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The Meaning Of The First Christmas-Luke 2:8-20
Christmas Service at Calvary Boulder Valley in Louisville Colorado. Pastor Brent Lewis’ teaching on December 25 2022 titled ”The Meaning Of The First Christmas-Luke 2:8-20”
Visit us on the web at www.calvarybouldervalley.com
i. A.G.
a. Communication Can Be Difficult (Illus.) – I don’t know about you, but after preaching & teaching the Word for 34 years, I have discovered that communication can be very challenging. It is very easy to be misunderstood. I have been known to experience a slip of the tongue on an occasion or two. Kind of like the Sunday School teacher.
i. Round John Virgin - A kindergarten Sunday school teacher had her class draw a nativity scene. One youngster had done a very fine job in drawing the baby in a manger, with Mary and Joseph and the animals; but the teacher noticed with anxiety that he had drawn a little fat man right beside the manger. She asked, “Jimmy, that isn’t Santa, is it?” Jimmy answered indignantly, “Of course not, that’s Round John Virgin.”
b. Some slips of communication can be easily, if not humorously, overlooked. However, when it comes to communicating the meaning of Christmas there are lots of people that have different meanings when it comes to the reason for this time of year. That can create problems which can make The First Christmas misunderstood.
ii. Intro. I want to take the next few moments and go back to the beginning where the first message of Christmas was clearly communicated. This will help us to understand The Meaning of the First Christmas
iii. Preview
a. Declaration to the Shepherds (Luke 2:8-14)
b. Discovery by the Shepherds (Luke 2:15-20)
iv.
a. Declaration to the Shepherds (2:8-14)
i. The Place of the Declaration (2:8)
Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
1. Time of Year – Many Christmas tales show Baby Jesus being born in the winter, but that probably wasn’t the case. Shepherds didn’t typically stand out in the freezing snow to feed their sheep. This was more during the late fall than winter. Some people speculate that He was born during the feast of Trumpets because there are other events in Jesus’ life that coordinated with the feasts of Israel. But we don’t know for sure.
a. *Feast of Trumpets – It would be fitting for the Feast of Trumpets to announce Jesus’ birth because the rapture will be accompanied by the sound of the trumpet when Jesus will meet us in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:16).
2. Temple Shepherds – Bethlehem was known for housing the sheep that were used for the temple sacrifices
a. Shepherd’s Reputation – Luke takes us from the dirty manger of Jesus’ birth to the nearby dirty fields and the lowly shepherds who are gathered together to watch all of their flocks.
b. Shepherds were outcasts. They were not really trusted among the people. They were not able to give testimony in a court of law because they were not trusted. Because they worked with dirty sheep, they were not able to participate in the worship at the Temple like everyone else did. They were considered ceremonially unclean. They were not among the Who’s who in Bethlehem. They were the Who’s That group… And these were the people whom God first sent His angels to.
c. (Question) Why Shepherds? – Why then would God want to send His angels to dirty, isolated, humble shepherds?
i. Scripture Doesn’t Gloss-Over Heroes - When you look at ancient literature, people who are making up stories always portray their heroes in the best possible light. They always associate their names with the most famous people of their time. They don’t mention any of their flaws or shortcomings. But when you come to the Bible, you realize that is the very thing that God is trying to showcase here. The humble circumstances of having Jesus born in a manger. And then having the first people who hear about the birth of the Messiah were shepherds of all people. All of this points to the truth and reality of the Bible recording something that actually took place. God wanted the first people to hear about it were the social outcast, the last on people’s minds and Christmas card lists, those who were unclean. The unclean shepherds are a picture of you and me.
d. Shepherds, A Symbol of Humanity - The Shepherds that day were a symbol of humanity on our own without God. They were not able to worship at the temple, they were unclean and not able to come into God’s presence. That’s the first group of people God wanted to hear the message of Salvation in His Son. You may not believe it, but that’s how the Bible sees us. The Shepherds are people just like us. This may sound insulting, but that is how the Bible puts it.
i. Isaiah 64:6 – but we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags.
1. Righteousness – “Our goodness.” All the good deeds we have ever done are considered like filthy rags. Why? Because we like to compare them to each other, the Bible compares us to one person, that is God.
3. Notice how God not only uses angels to appear to humble shepherds, but God also interrupts life.
ii. Angelic Manifestation (2:9) And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” Right in the middle of shepherds watching over their flocks an angel appears with the glory of God shining around all of them.
