JESUS WAS BORN IN A MANGER

Transcription

1 JESUS WAS BORN IN A MANGER Luke 2:1-7 Key Verse: 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Last week we learned that we can be truly thankful as we continue to live in Jesus, rooted and built up in Jesus word. May God bless us to remember what God s has done for each one of us and give thanks in all circumstances for this is God s will for us in Christ Jesus. Amen. From this week, we are going into Christmas mood, studying Luke 2. Today s passage is the story of Jesus birth. Let s go back 2,000 years to the time of Jesus birth, and know why Jesus came to this world as a baby in a manger. May God grant each one of us at least one word of God through this passage. Amen. I. A True History Maker? (1-5) The author of this gospel is Luke, a historian and medical doctor, who wrote the historical background of the time of Jesus birth. Look at verses 1-3, In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone went to his own town to register. It was the time Caesar Augustus ruled the Roman Empire. He was adopted by his uncle, Julius Caesar, and became the first Emperor, who enlarged it from Egypt to modern day Spain. In those days, the world was being ruled by the Roman Empire, especially Caesar Augustus had an absolute power. By the Roman senate, Caesar Augustus was called a god and people even worshiped him. Though he proclaimed peace and security through Rome, he issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world, including all colonies, from where he would collect most taxes. At that time Quirinius was governor of Syria. He was honored by the Emperor for his excellent military service and was appointed to be governor of Syria serving many years faithfully. His first job as governor was to enact a local census for taxation purposes in the region of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea. During the last census in 2010 you just had to fill out a form and mail it back to the government, but in the first century people had to go back to their own hometown to register. In order for Quirinius to maintain his power, the people of Israel were oppressed and suffering. 1

2 Why then the author, Luke, is giving us the historical background in this gospel? What did he intend for us to get as a message through these three verses? He wants us to notice that the world is seemingly turning by powerful rulers. It seems that everyone has to follow the rules and regulations made by them. Due to their oppression, people who are under their oppression are suffering miserably. Compared to politics of the world, we, Christians, look like nothing but helpless people, because we too have to follow their rules anyways. Sometimes, when we think about this, we feel hopeless and powerless to do anything but cry. Or we should be angry and try to mobilize big and do something. Let s meditate this passage further to get the author s message what we should do in this unjust world. Look at verse 4-5, So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. Joseph also had to go back to Bethlehem the town of David because he was a descendant of King David. But he did not go by himself but took Mary, who was pledged to be married to him. Here is an interesting remark that Mary was expecting a child before marriage. In order to understand this, we need to go back to Matthew 1:18-25 and Luke 1:26-33, the angel s Christmas message to each one of them, Joseph and Mary. God sent an angel to give his message to Mary that she will give birth to a son by the power of the Holy Spirit. Mary simply accepted God s plan for her to bear the savior of the world and deliver him, though it meant giving up her dream of marriage and even her life. And God blessed her faith and intervened by sending another angel to Joseph who was praying in agony, not knowing what do with Mary. The angel told him about God s great plan for Mary and a clear direction to take Mary home to be his wife. Joseph accepted and followed God s will for his family. In order to fulfill God s plan, God chose these two persons. They were not religious or high in power and authority. Compared to governor of Syria, Quirinius, they were seemingly nobodies, but God chose them and could use them to fulfill his world salvation work. Why? It was because of their obedient faith, obedience to God s will more than their own human dreams and plan. Many people in this world want to at least to be like a governor with power and authority, and they would feel great in this world when they have power and authority even a little bit as a clerk in the social security office. But in history, people remember Joseph and Mary as a great man and woman, honoring them as saints, while they recorded Quirinius governor of Syria as a tyrannical ruler. Here we learn that one small act of obedience to God is considered greater in the sight of God and even in the history of the world than winning many wars and having a great title with authority and power on earth. May God bless each one of us 2

