The Birth of
Jesus
[Luke chapter
2, verses 1-24]
For today's
study we'll be moving on to Luke chapter 2, or the story of Jesus'
birth. No matter what time of year you read this, this classic and
timeless story of everything surrounding the birth of our Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ, is a story for all seasons. The birth of Christ
Jesus is the beginning of the salvation story of all humankind. Our
Savior's birth is also the starting point of all our eternities. It
is and will always remain the only way we can have reconciliation
with our Creator. Without Christ, we are nothing! Bearing this in
mind, let's initialize our study of the first half of Luke chapter
two, beginning with verse one.
“In
those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be
taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took
place while Quirinius was governor of Syria) And everyone went to his
own town to register. So Joseph also went up to the town of Nazareth
in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem in the town of David, because he
belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register
with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a
child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born,
and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths
and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them at the
inn. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby,
keeping watch over the flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared
to them, and the glory of the Lord shown around them, and they were
terrified. But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid. I bring you
good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the
Town of David a savior has been born to you; he is Christ, the Lord.
This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths,
lying in a manger.'” (Luke chapter 1, verses 1-12)
All
this took place somewhere between the years 3BC and 3AD, no one knows
the exact date. But there is a discrepancy of approximately 6 years
between the ancient Hebrew calendar and the modern Western calendar
that we use today. Just to illustrate how much harder life was back
then than it is today, Joseph and an evidently very pregnant Mary had
to walk all the way back to Joseph's home town to be registered for
Caesar Augustus' census, a distance of at least 150 miles. There were
no cars, the only transportation was on horseback or by donkey. There
was no electricity either, so having an Internet was inconceivable.
Let this be an illustration of how fortunate we are today, having all
those luxuries at our fingertips, sometimes literally.
The
other thing I am compelled to point out is the circumstances and deep
symbolism surrounding the birth of our Lord. “While they
were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth
to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in
a manger, because there was no room for them at the inn.”
What kind of cloths were those which Mary used, and what exactly is a
'manger'? A manger is a feeding trough for farm animals, such as
cattle, pigs or sheep, among others. So it's safe to say that Joseph
and Mary were in a barn or maybe a hayloft of some kind “because
there was no room for them at the inn”. The symbolism of the infant
Jesus being laid in a feeding trough is impossible to ignore (“I am
the bread of life” – Jesus Christ). So are the cloths, which were
used for milking cows and goats. They symbolize the extremely humble
circumstances of our Savior's birth. The cloths were basically rags.
Joseph couldn't run down to Wal Mart and buy diapers and a few
'onesies', as they're called today. Mary and Joseph had to make do
with what was available to them, and they apparently didn't mind a
bit.
I
find it interesting that the news of Jesus' birth was not announced
in the Temple courts in Jerusalem, or in the palaces of the rulers,
or even in the town squares. It was announced to some shepherds in
the fields outside of town, in the countryside, to ordinary people
rather than those who held positions of power and authority. All the
power and authority of the world's governments pales in comparison to
that of Jesus Christ. “An angel of the Lord appeared to
them, and the glory of the Lord shown around them, and they were
terrified. But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid. I bring you
good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the
Town of David a savior has been born to you; he is Christ, the Lord.
This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths,
lying in a manger.'” The “town
of David” is, of course, Bethlehem, which is located in what is
currently southeastern Israel. I find it interesting that there are
so many Arabs who call this area part of “Palestine”, when it is
in fact the ancestral land of Christ Jesus and his parents, Mary and
Joseph, all of whom are documented Jews in our story. OK, so now that
we've cleared up any questions about whose land this is, let's move
on to the second part of our study, beginning at verse 13.
“Suddenly
a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel,
praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace to men on whom his favor rests'. When the angels had left them
and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let's go to
Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has
told us about'. So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and
the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen them, they
spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child,
and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her
heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all
the things they had just heard or seen, which were just what they has
been told.” (Luke 2, verses 13-20)
“'Glory
to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor
rests'.” Peace on earth? Today
things are worse than ever. The US military, to use a contemporary
example, is currently involved, directly or indirectly, in
approximately 75 military conflicts of various kinds globally. This
insistent tinkering with the affairs of countries all over the world
proves that America is deliberately disobeying the Word of God.
Otherwise, the majority of these wars would either not have happened
at all, or would have been long since over with. Plus, there would be
a lot of people still alive today who got killed in these conflicts.
We all have to face up to the fact that America has a bunch of
out-of-control psychopaths running the country. It no longer matters
who we vote for, because our elected Congressional and Executive
branches no longer represents regular Americans. They represent the
military-industrial complex and the American police state. Moreover,
I strongly suspect that much the same thing is happening all over the
globe. But before I get too deep into that, let me continue this
Bible study instead. For additional commentary about the other, check
out my blogs either here
or here.
So
the shepherds who had just been visited by an angel decided it was in
their best interest to go and see the infant Jesus. After all, they
reasoned, they would never get this chance again, to see and behold
the newborn Savior and holy Redeemer who was none other than Christ
the Lord! And they never questioned what they had seen, either. If
some farmhands making the modern equivalent of minimum wage knew what
they were seeing, how much more should we believe – we who have
internet access to almost limitless knowledge, plus electronic
devices and motor vehicles that were inconceivable to these people?
The same thing happened when they related to others what they had
seen, as it is written, “So they hurried off and found
Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they
had seen them, they spread the word concerning what had been told
them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the
shepherds said to them.” As
you can see, those who the shepherds told about the birth of Christ
had no problem believing them either. Like the shepherds, their faith
was instantaneous and unquestioning, just as every true believer
should be. “The shepherds returned, glorifying and
praising God for all the things they had just heard or seen, which
were just what they had been told.”
That's how they knew. Everything the angel told them happened exactly
as he said it would, right down to the smallest detail. Only God can
do that, and they knew it immediately. Having determined that this
was so, let's now conclude today's study.
“On the
eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus,
the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived. When
the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been
completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to
the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, 'every firstborn
male is to be consecrated to the Lord'
[Exodus 13: 2, 12]) and to offer a sacrifice in keeping
with what is said in the Law of the Lord, 'a pair of doves or two
young pigeons' [Leviticus 12:
8]. (Luke 2: 21-24)
As
I pointed out in a previous study, male circumcision on the eighth
day after his birth was required in the Old Law in Genesis chapter 17
and verse 10. Luke wrote about this and all the other things to
illustrate that Mary and Joseph followed the law to the very letter,
making them blameless in God's sight. That's why God chose them to
begin with. They also presented the baby Jesus to the Lord, as the
Law of Moses required, as their first-born, and offered a sacrifice
of “'a pair of doves or two young pigeons'”,
but Luke's gospel doesn't say which of the two it was. Under the Old
Law, a sacrifice of a lamb, a young heifer or a goat (“without spot
or blemish”) was required of those who had herds of their own. But
for those who were not in agriculture, such as those too poor to own
any land, a pair of doves or pigeons was allowed as a substitute. It
was right about this time that the next character in the story of
Jesus' birth enters the picture, a gentleman named Simeon. To find
out who he was, and the role he played during the time Jesus was
being presented at the Temple, stay tuned until next week, when we'll
pick up where we left off. Everybody enjoy your week, or what's left
of it, until next week's study of the 2nd
half of Luke chapter two. Shalom!
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