Last updated on August 18, 2022
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
21 And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
“Hope” seems to be in short supply this year. We have been surrounded by so much pain and suffering, not only from COVID and untreated sickness, but also as we see people lose their jobs, their businesses, homes, and, at times, their sanity. Racial tensions and opportunistic anarchists set our cities on fire, and we endured an election that seemed to exacerbate, rather than resolve, many tensions. Massive hurricanes and forest fires, dramatic increases in drug overdoses and divorce, and high profile crises in Churches, politics, academia…need I go on? So many lost opportunities and dreams and an onslaught of bad new; it makes you want to just curl up in bed and say, “wake me up when it’s over.”
For over 4 centuries, the Jews had endured exile and a difficult return to their homeland, only to be conquered again by the Romans. The prophets were silent and God seemed to have forgotten them. While some still had hope in the promised Messiah, we can imagine that many had just given up. They had wanted God to show up in a mighty way and deliver them from their political enemies. But since the days of the prophet Malachi, there had been virtually nothing from God or His messengers.
That was all about to change. The time had finally come for God to put on the big show. It was time to send his Son to rescue his people from their sins. His son would bear the burdens and make the sacrifice that no other human could bear. God would become incarnate: fully human and yet also fully God.
The very idea of such an action was scandalous. How could – and why would – an eternal, unchanging, all-powerful, all knowing Being choose to become so vulnerable and to subject Himself to the same trials and tribulations of human life? He would have to face every temptation of human existence, every limitation of the human body, and he would have to suffer and die. What God would choose to do such a thing?
While trying to ascertain the intentions of God always includes some mystery, the answer to the “why” question is actually quite simple: love. God loves us unconditionally – without reservation, or qualification, or limitation. As the Jesus Storybook Bible describes it, it is “God’s Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always, and Forever Love.”
Hope will always be in short supply when we take our eyes off that. It is in Christ – in this little baby boy – that we must place our hope. I’m no enemy of vaccines and science, or of good governments, just economics, etc. But these earthly things must necessarily fail. If we place our hope in them we will inevitably run into a 2020 (and likely, a 2021) that exposes the weakness of these things. They cannot offer what Jesus offers. They cannot truly save us in any permanent sense. And yet it seems more plausible to the modern mind to have hope in vaccines then to place it in a baby born in a manger over 2000 years ago. I get it. The very suggestion seems preposterous if not for what Jesus would go on to do. His ministry, death, and resurrection, changes everything. He would permanently overcome the sting of death and the power of sin. Eternal salvation would now be available to those who chose to follow Jesus and believe in His death and resurrection. Pandemics and natural disasters will happen again, and social and political tensions can never be resolved permanently. But there is no scenario in which Jesus has to die again. His victory on the Cross is final.
There is so much more to reflect on in this account of the first Christmas, but that hope is what I wanted to get across first. We could talk about how historically detailed this passage is and how Luke is so careful to show Jesus’ humanity and how He fulfills Old Testament prophesies. We could talk about how God uses the timing of Caesar’s census to bring about Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem as prophesied in Micah 5. The shepherds’ role is also fascinating. This is how we know that Jesus wasn’t born in the winter, but more likely in the Spring. December 25th was a date chosen in the days of Rome, possibly meant to replace the pagan festival of “Saturnalia.” It’s also wonderful to imagine the angel chorus appearing to the Shepherds in the fields. God announces the incarnation to the lowliest people. His angels proclaim to the shepherds that THE Shepherd has been born! Come see Him!
This is what we have been preparing all of Advent for. But it’s also a reminder of Christ’s Second Coming, which will not be in a manger; nor will it take place in a small, desert town. He will come again in Glory and in a way so that every eye will see and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
In closing, I want to recommend a movie for you and your family that I cannot say enough about. It is The Star, an animated film that came out in 2017. Like many Christmas movies, it gets the Wise Men there too soon, but the whole presentation – especially of Mary and Joseph – is so beautiful. It captures the glory and peril of this world-shaping moment in a way that needs to be seen.
I’ve also shared the collects for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day below.
There is hope in Christ. We pray that He returns soon. Come, Lord Jesus!
Merry Christmas!
