of the Lord” appearing to the shepherds in this field outside of Bethlehem.

By the way, there are to this point not been an account of an angelic visitation for some 500 years. But now, all of a sudden, angels were appearing in succession, almost as if something earth-shattering, and world-shaping and history-changing was about to take place.

And again, what was causing these shepherds to be “terribly frightened?” It was the “glory of the Lord” shining through this angel which now in Luke 2:9 says, “shone around them.” We have to remember that unlike us today, shepherds in Bethlehem, living 2,000 years ago, they didn’t have HDTV, right? They didn’t have LED screens. They didn’t have MacBook. They didn’t have iPhones. They didn’t have high-res, high-def, 3D, 4D. Rather, these were simple, plain, ordinary men. And their main source of excitement, brought about through the natural realm, would have been like seeing a shooting star move across the sky. Or to witness a bolt of lightning in the middle of a summer storm. Or to hear the crack or the peal of thunder. That would have excited them. So, in terms of sensory overload, with what we have here in Luke 2:9, when this “angel of the Lord” suddenly standing before them and shining brightly and reflecting the glory of God, these shepherds went instantly from 0 to about the zillion.

It says, they “were terribly frightened.” Literally, it’s they feared a great fear, which stresses the intensity of their fear. Any person, by the way, whoever tells you that they’ve had an encounter with an angel or encounter with a shekinah glory cloud, if they say they’ve had that kind of encounter, this is the type of reaction you’re listening for, that they fear with great fear. Anybody that truly encounters an angelic being, or a glory cloud, is going to have a reaction like this. A reaction like Isaiah in Isaiah 6:5, when he beholds the glory of God in the heavenly throne room scene, and he says, “Woe is me, for I am ruined!” They’re going to have a reaction like John, in the isle of Patmos in Revelation 1:17, where he beholds the glorified Christ, and is says, “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man.” They’re going to have a reaction like the apostle Peter, when he witnessed the Lord Jesus working in a miraculous haul of fish, in Luke 5 [verse 8], says, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” Or be like who Luke says of these shepherds in Luke 2:9, they will be “terribly frightened.” Anyone in a similar situation, beholding the glory of God in a tangibly, observable way, is going to crumble, is going to fall, is going to lay prostrate on their face, is going to feel the weight of their sin and wickedness in the face of such glory, is going to confess immediately their inadequacy and unworthiness, and is going to worship and praise. These shepherds were shaking, because they rightly sensed Whose presence they were in.

Turning to verse 10, after seeing the shepherd’s fear, look at the angel’s response. It says, “But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid.’ ” Just as he had done with Zacharias in Luke 1:13. Just as he had done with Mary in Luke 1:30. The angel here says to these shepherds, “Do not be afraid.” That’s not merely a command though; it is a command but it’s more than that. He gives them reason why they ought not to fear. Look at what comes next: “for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people.” He's saying here there’s not need to fear, shepherds. The news is good. I do not come bearing news of terror or wrath or judgment. I do not bring you news of curses or punishment. No, I bring you news, good news, of great joy which will be for all the people. “Good news” there, that comes from the verb, Greek verb, “euangelizo”, which simply means to tell good news. That’s where we get our English word “evangelize.” The angels came to these shepherds with “good news.” Or as older translations render it, “glad tidings.” And as we’re about to see, the good news that he’s about to share with them, really is good! It’s the good news that we have a saving God. The good news that that saving God sent His Son into the world. The good news that His Son is the Lamb of God who came to take away our sin. And the good news that forgiveness is extended, and found, in Him alone. That’s all wrapped up in the good news mentioned here by the angel in verse 10. Good news which would produce “great joy which will be for all the people.”
And that takes us to our next section of the narrative, where we see what, or better who, is at the heart of this good news, this glad tidings. If you’re taking notes, our third heading this morning is “An Unrivalled Peacemaker.”