1. Gabriel – Most believe that this is the Angel Gabriel. Why? Because throughout the Bible you see Gabriel as the angel who made special announcements. He was the one angel who loved to tell good news. It’s like he was aching to share with mankind the cool things that God was going to do. It’s not gossip, but he definitely was given a cool assignment in many cases. Consider that:
a. Gabriel Appeared to Daniel Announcing Exactly when Jesus would be Born
b. Gabriel Announced to Zecharias that his son would be the forerunner of the Messiah
c. Gabriel announced to Mary that she would give birth to Jesus
iii. Angelic Presentation (2:10-11) - Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people… 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
1. I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. . 11 For there - The Angel said that this is “good tidings of great joy which will be to all people,” that means it applies to everyone! He wants us to know and understand that what he is about to share 1) Comes from God. 2) Is for everyone who will accept it. It will work powerfully in every single life that is willing to acknowledge it is true. It’s not True for you, but not for me. That is a self-refuting statement. The Christian life effectively works in every single person who accepts Jesus Christ.
a. G.K. Chesterton Quote – “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.”
2. Christ, the Lord - 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
a. God’s announcement was perfectly fit to the right need of mankind. God knows what we need before we are aware of it.
b. Steve Jobs (illus.) Steve Jobs was known as an intense genius who had the capacity to know what people wanted before they knew. So when he came out with Apple products, the world went crazy for them. If Steve Jobs could know what the world would want regarding technology, how much do you think God knows what His own creation would need regarding salvation before we would know?
i. If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator.
ii. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist.
iii. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist.
iv. If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer.
v. But our greatest need was forgiveness, from our sin, our rebellion, and pride so God sent us a Savior.
c. Message Broken Down - That is the message of Christmas that was delivered to the Shepherds. But the way it was delivered may sound hard to believe to some. Let’s break it down for a second:
i. Savior – Deliverer, Redeemer
ii. Christ – Messiah. Anointed king
iii. Lord – Primary title for God, meaning master.
iv. Born in a Manger - The angel was telling them that God the King Who would save the world was just now born in a manger!! A manger was a feeding trough for animals. It was infested with flys, with the smell of animal excrement. Cows were lowing, sheep were bleating, and the Baby Jesus was crying. Yes, Jesus cried as a baby. What baby doesn’t cry? This was encouraging because it shows us that we have a God who doesn’t mind hardships like we go through. He knows what it’s like to be born on the wrong side of the tracks, on the wrong side of society. Jesus loves the unlovable and He is Savior of the Shepherds as well as you and I.
d. Shepherds’ Thoughts - The message seemed improbable and impossible, but easily verifiable. All they had to do was to check it out for themselves.
i. Verify the Message from a Manger - There may be some of you who think the message of a manger is improbable and impossible today as well. The manger still speaks today.
ii. Message Seems Improbable - Maybe you have heard it for many years from friends and family. Maybe some of the friends and family have been a great representative of Jesus or not. But it doesn’t change the essential message, and all you have to do is check it out for yourself.
1. Psalm 34:8 – Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in Him.
2. It is each person’s responsibility to experience for themselves if God is as good, as real, as life-changing as others have said He is.
e. Let’s look at what the angels are proclaiming now.
iv. Angelic Proclamation (2:13-14) And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
1. Listen to the way the NLT says it. Luke 2:13-14 NLT - Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
2. Along with the First Christmas is the First Christmas Carol – Actually, this is the first Christmas saying, not singing. The Angels are proclaiming and praising God!
a. Literally, the meaning of this first Christmas proclamation is, “Peace on earth towards men of good will,” toward men who are in God’s will. The angel is saying that God is pleased with those who are in His will.
b. Question – Do you know what is God’s will this morning?
3. John 6:29 – This is the work/will of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent. Jesus says that God’s will is to believe in Himself, Jesus. This is how it works.
a. Practical Belief - If you believe on Him whom the Father has sent, you will indeed be one who, regardless of what’s happening around you externally, will experience a peace in your heart internally. Don’t let anyone take that peace from you by laying a guilt trip of works on you, attempting to make you feel like you’re not enough or haven’t done enough. Instead, say, “Thank You, Lord, for the Good News of great joy that unto me is born a Savior. I embrace this, and I thank You for the peace I experience not because of what I’ve done, but because of what You did in coming to earth to die for me.”
i. I’m not worried about what others think if I burn the turkey this year or not.
ii. I’m not worried about people telling me I need to have this or that to have a Merry Christmas this year. I have peace with God because I have the Prince of Peace within my heart.
iii. That is the message of the First Christmas.
