Welcome to Week 34 of our “Weekend Wind-Down” series. This series is where we take a piece of Scripture, get its background information, and dig deeper into it to see what the Bible says about it and what we need to walk away with.
Our scripture focus today is Luke 2:11-14, which says:
11 The Savior – yes, the Messiah, the Lord – has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!
12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others – the armies of heaven – praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
As mentioned last Saturday, Luke wrote this Gospel to offer an accurate account of the life of Jesus, presenting him as the perfect human and Savior.
Some Jewish people were waiting for a savior to deliver them from Roman rule, while others wanted the Messiah to deliver them from physical ailments. Jesus did both those things and more. Jesus – while healing their illnesses and establishing a spiritual Kingdom – delivered them from sin. Many people wanted a kingdom to fight the wars that were being set against them. A physical fighter that will go in, take care of the enemy, and walk out victorious. Instead, we got a spiritual fighter.
You see, people set their own agenda for who Jesus is and, thus, expect too little from him. We put Jesus in a box and expect Jesus to work and react according to the standards and principles set in our minds and defined by our reality. The work that Jesus does reaches far beyond what we could imagine. I think of the story of Jesus feeding the multitudes with five loaves of bread and two fish. A crowd that was about 20,000 people large was fed comfortably with five loaves of bread and two fish. Jesus paid the price for sin and opened the way to peace with God. Before Jesus, there was ritual, sacrifices, and procedures to be right with God. Yet, came to fulfill all these things to allow us to go boldly and confidently to God. Jesus offers us more than temporary political and physical changes – he offers us new hearts, which will be ours for eternity. Our environment, leadership, and governance will change, but Jesus doesn’t. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
We see the birth of Jesus affirmed in what John 4:22 says:
22 You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews.
Now, I first noticed John’s aggressive tone here. Be aware that the Jewish people and Samaritans had a massive race and culture division. I encourage you to read and study the Parable of the Good Samaritan to learn more about the impact of this division and the goodness of Jesus. Yet, what John is getting at is that only through the Jewish Messiah would the world find salvation.
God promised that the whole earth would be blessed through the Jewish people. See Genesis 12:3 and read week 2 of Abrahamic Promises to learn more about this. The Old Testament prophets had called the Jews to be a light to the world’s other nations, bringing them knowledge of God and showing them God’s way to live and treat others. The exciting thing I remember about the Samaritan beliefs is that they worshipped Abraham. They worshipped him as the Jewish people did to Jesus. They would’ve been familiar with the blessing Jesus refers to in this story. The Samaritan woman would’ve been amazed to know she was talking to the Messiah that the Abrahamic promises discussed.
Let’s pivot and talk about the angels that spoke to the Shepherds. Revelation 5:11 says:
11 Then I looked again, and I heard the voices of thousands and millions of angels around the throne and of the living beings and the elders.
Who are the angels? First, let me encourage you to watch the BibleProject’s video on the Divine Council, where Jon and Tim talk about the angels and demons. Now, let me give you a simplified version:
Angels are spiritual beings created by God to help carry out the work needed on earth. Here’s a list of what they can do:
- Bring messages
- Protect God’s people
- Offer encouragement
- Give guidance
- Bring punishment
- Patrol the earth
- Fight the forces of evil.
There will be a future series that goes into these things that I find super interesting, so be prepared for that, probably mid-2024.
Know, too, that there are both good and evil angels. Still, since the evil angels are allied with Satan, they have considerably less power than good angels. Eventually, the primary role of the good angels will be to offer continuous praise. We see this shown in Revelation 5:11 through its imagery. Now, you may question: “Marc, if there are more good angels than evil ones, why is there still so much evil on earth?” I can’t answer that because I don’t have the answer. Some evil we see on earth is due to human corruption and emotional decision-making. We see some evil from people claiming to be Christians but doing what was right in their eyes. Some of it is the fate of the world. The optimism of this shares with me that with all the evil of the world, there are a lot of good angels in heaven trying to make things right again.
To close, let’s talk about the celebration of the birth of Jesus. Luke 19:38 says:
38 “Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in highest heaven!”
The people praising God for giving them a king had the wrong idea about Jesus. They wanted a national leader to restore their nations to their former glory. They wanted Saul again. Those people were deaf to the teachings of the prophets and also blind to the true mission of Jesus. When people began to realize that Jesus wouldn’t be the war-torn hero they wanted, they turned on him. The same king we celebrated in Luke 2 is now crucified in Luke 19.
As I mentioned, they wanted Saul again. This may feel out-of-pocket, but stick with me as I wrap this up. Saul was the Israelites first king that they chose. They were tired of the judges and wanted a king like the other nations had, so Samuel appointed Saul. Saul didn’t work out, though. Israel gets into deep water, so God tells Samuel to appoint a new king. In comes David, the runt of the litter, the youngest of Jesse’s kings, and the one who would take down Goliath. The people wanted Saul, but God wanted David. The people wanted a war leader, but God provided a healer.
Let’s wrap that up here. It feels shorter than usual, but the Christmas story is something you’ll hear more about tomorrow on Christmas Eve and have heard often throughout this Advent season. The birth of this kid that no one expected (since they didn’t listen to the prophets) was the best gift humanity could have received. We discussed the good news of Jesus’ birth, the impact of Jesus coming through the Jewish lineage, who the angels are, and the impact of the revolt against Jesus. Let me pray us out.
Father God, we thank you for the best Christmas gift we could receive that came as your Son, Jesus. Please help us to feel the impact of his birth on our lives. Help us feel what this birth means for the whole world, and let us reflect on our lives and the impact this birth has on us. It’s in your name, we pray. Amen.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
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