Christmas Eve
Lk
2:1-20
12/24/21
I can only
hope that for many people, Christmas 2021 is a very different experience from
Christmas 2020. Although a year later we
are still living with the Covid pandemic and the many uncertainties and
inconveniences that go with it, I think it is fair to say that things have changed. On the whole, I think people will be having a
more normal, and much better, Christmas this year.
A year ago
the various vaccines were just being approved, and the public was yet to
receive them. Many people were very
concerned about the threat the virus posed to their health – especially those
who are older or have health issues. They
felt like they had no protection and were very concerned about exposure to the
virus. Individuals had changed their normal
pattern of behavior in order to minimize contact with others.
And so when
Christmas arrived in 2020, many people had to make some difficult
decisions. Should they get together with
family as they normally would? Should they travel in order to celebrate
Christmas with family? It was not
uncommon for people to decide that given all the factors, to be on the safe
side of things, this year they would not do so. There were families that did
not gather and celebrate Christmas together last year because of Covid, and that
certainly made for a Christmas that was messed up and disappointing.
It is important
for us to recognize that the almost everything about the first Christmas was
messed up for Mary and Joseph. We learn
in our text that a decision by the Roman Emperor Augustus had set in motion
events that directly impacted this couple.
A registration had been ordered – one that was ultimately tied to
taxation. Normally, this kind of
registration was done in the location where a person lived. But the Romans did show some flexibility when
it came to these matters, and because of the Jews strong ties to their tribal
history, this registration would take place on the basis of the location of
family origin.
Mary and
Joseph probably would have preferred that things had been done in the normal
Roman way. Joseph was from the tribe of
Judah, and specifically from family line of King David that originated in
Bethlehem. But Jospeh didn’t live in
Bethlehem. Instead, he lived in the
north – in Galilee - in the town of Nazareth.
The registration meant that he and his betrothed, Mary, would have to
make the ninety mile journey south to Bethlehem in Judea.
It was bad
enough that the Roman Empire was forcing them to make this journey. But on top of this, the timing could not have
been worse. Mary was not only pregnant,
but was also nearing the time when she would deliver her baby. The last thing the
couple wanted was for Mary to give birth to a baby out on the road.
Joseph and
Mary made it to Bethlehem, but once there, the experience just kept going from
bad to worse. Bethlehem was a small town – the place was really nothing. Yet now it was filled with people who like
Joseph and Mary, were there only because of the census. They couldn’t find any lodging. While our translation says there was “no place for them in the inn,” that
probably overstates things. There is a Greek word for “inn,” and Luke uses it
in the parable of the Good Samaritan, but not here. Instead, a different word is used that seems
to be to a place where travelers would gather, probably under a tent or covering.
The couple could not even find shelter there. Instead, the best they could do was where the
animals were kept. The journey of
unplanned and difficult circumstances reached its conclusion as Luke tells us,
“And while they
were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her
firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a
manger.” Mary gave birth to her son in
the midst of animals, and then placed him in their feeding trough.
There have been many children born in
humble circumstances. And we could write off the birth of this child as just
one more example of this, were it not for what Luke has already told us in the
first chapter of the Gospel. We have
learned that Mary was a virgin, betrothed to Joseph. The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and
greeted her. Then he announced, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have
found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and
bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and
will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give
to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the
house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
Gabriel told Mary that she was going
to give birth to the Davidic Messiah – the fulfillment of God’s promise to
David and to all of the Old Testament prophecies that spoke about the Messiah
who would bring restoration to Israel and God’s end time salvation. This child,
this son, would be the One Isaiah describes in our Old Testament lesson tonight
in the words: “Of the increase
of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of
David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice
and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.”
That was remarkable in itself. But when Mary asked how she
was going to conceive this son since she was a virgin, Gabriel told her, “The
Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will
overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be
called holy--the Son of God.” Mary
learned that her child would be conceived by the work of the Holy Spirit. God would work a miracle, and because of this
miracle the child born to Mary would be holy – the Son of God. This was not “son of God” in an adopted sense
like the nation of Israel or the Davidic kings like Solomon. Instead he would be the Son of God –
the second person of the Trinity. As
Isaiah says in the Old Testament lesson, this child is “Mighty God.”
