Isaiah 62:6-12; Psalm 97:1-12; Titus 3:4-7; Luke 2:1-20.
A). A CITY NOT FORSAKEN.
Isaiah 62:6-12.
I reside just outside the walls of a quaint old English city - so quaint, that there is still a civil servant who holds the office of City-crier. This is a man with a bell and a loud booming bellowing voice, who makes public announcements in public places. Thankfully, his office does not usually encroach upon the night time - but imagine the watchmen in our text who are instructed by God to “hold not their peace day nor night” - these that “make mention of the LORD” who are commanded to, “keep not silence” (Isaiah 62:6)!
It is the LORD who sets the watchmen, raising up a people of prayer to watch over Jerusalem. Importunity is the order of the day, every day: “give Him no rest UNTIL He establish, and UNTIL He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth” (Isaiah 62:7). We are drawn back to the words of David - ‘Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee’ (Psalm 122:6).
We too should pray for the peace of Jerusalem, but we should also pray for the peace which flows from Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:3) - ‘peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Romans 5:1). We should pray for the salvation of Israel, but also that ‘the full number of the Gentiles be gathered in’ (Romans 11:25). We are drawn beyond the walled city of Jerusalem itself towards that which Jesus began to establish there, proclaiming His kingdom to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).
For the watchmen first envisaged by Isaiah, this call to holy boldness is confirmed by an oath (Isaiah 62:8-9). The watchmen are to declare that which the LORD shall surely accomplish (Isaiah 45:23). Our prayers should be based in truth, and in the promises of God (Hebrews 6:16-18).
There are aspects of our salvation still to be worked out, but the promises of God are sure: and ‘yea and Amen in Christ Jesus’ (2 Corinthians 1:20). That which God has begun in us will not fail (Philippians 1:6). We can take courage from the parable of the importunate widow (Luke 18:1-8), and draw strength from the conclusion which Jesus draws from her example: ‘Shall not God avenge His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them?’ (Luke 18:7).
There is a level of fulfilment for those Jews who lived in the days of Cyrus king of Persia (Ezra 1:1-4). At the raising of God’s banner (Isaiah 62:10), they were able to leave behind the gates of Babylon (cf. Isaiah 52:11), cross the desert as if on a highway, and return to rebuild Jerusalem (Isaiah 62:10). Yet this is not all: the proclamation which follows (‘Hear ye, hear ye!’ bellows the City-crier) announces, in words not dissimilar to Isaiah 40:10, the coming of salvation - in the Person of our Saviour, no less (Isaiah 62:11).
In the gospel, a banner has been raised to the nations (Isaiah 49:22-23). This was doubtless anticipated in the return from exile, but reaches its fullest fulfilment as the nations look to the LORD (Isaiah 60:6; Isaiah 60:9-10; Psalm 68:31). The ‘wise men from the east’ who came to worship the One ‘born King of the Jews’ (Matthew 2:1-2) were the first fruits of the on-going Gentile mission.
In the end, speech about Jerusalem and its walls gives way to a consideration of ‘Zion’ as consisting in: “The holy people” who are “The redeemed of the LORD” - who are named, “Sought out. A city not forsaken” (Isaiah 62:12).
B). A PSALM OF PROCLAMATION.
Psalm 97:1-12.
1. This Psalm is not just another enthronement Psalm: but a declaration of the One whose kingdom has been - and is being, and will yet be - revealed in creation, providence, and redemption. “The LORD reigns” (Psalm 97:1) - not because I say so, or because I have ‘received Him as King in my heart’ (though I must do that) - but because He has been enthroned from all eternity, and is ruling in the realm of time. The kings of Babylon, Persia and Rome have been forced to acknowledge this. Even their might and power, like that of the kings of Israel and Judah before them, was forced to yield like putty in the hand of the LORD (Proverbs 21:1).
Jesus is ‘born King of the Jews’ (Matthew 2:2). Likewise, He dies with the accusation written: ‘This is Jesus, the King of the Jews’ (Matthew 27:37). However, Jesus died not for their sins only, but for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2) - and thereby the LORD comes to be acknowledged as ‘the King of all the earth’ (Psalm 47:7; Zechariah 14:9).
2. As well as a declaration, this Psalm is a call to the whole of creation to rejoice (Psalm 97:1). This includes the earth/ the land - and the isles/ the coastlands. At His presence, the elements yield, and “the hills melt like wax” (Psalm 97:5). It is also a call to “the daughters of Judah” (Psalm 97:8) / “the righteous” (Psalm 97:12) to rejoice in the LORD - and to “give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness” (Psalm 97:12).
