Luke 2.15-21

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.’ ¹⁶So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. ¹⁷When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; ¹⁸and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. ¹⁹But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Jesus Is Named

²¹ After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Firstly, notice where Jesus was born. The prophet Micah had prophesied that the event would take place in Bethlehem[1] - and sure enough, it took place in Bethlehem. This reminds us of the wonderful truth that God is in control. He controlled the secular ruler Augustus and directed him through thoughts, events and ideas, to decree that all people needed to be registered. As a result, he, Augustus decreed that Mary and Joseph should travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem. The Roman emperor did not know that he was a pawn in God's hands and that he was only doing what God was allowing him to do.[2]

God is in control. As God intervened and changed the course of history using Caesar Augustus as a pawn to do what he willed, so can he intervene and use earthly rulers and others as pawns to bring about his purposes on this earth. But people need to respond in obedience.

Secondly, notice who the first people were who received the wonderful news of Christ's birth - simple ordinary shepherds, not priests, rulers, theologians, scribes or pharisees. This is not meant to imply that people who are learned or who have position were excluded. The visit of the Magi - the wise men who followed the shepherds - bears testimony of this. But all too often, simple people, poor people feel that they do not know enough to be able to draw close to God. Nothing could be further from the truth. What is important is not wealth, position or knowledge - but faith.

God offers to all people faith as a free gift.[3] All people have to do is respond by accepting it. Whether you are a university professor, a mechanic, housewife, millionaire, street-sweeper, unemployed - no matter what one's station in life is - all people are afforded the opportunity to draw close to God through faith in Jesus Christ.

Thirdly, notice the message the angels brought with them. They said:

... I have good news for you, which will make everyone happy.[4]

The spiritual darkness that had covered the world for thousands of years was about to be rolled away and God was to be revealed in all his fullness through Christ; the way in which sin could be forgiven was to be made available for all people; people can defeat the power of Satan, temptation and sin in their lives and so be enabled to experience wholeness and restoration while living on this earth; people were about to be enabled to experience peace with themselves, peace with others and peace with God. Indeed, the birth of Jesus is 'good news' and should make 'everyone happy'. Because of Jesus there is hope, because of Jesus there is power, because of Jesus people can be restored to God.

Fourthly, notice how prompt the shepherds were in responding in obedience to what they were told. We read in verse 16:

They hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and they saw the baby lying in the manger.

They responded immediately. They never debated, questioned, doubted or even hesitated - they did something - they hurried off to find Jesus.

May our spirit be like the shepherd's. May we believe implicitly, act promptly and wait for nothing - let us all come to Christ so that like the shepherds, the journey we begin in faith may end with praise.

Lastly verse 21 deals with the time when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the Temple to present him to the Lord. Mary was also required by the Law of Moses to go through a purification rite as all woman, after childbirth, were considered ritually unclean. While at the Temple, they met an old man called Simeon, who had some interesting things to say about their child Jesus.

Verse 21 tells us of how Jesus was circumcised. Every Jewish boy was required by the Law of Moses, to be circumcised eight days after his birth. This ceremony was considered so important that it was even permissible to perform this rite on the Sabbath, if that turned out to be the eighth day.[5] In order for our salvation to be achieved it was necessary that the saviour obey every single aspect of the law in its entirety. We read in Galatians 4:4:

... when the time was right, God sent his Son, and a woman gave birth to him. His Son obeyed the Law so he could set us free from the law, and we could become God's children.

It is encouraging to be reminded that, even in the smallest detail, Jesus fulfilled every aspect of the Law and so won our salvation for us.[6] We do not need to practice circumcision today, nor do we need to become slaves to the thousands of other laws of the Old Testament because Jesus has set us free from the Law and all its requirements. Rather, instead of being circumcised in the flesh, Christians should live showing that they are continually cutting sin out of their lives in the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul explains this in Colossians 2:11:

Christ has also taken away your selfish desires, just as circumcision removes flesh from the body.

Again in Romans 2:29 Paul explains:

True circumcision is something that happens deep down in your heart, not something done to your body.

Because Jesus fulfilled the Law for us, we are not bound by its requirements. Jesus did everything that no human could achieve and so liberated us from all the requirements of the Law. How wonderful this is. Because of Christ we have been set free. Paul explains in Galatians 5:1:

Christ has set us free! This means we are really free. Now hold on to your freedom and don't ever become slaves to the Law again.