Look at verse 11, it says, “for today,” this is the angel continuing on, “in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” This is the Mt. Everest of this entire section of Luke’s gospel. God had sent the Savior of the world. The Messiah predicted by the prophets. The Lord who is going to reign as King forever and ever. And He has sent Him in this most vulnerable and delicate manner and posture. As a child. As a baby. When the shepherds, dog-tired shepherds, on this black in otherwise ordinary night, heard these words, what must have been in their minds but Isaiah 9? In fact, why don’t you turn with me back to Isaiah 9, the text we were in last week. As you’re doing so, imagine being one of these shepherds on that night outside of Bethlehem, seeing this bright light, hearing these words from this angel, being trained in some degree in the scriptures. You go back to Isaiah 9 and look what it says. Isaiah 9:6, written 750 years before this very night. It says, “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah wrote these words 750 or so years before this very night. And he wrote these words in reference to Israel’s promised coming Messiah.
In the scene here before us in Luke, we see aspects of this prophecy being fulfilled, starting with the very first words of the prophecy in Isaiah 9, “For a child will be born to us.” The Messiah of this world would enter into this world, not as a fully-grown man. Rather, He would enter the world as a baby, wrapped in cloths, lying in a manger. Meaning He would grow, and He would struggle, and He would suffer. He would love and He would serve, and He would teach. And when the time came, He would die. And all of it would be according to His perfect time. Galatians 4:4, the scripture reading for this morning, “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son.” But why? Why would God deliver His only begotten Son to this earth in the form of a child. The answer is so that He could experience, in His humanity, albeit perfectly unlike us, the various stages of human development, from infancy, to toddlerdom, to childhood, to adulthood. He was born just like us. He bled just like us. He ate just like us. He wept just like us. While He was here He longed for a better world just like us. He was betrayed by His friends just like us. And He had to grow up just like us, from crawling to walking, from cooing to talking, so that He could be, and in fact is in every way, a sympathetic and understanding High Priest.

But at the same time, this baby there in the manger was no mere mortal. Rather, He was, always has been, and always will be, fully God. Meaning in this infant child in the manger is the One who providentially timed His own mother’s labor pains. This infant child in the manger is the One who created the sheep these shepherds were tending to. And not just the sheep, but the shepherds themselves. This infant child in the manger is actually the One who sent the angel Gabriel to visit those shepherds. This infant child in the manger knew that just like the sheep in the field, He, too, was a lamb, the ultimate lamb, who had come into this world to die. And this infant child in the manger knew that His earthly mission would start in a field outside of Bethlehem and end on a hill in Jerusalem. He knew that He would start in a feeding trough and end on a Roman cross. He knew that it would start with Him as a baby wrapped in cloths, and end with Him following His brutal execution wrapped in burial garments.

Getting back to our text, it says, “for today,” verse 11, “in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” “Today”, meaning at this time, in the fullness of time, Galatians 4:4. “In the city of David,” meaning the city of Bethlehem. “There has been born for you,” it says, “a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” And again, there we have it, the absolute strongest and sweetest words anyone could ever say or hear. The strongest and sweetest words that have ever proceeded from the lips of anyone, angelic or otherwise. “A Savior,” a Ransomer, a Redeemer, a Substitute, a Lamb. “Has been born for you.” You don’t have to be afraid any longer, dear shepherds. Because there has been one born for you. One who has come to take away your fear. One who has come to replace your fear with joy. And One ultimately who would be your Ransomer or your Redeemer, your Savior, of your souls.”

That’s the good news. That news here in verse 11 fulfills what the angel said back in verse 10 when he says, “I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people.” But that’s just not “good news”, that’s the greatest news the world has ever heard. “A child will be born”, Isaiah 9:6. “There has been born for you,” Luke 2:11. This wasn’t just any child. This was the long-awaited Messiah of Israel. The long-anticipated Redeemer and Defeater of the Serpent. This Child who would be “a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

By the way, each of those words, Savior, Christ, Lord, those are each titles that are attached to this little baby in the manger. Let’s go through all three of those, starting with Savior. That little baby, Jesus, was a Savior. And that description of Him is an apt one, because His name, His given name meant “Yahweh is salvation.” And also, the testimony of scripture is so clear that this one in a manger would indeed save His people from their sins. Matthew 1:21, the angel to Joseph there says, “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Or in Luke 19:10, it says, “For the Son of Man,” these are the words of Christ, “has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” See, Jesus didn’t come in this manger to this earth to rescue people from a lack of fulfillment in their marriages, or their families, or their jobs. He didn’t come to rescue people from their illnesses, or their habits, or their addictions, or their bad choices. He didn’t come to rescue people from their sense of malaise or aimlessness in this life. He didn’t come to apply band-aids to what ultimately is a heart issue. No. Mankind’s true problem, of which all other issues are mere symptoms, is sin. All of us were born in sin. All of us do, in fact, sin. All of us are guilty of sin. And we know quite clearly from Romans 6:23, “the wages of sin is death.” See, before our parents ever received a birth certificate when we were born, we already had a death warrant hanging over us. And that death warrant was grounded in our sin. And that death warrant was set to be carried out in the groans and the anguish and the flames of a real eternal hell.

But praise be to God! At the heart of the gospel message, is that Jesus Christ came into the world to save hell-bound sinners like you and me. He came to save us from the wrath of God that otherwise would have awaited us. The child lying in the manger, did not enter this world to serve as an example of morality and integrity. He didn’t come into this world to make it a better place; He wasn’t John Lennon. He didn’t come to make this a more tolerant or just society. He didn’t come to this world to be a compelling moral teacher or teller of stories, or worker of miracles. He didn’t come into this world to preach wokeness or against the evils of whiteness. No, He came to ransom souls. He came to bring the spiritually dead, you and me, to life. He came to save! And He is the Savior of everyone who believes in Him. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have,” what? “eternal life.”

