Read Luke 2:1-221And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. 2(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) 3And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. 4And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) 5To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. 6And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. 7And she 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. 8And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. 15And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. 16And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. 17And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. 18And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. 20And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them. 21And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb. 22And 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; (Luke 2:1‑22); Matthew 27:45-66; 28:1-1045Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. 46And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? 47Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias. 48And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. 49The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him. 50Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. 51And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; 52And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, 53And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. 54Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God. 55And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him: 56Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children. 57When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus' disciple: 58He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. 59And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed. 61And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre. 62Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, 63Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. 64Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first. 65Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can. 66So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch. (Matthew 27:45‑66)
1In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. 2And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. 3His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: 4And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. 5And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. 6He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. 8And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word. 9And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. 10Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me. (Matthew 28:1‑10)
These three scriptures, taken together, give us the birth, the death, and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Ponder it one moment—the birth of the Son of God, the death of the Son of God, the resurrection of the Son of God.
Why this birth, this death, this resurrection? Because nothing could save you or me but this. Nothing! There was no possibility of man being redeemed and brought to God—saved, and delivered from eternal judgment—but by the wondrous means which these scriptures unfold.
I do not wonder that heaven goes into a perfect ecstasy the moment it is promulgated that man can be saved. And how can he be saved? Only by the coming down of the Saviour! And surely, dear reader, if God has been loving enough to provide a Saviour, What does He expect from the sinner? That the sinner shall have wisdom enough to avail himself of the Saviour God has provided. It is the grandest news that ever fell on mortal ears—a Saviour for ruined sinners!
Let the shepherds of Bethlehem show the way to the Saviour. They are the best illustration of good gospel listeners that I know. They are men who hear the gospel, receive it, embrace it, enjoy it, act upon it, tell their neighbors all about it, and then go home with hearts brimming over with praise and worship to God because of it!
Luke 2 opens with the birth of the Saviour.
Did you ever notice that God only tells the story of creation once, and in few words; but twice He tells, with every particular, the wondrous tale of the birth of His Son; and four times over the Holy Ghost records the death of the Saviour, and His resurrection.
Why is this so? Because it is of very little matter if you know about creation or not; but it is of great matter if you know about Him who is the Creator.
The death and resurrection of the Son of God is what alone avails to bring the sinner to God. On the actual knowledge of Him who was born, and Him who died, hangs the eternal salvation of your precious soul and mine.
It is important to see what comes out in the commencement of the chapter, for we live in infidel times. The Roman Emperor, in his pride and folly, wants to know how many subjects he reigns over, and not only so, but their nationality, and also their city; and so Joseph and his espoused wife Mary go up to Bethlehem, their native city, to be enrolled.
The pride of the Roman Emperor was the means God used for the fulfillment of the scripture, that the King of Israel, God’s Messiah, should be born in Bethlehem. (Micah 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).) See the manner of His birth: Joseph and Mary come up, and there is no room for them in the inn. “Oh,” you say, “that was a coincidence.” Ah, do you think so? Supposing Joseph had been a rich man, do you think there would have been room for him? I think so! But the world never did like the poor, and the Lord loved them intensely.
They generally make room for the rich in the hotels. The Lord comes as the poor man, though He comes into the world His own hands had made, content to be reputed the son of a carpenter.
He took His place down here at the outset as a poor man; God came into the world in this gracious way to win man’s heart. In grace He came, content to be cradled in one man’s manger, and buried in another man’s tomb.
Do you still say it was a coincidence that there was no room in the inn? Then I ask you—Is it a coincidence that there is no room for Christ in the heart of every unconverted man? There is room for friends; room for folly, for vanity; room for pleasure, but no room for Him!
Though there was no room for Christ in man’s world, He sends out the message that there is room for man in His world; that is, heaven! “Yet there is room.” Luke 14:2222And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. (Luke 14:22).
Look at these shepherds; they are at their business, and the Lord sends an angel to preach the gospel to them. Here is a message from heaven for sinners on earth; God visits them with a message for eternity. There are two lovely points in the way the message comes; not only it comes right down to the men where they were (God, as it were, interrupting them in their business to show them there is something better than their business, even the salvation of their souls), but there is more than this: they are sensible of the presence of God with the message— “the glory of the Lord shone round about them.” I covet that! The holy, solemn, searching sense of the presence of God Himself with the gospel message. God is there, God is dealing with those shepherds, and they are sore afraid, and rightly so; they are properly solemnized before God, and I maintain this is the first effect of the gospel; the sinner begins to feel he is in the presence of God, and that he is unfit for that presence.