There was nothing that the law demanded that Jesus did not fulfill, not even the smallest detail. Jesus fulfilled everything and so earned salvation for all people who accept it. And so it was appropriate that he was given the name 'Jesus' which simply means 'Saviour'.

---

[1] Micah 5:2.

[2] Ryle, Expository Thoughts, pp. 50-51.

[3] Ephesians 2:8.

[4] Luke 2:10.

[5] Barclay, The Daily Study Bible: The Gospel of Luke, (Edinburgh, The Saint Andrews Press, 1981), p. 24.

[6] Ryle, Expository Thoughts, pp. 61-62.

THE FIRST SUNDAY OF CHRISTMAS - CATCHING A GLIMPSE

Here are the readings set for the first Sunday of Christmas followed by reflections of all of the readings

Isaiah 61:10-62:3

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁰ I delight greatly in the LORD;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
¹¹ For as the soil makes the sprout come up
and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness
and praise spring up before all nations.

Isaiah 62

Zion’s New Name

¹ For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet,
till her vindication shines out like the dawn,
her salvation like a blazing torch.
² The nations will see your vindication,
and all kings your glory;
you will be called by a new name
that the mouth of the LORD will bestow.
³ You will be a crown of splendor in the LORD’s hand,
a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

Galatians 4:4-7

New International Version (NIV)

⁴ But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵ to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.^{[a] 6} Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba,^[b] Father.” ⁷ So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

²¹ On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.

Luke 2:15-21

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.


Brother


Prepare the way of the Lord, prepare the way of the Lord, and all people shall see the salvation of our God. These lines sound so familiar to us and the words are particularly poignant during the Advent season. We have been doing the work of preparation for weeks, getting ready for the coming of the Christ child, preparing the way of the Lord. And now, as the song says, all people shall see the salvation of our God. So, now that the baby is born, where is this promised salvation? What do we see in the face of this baby? Is the salvation of our God in this little Christ child, in this little baby?

As people of faith, the word salvation should not be unfamiliar to us - how many times has someone asked you if you've been saved or not? Our own salvation - where we will spend eternity, what happens to us at death - these concerns certainly confront all of us at one time or another. And we recognize the presence of the salvation theme in the scriptures too, and particularly in relation to Jesus Christ. We call Jesus our Saviour, and we affirm that through Jesus' guiltless, sinless death on the cross, we are saved from death for our guilty and sinful actions. We are familiar with this salvation theme.

But today, all the salvation talk is not about Jesus on the cross, and it's not about what happens to us at death. It's not about whether we have been 'saved' or not - here is another whole way of talking about salvation - the salvation of our God, the salvation that comes as a little baby. The scriptures we read today talk about salvation in some surprising ways. There is no mention of death on the cross, no mention of an adult Jesus in ministry, no mention of heaven and hell. But there is salvation talk that is important for us to hear today, at this time, in this place, glimpses of God's salvation that are life changing, for whole nations, and for whole lives.

In these glimpses of salvation, we see something really special. Sometimes all it takes IS one glimpse. Like the boy of ten who asked for a bicycle for Christmas. He pointed it out to us one day to his parents in the shop. That's all he talked about for three months before Christmas. Of course they got the bicycle. They picked it up a week before Christmas. Still in the box, They wrapped it and brought it home. Then, in a very conspiratorial way, his dad asked him to help him carry it into the house. He told him it was a set of bookshelves which his Mum had asked for. They slid it in behind the tree.

When Christmas morning came, he kept wanting to give Mum her big present and Dad kept telling him to wait. Finally, all the presents but one were open. They told him to pull it out and then pointed out a card that was hanging on the tree. They told him to open the card first. He opened the card and it read, "Paul, open the big box." He started tearing the paper off and uncovered a hand hole for carrying the box. And whatever it was that he saw through that hole was just enough of a glimpse to give the whole thing away. That one little glimpse was all that he needed to know what was in the box. He leaped across the floor and hugged his Dad’s neck and then went running to hug his Mum. All it took was one little glimpse."