Back to Luke 2:11. The child lying in the manger is identified not only as the Savior, He’s identified by the angel as Christ, “Christos,” the Greek translation of the Hebrew term “Meshiach,” which means the Anointed One. Which at this point in history meant the Messiah of Israel, the promised seed, the promised Davidic heir, the coming perfect prophet-priest-and-King. The One who would lead and guide and protect His people. The One who would conquer and defeat the enemies of His people. That Messiah, that Christ.

And finally, He’s not just the Savior, not just the Christ, He is Lord, “Kurios.” In human terms, that word kurios, lord, would have meant a position of respect, or esteem, somebody in leadership or authority, like a master of a manor or an estate. But in this context, lord is no mere elevated human designation. It’s a divine title. It’s speaking to this Child’s deity. The most basic confessions in all of Christianity is “Jesus is Lord,” 1 Corinthians 12:3, Romans 10:9. To say that Jesus is Lord, to recognize that Jesus is Lord, is to recognize that He is Lord over the cosmos. Lord over the creation. Lord over the church. Lord over our circumstances. Lord over our lives! Lord over all. He is God over all. He’s the true God, the God-Man.

So, while their initial reaction to this angelic visitation was right on, to fear Him, ultimately in this context the shepherds didn’t need to fear, because this angel came bearing good news. His message in this setting was not one of judgment. It rather was one of salvation, that the Father had sent His Son to be the Savior of the world.

As we continue on, the angel now gives these shepherds a sign in verse 12, they say, “This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” And we shouldn’t get too mystical about that word “sign” here. I know there are all kinds of false teachings these days about signs and wonders. No, the word here for sign is exactly what it sounds like, “a sign.” Like pointing someone in the direction of where they should go. Like an arrow or a turn signal. Or giving somebody good directions, like turn right at the third mailbox, that kind of sign. The word “sign” is very plain, used very plainly here. The way these shepherds would be able to recognize this Child who had just been born, the One who had been identified as Savior, Christ, and Lord, was that He would be “wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Now, the fact that the baby would be “wrapped in cloths” would not necessarily single Jesus out for these shepherds. Because all Jewish mothers wrapped their babies in cloths at this time. The way that mothers today put their babies in diapers and in swaddles. What would have singled out Jesus for the shepherds is what comes next, at the end of verse 12 where it says He will be “lying in a manger.” That was atypical. Jewish mothers did not typically put newborn babies in feeding troughs where nasty nose and snouts were poking around. That detail would have been a major help to these shepherds to narrow their search for this Child, of whom the angels spoke.

But note again, this stark contrast between Jesus’ exalted status as Savior, Messiah, the Christ, very God! and the humble circumstances of His birth. What does Paul say of the Lord in Philippians 2:7? That the Lord “emptied Himself” in His incarnation. Not of His deity. He was never, at any point, less than fully God at any point during His time here on earth during His incarnation. No, He “emptied Himself,” Paul says by “taking the form of a bondservant.” Well, “taking the form of a bondservant” began with His very first moments in the flesh. As He lay there wrapped in cloths in a trough that was meant for animals. As He lays there, you picture the God-Man, “Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, Hail th’incarnate Deity” [hymn, “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing”]. Staring out into the darkness of a night that He Himself had declared would happen before the foundation of the world. Can you picture Him? Staring up at the stars that He had formed and individually placed with His own word. Can you picture Him? Staring at two people, Joseph and Mary, whom He Himself had created, and was right then and there giving them life and breath.

And now, another turn of events. Here’s our fourth heading for this morning, what we’ll call “A Universal Proclamation.” Look at verses 13-14, “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.’ ” So, a single angel you might remember from verse 9 had absolutely terrified these shepherds, and now suddenly we see appearing on the scene this multitude now of the heavenly host. Meaning a large company of angels. Now, we don’t know how many of the millions of holy angels that exist appeared at this very time, it doesn’t tell us from the text. The term “multitude” though, signifies a large group, a sizeable group. And the real focus here is the focus on what this multitude of angels are doing. They’re doing what angels do. They’re praising God it says in verse 13. Just like they’re doing around the heavenly throne room, Revelation 5. Just like they’re doing in the heavenly throne room of Revelation 7. These angels here in Luke 2:13 are praising God. They had insights that were causing them to praise God.