But you will find, the moment the right kind of fear is produced in the soul, God comes in to remove the fear. The mark of the unregenerate man is this, “no fear of God before his eyes.” He sports with God’s grace, risking His terrible judgment. The first thing a soul knows when God is dealing with him is fear and trembling. A man sees the glory of God, and his own unfitness for it. Romans 3 gives us the unconverted man unfit for the glory of God; Romans 5 gives us the believer rejoicing in view of that glory, because he knows he is fit for it. The jailor of Philippi wakes up when the glory of the Lord comes in, and he cries out, “What must I do to be saved?” —he sees his own unfitness for that glory.
Repentance is the soul judging itself before God—owning it is, what God says it is, a totally lost sinner. It was to save the lost that Jesus came. When once I discover I am lost, I am glad to look outside myself for a deliverer, a Saviour. It is a beautiful thing to see a soul going down, and owning itself lost, and really anxious. Are you anxious, my friend? I have two distinct words from the Lord for anxious souls, “Fear not.”
“Fear not,” says the angel, “I have for you tonight the very news you need. I bring you tonight tidings which will produce great joy.” The first effect is fear in the presence of God, and then, when the tidings God has to tell fall on the heart, What comes next? Great joy! And oh, I have better tidings for burdened sinners than the angel had for the shepherds. He could tell of a Saviour born; I can tell of the death and resurrection of that Saviour, of the work that has been done whereby the sinner’s redemption is completed, Satan’s power destroyed, death and hell vanquished, and lost man saved!
“To you is born a Saviour.” Now, a Saviour is for the lost! not those who are going to be lost, but who are lost already. God never would have sent a Saviour if man had not been lost, for He is not a helper, but a Saviour. There is one thing Christ absolutely refuses to do—to help a sinner; His saints He helps. The Lord will save a sinner; He will not help him. Help is for a man who can do something. Christ comes down to the sinner when he is dead in his sins, utterly helpless, dies Himself for the sinner’s sins, and saves him.
A Saviour for man—and how does He save? By Himself undergoing the judgment due to man’s sin. He saves by bearing the punishment instead of me, by dying in my place. In bitter derision they cry, as He hangs upon that cross, “Himself He cannot save.” Is it “cannot”? No! no! no! Himself He will not save, that He may save you and me; because if He save Himself, He cannot save man, but He chooses to save man.
On the cross He meets the claims of God, He does that which can eternally redeem you, and then He expires. He dies as no other man ever died. Not in weakness, but in strength; He cries with a loud voice, and gives up His spirit to God. And then the grave receives Him, But does it hold Him? No, it cannot; He comes forth again conqueror over it, risen from the dead, and by His resurrection proving that the sinner’s Substitute is free.
An angel comes down again at His resurrection, as at His birth. He rolls away the stone. To let Jesus out? Far be the thought! It is to let us look in and see an empty tomb—to see that He who died is dead no longer, that He is risen.
Why is it there is such profound silence here? Angels praise at His birth, but at His resurrection there is no praise. The angels seem to stand back now and say, “It is for you to sing; He did not die for us, He died for you.”
He died, He rose, and now He is on the throne of God. What are you going to do, now you have heard of Him? Mark what the shepherds did, “And it came to pass as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.” The moment they heard the tidings they said, “Let us go and see!”
Where can you see the Saviour now? In Bethlehem? No! Upon the cross? No! In the grave? No! In Galilee? No! Where, then? Up in the glory at the right hand of God.
“And they came with haste.” They lose no time; they are not even exhorted to come; they are so earnest to come, they need no exhortation. They are splendid gospel listeners. They came and found. It is what always happens. They who seek find! Oh, cannot you picture that scene! Bowed down before Jesus, the Babe in the manger!
They have heard, believed, sought, found, accepted, praised, and worshipped God, and now they make known abroad the good news: We have sought and found the Saviour, a Babe in Bethlehem, but our Saviour!
“And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.”
They were anxious sinners; are calmed by the words “Fear not;” they hear about the Saviour, they seek Him, they find Him, they worship Him, and they return, praising God for all they have heard and seen.
Condensed—W.T.P.W.