4. Shepherds weren’t content with hearsay. They wanted to discover the truth of what was said for themselves. In this way, they were much like the Bereans in Acts 17:11.
b. Discovery by the Shepherds (2:15-20)
So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. 17 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. 18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.
i. Shepherd’s 3 Responses – We are going to see 3 Responses of the Shepherds to the truth of the First Christmas.
1. #1 Determination (2:15) - So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.”
a. They knew that this was no ordinary message. They knew that God had spoken to them and they decided to act upon it.
i. Question – Can you tell if God is speaking to you?
ii. Truth and Consequences - The worst thing in the world for us to do is to hear the truth and ignore it. And to do nothing is a choice against following the truth.
iii. There are consequences to ignoring truth.
1. Hebrews 3:15 - Remember what it says: “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled.”*
iv. During the winter of early 2007, a 50-year old man was found drown/frozen to death in a Rhode Island pond. Evidently the man had been walking on the pond and ventured onto a section where the ice was too thin to support him. One of the sad aspects to the story was the man had traveled hundreds of yards away from the section of the pond that was regularly monitored and validated by park officials as being OK to skate and walk on, with it being clearly marked with signs and buoys that only danger awaited anyone who went beyond its established perimeters. Officials at the scene commented that it was not uncommon for the warning signs to be ignored by people, with them concluding “It’s kind of difficult to regulate human behavior.”
b. Shepherds Verified the Message - The shepherds were determined to verify if what they had heard was indeed true. We should be willing to do the same.
i. Pontius Pilate said, “What is truth?” for thousands of years many people, wise men, religions, cults, rulers, and others have sought to understand.
1. Jesus Christ came to this earth as God in the flesh. He died on the cross for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day.
ii. Truth corresponds to reality. The Bible corresponds to reality, therefore the Bible is true. When the Bible makes a statement, I discover that the statements made are true. As I build my life on them, I discover the promises that God makes in the Bible applied to my life. But this only happens as I am determined to know and walk in the truth.
2. #2 Declaration (2:16-17) And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. 17 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. 18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
a. One of the by-products of discovering the truth is that you can’t help but want to share it with others.
b. The Shepherds saw the Baby that would one day become a bearer of the burden of your and my sin upon Himself.
i. 1 Peter 2:24 – He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By His wounds you are healed.
c. That is why we are here today to share and celebrate the Greatest News of all. We have been forgiven and delivered from the penalty, power, and presence of sin.
d. We are not able to save ourselves.
i. No one can redeem his brother
ii. We are not as good as we’d like to think.
iii. Sin is real. The wages of sin is death which is eternal separation from God. Salvation is made possible by Jesus.
e. Does God Send People to Hell? - If God exists there are only 2 choices for us – You either want to be with Him or you don’t want to be with Him. God will not force you against your will into His presence. It’s similar to a woman being pursued by a man with whom they didn’t want to have a relationship with. Time after time they rejected his advances. Suppose this man continues to pursue you and continues to ask you out time after time until you say, “Look, I only like you as, “a friend.” What if he doesn’t accept this answer and he says, “Well in that case, I am going to force you to love me.” Can any man force a woman to love them? No. Love-by definition- must be given freely. So now, if he truly loved you, he would….leave you alone. That is what God does. He continues to reach out to us over and over again in many forms – you may hear someone tell you that Jesus loves you, you may turn to a Bible teaching radio station or Christian music station where they are talking about the love of God. You may read a bumper sticker that talks about God’s love and salvation – these are God’s ways of reaching out to you. BUT if we continue to reject Him time and time again, He will eventually respect that because He loves us so much that He gives us up to our own desire, He gives us the distance from Him that we communicate by constantly saying no, constantly avoiding the Christians, constantly turning off the Christian radio. And that is the very definition of hell. It is the separation from God. But right now while you have breath, you have the chance to change your mind. But after this life, you won’t. Heaven is being in the presence of God. God loves you too much to force you into heaven against your will.
f. Norman Geisler Quote – “God has provided enough evidence in this life to convince anyone willing to believe. Yet He has also left some ambiguity so as not to compel the unwilling.”
