Show Notes
Luke 2:1-20
Pastor Christopher Chelpka
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Episode Transcript
[00:00:07] Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for sending to us the Lord Jesus Christ Emmanuel God with us that we might dwell with you forever and ever.
[00:00:19] We thank you for making us even into a fit dwelling place for for God.
[00:00:28] We thank you that the Holy Spirit dwells in us, that we are the temple in which you are pleased to shine your glory forth and make your witness known in the world.
[00:00:44] We ask, Lord, that as we meditate further on these things this morning and in the coming days, we ask that you would comfort us by them, encourage us by them, and cause us to be eager and zealous, looking forward to the return of our Savior and the great consummation of all of these things.
[00:01:03] Lord, we thank you for bringing us here today, each and every particular soul that is here to see and hear and participate in your worship, to hear your word preached and read.
[00:01:19] We ask that you would bless us, Lord, that you encourage and strengthen our hearts. We pray for those who aren't able to be with us today. We ask that you would bless them and bring them back to us soon.
[00:01:30] We pray for your word that as it is proclaimed in various parts of our city, our region, country and our world, that your light would shine brightly and many would come to put their faith in in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.
[00:01:49] It's in his name that we pray. Amen.
[00:01:55] Well, let's remain standing and hear God's word this morning. From Luke chapter two, Luke 2:1 20.
[00:02:23] So a few weeks ago in Jeremiah we heard about the king promised.
[00:02:31] Last week we heard about the king conceived and today the king is born.
[00:02:38] Hear God's word. Luke chapter two.
[00:02:43] In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.
[00:02:49] This was the first registration when Quirinus was governor of Syria, and all went to be registered, each to his own town.
[00:02:57] 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, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.
[00:03:14] And while they were there, the time for her to get 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 clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them. And in the inn and in the same region, there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock by night, and an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.
[00:03:46] 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.
[00:03:54] For unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.
[00:04:09] And suddenly, with the angel, a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace among those with whom he is pleased.
[00:04:22] When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.
[00:04:33] And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger.
[00:04:38] And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning the child.
[00:04:43] And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds had told them.
[00:04:47] But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.
[00:04:51] And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen as it had been told to them.
[00:04:59] This is God's word. May he bless it to us. You may be seated.
[00:05:26] There's so many wonderful things in the history that is recorded here of our Lord's birth.
[00:05:35] So many juicy details and things that are worthy of reflection and meditation and songs and poems, which is why we have all these things that we do.
[00:05:48] One of the things that comes out in this passage is, of course, one of the things that we've been focusing on over the last few weeks and even months and maybe years, if you extend it long enough. And that is the fulfillment of God's promises to David.
[00:06:06] You Remember back in 2nd Samuel 7? We'll look at it in a minute.
[00:06:09] Back in 2nd Samuel 7, God made a solemn promise, a covenant with David regarding these things that would happen, which is why we see all these references in Luke chapter two to this king from a long time ago to David.
[00:06:27] I don't know if you noticed them all right away, but if you skim over or go with me, you'll see some of them. For example, and we have in chapter or verse four that Joseph goes to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem.
[00:06:43] Bethlehem comes up again in verse 11 when the angels say, for unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord.
[00:06:55] And then, of course, we have Also in verse 4, another note about Joseph, that he went to Bethlehem. He went to the city of David because he was of the house and lineage of David.
[00:07:10] So all these references to David, why a reference to this king? And it's because Jesus is the one who is fulfilling these promises, this promise to David.
[00:07:25] Turn with me, if you will. Let's look at 2 Samuel 7 and remind ourselves what exactly was promised there. And we'll read very carefully together.
[00:07:37] You remember the context of this covenant. In 2 Samuel 7, David wants to build a house for God. He sees that he is himself in a palace, a very beautiful palace, and then says, well, why should I be in a palace when God, so to speak, is in a tent?
[00:07:56] Now, David knows that God doesn't dwell in a tent. And God is not contained in a tent or a building or the world itself.
[00:08:06] His son Solomon will later say, even the highest of heavens cannot contain our God.
[00:08:13] But as a matter of respect, as a matter of reverence, as a matter of worship, David wonders if this is how things should be.
[00:08:23] Now, of course, God had commanded this tent to be built. And this is no ordinary tent, right like that you go pick up at REI on your way out of town to go camping for a weekend. This is a special, very special building, constructed in a way that is movable.