Our scripture readings for next Sunday are about those glimpses of salvation. From our reading in Isaiah, we find the prophet rejoicing. The people of Israel have been exiled for so long in Babylon, driven out of their homeland, and now there is promise of return. God will restore the people to their homeland. It is with this knowledge that Isaiah writes: "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God; for God has clothed me with the garments of salvation." Isaiah speaks of God's salvation that shines like a burning torch. "You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God." Isaiah's vision is a vision of hope, a vision of what happens with God in the picture again, where salvation clothes the whole people and restores them in relationship with God. The salvation here is not about individuals and their right and wrong actions or right and wrong beliefs, but about a whole people's salvation through restoration of their relationship with God. Though the people still live in exile, Isaiah can glimpse the restoration that will take place soon, promised by God. Just a glimpse, but it is enough to cause Isaiah to rejoice.

In our gospel lesson we hear more talk about salvation. Mary and Joseph bring a newborn Jesus to the temple for the traditional rite of purification. There they find a righteous man, Simeon, who is overwhelmed to lay his eyes on this baby. "Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples." Simeon takes just one look at Jesus - he catches just a glimpse of the baby - but in the face of Jesus he sees his salvation, and the salvation of all people. In Jesus' face, he sees a plan of salvation that extends to all people, not just some, not just the Jews, but the Gentiles also. In a little baby, a plan of salvation that touches the whole world.

What do these glimpses mean for us? A new baby, a new hope, a new kind of salvation. For us today in the 21st century, standing on the brink of yet another new year, we need this new baby, this new hope, this new salvation, so much. We have just been reading in Christmas newsletters about the sadness in South Africa at the moment as our friends and family there witness the reverse racism and continued legacy of Apartheid mixed with the corruption which comes with power. They despair of what the new year holds. We desperately need a glimpse of God's plan for us. In the church calendar, we've just started a new year, beginning with the first week of Advent. In the secular calendar, our new year awaits us in just a few days. Either way, we are at a time of new beginning in our year. We have a new baby among us, a new hope, a new salvation. What does that mean for our lives? What hope have we this year? What will save us and keep us strong this year? With the new year comes our New Year's resolutions, promises and challenges of how we will change our lives this year. Yet, as everyone knows, these resolutions often do not last very long. Our great intentions fall by the wayside sometime in early February, if we make it that far.

But perhaps we're going about things all wrong. Perhaps we're making the wrong kind of resolutions. Here is the Al-Anon creed:

Just for today, I will live through this day only, and not set far-reaching goals to try to overcome all my problems at once. I know I can do something for 24 hours that would overwhelm me if I thought I had to keep it up for a lifetime. Just for today, I will be happy. Abraham Lincoln said, "Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." He was right. I will not dwell on thoughts that depress me. I will chase them out of my mind and replace them with happy thoughts. Just for today, I will adjust myself to what is. I will face reality. I will correct those things that I can correct, and accept those which I cannot. Just for today, I will improve my mind. I will not be a mental loafer. I will force myself to read something that requires effort, thought and concentration.

Just for today, I will do something positive to improve my health. Just for today, I'll do something I've been putting off for a long time. I'll finally write that letter, make that phone call, clean that closet, or straighten out those drawers. Just for today, before I speak I will ask myself, "Is it true? Is it kind?" and, if the answer to either of those questions is negative, I won't say it. Just for today, I will make a conscious effort to be agreeable. I will talk softly, act courteously, and not interrupt when someone else is talking. Just for today, I'll not try to improve anybody except myself. Just for today, I will have a program. I may not follow it exactly, but I will have it, thereby saving myself from two pests: hurry and indecision. Just for today, I will gather the courage to do what is right and take the responsibility for my own actions.

These resolutions are not of a religious nature, but there is wisdom in the approach it shares - taking glimpses, little snippets, of what we might be and what we might become. And in that we have an understanding of how God's salvation can work in our lives - Isaiah sees a people in exile but has a glimpse that they can become a precious people, clothed in God's salvation. Simeon sees a little baby Jesus, but catches a glimpse of saviour who can touch people all over the world with his loving ways. We see our own selves - broken, sinful, sad, in need of repair and resolutions - and we are weighed down by the work that must be done in our world and in our selves. There is, for us, a saviour and salvation, in this new baby in our midst.

Mark