Luke 2:10-11 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
Some things are almost impossible to imagine. Imagine America without the Bible and Christianity in its history? Imagine world history without the birth of Christ. Our secular atheistic culture would like to cancel Christmas and Christianity entirely from our national consciousness. No angelic announcement to Mary, no trip to Bethlehem, no birth, no manger, no shepherds. You can’t imagine it, can you?
Our passage about the birth of Christ is grounded in history. It all happened, just as your Bible tells you. The Caesar in Rome decreed a census. The young couple made their way from Nazareth down to Bethlehem, about 90 miles. No comfortable room for them, so out to the stable they go. And that night she brings forth a son. Angels appear to shepherds announcing the birth of this child in the midst of brightness and glory. They make haste to see and return with hearts nearly exploding with praise and rejoicing for what they had just witnessed. What a night that was. This all happened, just as it says.
For most of the people sleeping in Bethlehem it was just another night. But now we know, this was not just another night as Mary gave birth, not just to a baby boy, but to the seed of David, the future King of Israel, the Savior of the world. She just gave birth to the God-man! Even the angels couldn’t stay in heaven. They came in heavenly glory to those shepherds to declare good news of great joy. A Savior has been born!
What makes Christmas so full of great joy? I think we could even say the greatest joy of all! The magi experienced it in Matthew 2:10 – “When they saw the star they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.” Let’s tear into a few of the reasons for this great joy, kind of like ripping wrapping paper off four wonderful Christmas gifts.
First, there’s the great joy of prophecy fulfilled in the birth of Christ.
Gal 4:4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law.
Luke 2:7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
Daniel lived in Babylon around 550 BC. God revealed to him, and he wrote it down in Daniel 2 and especially 7, that three world empires would arise after Babylon. The first was Persia the huge bear, and sure enough, the Persians sneaked in on the Babylonians in 539 BC and conquered them. Daniel prophesied that another strong kingdom would arise, the leopard, leaping from Greece to the East, smashing the Persians. Sure enough, around 331 BC Alexander the Great marched his armies from Macedonia all the way to India, fulfilling prophecy just as God said. Then a fourth empire greater than all the previous, the Roman Empire, would rise up and conquer the Greeks and set up a huge kingdom. Sure enough, it happened. In Luke 2:1 that decree went out from Caesar Augustus. Guess what empire he heads up?
Who is in control? Who is sovereign? Who is writing history hundreds of years before it happened? Then God gave Daniel an even more specific prophecy recorded in Daniel 9. Israel’s Messiah would come 483 years after a Persian decree to rebuild Jerusalem. Did He? Sure enough, there He is, right there in that manger with Mary is tending to Him! Fulfilled prophecy! It happened, just as God said it would! Christmas is a story of the great joy of fulfilled prophecy, proving the reality of a sovereign, loving God!
There are more prophecies. Isaiah wrote this around 700 years before Christ was born, “A virgin shall conceive, and bring forth a child, and he shall be called Immanuel!” (7:14) God with us! Did He come? Yes. There He is, lying in that manger, born of the virgin Mary. What great joy! Two chapters later in Isaiah 9:6, Isaiah wrote, “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders. (9:6) Was He born? Was He given? Sure enough, there He is in that manger. This is great joy!
The prophet Micah, around 700 BC too, added this: “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, rom you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.” (5:2) Joseph and Mary made their way to Bethlehem where Jesus was born.
Imagine if none of these events came to pass. It’s hard, isn’t it? What if the Romans came and went, the German hordes from the north just destroyed Rome, a little later the Muslims conquered northern Africa and the Middle East, and this birth account never happened. That would mean America was never settled by Christ-loving Pilgrims and Puritans. No Christmas cards and no celebration of Jesus’ birth every year. Imagine no fulfillment of all those prophecies. They would be empty words; useless drivel.
Ladies and gentlemen, God’s words aren’t empty! And one of the great joys of Christmas is that He kept His promises from hundreds of years before, words that are “faithful and true” and we’re looking at the fulfillment right there in vs. 7, “She gave birth to her first-born son!” By the way, God promised to send His Son the second time, and you can count on it, He’s coming. We just don’t know when! Are you ready?
The second great joy of Christmas – God’s sovereign providence displayed in the birth of Christ.
Luke 2:1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.
Why did Caesar call for a census at this time? Why did Joseph and Mary have to make their way down to Bethlehem just at this time? Why was Mary just at the point of needing to deliver of her baby?
This is one of those clear examples that God’s providence sovereignly rules the events of mankind. Prov. 21:1, “The king’s heart is in the hands of the Lord; He turns it wherever He chooses!” Providence is the invisible hand of God behind the scenes causing every detail of the story to come to pass according to His plan! God has everything prepared for the birth of Jesus, from the Greek language of the New Testament spread by Alexander the Great to the Pax Romana, the Roman peace, imposed by Rome’s armies.