[00:08:42] It was a building, a tent, a tabernacle. It was called as a place for worship, as a place for Israel to gather around, for the Lord to lead and to guide his people for the work of the priesthood and many, many other things, all designed, all planned, all dedicated to the Lord.
[00:09:04] And so the Lord being in this place was not kind of some throwaway decision, some mistake from a long time ago.
[00:09:13] But David senses something in his heart that wants something more.
[00:09:19] And the Lord will grant it, as Solomon then will later build a temple, but not yet.
[00:09:26] And one of the reasons why the Lord says not yet to David is because he has a promise for him or a gift for him.
[00:09:38] To summarize the promise to David, the Lord says, you want to build me a house? No, I'm going to build you a house.
[00:09:49] Now, this is an amazing thing, because God had just done all of these things for David. He had brought him out of the fields. David, like our shepherds here in Luke 2, was himself a shepherd like them, leading sheep like them, a man of the field.
[00:10:09] And there he worked. And the Lord brought him out of that to become a king. He brought him from someone who was lowly to someone who was glorious to make him a very special king, a ruler of his people. And in doing that, he guided him, he watched over him. He defeated his enemies, he grew his family, and eventually he took away the house of Saul and established the house of David.
[00:10:36] He established David on a throne. God had done all of these amazing things for David.
[00:10:42] And so David is wanting to express his thankfulness of that. He's wanting to show his appreciation for that. And then the Lord says, well, I'm going to bless you even more.
[00:10:54] I want you to feel, or at least remember, maybe feel too, the overwhelming grace and blessings that come from our king.
[00:11:05] He's not a paltry about it. He doesn't just give a little bit here and a little bit there when it's convenient for him or when he is tired of us asking. And so he throws us a bone.
[00:11:18] He loves to bless his people.
[00:11:22] He is full of blessing himself. He is capable and powerful to and to bless us. And he does. And we see that with David.
[00:11:33] And so when we look at the words then of 2nd Samuel 7, this is what he says. Look at verse 8.
[00:11:43] Thus says the Lord of hosts, the Lord of all those angelic beings that the shepherds heard.
[00:11:50] I took you from the pasture from following the sheep that you should be prince over my people.
[00:11:55] I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies before you. And I will make for you a great name, like one of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more.
[00:12:12] And violent men shall afflict them no more. As formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over the people, over my people Israel.
[00:12:21] And I will give you rest from all your enemies.
[00:12:24] Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house when your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body.
[00:12:40] And I will establish his kingdom.
[00:12:42] He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
[00:12:49] I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son.
[00:12:53] When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men.
[00:12:59] But my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before you.
[00:13:06] And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.
[00:13:15] In accordance with all these words, in accordance with all this vision, Nathan the prophet spoke to David.
[00:13:22] So lots of details, right? This is a big promise with Lots of parts. And we'll have to go back to 2nd Samuel 7 and think through all of those in particular. But I want to focus on these promises about the offspring of this morning.
[00:13:37] What exactly is promised here?
[00:13:40] One of the things that's promised is that the Lord is going to raise up an offspring for David.
[00:13:47] Right? This is the beginning of a larger promise. Right? The promise is not just there's going to be one who comes after you, but there is going to be one through whom something else is established. And it's put in different ways. One way what is established is put is the house, another is the kingdom, or another is the throne of his kingdom.
[00:14:13] In other words, through this son that is coming, something grander even than the son is going to happen. He's not just going to be a king, but he's going to establish a throne of that kingdom, a rulership, a power that is forever.
[00:14:31] This son will come from David's body. And this son is, of course, Solomon.
[00:14:39] Solomon was the child that was brought up. Solomon was the one who came from David. Solomon was established. And Solomon also was one who committed iniquity and was disciplined.
[00:14:54] But God promised something about all that would happen there with Solomon, with David's son.
[00:15:01] He says, despite these things, my steadfast love will not depart from him.
[00:15:08] As it happened with the house of Saul, as I took it from Saul. You remember Saul. It wasn't just that it was taken from Saul as an individual, but Saul and all his people, or all his house, his sons, were removed from power. Many of them died among many of his relatives. That whole household, that whole power was put aside, and David was put in his place. That won't happen with Solomon.
[00:15:35] Instead, through Solomon, a kingdom would continue and would continue forever.