We are reminded of Paul and Silas, fastened to the stocks in the deepest dungeon in Philippi, ‘singing praises to God at midnight’ (Acts 16:25). Circumstances need not prevent us from praising the LORD. Later the Apostle Paul would encourage the church in that city: ‘Rejoice in the Lord always: again I will say, Rejoice’ (Philippians 4:4).
3. The manifestation of the LORD in clouds and darkness (Psalm 97:2), and avenging fire (Psalm 97:3; cf. Deuteronomy 4:24; Hebrews 12:29) - in lightning, and amidst a trembling of the earth (Psalm 97:4) and a melting of the hills (Psalm 97:5) - takes us back to Mount Sinai, and the giving of the law (Exodus 19:16; Exodus 19:18). We are also reminded of the everyday testimony of the heavens (Psalm 97:6; cf. Psalm 19:1-6), and warned against idolatry (Psalm 97:7; cf. Romans 1:20-25). Everything that we may have hitherto deemed as ‘gods’ (Psalm 97:7; Psalm 97:9) must be brought into captivity to the one true God (2 Corinthians 10:5).
4. Then we are fast-forwarded to Mount Zion, and the right attitude to the judgments of the LORD (Psalm 97:8). There are echoes here of David’s dedication of the site for the Temple (Psalm 97:9; cf. 1 Chronicles 29:11-12). Those who love the LORD are called into alignment with His attitude toward evil, and are blessed and preserved on account of it (Psalm 97:10).
5. “Light dawns” (Psalm 97:11) with the visitation of the ‘dayspring from on high’ (Luke 1:76-79), and the manifestation of ‘a light to lighten the nations, and the glory of thy people Israel’ (Luke 2:32). In the final analysis, it is the LORD who plants joy in the hearts of His people.
6. When we speak of “the LORD” (Psalm 97:1; Psalm 97:12), His very Name speaks to us of ‘the One who was, and is, and is to come, the Almighty’ (Revelation 1:8).
When we think of Jesus Christ, we think of ‘the Word who was with God in the beginning’ (John 1:2): but also of ‘the Word (who) became flesh and dwelt among us’ (John 1:14). We think of ‘the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world’ (Revelation 13:8); who was ‘declared to be the Son of God… by the resurrection from the dead’ (Romans 1:4). We think of the One who shall come again in glory, to judge both the quick and the dead, whose Kingdom shall have no end.
When we think of our own Christian lives, there is an element of the same ‘already and not yet’ tension. ‘I have been justified’ (Romans 5:1). I have been and am being sanctified (1 Corinthians 6:11; Hebrews 2:11). I shall be glorified in Him - and He in me! (2 Thessalonians 1:10).
Be patient: God has NOT finished with me yet.
C). HE SAVED US.
Titus 3:4-7.
Paul instructs Titus to remind his congregation to behave as good citizens (Titus 3:1-2). Next, the Apostle describes what we are saved from: “for (because - a word not to be omitted) we once also were…” (Titus 3:3). Then Paul shows us what God has done.
Titus 3:4. “BUT when the kindness and the philanthropy (love of man) of our Saviour God appeared (had its epiphany) …” The first word, “But” connects with what precedes. This sets the context for the declaration of our salvation contained within the “faithful (trustworthy) saying” (Titus 3:8) which here follows.
The kindness and love of God our Saviour was manifested in the INCARNATION of our Lord Jesus Christ (Titus 2:11). He was born to die for the sins of His people (Matthew 1:21). By His death He conquered death, and overcame the power of death in our lives (2 Timothy 1:10).
Titus 3:5. THE GROUND of our salvation is not discovered in ourselves. Our “works of righteousness” can do nothing to erase sin’s condemnation from our lives. It is only “according to His mercy” that we are saved (cf. Lamentations 3:22).
“He saved us…” This phrase is the hinge of the whole sentence. The contrast of what we were with what we now are is familiar throughout Paul’s writings (e.g. 1 Corinthians 6:11). The Apostle here emphasises that God is the active party in our salvation.
THE MEANS of our salvation. I do not think that “the washing of regeneration (rebirth)” is primarily a reference to water baptism - the word is different here - but it refers rather to the inward reality which baptism signifies (1 Peter 3:21). This washing takes place in connection with the Word (Ephesians 5:25-26).
