Introduction
When a baby is born the new parents get all sorts of different reactions from family and friends:
• “Oh, how lovely!”
• “Look, he’s got his dad’s eyes!”
• “Doesn’t she look just like her mum?”
• or, simply, “oh!”
But when Mary gave birth to her first son in a stable in Bethlehem just over 2000 years ago, the reactions were rather different. They were in fact quite amazing and they weren’t from what you would call close family either!
Three of these reactions are recorded for us in Luke 2.
Vs 1- 7 record the birth of Jesus in that lowly stable, concluding with the famous words “there was no room for them in the inn”.
But then this happened – {have someone read vs 8-20}
The Shepherds – as far as we know these men had never seen or heard of Joseph or Mary before in their lives, and all they were doing was their usual night shift guarding the sheep. Yet they were chosen by God to receive “good news of great joy” – the arrival of Christ the Lord, the Messiah. And the proof that this great event had occurred: a political uprising in the capital? a mighty military victory over the armies of Rome? a great religious meeting at which thousands responded to a message from God?
No, the proof, or sign, they were given was that they would find in a manger a baby wrapped in cloths. Yeah, right.
But wait – here they are, these tough, rugged men heading off into Bethlehem to have a look. This sign means something to them; they aren’t incredulous about a new born baby being a sign from God. They believe it! Why?
Not only that, but once they have seen this baby they go around telling others, “glorifying and praising God”. Why? Why was a baby a sign from God that something really significant had started in the world?
Second reaction - {have someone read vs 21-35}
“A man in Jerusalem called Simeon”. We don’t know how, but he had received a revelation from God that he would not die until he had seen the One who would be the Messiah that the people of Israel had long waited for. There he is, hanging around the temple, when in come Joseph and Mary to have their new son named – we might say “christened” these days, but that’s because here in Luke 2 we have the first ever christening.
Anyway, the point of the story is that Simeon doesn’t just say, “oh what a beautiful baby, what are you going to call him?”, he goes wild with excitement. “Now I can die in peace,” he says, “because at last I’ve seen the Messiah. God has fulfilled His promise!”
Huh? Wait a minute – how can seeing a helpless baby cause him to react like that? Surely he would have been expecting to see a grown man doing some mighty deed of salvation before he would be sure he’d seen the Messiah. But, no. He sees the baby Jesus and says that the day which God had promised the people of Israel, indeed the people of the world, had arrived.
Luke says that Joseph and Mary marvelled at what was said about their boy. No wonder – that’s not your typical reaction to seeing a new baby.
Third reaction - {have someone read vs 36-38}
Finally, the elderly widow Anna, a devout woman, sees Jesus and starts to tell everyone who was “looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem” about this baby. Again, not your typical reaction and not immediately obvious that a baby should mean so much to people who were waiting for God to act.
Why is it that the birth of this baby was such a fabulous sign? How on earth could they know what the birth of this particular baby meant for Israel and the whole world?
{We are going to take a break, sing a carol, and then come back and try to unravel this mystery.}
The Common Thread
One thing that these three different episodes – the shepherds, Simeon and Anna – had in common was that they involved people who were said to be “waiting” or “looking” for the saviour, or the redemption of Israel, or the fulfilment of God’s promise.
In other words, these were people who would have known their Bibles – what we call the Old Testament. And therefore they would have known about the many promises that God had given over the centuries of a Messiah and an age of salvation.
And these promises include some passages in the book of the prophet Isaiah that we are going to look at briefly now, which answer the question: “Why is it that the birth of this baby was such a fabulous sign?”
Isaiah 7 – the virgin birth
More than 700 years before the arrival of the baby in Bethlehem, the southern kingdom of Israel, known as Judah, was ruled by a king called Ahaz. It was a time of great uncertainty for Judah, with nations all around them preparing for war and aligning themselves in different combinations to try to maximise their chances of success. Two of Judah’s nearest neighbours, Syria and the northern kingdom of Israel (called Aram and Ephraim in the passage) moved together against Judah. Ahaz was terrified of this prospect – his heart was shaken “as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind” (something we can all relate to after the storms in Sydney recently!)
Rather than draw strength from the unique relationship that Israel had with God, rather than putting his trust in the Lord, Ahaz sought other allegiances, with the nation of Assyria, to try to defend Judah. Here we had the occupant of the throne of King David, one of God’s most faithful servants, turning from God and trying to find his strength and protection in political allegiances with ungodly nations.
Into this situation, the prophet Isaiah came to Ahaz with both a promise and an offer:
- the promise was that the threat from Aram and Ephraim that Ahaz feared would come to nothing;
- the offer was to ask God for a sign to confirm His faithfulness to His people.
