Good News of Great Joy

Luke 2:1-14
P. G. Mathew | Sunday, December 23, 2018
Copyright © 2018, P. G. Mathew
Language [Japanese]

“The angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord’” (Luke 2:10–11).

In his book The God Delusion, scientist Richard Dawkins says that those who believe in God are deceived.[1] That does not mean Dawkins is not a worshiper. He worships creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever (see Rom. 1:25). But the truth is, we are not ones deceived. The Bible speaks about the deceitfulness of sin. Not only that, the Bible also says that the people of this world are without God and without hope. Dr. Dawkins can preach only bad news and pessimism. Let me tell you, the mere chance material universe he believes cannot give us good news of great joy.

Today I bring you good news of great joy—news of our heavenly Father’s gift to us. This gift is his own Son. This gift is wrapped in flesh, wrapped in rags, wrapped in grave clothes, and finally, wrapped in eternal glory. During this Christmas season, many will unwrap gifts given by parents, friends, and relatives. Some gifts may disappoint us. Others will give us a little joy for a little season.

The gift that heaven gives us also needs unwrapping. In the eighth century BC, Isaiah prophesied, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of peace” (Isa. 9:6).

Friends, our great need is not for material things. We are in need of a divine person, one described by Professor John Murray as “the conjunction . . . of all that belongs to Godhead and all that belongs to manhood,” who was “‘in the likeness of sinful flesh’ (Rom. 8:3).” Murray says this one was “made of the seed of David according to the flesh” (Rom. 1:3), “made of a woman” (Gal. 4:4), “made in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:7), “manifested in the flesh” (1 Tim. 3:16).” Professor Murray concludes, “[Christ] came into the closest relation to sinful humanity that it was possible for him to come without thereby becoming himself sinful.”[2] As the apostle John declares, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory” (John 1:14).

This divine person was the firstborn child of the virgin Mary. The virgin birth is a distinctive essential Christian doctrine. And when we unwrap this gift, we will experience great and everlasting joy. This unwrapping calls for the assistance of the Holy Spirit and the full resources of our mind, will, and affections. Luke the historian received this glorious truth of the virgin’s Son from the virgin Mary herself while he was in Judea researching for his gospel.

We want to speak about three things:  the good news promised, the good news performed, and the good news proclaimed.

I. The Good News Promised

(Luke 1:26–38)The angel Gabriel was sent to a poor yet pious girl in her teens who lived in Nazareth of Galilee. The angel told Mary that she had found grace in the sight of God—grace that caused her to rejoice and be addressed as “blessed.” He said that she would be pregnant and give birth to a son, though she was a virgin. Mary then asked how a virgin could conceive without knowing a man. Gabriel told her that God the Holy Spirit would accomplish it.

Friends, God explains what is puzzling to man. Are you baffled by the miracles of creation ex nihilo, the virgin birth, the resurrection, the new heaven and new earth? The answer to all these puzzles and mysteries is God. God created all things. God caused the virgin to conceive. God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. God will raise us also up from the dead. And God will create a new heaven and a new earth.

“Nothing is impossible with God,” Gabriel told Mary, harking back to the Lord’s own words to Sarah: “Is there anything too hard for the Lord?” (Gen. 18:14). This is God’s explanation for all the miracles recorded in the Scriptures.

Unlike the aged Zechariah, the teenager Mary believed God’s word of promise, saying, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said” (Luke 1:38). She confessed what every believer must confess, that the triune God is Lord and we are his bondslaves. We are to surrender to God and do his will. In fact, Paul called himself “Paulos doulos Christou Iêsou,” “Paul, a bondslave of Christ Jesus.” Have you confessed with your mouth that Jesus is your Lord. Have you said with Mary, “Thy will be done in me”?

