The Birth of Jesus
from Luke
Luke wrote his account of the life
of Christ as well as the Acts of the Holy Spirit to
a man named Theophilus. Virtually nothing is known
of this man, but such information is unimportant. What
is important, however, is what Luke had to say about
Messiah, and particularly the details surrounding His
birth. Even a cursory reading of the first two chapters
reveals some very significant aspects of our Lord’s
birth and His purpose for becoming the God-man.
Gabriel plays an upfront role as God’s
special angelic envoy to His people Israel by being
mentioned four times in the Bible, and by having very
specific messages each time. Two of the four times
are in Daniel, and the other two are in the first chapter
of Luke where he announced the birth of John to his
father Zacharias, and the birth of Jesus to His mother
Mary. Note a couple things he said.
First, Gabriel told Mary she would
conceive by the Holy Spirit a Son whose name would be
Jesus, and that He would be the Son of the Most High.
What a message to a lowly Jewish girl who was but probably
in her mid teens. But, this is where the religious
world most often gets off track in the story. For most
in Christendom (a very, very general term) the attention
is turned away from Jesus at this point and toward His
mother. What tragic mistake!
That she was a virgin is true. That
she was a wonderful person is true. That she was blessed
to be the earthly vehicle whereby Jesus would come into
this world as a man is true. But, that is about where
the adulation should end. The problem is Mary has been
lifted from the reality of the text to a state of virtual
deity by the Roman Catholic Church, and has even been
called Co-redempturix, Mediatrix and Advocate. The
Holy Spirit had no such purpose in mind when He inspired
Luke’s account. Consider, also, Mary admitting her
need for a Savior personally (Luke 1:47).
Second, Gabriel told Mary Jesus would
be given “the throne of His father David”. This is
a most significant text in prophecy, for it clearly
foretells a future day when Jesus will sit on David’s
throne. Important here is to remember David’s throne
is not in heaven — never has been and never will be.
It is in Jerusalem where it was 3000 years ago (Jeremiah
22:2,4). From Zachariah 14 and Revelation 19 we see
Jesus will take that very specific throne as His own
at His second advent, from which He will rule this self-same
earth with a rod of iron. This dispensation is commonly
called the Millennium.
Chapter two opens with the account
of God moving the entire Roman world to fulfill His
prophetic promises. You see, the prophet Micah foretold
the King would be born in Bethlehem of Judea (Micah
5:2), and the problem was Joseph and Mary were in Nazareth,
a little more than 60 miles from Bethlehem. Except
for the decree there was no reason for Joseph to take
his wife, heavy with child, on such a journey. God,
however, opened the door so that what He said would
happen would, in fact, happen literally. Nothing allegorical
about the journey or the destination!
At this point Luke paused to give Theophilus
some information about the birth announcement. He said
God chose to tell a group of shepherds about the birth
of Messiah. Considering that Theophilus might have
been a man of some social standing this part of the
story might have seemed strange to him. Shepherds?
Shepherds were at the absolute bottom of the social
ladder. In fact, they were considered so low-down socially
that some communities would not even accept their testimony
in a court of law. And, to the Pharisees of Jesus’
day shepherds were at the very bottom of the spiritual
ladder, also. So, why did God send the announcement
to such a lowly class of men instead of to men of royalty
and standing in Jerusalem?
Probably because that is God’s way.
He chose the poor and humble of the world to be the
earthly parents of Jesus, and likewise Jesus chose
the unknowns of the world to be His apostles. This
kind of action declares to everyone everywhere that
God welcomes the poor and lowly into His circle of fellowship.
Wealth and education are not requisites. In fact, these
are actually hindrances for many. And beside all that,
God is not impressed with royalty, social status and
money. A religious leader’s limo, Rolls Royce, tailor-made
Italian suits and gold and silver jewelry might impress
the ignorant and spiritually inept, but all that means
less than nothing to God. Wonder what God thinks about
religious denominations with billions of dollars of
assets and whose leadership dresses in regalia whose
cost is more than we might imagine.
But, there is another reason. A reason
not specifically mentioned, nevertheless one that is
deserving of our study. I think they were looking for
Messiah. Like Simeon and Anna it is possible the shepherds
were looking for the Greatest Son of David, and because
of their belief in God’s promises they were the first
to hear the news. Imagine standing in what is likely
the very fields David stood in at night a thousand years
before while shepherding sheep in the same way they
were doing it. The quiet and isolation of the outdoors
on a still night with all the firmament above dwarfing
earthly activity has a way of making a man think. To
think about Who made it all and what He said He was
going to do with it, and what to expect. Yes, I believe
the shepherds had a connection with God that far surpassed
that of the Jerusalem elite and the local debutantes.
