Once again we come to Christmas –a day when we joyfully celebrate the coming of our promised Savior Lord Jesus Christ to this earth. The message of Christmas is this: there is only one way that God can be found and worshiped and that way is through Lord Jesus Christ, the Babe of Bethlehem. Some try to find God through nature –the nature worshippers. Some attempt to find Him within themselves –the ‘ego’ worshippers. Still others attempt to find Him through teachers and gurus –the men worshippers. But if you want to find God –to really find Him –then you must come face to face with His Son, Lord Jesus Christ. Lord Jesus is God approachable, God available, God lovable. A little boy, when asked what he was doing, answered, I’m drawing a picture of God.’ ‘But no one knows what God is like,’ responded his mother. ‘They will when I’m finished,’ said the boy with an air of finality. All attempts to draw or tell what God is like are childish. Except one –the revelation made by Lord Jesus. As we saw some time ago, “No man has ever seen God at any time; the only [a]unique Son, or [b]the only begotten God, Who is in the bosom [in the intimate presence] of the Father, He has declared Him [He has revealed Him and brought Him out where He can be seen; He has interpreted Him and He has made Him known].” (John 1:18). A woman I knew in Wales even in some other parts of the world who had gone from one psychiatric unit to another, and had experienced several bouts of severe depression, stood one Christmas morning in a hospital ward and looked at the Nativity scene which had been created by the nurses. As she gazed at it the Holy Spirit spoke directly to her heart and brought home to her the real meaning of Christmas. Later she testified saying, with my heart, ‘I looked into the face of Lord Jesus and I found a joy that cannot be put into words.’ Today she is a radiant Christian and has led many others to know her Savior. If you have never found God in similar ways then you can do so today. With your heart in faith look into the face of Lord Jesus and live.

Now let us read Luke 2:1-17; In those days it occurred that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole [a]Roman empire should be registered. 2 This was the first enrollment, and it was made when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all the people were going to be registered, each to his own city or town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the town of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, 5 To be enrolled with Mary, his espoused ([b]married) wife, who was about to become a mother. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her delivery, 7 And she gave birth to her Son, her Firstborn; and she wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room or place for them in the inn. 8 And in that vicinity there were shepherds living [out under the open sky] in the field, watching [in shifts] over their flock by night. 9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord flashed and shone all about them, and they were terribly frightened. 10 But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people. 11 For to you is born this day in the town of David a Savior, Who is Christ (the Messiah) the Lord! 12 And this will be a sign for you [by which you will recognize Him]: you will find [[c]after searching] a Baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. 13 Then suddenly there appeared with the angel an army of the troops of heaven ([d]a heavenly knighthood), praising God and saying, 14 Glory to God in the highest [heaven], and on earth peace among men with whom He is well pleased [[e]men of goodwill, of His favor]. 15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing ([f]saying) that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us. 16 So they went with haste and [[g]by searching] found Mary and Joseph, and the Baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known what had been told them concerning this Child,

