The Birth of Jesus

When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds began to speak one another, did you see that?

Did you hear that? What are we doing standing here? Let's go right now. Let us now go even unto Bethlehem. But beloved, they weren't coming to see Mary.

They weren't coming to pay homage to Joseph. They were coming to see the babe that was lying in the manger. Hi, I'm Nathan W. Bingham, and Merry Christmas. I'm grateful that you're joining us for this Christmas Day edition of Renewing Your Mind. As we exchange gifts today, let us not forget the great gift of God, that because God so loved the world, He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

Fittingly, our theme today is the birth of Christ. Here's Dr. Sproul in Luke chapter 2. The first thing we see about Luke's narrative is found in the opening words. He begins his account by saying, and it came to pass. And then he goes on to speak of the activity of the emperor of the Roman Empire and of Quirinius, the governor of Syria, real people in real places in real history. This story does not begin with the words, once upon a time, because this is no fairy tale. This is sober history announcing the entrance into this world of our Savior.

And so Luke sets his narrative squarely in the context of real history, and it came to pass, he says, in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be registered. This story in this narrative, friends, is about three kings. One of those kings sits on the throne as the ruler and emperor of the greatest power on the face of the earth in Rome.

The second king sits not on a throne, but is wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in the manger. This little king is the king of kings. He rules over the king in Rome. And it's about the eternal King, the Lord God omnipotent, who reigns from the moment of His work of creation to the moment of His work of fulfillment of His cosmos. He is the great King who reigns over all things. And so the story proximately speaks of an earthly decree that is issued and executed by the emperor in Rome. But that emperor in Rome issues this decree that all return to their home cities to be registered for the census in order to be taxed by imperial Rome.

This decree is done in obedience to a decree that took place much earlier, even in eternity, when God decreed that His Son would come into this world to do His work of redemption for His people, and that He be born at a specific time in the fullness of time, at a specific place in the village of Bethlehem for a specific mission to save His people from their sins. Caesar Augustus, probably the most celebrated of all of the Roman emperors, Augustus meaning the supreme, sublime, majestic one, a title that the Jews shrank from in horror because they believed that only God was worthy of the title, Auguste. And the true Auguste one was in the manger because there was no room for Jesus Augustus in the inn. The inn. Caesar Augustus celebrated the memory of his great uncle Julius, took it upon himself to build a temple in his honor, acknowledging the deity of Julius Caesar.

What a foolish mistake that was. The only deity within the confines of the Roman empire again was to be found in the manger in Bethlehem. But in obedience to the decree of Caesar Augustus, Joseph left his home of Nazareth and Galilee, and he went up into Judea to the city of David that is called Bethlehem. He did this because he was an ancestor, a descendant of the line of David, and he brought his wife with him. Roman law did not require that the man bring his wife to register for the tax, and we can speculate as to why Joseph subjected his wife to such an arduous journey.

And again, approximately the reason is clear. He knew that the time had come for her to deliver, and he did not want her to have to do that without his presence. And so he brought her with him. But the ultimate reason that trumps the proximate one is that because this also had been decreed from all eternity that the babe be born in Bethlehem as Micah had announced centuries before that thou, Bethlehem Ephrata, though thou be small among the princes of Judah, yet out of view will come the one whom God has anointed.

And so it was. Days were fulfilled for her to be delivered. She brought forth her firstborn son, wrapped him in swaddling cloths, laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn. The entrance of Jesus into this world is against the backdrop of humiliation. No place for Him to lay His head. In fact, as an adult He would say, the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.

He never had a place to lay His head that wasn't borrowed from someone else. And so the cloak of shame and of humiliation is spread across this babe who's wrapped in these rough bandage-like strips of cloth and placed either in the niche of the rock that is used as a feeding trough for the animals or in a crude cradle of some sort. Humiliation in His entrance into the world, humiliation in His exit from the world. However, at that very moment when the babe is wrapped in the cloth of humiliation, the Father God is not satisfied that the circumstances of the birth of His Son be only in terms of humiliation but must also be accompanied with exaltation. That that shame must be balanced with glory, not in the manger, not in the cave or the stable where they were, but on the outskirts of the village.

Out in the fields were the lowest evaluated people of the land. The shepherds were keeping their flocks at night, living outside, being sheltered by crudely built huts while they're overlooking and superintending the flocks that belong probably, not simply to them but to others as well. And they would watch these flocks through the night, and they would take turns sleeping and keeping vigil over their sheep lest the sheep be attacked by wild animals or by rustlers of sorts. And so out there on the plains where the sheep were being watched that night, it was quiet. It really was a silent night. And as most of the shepherds were sleeping in that silence, there would only be an occasional punctuation of the silence by the bleating of a sheep, but that would be it for the noise. And then suddenly no prior announcement, no warning, no human messenger coming out to them, shaking them awake and saying, watch out, this night is an incredible night. You won't believe what's going to take place in just a few moments.

No, there was none of that. But suddenly out of nowhere, an angel from heaven appeared to whatever shepherds were awake at the moment. The angel of the Lord stood before them, and the angel was accompanied with the glory of God, the glory of the Lord shown around them.

