Christmas

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.  (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)  And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.  And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)  To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.  And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.  And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.  And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.  And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy ,which shall be to all people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.  And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.  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, good will toward men.

Luke 2:1-14

Let us pause for a moment and thank God for sending us a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.  Merry Christmas to all who read this blog!

The Christmas Chapter, Pt. 12

And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.  And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.  And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning the child.

Luke 2:15-17

As we come to end of the “Christmas story” part of Luke 2, we come to the verses detailing what the shepherds did after going to worship the newborn King.  Verse 17 tells us that they “made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning the child.”  After being told of Jesus, finding Him and worshipping Him, they understood that they had a responsibility: a responsibility to tell others what they had seen.

We have that same responsibility, and nowhere should we see that more than at Christmas.  Around this time of year, even the godless world celebrates.  Of course, they have no idea what they are actually celebrating, but they celebrate nonetheless.  We know why we celebrate Christmas.  We are in a unique position to tell others about the true reason for Christmas.  We have seen the glory of the Lord.  We have experienced the salvation of the Lord.  We have worshipped the Saviour.  But there are others who have not.

The shepherds took the news they received and spread it abroad.  We should take the good news that we have received and spread it abroad.  There is a lost and dying world all around us that desperately needs the knowledge of the Saviour that we have.  After we celebrate Christmas in our own hearts, let us make sure that we share Jesus Christ with others, just as the shepherds did so very long ago.

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (Hymns)

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Charles Wesley (1739)

Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”
Joyful, all ye nations rise,
Join the triumph of the skies;
With the angelic host proclaim,
“Christ in born in Bethlehem!”

Refrain
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!”

Christ, by highest Heaven adored;
Christ the everlasting Lord;
Late in time, behold Him come,
Offspring of a virgin’s womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
Hail the incarnate Deity,
Pleased as man with men to appear,
Jesus our Emmanuel near.

Refrain

Hail the heavenly Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Risen with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by,
Born that man no more may die.
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.

Refrain

Come, Desire of nations, come,
Fix in us Thy humble home;
Rise, the woman’s conquering Seed,
Bruise in us the serpent’s head.
Now display Thy saving power,
Ruined nature now restore;
Now in mystic union join
Thine to ours, and ours to Thine.

Refrain

Adam’s likeness now efface,
Stamp Thine image in it’s place:
Second Adam from above,
Reinstate us in Thy love.
Let us Thee, though lost, regain,
Thee, the Life, the inner man:
O, to all Thyself impart,
Formed in each believing heart.

Refrain

This is probably my favourite Christmas song.  It has more doctrine than just about any other hymn I’ve come across.  It starts out with one of my favourite thoughts: “Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!”  This part is what Christmas is all about to me: “Mild He lays His glory by, Born that man no more may die.”  That is what He did and that is why He came.

The Christmas Chapter, Pt. 11

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.  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, good will toward men.

Luke 2:12-14

When you think about Christmas, you think about impossibilities.  A virgin birth is impossible.  The creator God of the universe becoming a man and being born in a lowly stable is impossible.  That this world changing event would be heralded to mere shepherds is impossible.  The whole idea of God becoming man to redeem man from his rebellion against God is impossible.  The whole story is impossible.  That theme of impossibility is continued in verse 14 with the multitude of the heavenly host “praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

The ideas  of peace on earth and good will toward men are, humanly speaking, impossibilities.  Everywhere we look today, countries are at war.  Nations, tribes and people have been fighting since the beginning of time.  There have been very few years of recorded history in which no wars have been fought.  Only through the finished work of Jesus Christ can we find peace, whether that be in our own souls or in the world.

Men are naturally selfish and greedy.  They do not naturally practice “goodwill toward men.”  They naturally bite and devour each other.  (Galatians 5:15)  Again, only through Jesus Christ can we find that “goodwill toward men.”  Jesus is the only cause for praising God and for giving Him glory and for proclaiming “peace on earth, good will toward men.”  Those are among the many reasons we celebrate Christmas.

The Christmas Chapter, Pt. 10

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.  And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

Luke 2:9-11

We now get to what I consider to be the greatest verse in all of the Bible dealing with Christmas, verse 11.  “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”  That is the Christmas story summed up in one verse.  The angel of the Lord is speaking directly to the shepherds in this verse, but he could just have easily been speaking directly to any one of us.  “For unto you is born this day…”

This was not just some impersonal force coming into the world.  This was the Saviour of mankind coming into the world.  This was a person Saviour.  He would come to “seek and to save that which was lost.”  He would come to help individuals.  The angel may have been speaking to the shepherds, but he was also speaking to us.  He was speaking to the blind man who received his sight.  He was speaking to the lame man who had no one to help him and was healed.  He was speaking to the demon possessed man running around the tombs who ended up clothed and in his right mind.  He was speaking to a cursing fisherman named Peter.  He was speaking to a church persecuting Pharisee named Saul.  He was speaking to every sinner born since He came.  He was speaking to me.

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour…”

The Christmas Chapter, Pt. 9

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.  And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

Luke 2:8-10

Yesterday, we looked at these same verses in Luke 2, and looked at the reaction of the shepherds to seeing the angel of the Lord.  They were, as it says in verse 9, “sore afraid.”  But in verse 10, the angel comes to their aid: “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.”  The shepherds fell on their faces in fear, but the Lord did not leave them there in fear and terror, and He does the same for us.