[00:15:43] And so when Solomon, when Solomon was not the forever king, there was this anticipation after that, wondering, well, who is going to be the one who will establish the kingdom forever? Who is the one in which Solomon's throne and David's house will be established forever?
[00:16:07] Well, of course, as the Scriptures go on, more and more detail is given to this. We learned that just as David was the anointed one of God to establish his kingdom, this child would also be called one, anointed, a Christ, a Messiah.
[00:16:23] And so this is what's being anticipated.
[00:16:25] This is what we're waiting for.
[00:16:28] And then we come to a passage like Luke 2.
[00:16:31] And here it comes.
[00:16:33] Centuries and centuries of waiting, of crying out, oh, come, oh come, Emmanuel. To do. All the things that had been promised are now here.
[00:16:44] That's why the angels use this great phrase that I love. They come to proclaim good news of great joy.
[00:16:52] It's a wonderful way of describing the message of the Gospel. Good news of great joy.
[00:17:00] What was this king coming to do? He was coming to deliver his people out of sin and death. He was coming to deliver his people and establish them forever. He was coming to deliver his people so that they would not just be a family, but would be a kingdom under a king in which the glory of God would shine and be made known, and there would be peace forever and ever.
[00:17:29] And so that's why Luke makes a big deal and so does Matthew and other places in Scripture that Jesus is of David.
[00:17:40] But if you're paying attention and thinking carefully about this, you might have wondered this.
[00:17:46] Well, doesn't it say Joseph is of David?
[00:17:52] How does that work? Right. If Joseph is the one through whom the Davidic line comes and Joseph was not the father of Jesus, how is it that Jesus fulfills this promise?
[00:18:06] How is it that Jesus is the house of David?
[00:18:11] Well, one possibility is that that Davidic line comes through Mary.
[00:18:18] There's a problem with it, though.
[00:18:21] Not a huge problem, but one possible problem is that the Scriptures don't say that explicitly.
[00:18:27] Some people believe that it can be implied and it comes out in different ways.
[00:18:32] And we can see that both Mary and Joseph were of Davidic lineage and therefore Jesus was as their son.
[00:18:42] But I think we can set that question aside as to whether or not Mary was of David and say that certainly Joseph was, and that's all that we need. And there's some important implications of that.
[00:18:56] One reason we see that this is not a problem is that Luke didn't think it was a problem.
[00:19:02] Right. Luke is very clear that Jesus was born of Mary, who was a virgin.
[00:19:09] He's perfectly, perfectly clear about that. That's a lot of what these passages are about, telling us and proclaiming that.
[00:19:16] And so that's the fact that Joseph is not the biological father of Jesus doesn't keep Luke from telling us, hey, you got to make sure, you know, Joseph is of the lineage of David.
[00:19:30] In other words, these things for Luke hold together and they can hold together for us. The same is true of Matthew.
[00:19:39] Joseph was of the house and lineage of David. That's why they go to Bethlehem. That's why they go to the city of David. And that's why we can be thinking, one of many reasons, that this is Jesus, our great king.
[00:19:53] There's an important implication of this. But before we get there, how can these things Be well, one thing to remember is that in the Bible, heirship or sonship and those things, two going together, are not always biological.
[00:20:10] In fact, they can be.
[00:20:13] That's not excluded from that. Sons can be sons biologically. But there are other ways that sons can be sons and they can create a relationship in which one is considered a rightful heir or a rightful descendant.
[00:20:30] Joseph is properly considered the father of Jesus and is described so here and in other places, like in chapter two, when Mary and Joseph are called his parents.
[00:20:45] The Scriptures tell us that Jesus submitted to them, right? He submitted to Joseph and to Mary as his parents.
[00:20:54] And Joseph is called the father of Jesus really simply because of this. He married Mary.
[00:21:02] He married Mary.
[00:21:04] And just today, as parents who wed oftentimes will take the children of the spouse as part of their family.
[00:21:17] Something similar like that was happening here.
[00:21:21] We know of other examples in addition to adoption and, or rather in addition to this, the kind of adoption we're talking about here, the Levite, Levirite marriage was another way in which children would sometimes come into families.
[00:21:38] So that happened when a brother would die or a man would die, and then his brother would take on that son as.
[00:21:48] As in one sense his heir, but also raising up an heir for his brother.
[00:21:54] These things point us to the Scriptures point us to. And these various realities point us to the two things. One, Joseph is the rightful father, although not biologically he is the father and Jesus is therefore his son.
