Sermon 12-24-23 Christmas Eve

Pastor Ray Lorthioir

Trinity Lutheran Church

W. Hempstead, NY

Based on the Gospel Lesson for Christmas Eve — Luke 2:1-20

Contrast Between Kings 

Fairy tales begin, “Once upon a time.” This clues the reader that what they’re about to read is fictional, and has no real time and place. Even movies can start that way. The original 1977 Star Wars began, “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.” In other words, we’re going to tell you a story. Use your imagination to fill in the blanks.

On the other hand, the evangelist, Luke, begins his account of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth by very carefully establishing the time. We read in Luke 2:1-3, “1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to his own town to register.”

In what days? The days of Augustus Caesar, emperor of Rome. It’s known that Augustus ruled Rome from 27B.C. to 14A.D. So, the events Luke is going to narrate took place in real time and a real place. And, just to make sure that the time is established more accurately, Luke tells us that Caesar had ordered a census of the empire. And the census was actually carried out in the Holy Land when a fellow by the name of Quirinius was governing in Syria.

Over the years, there has been much controversy about Luke’s statement because the Jewish historian, Josephus, has in his history that Quirinius wasn’t appointed governor of Syria until 6A.D. — too late for the birth of Christ. Also the date of the census is in question. Some claim it should have been in 8-7B.C. — too early for the birth of Christ. However, there is an event in the reign of Caesar Augustus in 2B.C. that could qualify as a census. The Roman Senate proclaimed Augustus, “Father of the Nations.” And all the nations in the empire, therefore, had to pledge allegiance to Augustus. Josephus tells us that 6,000 Pharisees refused to do so. How did he know that number if some kind of census hadn’t been taken of this event?

Luke is a good historian. Archaeological finds over the decades have proven him so. In Acts 5:37 Luke accurately mentioned the census of 6A.D. which provoked the rebellion of Judas the Galilean and required Roman military intervention. Therefore, why would Luke get wrong a census at the time of Jesus’ birth?

In addition, Quirinius was a competent and well known Roman official. There’s a lot of stuff written about him. While we lack definitive evidence of his whereabouts between 12B.C. and 6A.D., there is enough circumstantial evidence placing him in some kind of acting governance over Syria at the time of Jesus birth. The long and the short of it is that the critics who want to play gotcha over Luke’s statement about Quirinius can’t really call it a gotcha.

In any event, while the census took place long, long ago from our perspective, it didn’t from Luke’s. And it didn’t take place in a galaxy far, far away either. It took place in the Roman Empire that Luke knew. It was real history on earth. So, Luke wants us to know that the census that brought Joseph and Mary from Galilee to Bethlehem in Judea just in time for the birth of Jesus was real history. Despite the miraculous content of Luke’s narrative, it’s no fairy tale.

The census was a real inconvenience for Mary and Joseph. It had brought so many people into Bethlehem that all the rooms in the local inn were booked. Although it’s not specifically mentioned that Jesus was born in a stable, Luke’s narrative contains a strong hint. Mary and Joseph had to improvise, using an animal’s feed box — a manger — as a makeshift cradle for Jesus.

Now, by citing Augustus Caesar and Quirinius, Luke means to make a contrast between King Jesus and the kings of this world. For, Jesus is a king. Months after Jesus’ birth, Matthew tells us that the Wise Men came rolling into Jerusalem looking for the King of the Jews.

The Gospel of John records that during Jesus’ trial before Pontius Pilate, this dialogue took place: John 18:36-37, “36 Jesus said, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.’  37 ‘You are a king, then!’ said Pilate. Jesus answered, ‘You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.’”

Finally, there was the sign on the cross over Jesus’ head bearing the capital charge against Him. We read in John 19:19-22, “19 Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. 20 Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. 21 The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, ‘Do not write “The King of the Jews,” but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.’  22 Pilate answered, ‘What I have written, I have written.’”

