Good News of Great Joy

“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, the brilliant scientist Richard Dawkins says that those who believe in God are deceived. That does not mean Dawkins himself is not a worshiper. He worships creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever (cf. Romans 1:25). But the truth is, we are not the deluded ones. The Bible speaks about the deceitfulness of sin. Not only that, the Bible also says that the people of this world who are without God also are without hope. Dr. Dawkins can preach only bad news and pessimism. A mere material universe cannot give us good news.

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

The gift that heaven gives us also needs unwrapping. In the eighth century B.C., Isaiah prophesied, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given . . . the Prince of peace” (Is. 9:6).

Our 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) . . . ‘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).” Murray concludes, “[Christ] came into the closest relation to sinful humanity that it was possible for him to come without thereby becoming himself sinful” (John Murray, Collected Writings of John Murray, Volume 2: Systematic Theology[Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1977], 132). As the apostle John declares, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14).

This divine person was the firstborn child of the virgin Mary. The virgin birth is a distinctive Christian doctrine. And when we unwrap this gift, we will experience great, 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 researching for his gospel in Judea.

We want to speak about three things:
The Good News Promised
The Good News Performed
The Good News Proclaimed

I. The Good News Promised (Luke 1:26-38)

The great angel Gabriel was sent to a very poor yet pious girl in her early 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 become 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 (Luke 1:34-35).

God explains what is puzzling to man. Are you baffled by the miracles of creation, the virgin birth, the resurrection, the new heaven and new earth? The answer to all these puzzles is God. God created, 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 (Luke 1:37), 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 answer to all miracles recorded in the Scriptures. This son of Mary is the Son of God to whom is given the throne of David. He shall be the everlasting King. This Son will conquer all evil and usher in the kingdom of peace for all his people. In this Son, God is visiting his people to save them from all their enemies.

Unlike the aged Zechariah, the teenager Mary believed God’s word of promise, saying, “I am the Lord’s slave. May it be to me as you have said” (Luke 1:38, author’s translation). She confessed what every believer must confess, that the triune God is Lord and we are his slaves. We are to surrender to God and do his will alone. Paul therefore called himself Paulos doulos Christou Iêsou, “Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus.”

Have you so confessed with your mouth “Jesus is Lord, and I am his slave”? Have you said with Mary, “Thy will be done in me”? This Son is the gift of God, the seed of the woman, who came to crush the head of the dragon. He is the seed of Abraham in whom all the families of the earth will be blessed. He is the seed of David, the everlasting King. 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. His was, as John Murray says, a supernatural begetting; he was a supernatural person; and he was supernaturally preserved from all defilement (Murray, Systematic Theology, 132).

Mary trusted in God’s word in spite of what this virgin conception and birth could bring, including 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.

Do you trust God in spite of the cross it shall assuredly bring? Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

II. The Good News Performed (Luke 2:1-7)

Centuries before, Micah prophesied the exact location of the birth of the Messiah: “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 old, from ancient times” (Micah 5:2). The eternal Son was to be born in the fullness of time in Bethlehem; the Son of David must be born in the city of David. The supernatural person took upon himself perfect human nature. As Jesus declared, “Before Abraham was born, I am!” (John 8:58). He is the “I AM WHO I AM” in human flesh (cf. Ex. 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 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 30 B.C. to 14 A.D. He was born Gaius Octavian, the grand-nephew of Julius Caesar, who adopted him as his son. 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 B.C. the senate gave him the title Augustus, “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. On 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 everyone was required to go to the birthplace of his father.

This decree of Caesar Augustus brought Joseph and Mary to the city of David for registration so that Jesus the Messiah could be born in Bethlehem 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. The same was true of Judas, the Pharisees, scribes, Sanhedrin, 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.” God sent his Son in the fullness of time to give us this peace of heart.

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. In urgency they knocked on 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 Mary? The Bethlehemites 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 would not get involved. “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him” (John 1:11).

At least this poor couple had a shack in Nazareth. But in Bethlehem they became homeless. Many years later Jesus would say, “Foxes have holes and birds 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).

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. He said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled . . . 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, God also announced a birth-the birth of Jesus, the Son of God, the Son of David, and the son of Mary. To whom did he disclose this marvelous event? Not to Caesar Augustus nor to Herod the king or to the Sanhedrin or even to the high priest. The first shall become last and the last first. God chose to disclose this stupendous salvific event to the despised shepherds of Bethlehem, who were keeping sheep for sacrifice in the temple.

Orthodox Jews looked upon shepherds as being ceremonially unclean. They were seen as liars and were forbidden from giving witness in court. Yet God chose them to hear the gospel from the angels. 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 this world? (1 Cor. 1:26-31; 20).

Through the angels, God unwrapped the gift of his Son to these despised shepherds, these nothings. So also he unwraps this gift to us, who are also nothings. (PGM) I believe the interpreting angel was Gabriel, who also spoke to Mary. Who, then, 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, he was born sinless, by supernatural preservation, and he lived a sinless life so that he could save the sinful.
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 our human nature. Isaiah calls him “Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Immanuel, God with us” (Is. 9:6, 7:14). Micah says he is the one “whose origins are of old, from ancient times” (Micah 5:2). He is the great I AM.
3. He is the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed Deliverer promised in the Old Testament, who defeats all our enemies and sets the captives free. He binds the strong man to set us free and proclaims the year of jubilee that will have no end.
4. He alone is God and Sovereign (Luke 2:11). The one lying in a manger, wrapped in rags, is Yahweh, the God of Israel. The Creator of all has become creature, the immortal has become mortal, and God sleeps 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 king eternal. Isaiah says, “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end” (Is. 9:7). He 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.” 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 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, which means “the Lord saves,” 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 (cf. Matt. 1:21).

Are you his people? Then he will save you. God became man that Jesus 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). Micah prophesied concerning this Messiah who would be born in Bethlehem, “And he will be their peace” (Micah 5:5).

Jesus Christ is our peace. He achieved this peace for us through the cross:

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 and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one 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 die in peace. But he would also leave his grave clothes to be wrapped in glory. All of heaven, therefore, sings 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, author’s translation).

In time this baby would reveal the glory of God as none had ever done. Jesus said in John 17:4, “I brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” 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 Jesus comes to the elect of God by divine initiative through his Son, the only Savior. Therefore we can say, “Peace to you!” The great fear due to our sin against God is replaced by great joy which shall be to all people-all who make room for Jesus in their hearts through repentance and 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, Son of God, Christ the Lord, Eternal King, Savior. His name is Jesus, the hope of this world. Yes, he is no longer wrapped in rags or grave clothes, but in glory, and is seated on the right hand of God. Soon he shall come again in glory to this earth to save his people and judge his enemies. Therefore, I plead with you to make room for him. He will take your miserable, confused, peaceless, disorganized life and set you right. Receive him today in your heart, that you may join Mary and Joseph and the angels and the shepherds, glorifying God and praising him 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.” May we all go in peace today as we celebrate Christmas.