A CHRISTMAS MESSAGE – BETHLEHEM CAMEOS FOR THE GREATER PICTURE
Christmas is a blessed time for many, for families, for singing, for getting the message of a Saviour out to people, and a chance to look into scriptures related to Christmas that normally are not considered through the year.
These Christmas scriptures are precious and are full of light and hope as Christ the Messiah came as a babe to Bethlehem. Most of us know the advent story very well, but there are some interesting cameos present in the accounts that foreshadow a greater picture. We are going to look at those with the relevant scriptures. Let us look into the glory of God’s word.
NUMBER 1. THE SHEPHERDS AND THE GREATER SHEPHERD
{{Luke 2:8-14 “In the same region there were some SHEPHERDS staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. An angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terribly frightened, and the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people for today in the city of David there has BEEN BORN FOR YOU A SAVIOUR who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”}}
{{Luke 2:16-18 and they came in haste and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child, and all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds,}}
{{Luke 2:20 The shepherds went back, GLORIFYING AND PRAISING GOD for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.”}}
It is not without significance that God chose the shepherds to be the first to witness the Lord Jesus in His crib/manger. Throughout the Old Testament shepherds are mentioned a great deal, and we all know the greatest of the Psalms – the Shepherd Psalm, 23. The Lord will shepherd His people.
However, some of the worst condemnation in the Old Testament belongs to the false shepherds of Israel/Judea and Ezekiel wrote strongly against these hypocrites. Now to honour the birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem, God chooses a group of good shepherds to visit the One who had come for them (“been born FOR YOU the Saviour”) as well as for all. These men went to Bethlehem and saw and what the angel had told them, and then they continued on glorifying and praising God. These men with a shepherd’s heart were thrilled at the One who had come to be their Saviour.
The greater Shepherd is the Lord Jesus Christ, He who is the Shepherd of the sheep, the Good Shepherd and the Chief Shepherd. This One who laid down His life for the sheep, and now shepherds His sheep, will return to Israel as the Great Shepherd at the second advent (Second Coming).
This lovely cameo is of the Lord who is the Shepherd, being adored by shepherds, and is a wonderful picture of the precious ministry that is wholly His.
NUMBER 2. THE MANGER AND THE ROYAL ABODE OF HEAVEN
{{Luke 2:7 “and she gave birth to her first-born son, and she wrapped Him in cloths and laid Him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.”}}
The most simple and humble conditions were present at the birth of the Lord. Not even a simple, dilapidated room was available. He who created the animals shared the animals’ abode in His birth. The animals’ home became His birthplace. From heavenly heights to the meager manger.
Eye has not seen, nor ear heard what the Lord has prepared for those who love Him. Nor has eye seen, nor ear heard what unexplainable splendour is the Lord’s as He sits on His mighty throne at the right hand of the majesty on high. We can not comprehend it all. Yet the Ruler of the universe and the mighty God once lay at peace in a lowly manger.
Once in royal David's city
Stood a lowly cattle shed,
Where a mother laid her Baby
In a manger for His bed:
Mary was that mother mild,
Jesus Christ her little Child.
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He came down to earth from heaven,
Who is God and Lord of all,
And His shelter was a stable,
And His cradle was a stall;
With the poor, and mean, and lowly,
Lived on earth our Saviour holy.
From the uncreated glory of heaven to this world of sin, came the blessed Lord to a manger in Bethlehem. He who descended in humility, ascended in glory to heavenly realms as King of the Universe.
NUMBER 3. THE SWADDLING CLOTHES AND THE HEAVENLY RAIMENT
{{Matthew 2:12 “And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.”}} (KJV) Very similar to the ESV.
The NASB translates as {{Luke 2:12 “This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”}}
I must confess I did not know the exact meaning of “swaddling” so I looked it up for greater clarification. [[“Swaddling is an age-old practice of wrapping infants in blankets or similar cloths so that movement of the limbs is tightly restricted. Swaddling bands were often used to further restrict the infant. Swaddling fell out of favour in the 17th century.” (Wikipedia).]]
The Greek for this word is “spa??a???” defined by Strong’s Concordance as [[“From sparganon (a strip; from a derivative of the base of sparasso meaning to strap or wrap with strips)”]]
The little Lord Jesus, once confined in strips of cloth, is now arrayed openly in the robes of heaven. His heavenly robes fit His office. In all His glory John saw Him this way – {{Revelation 1:13 “and in the middle of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His breast with a golden girdle.”}} And later describes the Lord in Armageddon judgement in this manner – {{Revelation 19:13 “He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood and His name is called The Word of God.”}}
NUMBER 4. THE ANGELIC PROCLAMATION AND THE GREAT HEAVENLY ONE
{{Luke 2:8-14 “In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. An ANGEL of the Lord suddenly stood before them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terribly frightened, and the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Saviour who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly there appeared with the angel A MULTITUDE OF THE HEAVENLY HOST praising God, and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”}}
Note in this passage the sudden appearance of an angel – that is what the shepherds saw, a single angel, though in fact there was a mighty multitude of angels hidden from view at that point. Angels come from glory and it is natural that glory surrounds them, and in this case that glory shone all around the shepherds. The angel gave the great proclamation that has resounded through all history – {{Luke 2:10-11 “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Saviour who is Christ the Lord.”}}
Straight after that there was a great voice of an innumerable number of angels saying {{Luke 2:14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”}} Angels have many ministries but one of them is to proclaim the glory and majesty of God and there on those Bethlehem hills they had the greatest proclamation to make which was the coming of the Redeemer into the world. This was the most powerful angelic proclamation ever to be made.