3 to have faith and be obedient to God s plan more than ours so that we may be used by God for his world salvation work. Amen. The author Luke also reminded us that Joseph was a descendant of King David and also where they are heading to. It is because Luke is trying to tell us that God is fulfilling his plan with the obedient people. God promised King David that the Messiah would come in his line, so God had to choose one of David s descendants. Through Micah 5:2, God also specified where the Messiah would be born, saying But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times. God was leading Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem where the Messiah should be born. And it was painful for a full pregnant woman to move long distance. Here we also learn an important lesson; the world history moves according God s plan. To the eyes of the people, it seems that the world is being moved and changed by people in high power and authority. In those days, Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. So everyone without exception had to go back to their ancestor s town, including Joseph and Mary. But Luke saw the fact in God s point of view; God was using even Caesar s decree and Quirinius tyrannical work to fulfill his plan so that God could bring Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem according to his prophecy. Therefore, if we are God s people we must open our eyes to see the world in God s point of view. When we see the history in God s point of view, we must know that the world is moving and changing not by President Obama or Secretary of United Nation, Ban Ki Moon, but by God the Creator of heavens and the earth. The world history is moving and changing in order to fulfill God s world salvation plan through obedient people like Joseph and Mary. In this point of view, we must recognize ourselves that each one of us can be a history maker if we deny our own plans and obey God s world salvation plan. Let pray just as Jesus asked us to pray, Your kingdom come on earth as it is heaven! May God bless each one of us to be a history maker for God s kingdom, which endures forever. Amen. II. A savior, born in a manger (6-7). Look at verses 6-7. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Finally, Joseph and Mary arrived in Bethlehem, the place the Messiah should be born. In addition, the time has come for the baby, the savior of the world, to be born. When Joseph and Mary were obedient to God, God led them to the place right on time for God to fulfill his work. 3

4 Mary was in pain of childbirth. All mothers know the pain of childbirth, and not all fathers would understand Joseph s agony because our wives were under the care of good doctors and nurses with most modernized equipment ever for any emergency case. Joseph was trying to find a room for Mary to deliver the baby, the savior of the world who was coming to save people from their sins. But there was no room for them in the inn. This short sentence tells us how people were like and what it was like living during that time. Have you ever heard that if you deliver a baby in a hotel, people believed that the hotel would be blessed, so the hotel would offer the baby to have lifetime free membership at the hotel. Airlines and many public places have this kind of offer because they know it is a blessing to have a new born baby in their respective places. But the people of Jesus time in Bethlehem were different. No one would like to yield a room for a woman to deliver a newborn baby. Why? It is because they were selfish and indifferent to suffering people. They would think of themselves, caring only for themselves more than neighbor s suffering. They plugged their ears with softest cotton balls in order to mute a woman s crying in agony of childbirth. Maybe most Jews would feel miserable that they had to give up their vacation time in order to come to register in Bethlehem. In fact, they were supposed to be kingly people, descendants of King David. At least some of them were taught by religious leaders of the time to love each other at the time of suffering. Maybe they pretended that they cared for others by donating some money to a synagogue or to a charity, soothing their guilty consciences and living without empathy. Therefore, they could not make a room for anyone to interrupt their personal life. Figuratively speaking, they did not have room for the savior to come into their hearts so that they can be saved from their selfishness and indifferences. It seems that they have room only for themselves and did not have room for peace, love and joy that comes from God; thus they were living in misery. They were living in the darkness of sins. This verse also makes us to think about the people today. Right now, the world is going through economic depression. Many people lost a job and/or living in fear of losing it. Their hearts are frozen to think of others but themselves. So they cannot make a room for others, not wanting to be bothered by anyone. Even Christians, who are modern day Jews, can live in selfishness and indifference. So they do not have room for the baby Jesus to come into their heart. They do not have a heart and time to welcome Jesus except lip service, saying, Happy Holidays. So should we ask ourselves, Do I have room for the Messiah to come into my heart? If so, how can we make room for the baby Jesus in this Christmas season? First of all, may God help us to meditate on the word of God deeply; learn why God has to come down as a baby in a manger, what does that mean to me personally, and find what I can do for the kingdom of God. If there is a chance to sacrifice 4