So, Jesus was born a king. But what kind of a king? Certainly He never sat on a throne in this world. He never had an earthly military at His command. He claimed no borders. He didn’t order a census or make any other command that anyone in the world had to obey under threat of death. Instead, he was under the rule of earthly kings like Caesar and Herod. As He said, His kingdom is not of this world.

Nevertheless, Jesus has been a threat to the rulers of this world since He was born. When the Wise Men came into Jerusalem looking for the newborn King of the Jews, Herod the Great could only see a threat to his dynasty in their news. Thus, Matthew tells us of a massacre of male children two years and under in Bethlehem that Herod ordered in order to be rid of this rival King of the Jews.

Then, as we have already noted, there was Pontius Pilate. Scripture tells us that Pilate could’t find a reason to give Jesus capital punishment. Nevertheless, he consented to Jesus’ crucifixion.

Then as Christianity expanded across the Roman Empire many a Caesar was threatened by the followers of this King of kings and Lord of lords. This same reaction continues right into our time. The 1980 reforms of Deng Xiao Ping in China permitted the Christian Church there to come above ground. It grew rapidly until the present communist ruler of China, Xi Jinping, came to power. The latest news says that the communist government is forcing all Christians still above ground to change Scripture so that Jesus can no longer be considered the only sinless person who has ever lived on earth since Adam and Eve fell into sin. Obviously Xi Jinping is greatly threatened by the totally righteous King of kings and Lord of lords. Could it be because Xi Jinping is an ungodly, atheist ruler?

Let’ see what the prophet Isaiah has to tell us about king Jesus. The prophecy is sex hundred years before He lived. Isaiah 42:1, “‘Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations.’” This human servant of the Lord will obviously be very special. For one thing, Yahweh’s Spirit will be upon Him. And this is exactly what we will see on Sunday, January 7th, the Baptism of our Lord. But the servant will not only be special, He will do something that no one else can do. He will bring Yahweh’s justice to the nations. Righteousness is a synonym for justice. The just are righteous and the righteous are just.

This prophecy has actually come to pass. At the time of Jesus’ birth, all the nations of the world were pagan. Only Israel had Yahweh’s righteous Law. But as Christianity eventually won the Roman Empire and then the kingdoms of Europe, it brought Yahweh’s Law and His justice, to many formerly pagan nations. Unfortunately, the formerly Christian nations of the West are returning to paganism at the present time. Nevertheless, many legal concepts from the Torah thankfully remain embedded in Western law.

Then, we read in Isaiah 42:2, “He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets.” Leaders of rebellion and military action are agitators who cry out  in the streets. Hitler was. Lenin was. They lead their people into war and turmoil. That wasn’t Jesus. Concerning the night of Jesus’ arrest, we read in Luke 22:52-53, “52 Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders, who had come for him, ‘Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs? 53 Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour — when darkness reigns.’” Jesus was leading no rebellion.

Then we read in Isaiah 42:3, “‘A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.’” As I see it, this applies to the Israel of Jesus’ time. Israel was bruised under the Roman occupation. Therefore, Jesus Himself did nothing to endanger  or make things worse for downtrodden Israel. He came to keep the flame burning.

Continuing, we read in Isaiah 42:3-4, “‘In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; 4 he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his law the islands will put their hope.’” The prophets refer to “the islands” as the lands far off across the oceans. The term, islands, can even apply to whole continents. Therefore, as predicted, law inspired by Moses, the Prophets, Jesus and the Apostles made it all the way to these shores, so far from Israel. We who have lived in Western culture have been the beneficiaries of the fulfillment of this prophecy. Thank you, Jesus.

On the other hand, it’s a work of the devil that we in the West no longer hail the benefits of God’s Law. We’re gradually returning to the darkness of pagan culture. Nevertheless, the light of Messiah still shines in the darkness. All who behold His light can live in the measure of Yahweh’s justice available to us in this life. 

Continuing, we read in Isaiah 42:5-9, “5 This is what God the LORD says — he who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it: 6 ‘I, the LORD, have called you [the Messiah] in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people [Israel] and a light for the Gentiles, 7 to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness. 8 I am the LORD [Yahweh]; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols. 9 See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you.’”