[00:22:08] And Jesus as the son, then becomes rightfully of the lineage of David.
[00:22:16] Now, why is all that important?
[00:22:18] Well, not only does it uphold the truths of Scripture and uphold the virgin birth and all of these things, but one of the things it upholds is something that's very important for us personally, and that's that belonging to the kingdom of God is not just a point about biology.
[00:22:35] Ultimately, belonging has to do with promise and covenant.
[00:22:41] God made promises to Adam and Eve, he made promises to Abraham, promises to David, and he's made promises to you too, that if you put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be saved and you become of Israel, you become part of the family and the kingdom of, of God.
[00:23:07] God often works through families and honors that and is involved in the households as he passes on the faith from one generation to the next, to the next to the next.
[00:23:19] But he is not limited to that. And praise God, many of us here would rightfully consider ourselves Gentiles, strangers to the promises that were first made to Abraham.
[00:23:32] People whose families have almost nothing, or at least as far as we know, nothing. To do with the great family of Israel and of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. And yet here we are, rightfully belonging and calling ourselves the people of God. And that's because God's promises come, or God or legitimacy.
[00:23:53] And belonging comes through promise and through covenant, not just biology.
[00:24:03] This is important, not only from the perspective of genetics, we can say, but it's also a good reminder when we think about the shepherds.
[00:24:11] A lot of times the world wants to tie kingdoms purely to the things of this world.
[00:24:20] God both fulfills his promise to David of bringing forth a son and of bringing forth a son through him building his house forever. But he also opens up that promise to all the families of the world and to all the people of the world, even lowly people like shepherds.
[00:24:43] We'll finish by thinking about them.
[00:24:47] This is an amazing thing and a great contrast. The shepherds, the manger, them not having a place to sleep, all these. These details of lowliness are contrasted with details of great glory.
[00:25:02] Notice how the chapter begins.
[00:25:05] In those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.
[00:25:11] This is high language. This is a big deal, right? This is Caesar, the great Caesar of Rome, commanding not just that this or that person be registered, but all the world.
[00:25:25] People are going to have to turn their lives upside down to go do this thing that he commands them to do.
[00:25:34] Imagine if in the United States, we said everybody needs to go to the place where they were born to be registered.
[00:25:43] It'd be a big deal for a few months.
[00:25:45] It'd be all we talk about for a few months, maybe even a few years.
[00:25:52] This big thing is happening. Then we get a mention of Quirinus, the governor of Syria. All of this activity, all of these great things, and then very quickly, Caesar in Rome just fades to the background.
[00:26:07] Ultimately, this is not about Caesar. This is not about Rome. This is not about political power. That's not how the kingdom of God is going to come into the world.
[00:26:18] He comes into the world through these lowly means and is revealed to these shepherds in the field.
[00:26:26] Now, God does reveal these things in a way to Herod, king over Israel, but he rejects them.
[00:26:38] Contrast that with the reaction of the shepherds.
[00:26:43] The shepherds, we read that they were keeping watch over their flock by night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them.
[00:26:54] And they were filled with great fear, just as Mary was when the angel appeared to her, or at least the angel said something similar to her that he says to them, fear not for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people.
[00:27:12] He then gives them the sign that they are to go and to find this baby wrapped in swaddling cloths. And then suddenly, this multitude, that Lord of hosts that we heard about before, this Lord of hosts, his glory is revealed through their glory. The multitude of heavenly hosts is there praising God, glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace among those with whom he is pleased.
[00:27:41] I love this reaction in verse 15, when the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.
[00:27:55] Can you imagine, can you imagine how excited you might be to go to Bethlehem and see what this angelic host just proclaimed to you in the middle of the night?
[00:28:09] Maybe it's not shocking that verse 16 says what it says. And they went with haste.
[00:28:15] They booked it. They were excited, they were.
[00:28:19] And they found exactly what they had found.
[00:28:24] Brothers and sisters, these little details, these are reminders to us that again, of who our Lord is centuries before he makes this promise.
[00:28:34] And then through all of the intricate details and intimate details of life, he brings out this promise according to his providential power, he makes it happen.
[00:28:46] And he's doing the same kind of thing here. The baby is born exactly at this right place, at this right time that the shepherds go and they see, and all these events are coordinated so so that they go, and no surprise, they find a baby exactly as the Lord had said. Who can do this but God? These are his awesome deeds that we heard of earlier. These are the things that he is doing that should cause our jaws to drop and make haste when we hear what the Lord says to us.