3. #3 Dedication (2:18-20) Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.
a. Mary pondered the significance of what was taking place right before her eyes.
b. This is the experience we claim as believers in Jesus Christ. We have heard and we have seen firsthand all that God has told us about Himself in His word.
c. Review
i. Angelic Declaration – God sent a message of hope of deliverance and salvation to all men. It wasn’t just true for some and not for others.
1. It was first shared with those who were not able to come to God on their own because of who they were: Shepherds.
ii. Shepherds’ Response
1. Determination – To make sure what they had been told was correct. They wanted to experience it for themselves. And they found it was true.
2. Declaration – Once they had discovered God’s Salvation in Jesus, they proclaimed it to everyone, and people were amazed.
3. Dedication – Finally the shepherds returned glorifying God because they experienced the truth just as they were told.
v. Conclusion
i. Leonard Cohen’s Broken Hallelujah (Illus.) To those who are familiar with him, the poet-singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen died in November 2016. For many people Cohen became famous with his moving and biblically-infused song "Broken Hallelujah," especially with one of its last lines—"I'll stand before the lord of song with nothing on my tongue but hallelujah." Though he would often protest that he (in his own words) "wasn't really a religious man," Cohen seemed unable to sing or speak for very long without bringing up God. Shortly before his death, in an interview with the New Yorker, Cohen said, "I know there's a spiritual aspect to everybody's life, whether they want to cop to it or not. It's there, you can feel it …" Although Cohen primarily identified as a Jew, he was drawn to the person and work of Jesus. Commenting on his song "The Captain," Cohen said, "What I mean to say [in this song] is that there are many things about Christianity that attract me. The figure of Jesus is extremely attractive. It's difficult not to fall in love with that person."
ii. Today you can experience the right message and experience the heart of Christmas just as the shepherds did because, like Leonard Cohen, while they fell in love with the person of Jesus Christ. I don’t know where Mr. Cohen is today. But I can tell you where you can be if you receive the first gift of Christmas from God to you, the salvation of Jesus Christ.
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By Pastor Brent LewisChristmas Service at Calvary Boulder Valley in Louisville Colorado. Pastor Brent Lewis’ teaching on December 25 2022 titled ”The Meaning Of The First Christmas-Luke 2:8-20”
Visit us on the web at www.calvarybouldervalley.com
i. A.G.
a. Communication Can Be Difficult (Illus.) – I don’t know about you, but after preaching & teaching the Word for 34 years, I have discovered that communication can be very challenging. It is very easy to be misunderstood. I have been known to experience a slip of the tongue on an occasion or two. Kind of like the Sunday School teacher.
i. Round John Virgin - A kindergarten Sunday school teacher had her class draw a nativity scene. One youngster had done a very fine job in drawing the baby in a manger, with Mary and Joseph and the animals; but the teacher noticed with anxiety that he had drawn a little fat man right beside the manger. She asked, “Jimmy, that isn’t Santa, is it?” Jimmy answered indignantly, “Of course not, that’s Round John Virgin.”
b. Some slips of communication can be easily, if not humorously, overlooked. However, when it comes to communicating the meaning of Christmas there are lots of people that have different meanings when it comes to the reason for this time of year. That can create problems which can make The First Christmas misunderstood.
ii. Intro. I want to take the next few moments and go back to the beginning where the first message of Christmas was clearly communicated. This will help us to understand The Meaning of the First Christmas
iii. Preview
a. Declaration to the Shepherds (Luke 2:8-14)
b. Discovery by the Shepherds (Luke 2:15-20)
iv.
a. Declaration to the Shepherds (2:8-14)
i. The Place of the Declaration (2:8)
Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
1. Time of Year – Many Christmas tales show Baby Jesus being born in the winter, but that probably wasn’t the case. Shepherds didn’t typically stand out in the freezing snow to feed their sheep. This was more during the late fall than winter. Some people speculate that He was born during the feast of Trumpets because there are other events in Jesus’ life that coordinated with the feasts of Israel. But we don’t know for sure.
a. *Feast of Trumpets – It would be fitting for the Feast of Trumpets to announce Jesus’ birth because the rapture will be accompanied by the sound of the trumpet when Jesus will meet us in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:16).