About 700 years before Jesus’ birth, God made a promise of a new covenant with this passage in Isaiah. That new covenant was put in place by an unusual King. Jesus did not come as a tyrant to lord it over the kings of the earth, nor to lord it over Israel nor the nations of the earth. He came to win hearts back to Yahweh by His most gracious teaching and fulfillment of the prophesied work of Messiah.

We could call the power that Jesus exercised and continues to exercise over the hearts of humans a strange and alien power. It’s strange and alien to the power we know here on earth because it’s the power of God. It’s strange and alien because it’s not the power of the governments of this world — namely punishment and the threat of death. Death is the power that Satan brought into the world and that he exercises over the world.

On the other hand, it’s written of Messiah in Hebrews 2:14-15, “14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he [the Christ] too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death — that is, the devil — 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” There is freedom in the power that Messiah exercises over our hearts. It’s the freedom of knowing that physical death is not the end of everything. It’s the freedom of knowing that those who maintain faith in the righteous Son of God will be resurrected from the dead in the righteousness of their Creator and have an eternal home of righteousness with their God. Therefore, faith in Messiah Jesus frees His people to do the right thing in life, even if the consequences might be severe. Indeed, Christmas tends to stir up all kinds of persecution against Christians in lands where Christians are a minority. Have mercy, O Lord, on both the persecuted and the persecutors.

Just what is God’s strange and alien power over the hearts of people? We read in 1 John 4:9-10, “9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” The power of God is Agape Love. This is a specific kind of love. It’s Yahweh’s undying, eternal commitment to us human beings. It’s an undying commitment to us humans even though we are born disdaining Yahweh and in rebellion against Him because of Original Sin. Yahweh’s Agape Love is capable of loving those who hate Him and would see Him dead. Indeed, the hideous power of Original Sin was proven by those who convicted God, the Son, of blasphemy — of all things — and had Him executed on a cross.

However, it was by the very execution of God, the Son, that payment in blood was made for sin. And because it was God, the Son, who paid for our sin with the currency of His blood, Yahweh was satisfied that all sin for all time had been paid for. This is the enormity and cosmic extravagance of Agape Love.

 And such cosmic atonement has extravagant benefits. Even the worst sinners who come seeking reconciliation with our holy and righteous God will not be turned away. Having once been a murderer of Christians, St. Paul, wrote in 1 Timothy 1:15-17, “15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners — of whom I am the worst. 16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. 17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” If the Agape Love power of God can turn a murderer like Paul into a saint, then it can do the same for any repentant sinner.

We hear from Luke’s narrative that on the night Jesus was born, creatures from another dimension — angels — visited lowly shepherds keeping their sheep on the plains around Bethlehem. Like all such visitations of alien species, at first it was a terrifying event for the shepherds. But the angel who first spoke to the shepherds gave them a supernatural courage to stand before him when he said, “don’t be afraid.” Then he told them the good news that Messiah finally had been born.

But, it’s what happened next that I conclude with. We read in Luke 2:13-14, “13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.’” The peace on earth that was proclaimed by angels is not the absence of war between humans, as we well know. Many will die today in earth’s wars. Rather, it’s peace between our Creator and us, despite our conduct under Original Sin. God’s favor is His grace. That grace is the all-powerful atoning shed blood of Messiah Jesus that makes forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with Yahweh possible. The marvel of Agape Love is Yahweh’s enormous commitment to sinners. As it says in 1 John 1:8-9, “8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Those who are forgiven and purified find that their rebellion against Yahweh is over. Forgiven people can also walk in love for those around them — even the unlovable ones. Oh, and if all the rulers of this age really believed and received Messiah, yes all wars would cease, as they certainly will on the great Day when the Son of God returns to judge the earth. Therefore, come again holy child of Bethlehem! Come again! Amen.

All Bible quotes are from the NIV.