[00:29:17] And when the Lord says to us, this is the king, right? Giant neon lights, right, pointing down at this baby. In the Scripture, as we hear of the angels and the cloths and Mary and Joseph and the shepherds and all of these things, they're pointing at this baby lying in a manger.
[00:29:40] The shepherds return in verse 20, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen as it had been told to them, this phrase about as it had been told to them according to the word of the Lord. These phrases are reminders to us that these aren't just events that are just happening.
[00:30:02] Random occurrences, weird things that we maybe can talk about around a campfire someday.
[00:30:09] These are things that are being spoken of and have been spoken of and promised by God. He is making Himself known And he will make himself known in the greatest way through this Son.
[00:30:25] A son of Joseph, son of Mary, son of David and Son of God.
[00:30:36] This is our Savior.
[00:30:38] And the proper reactions to this are given to us here in the Scriptures.
[00:30:43] Making haste, glorifying, praising God, telling other people about them, pondering them in our hearts, treasuring these things.
[00:30:53] These are things that are not to be taken lightly. These are things that are not to be passed over.
[00:31:00] And these are things to be celebrated by us who, like the shepherds, in many ways are lowly people that if we're honest with ourselves or just a wisp in time, a wind that comes and goes, comes up into life and disappears in the history of the world.
[00:31:23] If we're honest, pretty much all of us will be forgotten.
[00:31:27] Okay? All of us.
[00:31:31] Our names will disappear and into the history.
[00:31:36] Maybe somebody will get their name in a little book that'll get forgotten in a library somewhere.
[00:31:43] But that doesn't matter to the Lord.
[00:31:46] The Lord did not choose you and call you and reveal yourself to you because of some great thing that you have done or we have done.
[00:31:56] You've done it because of his love and to show the world that his glory and his power comes to the lowly.
[00:32:05] Which means that you. Though we are forgotten by the world, and though our lives are short, full of toil and difficulties, we are not forgotten by him.
[00:32:18] We are loved by Him.
[00:32:20] Just as God has revealed himself had Just as God revealed himself to the shepherds, he has revealed Himself to you.
[00:32:30] He's told you these same things. He's made these things known. You. You also today have heard the voice of the angels proclaimed to you by the very spirit of God. You get got to hear their words.
[00:32:48] How will you respond?
[00:32:50] Will you cling to queerness?
[00:32:54] Syria, Rome, Caesar, The United States, some other government, some other power? Are you going to cling to your own fame, your own hopes, your own money, your own family history? Or will you cling to the adoption that is given to you by God?
[00:33:13] Do that.
[00:33:15] Put your faith in Jesus, this one who came to bring peace and did. This one who conquered sin and death and the devil and is coming to bring all things right and to throw gold, hit God's enemies into the lake of fire that we might be perfectly safe forever.
[00:33:35] Praise God that the king, this king is that Jesus, the king is revealed to us.
[00:33:42] Praise God that we can praise Him. Praise God that we can glorify Him. Praise God that we can share his news and live for him now and forever.
[00:33:53] Let's pray our Heavenly Father, we give you all honour and praise and glory for the work that you have done in Christ.
[00:34:01] You have fulfilled your promises to Adam and Eve. You've fulfilled your promises to Abraham and to Sarah and to David and Bathsheba and to Mary and to Joseph and to many, many, many other people all along the way.
[00:34:21] Lord, how do you do these things? We don't know.
[00:34:24] But you do them marvelously. Awesomely. Greatly, powerfully, wonderfully.
[00:34:32] Bow our hearts before you that we might give all allegiance and honor to you. Bow our hearts before you that all of our fears and worries and anxieties might be vanished and moved away so that we can rest in the comfort and in the love of the eternal Lord.
[00:34:56] Lord, we ask that you would help us to treasure these things, to ponder these things and our place in them. Help us to recognize that these words were not delivered just for the shepherds or for Mary or for Joseph, but for us, so that we might hear them and believe and put our hope in the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:35:17] We ask, Lord, that as you have raised him up, you would continue to raise up your people, bringing in people from all over the world into this great family of God, that together we might live in peace and worship you forever.
[00:35:35] Strengthen our hearts and faith, Lord, we pray this in Jesus name, Amen.