In this context, in this scene, they’re praising God, because Jesus had been born. They’re praising God that the Savior had come. They’re praising God for sending His Son into the world to be the Savior who is Christ the Lord. You have to remember; these are angels that go way back in time. So they know that Jesus this little baby in the manger is the second person of the Trinity. They would have known Christ before the incarnation. They had been praising Christ in heaven before the incarnation. They’d been exposed firsthand in the heavenlies to the glory of the Son of God, to the attributes of the Son of God, to Him in His regal majesty. They knew of the fall of man. They were aware of the fall of man and knew that God had provided a way of salvation for fallen man. And they knew that God’s plan of salvation had come into bloom with the Son of God’s arrival now on earth. And that leads all these angels, this “multitude of the heavenly host,” to ascribe it says “glory to God in the highest.” Meaning give glory to the One who sits, as Psalm 115:3 says, in the heavens. “And on earth,” the angels proclaimed, which is the lowest place in comparison with the heavens, “peace among men with whom He is pleased.” Not pleased in the sense that you earn His favor, you earn His pleasure, or you earn His peace. Ephesians 2:9 would blow that idea out of the water. No, peace here belongs to those whom God is pleased to give it. The peace of which the angels spoke here is the peace with God that results from salvation. Romans 5:1, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Through faith in the Messiah, who is the Prince of Peace, God and sinners are reconciled, Romans 5:10, “while we were [yet] enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son.” 2 Corinthians 5:18, God “reconciled us to Himself through Christ.”

So, there had been this promise of peace back in the days of Isaiah, who prophesied that a Prince of Peace would come into the world as a child. And now, we have this angelic choir proclaiming that God, the ever-faithful God, has kept His promise. The Prince of Peace had arrived. An offer of peace between God and man was now on the table. And this Child, the very Christ who is our peace, would bring peace and joy into this world by offering terms of peace to all of those who would turn to Him in saving faith. No wonder the angel said, back in verse 10, “I bring you good news of great joy.”

And then finally, our fifth heading, if you’re still with me and still taking notes, “An Unbroken Path.”


Look at verses 15-16. I’ll keep it brief. “When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, 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.’ So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger.” So, the angels who had appeared suddenly, had now just as suddenly gone away, returning back from where they came, heaven. And then, look at what comes next. The shepherds are shrugging their shoulders and saying, “Well, that was neat. I guess I’ll go back to work now.” “That was swell, I guess I’ll go back to sleep.” No, their response was to go immediately to Bethlehem, and to look for this Child.

Now, how they got there, we don’t know. What route they took, we don’t know. We just know they resolved to go straight to Bethlehem. They came to Bethlehem and they “found their way” it says, to the Messiah. The shepherds’ response was to go and see this infant Savior. And their resolve was to go see Him. And their resolve to see Him suggests that, though lowly in status they were, these shepherds were abundant in faith. These were devout men who believed in the true and living God. And they wanted to see the King who had just been born, the One promised back in Isaiah 9:6-7, the child who was born, the Son who was given. The One who was proclaimed through the words of various angels to different people, like Zacharias and Mary and Joseph, and now these shepherds, as the One who now lay in this manger.”

As He lay in that manger, what were the first little cooing sounds He made? The bible doesn’t say. What color was His hair? The bible doesn’t say. What color was His skin? The bible doesn’t say. But you know what the bible does say? In various places all over the scriptures that the One who was lying in this manger was and is the King of Kings. The Lord of Lords. The Lion of the tribe of Judah. The Lamb of God. The Savior of the world. And the Hope of all who would call on His name. This angel’s prophecy was confirmed. And these shepherds’ faith was verified. They came to Him. They beheld Him. And then, look at what verse 20 says, “The shepherds went back,” back to their fields, “glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.”

All that we’ve covered this morning, this is the true nativity scene, this really lays out for us the true meaning of Christmas. That the proclamation of peace, through this angel, to these shepherds, about this child who lay in that manger, this truly is “good news of great joy which will be for all the people.” As we’ve just seen, these lowly shepherds, verse 20, praised and rejoiced for all they had heard and seen that night. What about us here today? We’re now, 2,000 years down the road from these events. We’re on the other side of the cross. We know where the birth culminated, Bethlehem led to Calvary. We have so much familiarity with this story, an abundance of familiarity with the story for many of us. Does this story still cause you to praise and rejoice and to wonder? I pray it does. I praise God for His proclamation of peace, praise God for the proclamation that these shepherds received, and praise God for this proclamation that we can all cling to there in verse 14, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”

Let’s pray. Lord, we thank You again for this time in Your word. We thank You for the promise of peace, the proclamation of peace, and the hope that comes with the peace that we’ve been offered through our Savior, Jesus Christ. Thank You, Father, that You sent Your Son into the world, as a baby, in a manger, in Bethlehem, setting in motion a series of events, that would ultimately culminate in the cross and our hope of salvation. We give You thanks for this privilege to gather as Your people to learn of these familiar and powerful truths. May we take them and proclaim them ourselves to a lost and dying world. And help people around us who don’t know You to understand that there is hope, that there is peace. That it is found in the Prince of Peace, the Lord Jesus Christ. In whose name we pray. Amen