Every time I read that in the Bible, throughout the Old Testament, any time there is a theophany, an outward visible manifestation of the invisible God, almost every time we see that accompanied by the presence of the Shekinah. The Shekinah was the blazing, refulgent, blinding glory of God Himself. That when that glory was visible on this planet, people hid their eyes from it.

They were overwhelmed by it. They were driven to their knees in front of it because there was nothing in nature that could compare to the Shekinah glory of God. But there are these shepherds, but there are these shepherds, tending their flocks, taking their naps, suddenly are interrupted by the angel of the Lord who was bathed in the Shekinah glory right before their eyes. And those who were asleep before the angel appeared did not stay asleep.

We can be certain of that, that they were roused immediately from their slumbers to take part in this sound and light show that filled the plain. Luke gives us this notation, that when the Shekinah glory appeared, that the shepherds were greatly afraid. I, like the old King James, they were sore afraid because it's one thing to be afraid, but it's quite another to be sore afraid. When you are sore afraid, beloved, you are afraid. You are afraid like you've never been afraid in your whole life. Who wouldn't be trembling in fear at the manifestation of the glory of God at that moment? The angel said, don't be afraid.

Why not? Because I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. Don't be afraid because there is born to you, to us, to us shepherds. The angel says there is born to you. Unto you a child is born. Unto you despised shepherds a son is given. Unto you this day is born in the city of David a soter, a Savior.

Don't be afraid because this is the birthday of the One who will save you. This is the day your Savior is born. And not only is He Savior, but He's Christ the Lord.

And the shepherds understood the meaning of the word Christ was the New Testament translation of the Old Testament word for Messiah. Today your Savior is born. Today the Messiah is born.

Today your Lord is born in Bethlehem. And this will be the sign. You must go and look.

See the sign because the sign is significant. You're going to find a baby wrapped in cheap cloth, not on a throne but in a manger. No sooner had the angel said that than instantly there was beside this single messenger from heaven this angel, perhaps even Gabriel again. He is surrounded by the entire heavenly host. There was with the angel a multitude of that army of angels that inhabit heaven and surround the presence of our eternal God. And now it's not Zacharias who's singing. It's not Mary who's singing. It's the angels who bring a chorus from heaven saying, glory, dokse, glory, augustness to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

This was the first singing of the Gloria in excelsis Deo. And so it was, Luke tells us, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven that the shepherds began to speak one another. Did you see that?

Did you hear that? To hear the heavens open in that choir of angels singing the Gloria? What are we doing standing here?

Let's go right now. Let us now go even unto Bethlehem. Let's see this sign that the angel has just announced. And so they came with haste, and they found Mary, found Mary, and they found Joseph. But beloved, they weren't coming to see Mary.

They weren't coming to pay homage to Joseph. They were coming to see the babe that was lying in the manger. And once they had seen him, they made widely known the saying that was told them concerning this child, widely known. They told every single person they knew. They didn't just try to live a good life after that and have people come up to them and say, what's changed you from a sin blistered soul into a valorous saint.

They didn't just do evangelism by example. They opened their mouths. They told everyone what they heard and what they saw. And everyone who heard it marveled at the things that were told them by the shepherd. You know, you wonder how long they marveled. You wondered how long the excitement lasted, the duration of their zeal and happiness from their experience, which had to be a converting experience.

Maybe every Christmas they made mention of it. Not Mary. Mary kept these things. Everything that she saw, everything that she heard, she kept it and pondered it in her heart. Eight days later when she took the child to the temple for circumcision, she pondered that.

When the boy was twelve and confounded the doctors in the temple, she pondered that. Every night that she tucked her son into bed, she pondered these things and pondered them and pondered them till that day she stood at the foot of a cross and watched Him die. She pondered that until Sunday morning came, and He rose, not in humility, not in shame, not in disgrace, but in glory, in triumph, in exaltation. And the shepherds left doing two things, praising God and glorifying Him for everything they heard and everything they had seen. That's the lot of the Christian, to give glory and honor, dominion, power, and praise.

We join the angels saying, worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive the fullness of the glory of God. That's Christmas. That is Christmas, and I hope that you and your family have a very Merry Christmas. Today is the last sermon you'll hear on Renewing Your Mind from this short Christmas series in Luke's Gospel, which means it's also the final day to request two resources from R.C. Sproul, his hardcover commentary on Luke, and his Christmas devotional titled The Advent of Glory. We'll send both to you when you give a year-end donation of any amount in support of the expansion of Renewing Your Mind and the global outreach of Ligonier Ministries at renewingyourmind.org or by using the link in the podcast show notes. Have Dr. Sproul as your guide through the Gospel of Luke and have a devotional ready for next December to keep your mind daily focused on the details of the Christmas story and how those truths impact our lives.

Two resources for your donation of any amount at renewingyourmind.org, but this offer ends at midnight tonight, so be quick. Tomorrow we'll consider the place of art in our lives. How should Christians think about art? So join us to hear a message from R.C. Sproul's series, Recovering the Beauty of the Arts. That's Thursday, here on Renewing Your Mind. you