The son of Mary is the Son of God to whom is given the throne of David. He is the everlasting King. This Son will conquer all evil and usher in the kingdom of peace for all his people. In the Son, God is visiting his people to save them from all their enemies. This Son is the gift of God, the seed of the woman, who came to crush the head of the serpent. He is the seed of Abraham in whom all the families of the earth will be blessed, Jews and Gentiles. He is the seed of David. He is Jesus, the son of Mary.

God chose this name for him. Through Eve, a woman who was deceived, a curse came into the world. Through Mary, a woman who believed, a Son came into the world, bringing eternal blessings to all his people. He was, as John Murray says, the product of a supernatural begetting; he was a supernatural person; and he was supernaturally preserved from all defilement.[3]

Mary trusted God’s word in spite of what this virginal conception and birth could bring to her, including possible shame, slander, alienation, poverty, divorce, and even death by stoning. She trusted God to deal with any problems that would come about due to her faith in the promise of God.

Let me ask you: Do you trust God in spite of the trials it will surely bring? Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble. But rejoice! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

II. The Good News Performed

(Luke 2:1–7)

Centuries before, Micah had prophesied the exact location of the birth of the Messiah. He said, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times” (Mic. 5:2). That means Jesus Christ is eternal.

In the fullness of time, the eternal Son was to be born in Bethlehem because the Son of David must be born in the city of David. The supernatural person took upon himself perfect human nature. As Jesus himself declared, “Before Abraham was born, I am!” (John 8:58). Jesus is the “I Am who I Am” in human flesh (see Exod. 3:14).

It was God’s decree that the Messiah be born in Bethlehem. But how could a poor, pregnant girl from Nazareth, betrothed to Joseph, a very poor son of David, give birth to Jesus in Bethlehem, eighty miles south of Nazareth? God himself brought it to pass.

Caesar Augustus was emperor of Rome from 27 BC to 14 AD. He was born Gaius Octavian, the grandnephew of Julius Caesar, who adopted him as his son. (PGM) He later became the first emperor of Rome and was the architect of Pax Romana, having put an end to all civil wars. In 27 BC, the senate gave him the title Augustus, “The Exalted One,” which may also mean “Divine.” Called savior and lord by the people, Augustus was the most powerful person in the world at that time. Of his own free will, he sent out a decree that a census for taxation purposes should be taken in all the Roman Empire. In Judea, every person was required to go to the birthplace of his forefathers.

This decree of Caesar Augustus brought Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem, the city of David, for registration. This happened so that Jesus the Messiah could be born there in fulfillment of God’s word through Micah. Caesar Augustus, the emperor of the Roman Empire, gave a decree to fulfill the decree of God the Father, the Sovereign of the universe. In the same way, the decree of God was accomplished by Judas, the Pharisees, the scribes, the Sanhedrin, the high priests, and Pilate when they handed over Jesus Christ to be crucified for our salvation.

Caesar Augustus gave the external peace of Pax Romana. Yet the philosopher Epictetus said, “While the emperor may give peace from war on land and sea, he is unable to give . . . peace of heart, for which man yearns more than even for outward peace.”[4] God sent his Son in the fullness of time to give us this peace of heart. “The peace of God that transcends all human understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus,” said Paul (Phil. 4:7).

Joseph and Mary arrived early in Bethlehem. Soon after they arrived, she began to experience contractions, and the time came for her to give birth. They urgently began knocking on the doors of various homes in Bethlehem, looking for a room and privacy for the birth of this child. But no one wanted this couple to upset their ordered lives. Who wants to hear the cry of a newborn baby? Who wants to have an unclean woman in the house? Who wants to serve as a midwife to help and comfort the mother?

The people of Bethlehem behaved like the priest and the Levite, who passed on the other side when they saw the injured traveler left for dead on the road (Luke 10). These people had no room for Mary and her son. They did not want to get involved. John later spoke of this: “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him” (John 1:11).

This poor couple had a little home in Nazareth. But in Bethlehem they were homeless. Many years later Jesus would say, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head” (Luke 9:58). Yet, finally, he too found a place to lay his head—on the cross. Paul tells us, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (2 Cor. 8:9).