When a sinner comes to the Lord, often he comes with “fear and trembling.”  But God does not leave us standing there alone and afraid.  He lifts us up and gives us comfort and hope.  In these verses, the angel of the Lord tells the shepherds that he is bringing “good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.”  The thing that helped and gave comfort and hope to these shepherds is the same thing that will help, comfort and aid us in our times of fear and trembling.

The shepherds received these good tidings of great joy.  As Christians, we have received these good tidings of great joy.  We need no longer cower in fear of an unapproachable, holy God.  We can now come “boldly before the throne of grace.”  And it’s all because of these “good tidings of great joy.”  What a wonderful Saviour!

The Christmas Chapter, Pt. 8

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.  And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

Luke 2:8-10

When we look at the angel of the Lord coming to the shepherds in their fields and telling them about the new born Saviour, we find an interesting reaction: “…they were sore afraid.”

The shepherds were not jumping up and down about being visited by the glory of the Lord.  They were afraid.  Throughout the Bible, this is a common reaction of men who have seen the Lord or seen His glory.  In many cases, they said that they “fell on their face as dead.”  We would maybe expect to see more excitement and jubilation, but that is not the case.

When we first came to realize just who the Lord is, we no doubt had some fear.  When we first see Him, it causes us to see ourselves as we truly are: hopeless sinners desperately in need of a merciful Saviour.  That is a cause for fear.  Sometimes, even after we have seen the mercy and grace of the loving Saviour, we get a small glimpse of His glory or His holiness, we still get that sense of reverential awe and fear.

That fear is a good thing.  The Bible tells us in Proverbs 9:10 that “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.”  A fear of the Lord is going to keep us away from sin and it’s going to keep us thankful for His mercy and grace.  The shepherds were ”sore afraid,” as they should have been.  Seeing the glory of the Lord at Christmas should give us the same reverential awe.

The Christmas Chapter, Pt. 7

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.  And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

Luke 2:8-10

As we continue to look at this “Christmas chapter,” we come to the part about the shepherds.  This is an interesting part to me because these shepherds really had nothing to do with the Christmas story.  They were not Mary and Joseph.  They had nothing to do with the taxing or the inn or anything else.  As far as we can tell, they were just normal shepherds “keeping watch over their flock by night.”  They were just average people doing their job.  But, by God’s mercy and grace, they became a part of the greatest story ever told.

As far as the Bible is concerned, there was nothing special about these shepherds.  In fact, in those days, shepherds were usually looked down upon.  They were definitely not among the “upper class” of society.  But God, in His infinite wisdom and grace, chose to allow them to be among the first to worship the child who would be the Saviour of man.

It is the same with us.  We have done nothing special in and of ourselves that we should be counted worthy to partake of His salvation.  We are not kings and queens, princes and princesses.  We are common people who have a very merciful God.  These mere shepherds were allowed to worship the newborn King.  We, as mere humans, are allowed to not only worship, but to fellowship with the glorious King.  What a wonderful Saviour!

The Christmas Chapter, Pt. 6

And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.  And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

Luke 2:6-7

In this most famous “Christmas chapter” in the Bible, many people find it interesting that God would choose to send His Son to be born such a lowly birth.  Here He is, being born to a common woman, in a small town, apparently either outside or in a barn.  After being born, He was placed in a manger, which is basically a simple feeding trough for livestock.  That is definitely not the way that you would expect the Son of God to come into the world.

If He is the King, why would He come into such a lowly way?

I believe that the simple reason is that He came as a servant.  When He comes again, He will come as a conquering and unconquerable King.  But the first time, He came as a servant, doing the will of the Father.  He was obedient unto death.  He knew why He was coming – He was coming to die on the cross to save people from their sin.

He came as a representative of all of mankind, from the king in the palace to the homeless man on the street.  In His death He “tasted death for all mankind.”  He wasn’t coming the first time as a King, He was coming as a sacrifice.  In the Old Testament, they would sacrifice animals (bulls, goats, sheep, etc.).  I have always found it interesting that, as soon as He was born, Jesus was laid among those animals in the manger.  They had been the used as sacrifices for sin.  Now, God had sent the perfect sacrifice in the form of His Son, Jesus Christ.  What an amazing story and what an amazing Saviour!

Silent Night (Hymn)

Silent Night
Franz Gruber (1818)

Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon virgin mother and Child.
Holy Infant, so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.

Silent night, holy night,
Shepherds quake at the sight;
Glories stream from heaven afar,
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ the Savior is born,
Christ the Savior is born!

Silent night, holy night,
Son of God, love’s pure light;
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth,
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth.

Silent night, holy night
Wondrous star, lend thy light;
With the angels let us sing,
Alleluia to our King;
Christ the Savior is born,
Christ the Savior is born!

When I hear the term “Christmas carol,” this is the one that comes to my mind.  It’s one of those songs that is everything Christmas.  “Christ the Savior is born!”  What a glorious thought.  This was my Grandma’s favorite Christmas song, and, as such, it always makes me think of her.  “Sleep in heavenly peace, Sleep in heavenly peace.”  Amen to that.