The way the message was presented is
somewhat intriguing in itself. The angels appeared
suddenly, but the Greek for “had gone away” in verse
15 indicates it was a gradual departure. Reminds me
of the feeling one is left with after a great symphony
orchestra presents a piece of music by one of the great
masters that bursts upon the ears suddenly and ends
gradually, almost quietly. The effect is immediate
in the emotion of the audience by leaving everyone in
a state of enraptured awe. That might have been how
the shepherds felt, for they dropped everything and
went “in haste and found their way to Mary and Joseph
and the baby…”, indicating the search for the Child
was of top priority and no stone was left unturned until
He was found.
The angel told them to look for a sign:
a baby wrapped in cloth lying in a feed trough. A feed
trough?! The King lying in a common feed trough? Folks,
the angel meant exactly what he said. A newborn boy
would be in a stable and resting in a feed trough used
for the feeding of animals. Verse 20 says the shepherds
found things to be “just as had been told them.” Again,
there is no allegory here; nothing is to be spiritually
interpreted. If some of our modern replacementism preachers
had been there they would have immediately begun to
try to figure out what the angels meant; this just could
not mean a literal feed trough; it just had to have
a deeper, more spiritual meaning because, after all,
such an outrageous thing simply does not fit with logic.
No. It was a feed trough just like God, through His
angel, said it would be.
Luke made sure Theophilus understood
the Jewishness of Jesus’ birth by telling about His
circumcision and the time of purification. Jesus was
circumcised when He was eight days old according to
the Law. That same Law declared when a woman gave birth
to a son she was ceremonially unclean for a total of
forty days. When those observances were concluded Joseph
brought Mary and Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem so
He could be presented before God, something that was
also part of the Law.
The sacrifices brought were to be a
lamb for a burnt offering and a pigeon as a sin offering.
Poor people, however, were allowed to bring a pigeon
in the place of the lamb which is what Joseph did.
Blood and sacrifices were a part of Israel being constantly
reminded of the place and impact of their sin. Though
Jesus was thoroughly sinless, yet He voluntarily subjected
Himself as the God-man to life under the Law, and He
kept it without failure. This thought is contained
in verse 22 where it was “their” purification that was
tended to. That is, the mother’s impurity was naturally
shared by her child, though Jesus was innocent of any
and all sin throughout His entire life. Though perfectly
sinless Jesus never, not even once, exempted Himself
from the dictates of the Law. It was only by His absolute
righteousness that He was qualified to take our sin
upon Himself.
It is probable the trip to Jerusalem
was prior to the visit of the Magi. The warning from
God to Joseph about Herod’s attempt to kill Jesus would
certainly have kept him from bringing his family to
the very heart of Herod’s den if it had come prior to
His presentation. Further, in all probability Joseph
would have been able to afford a lamb for sacrifice
after having received the gifts from the Magi. I believe
there were no Magi present on the night Jesus was born,
and that He was probably closer to two years of age
when they did arrive (Matthew 2).
For reasons not given to us Simeon
was told by God he would see the Messiah before he died.
In Simeon’s hymn of praise to God he quoted Isaiah about
Messiah being a “light or revelation to the Gentiles”.
This refers to the then future church through which
would come the gospel message to all people. Messiah’s
work is for the Jew first and also for the Gentile (Isaiah
49:5,6).
The aged Anna also spoke of such things
“...to all those who were looking for the redemption
of Jerusalem.” It seems that God, even today, ignites
and sustains a special interest in Jesus’ coming in
the hearts of those who live with a constant sense of
attention to prophetic truths. I once heard a popular
radio preacher say prophecy was of little to no importance,
and that people should ignore it and concentrate on
what he called the important things in scripture. For
the life of me I cannot understand that kind of thinking.
It is absolutely and totally foreign to the text and
tenor of scripture, it goes against the examples of
God’s faithful people presented therein and it thoroughly
violates the God-given nature of the human heart to
seek something of truth and substance to cling to regarding
the future — and that truthful and substantive something
is called “the Blessed Hope” in Titus 2:13.
The story of Jesus in Luke. It takes
a long look back to the events of Jesus’ birth, yet
gently and simultaneously weaves those golden threads
of the future into the priceless fabric of the greatest
story ever told. It is important to take portions of
scripture and expound them thus mining the precious
truths each portion presents. But, lest we become so
fixated on those segments, and as a result loose the
broad perspective, it is advisable to often stop, step
back and take in the panorama. Let your eyes find and
focus on what is coming, and let your heart take comfort
in the end of the story. DLM
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