2. Temple Shepherds – Bethlehem was known for housing the sheep that were used for the temple sacrifices
a. Shepherd’s Reputation – Luke takes us from the dirty manger of Jesus’ birth to the nearby dirty fields and the lowly shepherds who are gathered together to watch all of their flocks.
b. Shepherds were outcasts. They were not really trusted among the people. They were not able to give testimony in a court of law because they were not trusted. Because they worked with dirty sheep, they were not able to participate in the worship at the Temple like everyone else did. They were considered ceremonially unclean. They were not among the Who’s who in Bethlehem. They were the Who’s That group… And these were the people whom God first sent His angels to.
c. (Question) Why Shepherds? – Why then would God want to send His angels to dirty, isolated, humble shepherds?
i. Scripture Doesn’t Gloss-Over Heroes - When you look at ancient literature, people who are making up stories always portray their heroes in the best possible light. They always associate their names with the most famous people of their time. They don’t mention any of their flaws or shortcomings. But when you come to the Bible, you realize that is the very thing that God is trying to showcase here. The humble circumstances of having Jesus born in a manger. And then having the first people who hear about the birth of the Messiah were shepherds of all people. All of this points to the truth and reality of the Bible recording something that actually took place. God wanted the first people to hear about it were the social outcast, the last on people’s minds and Christmas card lists, those who were unclean. The unclean shepherds are a picture of you and me.
d. Shepherds, A Symbol of Humanity - The Shepherds that day were a symbol of humanity on our own without God. They were not able to worship at the temple, they were unclean and not able to come into God’s presence. That’s the first group of people God wanted to hear the message of Salvation in His Son. You may not believe it, but that’s how the Bible sees us. The Shepherds are people just like us. This may sound insulting, but that is how the Bible puts it.
i. Isaiah 64:6 – but we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags.
1. Righteousness – “Our goodness.” All the good deeds we have ever done are considered like filthy rags. Why? Because we like to compare them to each other, the Bible compares us to one person, that is God.
3. Notice how God not only uses angels to appear to humble shepherds, but God also interrupts life.
ii. Angelic Manifestation (2:9) And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” Right in the middle of shepherds watching over their flocks an angel appears with the glory of God shining around all of them.
1. Gabriel – Most believe that this is the Angel Gabriel. Why? Because throughout the Bible you see Gabriel as the angel who made special announcements. He was the one angel who loved to tell good news. It’s like he was aching to share with mankind the cool things that God was going to do. It’s not gossip, but he definitely was given a cool assignment in many cases. Consider that:
a. Gabriel Appeared to Daniel Announcing Exactly when Jesus would be Born
b. Gabriel Announced to Zecharias that his son would be the forerunner of the Messiah
c. Gabriel announced to Mary that she would give birth to Jesus
iii. Angelic Presentation (2:10-11) - Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people… 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
1. I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. . 11 For there - The Angel said that this is “good tidings of great joy which will be to all people,” that means it applies to everyone! He wants us to know and understand that what he is about to share 1) Comes from God. 2) Is for everyone who will accept it. It will work powerfully in every single life that is willing to acknowledge it is true. It’s not True for you, but not for me. That is a self-refuting statement. The Christian life effectively works in every single person who accepts Jesus Christ.
a. G.K. Chesterton Quote – “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.”
2. Christ, the Lord - 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
a. God’s announcement was perfectly fit to the right need of mankind. God knows what we need before we are aware of it.
b. Steve Jobs (illus.) Steve Jobs was known as an intense genius who had the capacity to know what people wanted before they knew. So when he came out with Apple products, the world went crazy for them. If Steve Jobs could know what the world would want regarding technology, how much do you think God knows what His own creation would need regarding salvation before we would know?
i. If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator.
ii. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist.
iii. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist.
iv. If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer.
v. But our greatest need was forgiveness, from our sin, our rebellion, and pride so God sent us a Savior.
c. Message Broken Down - That is the message of Christmas that was delivered to the Shepherds. But the way it was delivered may sound hard to believe to some. Let’s break it down for a second:
i. Savior – Deliverer, Redeemer
ii. Christ – Messiah. Anointed king
iii. Lord – Primary title for God, meaning master.