“Regeneration” refers to being “born again” - as explained by Jesus to Nicodemus (John 3:3-7). The BIRTH OF JESUS makes our new birth possible. Death no longer holds us in its clutches: we are citizens of a new heavens and a new earth.
“Renewal” is an on-going process of renovation (2 Corinthians 4:16), and transformation (Romans 12:2). The agent of both our initial regeneration, and our daily renewal, is the Holy Spirit.
Titus 3:6. The Father “poured out” the Holy Spirit upon us “richly (abundantly) through Jesus Christ our Saviour.” This is clearly Trinitarian: earlier Paul had referred to God as our Saviour (Titus 3:4). This “outpouring” of the Holy Spirit connects us individually with Pentecost (Acts 2:16-21; Acts 2:33).
Titus 3:7. Simultaneously with our new birth, God “justified” us. He gave us a new status whereby He declared us to have been made righteous through the shed blood of His dear Son Jesus Christ. This is also a gift of His “grace” (cf. Romans 3:24).
THE END of our salvation. As well as being saved FROM something - our sins - we are also saved TO something. We are made “heirs” - “heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17).
Our faith rests upon “the hope (a certainty based in God’s promise) of eternal life” (cf. Titus 1:1-2). “Faithful (is) the Word” (Titus 3:8).
D). A REMARKABLE SIGN.
Luke 2:1-20.
It is interesting to be revisiting the Gospel of Luke, with Luke’s impeccable, almost classical Greek style. As we return to the all-too-familiar account of the birth of Jesus, it is humbling to discover that some of the imagery of earlier sermons has fallen short of Luke’s eye for detail in what is, after all, an unashamedly Jewish account, written against the backdrop of the Old Testament world.
As a good reporter, Luke had no doubt interviewed locals who referred to Bethlehem as “the city of David” (Luke 2:4). [Surely it is Jerusalem which is referred to elsewhere as ‘the city of David’ (1 Chronicles 11:5)?] Bethlehem was David’s ancestral home, and because Joseph was “of the house and lineage of David” it was where Joseph and his pregnant “espoused wife” had to report for the taxing (Luke 2:5).
It has always amazed me when I have visited churches at home and abroad just how readily some people give hospitality. I have not seen the hospitality of the Middle East (having never been there), but I have seen the hospitality of Scotland, England, and India. It would have been unthinkable if there was not some relation who could have found space for Joseph of Bethlehem, of the line of David!
Whilst out walking alone in Scotland one day, I stumbled upon the foundations of what had quite evidently been a small village. I understood from the history and archaeology of the area that the arrangement had been that the single-room living areas of each small house had been shared with the family’s livestock. In another place that my family were visiting, we were shown the foundation of a building to which had been appended, in later years, a separate room for the maiden aunt.
This was not Bethlehem, but it might inform our understanding of what the arrangement was in that place. When we read “there was no room in …” (Luke 2:7), the word which Luke uses is the same as he uses with reference to the famous ‘upper room’ where Jesus shared the Passover with His disciples in Jerusalem (Luke 22:10-12). According to the history and archaeology of Bethlehem, the “manger” was apparently located between the family room and the “stable” at the furthest end from the full “guest-chamber” (Luke 2:7).
The translation ‘inn’ in Luke 2:7 is a mistake. If Luke wished to suggest that it was a commercial inn that was full, he had the word: he used it in his account of Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:33-35). It was the guest-chamber that was full, and that was why Mary was at the livestock end of the building, and laid baby Jesus “in a manger” (Luke 2:7).
Wherever Joseph and Mary stopped, contrary to popular opinion, it was some days before the birth of Jesus: and it was while they were there that the days were accomplished that she should be delivered (Luke 2:6). Enough days, perhaps, to fill in the tax return, catch up with friends and relatives - and maybe even have them help out with the birthing at the other end of the house?
As the narrative proceeds, the next people to enter the nativity scene were the lowly, ‘unclean’ shepherds, fresh from the fields that night. When they saw “the babe, lying in a manger” (Luke 2:16), they told their wonderful testimony (Luke 2:17). An angel had told them that there was one born “in the city of David, a Saviour who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11), and that the sign they were to expect was just this: “the babe in swaddling clothes, laid in a manger” (Luke 2:12).
The people in the house “wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds” (Luke 2:18). Mary, for her part, “kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19).
Having seen all, these ‘untouchables’ left the house rejoicing (Luke 2:20). Jesus’ ministry had begun!