Finally, Jesus was born in a cave where the cattle were kept. Mother Mary herself wrapped him in rags and laid him in a manger. There lay God in the feeding trough. He became homeless that we might have a home in God, as later he promised, “Do not let your hearts be troubled . . . . In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you” (John 14:1–2).

III. The Good News Proclaimed

(Luke 2:8–20)

The most important event in the history of the world was the birth of the Son of God. Heaven itself announced this birth. Just as we send out birth announcements to friends and relatives, so God also announced the birth of his Son, Jesus, the son of David and the son of Mary.

To whom did he disclose this marvelous event? Not to Caesar Augustus the emperor or Herod the king or the Sanhedrin or even the high priest. The first shall become last and the last first. God chose to disclose this stupendous salvation event to the despised shepherds of Bethlehem, who were caring for the sheep to be sacrificed in the temple.

The orthodox Jews looked upon the shepherds as being ceremonially unclean. Shepherds were seen as liars and were forbidden from giving witness in a court. Yet God chose the lowly shepherds to hear the gospel from the angels. Listen, friends: in 1 Corinthians 1, we find the way God deals with human beings:

Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.” . . . Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? (1 Cor. 1:26–31; 20)

Through the angels, God unwrapped the gift of his Son to these nothings, the despised shepherds. So also he unwraps this gift to us, who are also nothings.

Who Is this Gift?

Who is this baby wrapped in rags and lying in the feeding trough in a cave?

1. He is the Holy One (Luke 1:35). Unlike us, Jesus was born sinless, by supernatural preservation, and he lived a sinless life so that he could save sinners.

2. He is the Son of God (Luke 1:32, 35). The pre-existent, eternal Son in his incarnation made himself poor by taking upon himself human nature. Isaiah calls him “Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Immanuel, Prince of Peace,” and so on (see Isa. 9:6, 7:14). Micah says he is the one “whose origins are from of old, from ancient times,” that is, from eternity (Mic. 5:2). He is the great I Am.

3. He is the Christ (Luke 2:11), the Messiah, the Anointed Deliverer promised in the Old Testament. He defeats all our enemies and sets the captives free. He binds the strong man, the devil, and sets us free and proclaims the Year of Jubilee that will have no end.

4. He is Lord (Luke 2:11). He alone is God and Sovereign. The one lying in a manger, wrapped in rags, is Yahweh, the God of Israel. As John Murray said, the Creator of all became creature and the immortal became mortal. God was put to sleep in the animals’ feeding trough.

5. He is the everlasting King (Luke 1:32–33), in fulfillment of the Davidic covenant. God promised David that one of his sons would become the eternal King. Isaiah says, “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end” (Isa. 9:7). Jesus rules forever over all. No one can be saved without fully embracing his absolute kingship. “Surrender to him and be saved” is the message of Gabriel.

6. He is the Savior (Luke 2:11). The Old Testament spoke of God as Savior. Mary praised him as “my Savior” (Luke 1:47). Mary was a sinner who needed a savior, and Mary’s son would save her from all her sins. Caesar was also called a savior, but he was impotent, being a sinner himself, to save people from their sins. This baby wrapped in rags and sleeping in heavenly peace was sent to save sinners. There is no other savior.

7. He is Jesus (Luke 1:31). His name means “the Lord saves.” This name was chosen, not by Mary or Joseph, but by God the Father himself. He is the greater Joshua, whose mission is to save his people from their sins (Matt. 1:21). And you are saved and I am saved. Praise the Lord!

Have You Opened this Gift?