5 your time and strength for Christ, may God help you be obedient to God. I pray in Jesus s name. Amen. So where was Jesus born then? Look at verse 7 again, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Only place left for Mary to deliver was a barn, where smelly domestic animals were placed with hays and dirt. Cows were mowing, and chickens, cocking and flying in surprise. The savior of the world, God s only and only Son, had to come in a human form in a barn! No one welcomed except few animals, Joseph and Mary at the time of the Messiah s first presence on earth. They wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger. To human eyes, it is a sad story for a baby to be born in this way. It seems that it was the result of selfish and indifferent people. But in God s perspective, there is deeper meaning why the savior of the world came as a baby and was placed in a manger. It is to fulfill the prophecy of the Messiah. Isaiah 53:3 says, He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. The savior of the world did not come to receive glory and honor from the people while on earth, beginning from his birth. Therefore, the baby Jesus was placed in a manger. Here we can think of a baby in a manger, why did God send the savior as a helpless baby? To most humans, it makes sense that the savior should be very powerful, more powerful than an enemy like Roman Emperor holding the people in bondage. In order to save the people of Israel, the savior should have been born in a powerful family of the Jews of that time, so that he could have mobilized the Jews to fight against Rome in order to save them from the bondage of Rome. But God did not send the savior in the form of the most powerful ruler of the earth. It is because God sent the Messiah to save people not from Rome but from their sins. Matthew 1:21 says, She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. Most Jews believed that Rome made them miserable, but it was their sins oppressing them to be miserable. How can a helpless baby save people from their sins? It is because there is God in him. John 1:1 and 1:14 says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. In these verses, the Word is personified and refers Jesus who is the incarnated God himself, which means Jesus is God himself. Yet, no one is afraid to approach a baby. God disowned his honor and glory of the heavens and earth and came down as a baby in a 5

6 manger. The baby in a manger is the humility of God saves proud sinners to repentance. The baby in a manger is the sacrifice of God moves selfish sinners to be changed. The baby in a manger is the ultimate expression of God s love for sinners to come as they are and be forgiven. It is God s way that the work of God starts like a baby in a manger; small and lowly state. When there is God s life that grows and will be used by God to save the whole world. But most people only pay attention to Caesar s decree and movement more than small work of God, which is like a baby in a manger. We still think that the failure of the super committee for 2.4 trillion national debts would impact American lives to a deeper economic depression. But to God, sin of selfishness and indifference are the cause of people s depression. God wants to save people from their sins and start his work through one person who is seemingly unimportant in this world. But through the obedience of his people to his plan, God starts His world salvation work. God s work started in UBF has been like a baby in a manger. One young girl from Mississippi, called Sarah Barry, accepted Jesus and made a decision to go to a war-torn country, South Korea, as a missionary. She met Dr. Samuel Lee, and they started teaching poor college students the Bible in one small town called Gwangjoo. A few students accepted the gospel message and made a decision to follow Jesus as disciples of Jesus. They prayed to preach the gospel to the whole world. Many Korean church leaders insisted that world mission is not for poor Koreans but for rich Americans and Europeans. Though the poor college students did not have money to offer for world mission, some students sold their blood to offer. God blessed their baby in a manger like ministry to grow to be one of biggest laymen missionary sending Christian organizations in 40 years. God used them to send more than 2,500 missionaries to 87 countries. Yet, each of our respective chapters in each school, the ministry is still like a baby in a manger, beginning from our DuPage UBF ministry. But in God s point of view, Matt s decision of faith to serve Christ in his life is greater news than President Obama s decree of tax cuts because it can grow to save many people from their sins. Matthew Monroe s faithfulness, Eric Simon s thanksgiving in Jesus, Sarah s sincere prayer, Eric Heinemann s struggle with God s word, Brandon s rooting in the love of Christ are all great work of God in God s sight. I have no time to mention all of God s work among us, but may God bless us to know that the work of God starts like a baby in a manger so that we can make a room for the work of God to grow in our hearts and in the hearts of others. Amen. Through today s passage, we learned the history of the world has been moving according to God s plan. God uses obedient people like Joseph and Mary to fulfill the will of 6

7 God. Finally, the savior of the world came as a baby in a manger. May God help us to repent of our selfishness and make a room for the baby Jesus in this Christmas season. May God also bless each one of us to be obedient to God so that we can be used by Him for world salvation work, which starts in a small and humble heart and place. I pray in Jesus name. Amen. 7