And now, the top gun of the Roman Empire decrees this census so that Joseph and Mary make their way to Bethlehem, prophesied 700 years earlier by Micah! God’s providence makes sure all the prophecies are fulfilled perfectly. R. C. Sproul wrote: “Jesus was born at the precise second and in the precise place that God had ordained from the foundation of the world.”
Third, there’s the great joy of the people God chose in the birth of Christ.
Luke 2:4-5, 8 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
I love this about God – the people He chooses to do His work. The people involved weren’t the upper echelon of Roman society. Jesus wasn’t born into a jewel-ladened royal cradle tended by an army of nurses in a luxurious palace. He wasn’t born in Rome, or Babylon, or Memphis, Egypt, or any of the great and glorious cities of this world. He wasn’t even born into a wealthy family.
Joseph was a carpenter, a man who worked with his hands for his living. Mary was an unknown teenage Jewess. When they show up in town, no one knows they are there. They have no clout to get themselves a fine room or order in a mid-wife or physician. They were humble, obscure, common people. But they were gracious people. Joseph was thoughtful of Mary, not wanting to expose her when he found out she was pregnant. Mary was a precious soul, surely regenerated, who, when informed about God’s plan for her, bowed her heart and said, “May it be done to me according to your word.” Sweeter words have never been uttered.
God sent His host of angels to announce the birth to shepherds. It was well-known that shepherds in Israel were considered untrustworthy and their work made them ceremonially unclean. The good news didn’t come first to Jewish scholars or rabbis. God sent the good news first to the social outcasts of Jesus’ day!
You don’t have to be royalty or a celebrity or rich and famous to become a Christian. Most of us are common folks, like Joseph, Mary, and these shepherds. There are a few Magi types bringing gold, frankincense and myrrh, but not many! Not many mighty are chosen! What a great joy, just to see the people God chose to be part of the Christmas story!
Fourth, the greatest joy of all – the Person and purpose declared in the birth of Christ.
Luke 2:10-11 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
I bring you good news – that’s the gospel. He didn’t bring them bad news. God knows there’s enough of that in the world! This is the good news, the news that will make an eternal difference for all who receive Christ. The news that will come into our hearts and thoroughly change us! It will bring us forgiveness, eternal life, adoption into God’s family, all coming right out of that manger.
Of great joy – that’s the effect of the gospel. What is joy? That brightness of spirit that can only come when you know God has poured out His grace into your life and you live with pure hope of eternal fellowship with Him. This world has its joys, but they are so limited, aren’t they? Marriages, births, graduations, a raise, passing your finals, trusted friendships, traveling, learning new things, paying off your debt – these all bring joy but are very limited. Here is a great joy that is eternal.
Which shall be for all the people – There is divine love packed into this brief phrase, “for all the people.” First for Israel, then for Gentiles. For all whom God calls to Himself. Want proof of God’s love for us? It’s right there in that manger, that babe wrapped in swaddling cloths. If God didn’t love us Jesus wouldn’t be there.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David – this is the historical reality of it all. This isn’t a myth, a non-existent Greek or Roman god, but this very day this One is born, rooted historically to King David himself! Nothing mystical, nothing superstitious. You could have felt the warmth of his little body if you’d been there, pinched his little cheeks, smelled the manure of the animals, and perhaps heard the clucking of the chickens.
And then, saving the best for last – A Savior, who is Christ the Lord. There’s the greatest joy of all! He came as our Savior. If Christ only came to be an example, it would not be good news. Or just to do miracles and fascinate us with great power. A Savior, which is Christ the Lord! To save us from our dreadful condition in sin. To save us from Satan’s rulership over our lives. To save us from spending an eternity under the awful punishment of divine wrath. He came to save us from our sins. This is the greatest joy of all.
Who is this Savior? He is Christ, the Lord! God united with man: one person, two natures, both God and man in hypostatic union. The infinite, eternal, sovereign, holy God humbled Himself to unite with mankind, to grow and live and walk among us, and then finally to pay the ultimate price for sinners, to die in our place 33 years later as our Savior! That is the miracle of all miracles, the mystery of all mysteries.
These are some of the great joys of Christmas: prophecy fulfilled, providence revealed, the people God chose, and the Person and purpose declared by this angel to these shepherds. And for all who receive Him as Savior, these great joys will increase forever. The greatest tragedy is to hear this story and never respond personally to this Savior. Have you? Will you? Romans 10:9-10, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your hearts that God has raised Him from the grave, you will be saved!”