iv. Born in a Manger - The angel was telling them that God the King Who would save the world was just now born in a manger!! A manger was a feeding trough for animals. It was infested with flys, with the smell of animal excrement. Cows were lowing, sheep were bleating, and the Baby Jesus was crying. Yes, Jesus cried as a baby. What baby doesn’t cry? This was encouraging because it shows us that we have a God who doesn’t mind hardships like we go through. He knows what it’s like to be born on the wrong side of the tracks, on the wrong side of society. Jesus loves the unlovable and He is Savior of the Shepherds as well as you and I.
d. Shepherds’ Thoughts - The message seemed improbable and impossible, but easily verifiable. All they had to do was to check it out for themselves.
i. Verify the Message from a Manger - There may be some of you who think the message of a manger is improbable and impossible today as well. The manger still speaks today.
ii. Message Seems Improbable - Maybe you have heard it for many years from friends and family. Maybe some of the friends and family have been a great representative of Jesus or not. But it doesn’t change the essential message, and all you have to do is check it out for yourself.
1. Psalm 34:8 – Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in Him.
2. It is each person’s responsibility to experience for themselves if God is as good, as real, as life-changing as others have said He is.
e. Let’s look at what the angels are proclaiming now.
iv. Angelic Proclamation (2:13-14) And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
1. Listen to the way the NLT says it. Luke 2:13-14 NLT - Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
2. Along with the First Christmas is the First Christmas Carol – Actually, this is the first Christmas saying, not singing. The Angels are proclaiming and praising God!
a. Literally, the meaning of this first Christmas proclamation is, “Peace on earth towards men of good will,” toward men who are in God’s will. The angel is saying that God is pleased with those who are in His will.
b. Question – Do you know what is God’s will this morning?
3. John 6:29 – This is the work/will of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent. Jesus says that God’s will is to believe in Himself, Jesus. This is how it works.
a. Practical Belief - If you believe on Him whom the Father has sent, you will indeed be one who, regardless of what’s happening around you externally, will experience a peace in your heart internally. Don’t let anyone take that peace from you by laying a guilt trip of works on you, attempting to make you feel like you’re not enough or haven’t done enough. Instead, say, “Thank You, Lord, for the Good News of great joy that unto me is born a Savior. I embrace this, and I thank You for the peace I experience not because of what I’ve done, but because of what You did in coming to earth to die for me.”
i. I’m not worried about what others think if I burn the turkey this year or not.
ii. I’m not worried about people telling me I need to have this or that to have a Merry Christmas this year. I have peace with God because I have the Prince of Peace within my heart.
iii. That is the message of the First Christmas.
4. Shepherds weren’t content with hearsay. They wanted to discover the truth of what was said for themselves. In this way, they were much like the Bereans in Acts 17:11.
b. Discovery by the Shepherds (2:15-20)
So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. 17 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. 18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.
i. Shepherd’s 3 Responses – We are going to see 3 Responses of the Shepherds to the truth of the First Christmas.
1. #1 Determination (2:15) - So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.”
a. They knew that this was no ordinary message. They knew that God had spoken to them and they decided to act upon it.
i. Question – Can you tell if God is speaking to you?
ii. Truth and Consequences - The worst thing in the world for us to do is to hear the truth and ignore it. And to do nothing is a choice against following the truth.
iii. There are consequences to ignoring truth.
1. Hebrews 3:15 - Remember what it says: “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled.”*
iv. During the winter of early 2007, a 50-year old man was found drown/frozen to death in a Rhode Island pond. Evidently the man had been walking on the pond and ventured onto a section where the ice was too thin to support him. One of the sad aspects to the story was the man had traveled hundreds of yards away from the section of the pond that was regularly monitored and validated by park officials as being OK to skate and walk on, with it being clearly marked with signs and buoys that only danger awaited anyone who went beyond its established perimeters. Officials at the scene commented that it was not uncommon for the warning signs to be ignored by people, with them concluding “It’s kind of difficult to regulate human behavior.”
b. Shepherds Verified the Message - The shepherds were determined to verify if what they had heard was indeed true. We should be willing to do the same.
i. Pontius Pilate said, “What is truth?” for thousands of years many people, wise men, religions, cults, rulers, and others have sought to understand.
1. Jesus Christ came to this earth as God in the flesh. He died on the cross for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day.
ii. Truth corresponds to reality. The Bible corresponds to reality, therefore the Bible is true. When the Bible makes a statement, I discover that the statements made are true. As I build my life on them, I discover the promises that God makes in the Bible applied to my life. But this only happens as I am determined to know and walk in the truth.