Our focus is on the offer. God offered Ahaz the chance for any sign he wanted, he just had to ask.
Ahaz turned God down! Oh, he dressed it up in right sounding language about not putting God to the test, but in reality he just simply had no time for God or for signs.
God’s response was again twofold. Through Isaiah, God gave His own sign, and then also gave a warning that the disobedience of Ahaz would bring disaster on him and his kingdom.
What was the sign?
Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Remember this was spoken at a time of crisis for God’s people. The Lord had long before promised to be with them and to be their God, but the very existence of the nation and of a relationship between them and God was under serious threat in the 8th century BC. Into this context God makes a remarkable statement - the sign that He is faithful to His people, the sign that He will continue to act as their saviour, would come in the form of a virgin giving birth to a baby boy who would be given a name that means “God is with us”.
Some people try to belittle this sign by saying the Hebrew word for “virgin” means nothing more than “young woman”. That is simply not true. The word is “almah” and it is correctly translated as virgin. It definitely means a woman who is not only unmarried, but who is also not immoral. In short, it definitely means what we understand the word ‘virgin’ to mean.
Therefore, Isaiah is saying nothing less than that God will provide a miraculous child as His sign to Israel.
He did this almost 800 years later in the virgin birth of Jesus. As the words of the carol put it: “Mary was that mother mild, Jesus Christ her little child.”
But wait, there’s more …….
Isaiah 9: To us a Child is Born
Turn over to Isaiah chapter 9 where he gives more prophetic information about this child. Here it adds that he will come to bring light to people walking in darkness. Isaiah says that “unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and his name shall be called:
1. Wonderful Counsellor
2. Mighty God
3. Everlasting Father
4. Prince of Peace”
It might seem redundant for Isaiah to have said that “a child is born, a son is given”, but what that doubling up means that this child will be very special. A son that is given really means a Son of David, and therefore a King. Thus, this child is the Messiah, the saviour, the Christ. This is further brought out by the fourfold name of the child – which is really only one name, with four parts to it.
One of these days I’ll preach a sermon about this name in more detail, but the key thing to note is that it says that the child who will be born will be God Himself, coming to take the throne of His kingdom and rule for ever.
• Wonderful Counsellor means that he will be a divine ruler, perfectly wise, fair and just in every aspect of his leadership.
• Mighty God means that he will be a powerful ruler, a hero for his people, achieving for them what they can’t achieve for themselves.
• Everlasting Father means that he will love his people totally, absolutely and forever.
• Prince of Peace means that he will eradicate the source of war and discord in the world, dealing with human sinfulness to establish total harmony – between the ruler and his people, as well as among the people.
Good News of Great Joy
The birth of the child that we know as Jesus Christ ushered in the fulfilment of these and all of the great promises made by God in the Old Testament. There is a lot more said of the Messiah in the Old Testament than we have looked at tonight – indeed there is a lot more said later in the book of Isaiah, which contains many more passages of prophecy that all faithful Jews would have been aware of that first Christmas 2 millenia ago.
Little wonder then that the angels also told the shepherds that their news about the arrival of this child was “good news of great joy”. The shepherds, Simeon and Anna had all been waiting their whole lives in the hope that they might see the fulfilment of these promises. The birth of the child was a sign of something amazing, something absolutely wonderful starting – the kingdom of God was going to be established on earth. God Himself had entered into human history in a miraculous way to deal with sin and to bring about perfect relationships between Himself and His people.
Good news of great joy for ALL people, including us who live in the 21st century:
- Do you see many people treated unfairly, especially by those who have authority in this world? The coming of the child is great news of the Wonderful Counsellor who brings wisdom and justice to all who turn to Him;
- Do you see powerful people acting all too often in their own interests, exploiting others and taking advantage of them? The coming of the child is great news of a Mighty God who seeks only the good of his people;
- Do you see around you people trapped in despair and loneliness, feeling they have no hope? The coming of the child is great news of perfect love and loyalty, freely available to all who will turn to the Everlasting Father; and
- Do you see around you a world that is all too used to violence and war and that is full of fear and anger? Then the coming of the child is great news of perfect peace for He is the Prince of Peace.
Conclusion
Friends, Christmas is nearly upon us once again. In the midst of our frantic partying, shopping, visiting friends and family, eating and drinking, may God give us grace to take time to consider why it is that the birth of this child is still celebrated around the world.
And even more, may God give us grace to turn our lives over to this Child, who is God’s unique sign, proving that He is Lord and Saviour.
Amen.
