THE BIRTH OF CHRIST
John was the prophet of the Highest, but Jesus the Son of the Highest. Yet there was little about His actual birth to let men know that "that holy thing which shall be born [of thee]" was the Son of God. But the machinery of the Roman Empire was, unconscious to its rulers, divinely manipulated so that the birth of Christ the King of the Jews would occur at Bethlehem, the city of David 2:11. This was to fulfill the prophecy of His birth in Mic. 5:22But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. (Micah 5:2) "but thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”
The Savior Is Born in a Manger—2:6-20
Nothing about the birth of Christ suggested that He was to be ruler in Israel, that Great David's greater Son had come to His people. "Mary brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn." The manger and the inn are full of teaching. In the manger we see the Lord surrounded by animals as the first man Adam was in the Genesis record of creation. But the first Adam entered the world in full manhood fresh from the creatorial hand of God and the animals passed before him to be named. The last Adam entered the world in weakness as a babe surrounded by animals. The inn on the other hand tells us that at the very beginning of Christ's life, man had no room for Him. The inn is the world, which after all is but the material reflection of the heart of man. It is temporary and will pass away. "The things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal." 2 Cor. 4:1818While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:18). The Scripture says of Christ, "Thy years are throughout all generations. Of old hast Thou laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Thy hands." Psa. 102:24, 2524I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations. 25Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. (Psalm 102:24‑25).
So it was fitting that heaven and earth should join together to acclaim the entrance of the Savior into this world. Here we have the praise of heaven. The angel of the Lord came upon the shepherds in the field, watching over their flock by night. This pastoral scene is a reminder to us of the purpose of the Lord's coming to the earth. Psa. 22 is a forecast of the cross— Psa. 23 of the benefits to us of the cross— "The Lord is My Shepherd; I shall not want." No wonder that the glory of the Lord shone round about the shepherds— a glory long since absent from Israel. Why had it returned? The angel says, "for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord." The angel continues "and this is the sign to you"— pointing them to a babe in a manger. Now in Scripture a sign is something greater than a miracle. Though it is a miracle it contains a depth of teaching also. The angel was drawing their attention to the ancient prophecy "the Lord Himself shall give you a sign, behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel." Isa. 7:1414Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14). Immanuel means "God with us." Clearly there was no miracle in a young woman bearing a son, but there was in a virgin bearing one. Men will tell you that a virgin birth is a biological impossibility. To man, yes. This was the sign, for to God all things are possible. It is a sign that God is intervening in the affairs of earth too. But what a sign, contrary to all human expectations.
God comes into this world as a babe, which speaks of extreme weakness. But His strength is made perfect in weakness; man looks at what is outwardly strong, but must pass away in weakness. Well, Isaiah continues on in his ninth chapter to give us more particulars of the Son to be born of the virgin previously mentioned "for unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His Name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon His kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever."— Isa. 9:6, 76For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. (Isaiah 9:6‑7). Notice how this prophecy agrees with Gabriel's message to Mary— "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David."— 1:32.
The angel of the Lord has no sooner finished his pronouncement when suddenly he is joined by a crowd of these heavenly beings praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good pleasure in men." Since the Lord Jesus is the Son of the Highest, they are praising Him, predicting that His entrance to this world will eventually bring peace to it, and announcing a message of hope from heaven to all men.
"Burst of heavenly glory
Peace on earth the story.”
The shepherds verified the prediction of the angel of the Lord and blazoned it abroad, but Mary "kept all these things and pondered them in her heart"— 2:19. "All these things?" Yes, not only the message of the angel of the Lord. Like Mary we too can ponder them in our hearts. Did Mary connect the praise of the heavenly host with her visit to Elizabeth? Elizabeth had told her, "blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy." Thus God honored Christ even in Mary's womb— "I was cast upon Thee from the womb, Thou art My God from My mother's belly." Psa. 22:1010I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly. (Psalm 22:10). Even then God anticipates the birth of Jesus by causing the babe who would later be John the Baptist to leap in her mother Elizabeth's womb for joy. Then as to His birth— "Thou didst make Me hope when I was upon My mother's breasts." Psa. 22:99But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts. (Psalm 22:9). Here the angels come in, as we have just seen, to praise God for His birth. Notice how God has in this way united the extremes in His creation to glorify Him in the birth of His Son. An unborn babe speaks of extreme weakness; an angel of extreme strength Psa. 103:2020Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. (Psalm 103:20). Again a babe becomes a man and lives on the earth; angels are creatures of the heavens. But both unite to praise the Lord and have a common message of happiness and joy at the great event made possible by the hand of God.
The Parents of the Lord Bring Him Into the Temple— 2:21-24
The next event shows us that the Lord came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. "And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord." 2:22. Notice how Luke, a Greek, understands the requirements of the law of Moses. He opens his gospel on a Jewish note, for salvation is of the Jews. Through them and the Jewish Scriptures, salvation went to the Gentiles. So Luke's gospel, at the close, tells us that "beginning at Moses and all the prophets He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." 24:27. The Lord is now brought into the Temple by His parents as the law required.
In our second chapter Luke gives us two Temple scenes— one involving Simeon and Anna— the other the doctors of the law. Both scenes give us a glimpse of the Lord's childhood, while still subject to His earthly parents.