At this juncture I will add this. Not in a single instance in all of scripture does it say or even hint that angels sing. Angels do not sing; they say or they announce, or they proclaim. They never sing. This is a myth that entered the church around the time of Origen and remains strong even to this day. It is reinforced in the carol “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing,” a really beautiful carol by Charles Wesley. Angels do not sing.
Let us pass over 2000 plus years from that event to a momentous scene in heaven that none of us can imagine in our earthly limitations. In heaven straight after the Rapture of the Church a great event is recorded in Revelation chapters 4 and 5. In that scene, all the redeemed from all ages since Adam to the last convert before the Rapture are highlighted and represented by the 24 elders (12 Old Testament patriarchs and the 12 disciples). At that time the Lord Jesus Christ is seen as a Lamb slain before the foundation of the world.
In that heavenly scene we read – {{Revelation 5:11-13 “I looked, and I heard the voice of MANY ANGELS around the throne and the living creatures and the elders, and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, SAYING with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing,” and every created thing, which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honour and glory and dominion forever and ever,”}}
In that great event which I believe is very, very soon in heaven, the proclaiming voice of the angels will again be heard proclaiming the worthiness of the Redeemer. What an event that will be, but if you are not saved you will not be there. If you have never received to Lord Jesus as your Saviour, then come to Him today, repent of your sin and be saved. At this Christmas time you too can find the real meaning of Christmas when the Lord came to earth to be the Saviour of all who will turn to Him.
NUMBER 5. THE STAR AND THE GREATER STAR
{{Matthew 2:1-3 “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews for we saw HIS STAR in the east, and have come to worship Him?” and when Herod the king heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.”}}
{{Matthew 2:9-11 “and having heard the king, they went their way and lo, the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over where the Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy, and they came into the house and saw the Child with Mary His mother and they fell down and worshipped Him and opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.”}}
The story of the Magi (wise men/astrologers) always seems to get associated with Christmas but this incident never happened when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. It happened later on when the family was living not in Bethlehem. Because Herod killed all the male babies 18 months and younger it is assumed this may have happened 18 months or less after the birth of the Lord.
These men (assumed to be three because of the mention of gifts but there could have been any number of them) were divinely directed by the star to where Jesus was. They brought their offerings consisting of gold (picture of the divinity of Christ), frankincense (picture of the sweetness and the fine aroma of the life of Christ), and myrrh (picture of the death and burial of Christ – this bitter spice being used in burial).
Right back from Origen the idea that these men were kings arose, but it was baseless. The idea was connected with these verses – {{Psalm 72:10 “Let the kings of Tarshish and of the islands bring presents, the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.”}} And {{Isaiah 60:3 “and nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.”}}
The Lord is the greater Star. This is the verse - Revelation 22:16 “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright morning star.”}} The Lord is the bright Morning Star. He lights up His people and for that reason He came to this earth He created.
CONCLUSION AND SUMMARY
The humble birth of the Lord Jesus Christ was in great contrast to His heavenly Person and His work for His people. The babe in the rough manger in Bethlehem was none other than the Lord God Almighty, the awesome Creator of the fathomless universe. Associated with His birth was the great statement by Isaiah – {{Isaiah 9:6 “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us, and the government will rest on His shoulders and His name will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”}}
The baby Jesus was visited by the shepherds, these righteous men who tended their sheep but who now stood before the Great Shepherd of the sheep, the Good Shepherd and the Chief Shepherd of the sheep. Jesus is the Shepherd of all true shepherds.
The Lord lay quietly in the manger though he commanded the glory of His heavenly throne and His heavenly abode. Today He is crowned with glory and honour in full majesty.
Mary wrapped the baby in cloths (NASB) or swaddling cloths, this special Son she knew was very significant in the days and years ahead. The simplest of dress adorned the baby yet this was the same one Daniel saw in His vision – {{Daniel 10:5-6 “I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a certain man dressed in linen, whose waist was girded with a belt of pure gold of Uphaz. His body also was like beryl, his face had the appearance of lightning, his eyes were like flaming torches, his arms and feet like the gleam of polished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a tumult.”}}
Angels announced the birth of the Lord with great glory but the greatest glory is reserved in heaven in the verses we saw in Revelation 4 and 5 when the whole angelic voice will proclaim praise and worship to the great God. The bible talks about myriads of angels but I believe there are billions upon billions of them, and with one voice they can say, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive POWER AND RICHES AND WISDOM AND MIGHT AND HONOUR AND GLORY AND BLESSING.”
At this Christmas time may we, all with one voice, praise the Lamb of God to whom belongs salvation, majesty and adoration - “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing. Amen!
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