In Bethlehem, the virgin Mary gave birth to a baby who was
true God and true man at the same time. She gave birth to the Davidic Messiah
promised by God in the Old Testament. She gave birth to the Messiah – the shoot
from the stump of Jesse – that Isaiah said would bring the peace that extended even
to creation itself. He wrote in chapter
eleven, “The
wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young
goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little
child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall
lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.”
Mary gave birth to this child –
and then laid him in an animal feeding trough.
Now the place of birth – Bethlehem - makes perfect sense. As we saw
during our Advent sermons, Yahweh had announced through the prophet Micah, “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too
little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of
old, from ancient days.”
But nothing else about this seems to
make any sense. Jesus the Christ is supposed to bring peace among the animals –
not lay in the place where they eat.
This is God in our world, but he is in the manger as a helpless human
baby. This is the Messiah who will
rule in glory and power, but he has been born in a setting of utter humility.
Yet all of this has its explanation in
two truths. The first is the reality of
what you are. We put on a good front, but it can never change what is inside of
us. Jesus said, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder,
adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.” Since the
Fall of Adam and Eve brought sin into the world we have been sinners. We are
people who, as Martin Luther put it, are “curved in on ourselves.” Created to live in fellowship with God, we
find every possible way to turn away from God.
When push comes to shove, we put ourselves first, and God and our
neighbor a very distant second.
The second truth deals with the nature
of God. Again and again the Old Testament reveals that God is “gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and
abounding in steadfast love.” In his
grace, mercy and love, God did not leave us in our sin. Instead, he acted in order to give us
forgiveness and reconciliation.
He acted, but he did so in a way that confounds human
wisdom and expectations. Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, was born in weakness and humility, because this is how the
Father would have him win our salvation. He was laid in manger because the goal
of his life was to be nailed to a cross.
On the night when he was betrayed Jesus quoted Isaiah chapter 53 and
said, “For I tell you that this Scripture must be
fulfilled in me: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors.’
For what is written about me has its fulfillment.” The Son of God – the creator of the cosmos - took
on a human nature in his conception, and entered
into our world at Christmas in order to take our place and receive God’s
judgment against our sin.
Jesus Christ’s birth was one of
humility and weakness. Jesus’ death on
Good Friday was one of humiliation, powerlessness, and defeat. But in our Gospel lesson tonight we hear a
note of glory and triumph. An angel of the Lord appeared to shepherds, and the
glory of the Lord shone around them. The
angel announced, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that
will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day
in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
The angel announced that Jesus who is
born in Bethlehem is the Savior. And
this messenger from God is not wrong.
For on the third day – on Easter – God raised Jesus from the dead. God
had worked in humility and weakness to give us forgiveness and to defeat
death.
Christ the risen Lord is our Savior from Satan, sin, and
death. Because of the resurrection of
Jesus, we now understand what God was doing through the infant in the manger
and the man on the cross. St. Paul told the Corinthians, “For Jews demand
signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a
stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are
called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom
of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of
God is stronger than men.”
The risen and ascended Lord will return in glory on the Last
Day. He will transform our bodies to
like his own, so that they can never die. He will renew creation so that, “The
wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young
goat.” He the Savior, will bring the consummation of his salvation as we will
live with our Lord forever.
And right now? The One
who is true God and true man still comes to us in order to give us the forgiveness
that he won on the cross and to strengthen us in faith. Just like the infant in the manger and the
man on the cross, he does so in a way that looks humble and weak. In the Sacrament of the Altar our Lord uses
bread and wine to give us his true body and blood, given and shed for us. Just as in the manger and the cross, it is
the Lord who is true God and true man who comes to us. Just as the in the manger and the cross he
was located in this world for us, so now he will be located at this altar for
us.
And just as the angel announced, he is the Savior present for us. He gives us the forgiveness and salvation
that he won by his death and resurrection. In the Sanctus we will sing,
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” Yet unlike Christmas and Good Friday, it is
the risen and exalted Lord who comes to us now in this way. And because he is, the celebration of the
Sacrament is the the reminder and assurance that he will return in glory
accompanied by the angels of the heavenly host.
On that day, all will see that the infant in the manger and the man on
the cross was God winning salvation for us. And we will sing in joy and praise,
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” as we greet the glorious arrival
of our Savior.
No comments:
Post a Comment