2. #2 Declaration (2:16-17) And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. 17 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. 18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
a. One of the by-products of discovering the truth is that you can’t help but want to share it with others.
b. The Shepherds saw the Baby that would one day become a bearer of the burden of your and my sin upon Himself.
i. 1 Peter 2:24 – He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By His wounds you are healed.
c. That is why we are here today to share and celebrate the Greatest News of all. We have been forgiven and delivered from the penalty, power, and presence of sin.
d. We are not able to save ourselves.
i. No one can redeem his brother
ii. We are not as good as we’d like to think.
iii. Sin is real. The wages of sin is death which is eternal separation from God. Salvation is made possible by Jesus.
e. Does God Send People to Hell? - If God exists there are only 2 choices for us – You either want to be with Him or you don’t want to be with Him. God will not force you against your will into His presence. It’s similar to a woman being pursued by a man with whom they didn’t want to have a relationship with. Time after time they rejected his advances. Suppose this man continues to pursue you and continues to ask you out time after time until you say, “Look, I only like you as, “a friend.” What if he doesn’t accept this answer and he says, “Well in that case, I am going to force you to love me.” Can any man force a woman to love them? No. Love-by definition- must be given freely. So now, if he truly loved you, he would….leave you alone. That is what God does. He continues to reach out to us over and over again in many forms – you may hear someone tell you that Jesus loves you, you may turn to a Bible teaching radio station or Christian music station where they are talking about the love of God. You may read a bumper sticker that talks about God’s love and salvation – these are God’s ways of reaching out to you. BUT if we continue to reject Him time and time again, He will eventually respect that because He loves us so much that He gives us up to our own desire, He gives us the distance from Him that we communicate by constantly saying no, constantly avoiding the Christians, constantly turning off the Christian radio. And that is the very definition of hell. It is the separation from God. But right now while you have breath, you have the chance to change your mind. But after this life, you won’t. Heaven is being in the presence of God. God loves you too much to force you into heaven against your will.
f. Norman Geisler Quote – “God has provided enough evidence in this life to convince anyone willing to believe. Yet He has also left some ambiguity so as not to compel the unwilling.”
3. #3 Dedication (2:18-20) Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.
a. Mary pondered the significance of what was taking place right before her eyes.
b. This is the experience we claim as believers in Jesus Christ. We have heard and we have seen firsthand all that God has told us about Himself in His word.
c. Review
i. Angelic Declaration – God sent a message of hope of deliverance and salvation to all men. It wasn’t just true for some and not for others.
1. It was first shared with those who were not able to come to God on their own because of who they were: Shepherds.
ii. Shepherds’ Response
1. Determination – To make sure what they had been told was correct. They wanted to experience it for themselves. And they found it was true.
2. Declaration – Once they had discovered God’s Salvation in Jesus, they proclaimed it to everyone, and people were amazed.
3. Dedication – Finally the shepherds returned glorifying God because they experienced the truth just as they were told.
v. Conclusion
i. Leonard Cohen’s Broken Hallelujah (Illus.) To those who are familiar with him, the poet-singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen died in November 2016. For many people Cohen became famous with his moving and biblically-infused song "Broken Hallelujah," especially with one of its last lines—"I'll stand before the lord of song with nothing on my tongue but hallelujah." Though he would often protest that he (in his own words) "wasn't really a religious man," Cohen seemed unable to sing or speak for very long without bringing up God. Shortly before his death, in an interview with the New Yorker, Cohen said, "I know there's a spiritual aspect to everybody's life, whether they want to cop to it or not. It's there, you can feel it …" Although Cohen primarily identified as a Jew, he was drawn to the person and work of Jesus. Commenting on his song "The Captain," Cohen said, "What I mean to say [in this song] is that there are many things about Christianity that attract me. The figure of Jesus is extremely attractive. It's difficult not to fall in love with that person."
ii. Today you can experience the right message and experience the heart of Christmas just as the shepherds did because, like Leonard Cohen, while they fell in love with the person of Jesus Christ. I don’t know where Mr. Cohen is today. But I can tell you where you can be if you receive the first gift of Christmas from God to you, the salvation of Jesus Christ.