The Story of Simeon and Anna 2:25-38
The Holy Spirit comes upon Simeon. It had been revealed to Simeon by that same Spirit that he should not see death until he had seen the Lord's Christ. Next he came by the Spirit into the Temple. So we have three references to the Spirit concerning what was about to take place. Simeon takes up the child Jesus in his arms and blesses God first, and afterward the parents of Jesus. Note that he does not bless Jesus, for he sees Him as the Christ and he himself merely His servant. Simeon prays first, acknowledging God's salvation which his eyes had seen, and what was to characterize Christ— a light to lighten the Gentiles (first) and the glory of Israel (after). Thus what he said was divinely ordered. Apart from the Spirit, he could not know that the Gentiles would be enlightened first with the gospel and Israel would come into earthly glory after the Church period. Then he speaks to Mary, prophesying how Christ should divide Israel, the end of this being Mary's soul pierced by a sword— her anguish at the cross. His prayer and his word encompass the entire life of Christ from His entrance into the world until He should leave it.
Anna then comes into the Temple. Her words are not given us. Instead we are told the tenor of them. She gave thanks to the Lord like Simeon and spoke about Christ to the godly remnant in Jerusalem.
Simeon and Anna are also pictures of the conditions prevailing before the second coming of Christ as they themselves represented what God was looking for in His saints at Christ's first coming. Simeon is a picture of the sleeping saints— those who are dead in Christ; Anna of the living saints— those alive on the earth at the second coming of Christ. This is because Simeon, having seen Christ, was looking forward to departing in peace. Anna was very old as the Church is now after nearly 2000 years of Christianity. Simeon and Anna are also patterns of worship and service the two ways eternal life is expressed in believers.
The Lord Remains in the Temple With the Doctors of the Law 2:41-51
Joseph and Mary as godly Jewish parents, were not content merely to fulfill the requirements of the law by bringing Jesus to Jerusalem. No, every year they went to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. But nothing is told us about these annual pilgrimages until Jesus was twelve years old. After the feast, His parents returned to Nazareth. Thinking Jesus was with the other pilgrims, they did not notice His absence until they had traveled a full day's journey. Unable to find Him, they returned to Jerusalem and searched for Him there. They found Him in the Temple.
This story affords us also a moral picture of believers taking the Lord's presence among them for granted and only becoming alarmed when they find Him not there. Worse still, we may get like Samson who did not know that the Lord had departed from him. We must go to the sanctuary if we are to find Him. Well, in the actual story He was sitting in the midst of the doctors of the law, and discoursing with them.
Jerusalem was noted for its rabbinical schools, and the doctors would be, in modern terms, doctors of divinity. But in the presence of Jesus, they could only be like beginning students. He gave the law, the Scriptures— even more, as we learn elsewhere, He was the Temple itself— the Holy of Holies. No wonder that "all that heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers." Would to God all succeeding "doctors of the law" had bowed at His feet and surrounded Him for instruction. Only a fool vaunts himself above his teacher. I have an unpleasant memory which illustrates how those who should be learning from Him, set themselves up instead to oppose His written Word. One evening an old friend, in the United Church ministry, phoned me. He said he had heard I was a fundamentalist and would like me to visit him and discuss the Scriptures. I readily assented for we had much in common. We had grown up together, were educated together, had both enlisted in the Air Force and served overseas in heavy bomber squadrons, had been demobilized and returned home. At first we had a pleasant time as we discussed generalities and as his charming wife served coffee and refreshments. But then, alas, he departed to attack the inspiration of the Scriptures which I as vigorously defended. When he saw that all his efforts had been beaten, he finally exclaimed, "God hardened Pharaoh's heart! How can I stand up in my pulpit and tell the people that God is love, when it says that in the Bible too?" My reply was that I had preached on both texts with equal liberty because I believed that what God said was true. God didn't harden Pharaoh's heart until Pharaoh first hardened his own heart. The end result was that he exclaimed, "who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go." Ex. 5:22And Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go. (Exodus 5:2). He would have been better had he done what these doctors of the law did and taken his instruction from the fountain of living waters.
Returning now to our story in Luke, the parents of the Lord were amazed at what they saw going on. Nature is always amazed that Christ should instruct the learned of this world. "Son why hast Thou thus dealt with us? Behold Thy father and I have sought Thee sorrowing." To this the Lord replied, "How is it that ye sought Me? Wist ye not that I must be about My Father's business?" His reply was not understood, although Mary "kept all these sayings" —that is the things about His birth "and pondered them in her heart.”
Yet we who have the Holy Spirit can do more than ponder these things in our hearts. We can understand them, which the Lord's earthly parents could not. Luke has recorded for our instruction the two returns to Nazareth. On the first return we read, "and the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him." —2:40. On the second return we read, "and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man." 2:52. The Lord's parents did not understand that He was a Nazarite wholly devoted to God from His mother's womb. Neither did Israel, which called Him alternately Joseph's son and the carpenter's son. But the prophet Isaiah looked forward to this day when he wrote, "He [that is, Jesus] shall grow up before Him [God the Father] as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground [the Hearts of Israel] ... there is no beauty that we should desire Him." —Isa. 53:22For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. (Isaiah 53:2). So it is they understood not that He must be about His Father's business.