Let me ask you: Are you one of his people he came to save? Then he will save you. God became man that he may die for our sins. He was crucified because the wages of sin is death. Jesus Christ, God/man, died in our place so that we sinners, enemies of God, might be reconciled to God and enjoy peace with God, peace with others, and peace within. Paul says, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21)—not just become righteousness, but the righteousness of God. Micah prophesied concerning this Messiah who would be born in Bethlehem, “And [Jesus] will be their peace” (Mic. 5:5). And he is our peace. Jesus Christ is our peace. He achieved this peace for us through the cross, as Paul says in Ephesians 2:14–18:

For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away [meaning Gentiles] and peace to those who were near [meaning Jews]. For through him we both have access to the Father by one {Holy] Spirit. (Eph. 2:14–18)

This peaceful, sleeping baby, wrapped in rags, would soon be wrapped in grave clothes. He had to die that we may live and die in peace. But he would also leave his grave clothes to be wrapped in glory. All of heaven, therefore, sang with great joy in the presence of God the Father: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those of God’s good pleasure” (Luke 2:14).

In time, this baby would reveal the glory of God as none had ever done before. Jesus prayed to his Father, “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do” (John 17:4). It is he who taught us to pray, “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.” The purpose of God, Isaiah said, would be fulfilled in this Messiah.

“Peace on earth among those of God’s good pleasure” means salvation through Christ comes to the elect of God by divine initiative through his Son, the only Savior. “His name is Jesus, for he shall save his people,” meaning the elect. If you are not his elect, you will spit on the face of Jesus by refusing to surrender to him. But let me tell you, God exalted him and gave him a name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, for the glory of God the Father.

The great fear due to our sin against God is replaced by great joy, hallelujah, which shall be to all his people—all who make room for Jesus in their hearts through repentance and saving faith, all who respond to this gospel as Mary and the despised shepherds did.

May God help us all to unwrap this gift package from heaven, which came to us in the fullness of time. It is the divine Person, the Holy One, the Son of God, Christ the Lord, the Eternal King, our Savior. His name is Jesus, the hope of this world. He is no longer wrapped in rags or grave clothes, but in glory, and is seated on a throne on the right hand of God. Soon he shall come again in glory to this earth to glorify his people and judge his enemies, as we read in Matthew 25:31–46.

Therefore, in conclusion, I plead with you to make room for him. He will take your miserable, confused, peaceless, disorganized, cursed life and save you and make you his sons and daughters. Receive him today in your heart, that you may join Mary and Joseph and the angels and the shepherds in glorifying and praising God with eternal praise.

In Luke 7, Jesus told the sinful woman, “Your sins are forgiven; go in peace.” He says the same to us: “Your sins are forgiven; go in peace.” To the woman caught in adultery he said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.” The publican prayed, “Have mercy upon me, a sinner!” And we read that he went home justified.

I say to you, your sins are forgiven; go in peace. May we all go in peace today to celebrate Christmas, the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the only Savior of the whole world.

 

[1] The premise of Dawkins’ book is expressed in his preface, where he writes, “The word ‘delusion’ in my title has disquieted some psychiatrists who regard it as a technical term, not to be bandied about. . . . But for now I am going to stick with ‘delusion’, and I need to justify my use of it. The Penguin English Dictionary defines a delusion as ‘a false belief or impression’. . . . The dictionary supplied with Microsoft Word defines a delusion as ‘a persistent false belief held in the face of strong contradictory evidence, especially as a symptom of psychiatric disorder’. The first part captures religious faith perfectly. As to whether it is a symptom of a psychiatric disorder, I am inclined to follow Robert M. Pirsig, author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, when he said, ‘When one person suffers from a delusion, it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called Religion.’ If this book works as I intend, religious readers who open it will be atheists when they put it down.” Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006), 5.

[2] John Murray, Collected Writings, vol. 2, Systematic Theology (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1977), 132. Murray also expresses the absolute necessity of believing in the virgin birth in his essay, “William Barclay and the Virgin Birth,” Collected Writings, vol. 1, The Claims of Truth (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1976), 340–343.

[3] John Murray, Collected Writings, vol. 2, Systematic Theology (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1977), 132.

[4] Norval Geldenhuys, Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, New International Commentary on the New Testament series (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979), 112.