The birth of our Lord Jesus Christ; The birth of Lord Jesus was a humble and unlikely event that took place among the poor and lowly. Lord Jesus was born in a manger, like any other baby, and was not considered special at the time. God's blessing; The birth of Lord Jesus emphasizes God's blessing and favor over human action or capacity. The shepherds' testimony; The shepherds who saw the signs of Lord Jesus' birth were moved to tell others about their experience. Their testimony made a lasting impression on those who heard it. Today do we still have people telling others about Lord Jesus? If yes, how are people regarding and taking the good news, with Joy or with nonchallant attitude, which? The power of God; God's power is demonstrated in the birth of our Lord Jesus, who was born in a vulnerable way, yet was the Savior. The conditions that made the news of Lord Jesus' birth spread; The world was in a state that made it easier to spread the news of Lord Jesus' birth. Roman peace and law allowed the Apostles and other believers to travel freely. The Book of Luke 2:17 would be divided into three subheads: 1. The Tyrant (Luke 2:1-3) 2. The Troubles (Luke 2:4-7) 3. The Trumpets (Luke 2:8-20) Trials and Tribulations are a part of all of our lives. The Old Testament prophets were familiar with trials and tribulation, and how God used these things in life to accomplish His purposes. One of my favorite passages in the prophets about this idea of trials and tribulations in life is a picture given in Isaiah, chapter 28. There we read, “…caraway is beaten with a rod, and cummin with a stick. Grain must be ground to make bread…” (Isa. 28:27b-28a, NIV). Caraway and cummin are seeds used to flavor breads, cakes etc. Do you ever feel like the caraway, the cummin, and the grain in this verse that are always being beaten to put them in their condition of use? Do you ever feel like life is beating you with a stick? Like you are being ground to pieces or even to powder? Do you ever feel like all the world is against you? Like nothing goes your way? Like even God has turned away from you? You have financial problems, and health problems, marital problems, family problems, job problems, car problems, educational problem and on and on they go. Maybe today, you don’t have many problems. Well, let me tell you right now. If you have not had many in your past, and if you are a Christian, you will have problems, problems are the reality of life. Our Lord Jesus said in John 16, “In this world, you will have tribulation.” As we continue our study in the Gospel of Luke, we are going to see that even Mary and Joseph had their fair share of trials and tribulations. But we are also going to see how they handled over it, and what God did about it. You will see what God will do for you also, as you handle the trials and troubles in your life in a similar way as Joseph and Mary. In Luke 1, we have already seen the birth of John the Baptist and some of the events leading up to the birth of Lord Jesus Christ. And by the way, it was pointed out to me this week that for most of us, we have been calling the father of John the Baptist, Zacharias, whereas somewhere in the NIV, which is the Bible version many of you use, his name is Zachariah. All I can say is, “That’s what you get for using the NIV.” It’s the Nearly/newly Inspired Version. Anyway, in the New King James, and the regular King James, and even in the NAS, John the Baptist’s father is translated as Zacharias. In the NIV, he is given the name Zachariah. It’s not an error in the Bible, it’s just a choice the NIV translators made. In Luke 2 we find the Tyrant. Very often, our problems in life are associated with other people. They disagree with us or we with them. We have an argument. They disobey. They do things we don’t like. They say something that offends us. Sometimes, such problems are our fault more than theirs, but that’s a subject for a different sermon. But in any case a trial is presented in all. In verses 1-3 we see a selfish and egotistical tyrant who caused a lot of problems for Mary and Joseph. Look at what this tyrant does in verses 1-3. 1. The Tyrant (Luke 2:1-3): In those days it occurred that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole [a]Roman empire should be registered. 2 This was the first enrollment, and it was made when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all the people were going to be registered, each to his own city or town. Caesar Augustus has a political platform you probably won’t hear in the next coming year/s in our presidential campaigns. Caesar Augustus announced to the Roman Empire, “Read my Lips: Lots of new taxes!” It says there in verse 1 and verse 3 that he made a decree for everyone to go to his home town to be registered. In effect, he’s saying, “I need to know how many people are in the empire so I can know how much to tax you.” Of course, the difference between Caesar Augustus and modern presidents is that Caesar was not elected by the people, nor did he have term limits. He was kind of like a king or an emperor. He could do whatever he wanted. And here, he wanted to tax people. And in order to do that, he needed them to register, to take part in a census, the head count. Let me tell you a little bit about Caesar Augustus. His real name was Gaius Octavius. He was the adopted son of Julius Caesar, and so when Julius Caesar died, Octavius became emperor, and with it, the title of his position – Caesar. Or he should have been known as Octavius Caesar. However, Octavius had quite an ego. He was very proud and arrogant. He wanted to be greater than any other Caesar before him, and so, with the approval of the Roman Senate, he dropped his name Octavius, and added the title Augustus. Augustus means “Majesty.” It’s a name of divinity. It carries the idea of being/like “of the gods.” In reality Caesar Augustus means Caesar God. In essence, he was proclaiming himself to be god. That is part of the reason he taxed the people so heavily. He figured a god should live in luxury and ease life, and that the people, his subjects, should pay for his luxuries. That is exactly real human nature! And so he taxed them. He didn’t care how his heavy taxes placed financial burdens on the people, and he didn’t also care that his method of registration caused great disruption in the lives of his subjects. Is it not how it is today with many of our leaders? Caesar Gaius Octavius didn’t care that by forcing people to return to their hometown to be registered, he was forcing people to go on long journey’s, and possibly uproot their families, and lose their jobs. He didn’t care if people were sick; he didn’t care if people were old. He just didn’t care. It didn’t matter to him if the subjects of his empire were greatly inconvenienced by his decree, he just wanted his money. He did whatever he wanted, and if people didn’t like it, that’s too bad. If they tried to rebel, he had his vast army to deal with uprisings. But Mary and Joseph submitted, even though it made their lives miserable, even though they ran into many troubles. Look in verses 4-7 at the troubles they experienced.

4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the town of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, 5 To be enrolled with Mary, his espoused ([b]married) wife, who was about to become a mother. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her delivery, 7 And she gave birth to her Son, her Firstborn; and she wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room or place for them in the inn. They experience so many troubles here, I’m not sure I can list them all. First of all, verse 4 says they went out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem. They have to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem, which is a trip of about 80 miles. Today, with cars, we can make that trip in about an hour and a half. But without cars, that’s quite a distance for anyone to travel. This 80 mile journey took them several days. On top of it all, Mary is nine months pregnant. This is not the ideal time to go on an 80 mile journey. If that’s not enough trouble, the second trouble we learn here is that Joseph was of the house and lineage of David. This doesn’t seem like a trouble at first. We all want to be the descendants of a famous person. Joseph was the descendant of one of the most famous Israelites of all time – King David. And that’s a good thing. But the trouble comes in when we realize that a direct descendant from the royal line of David is being pushed around by an egotistical, pagan, selfish Caesar thousands of miles away. If we were Joseph, we probably would have demanded our rights. We probably would have written an editorial. We would have called our congressman. We would have passed around a petition for people to sign. We would have complained on the local news. We would have raised an outcry about how unfair this was. We would have garnered support for our cause. We would have picketed, protested or go on strike. We would have passed around a picture of our wife who is nine months pregnant and demanded how Caesar could make a woman in her condition travel 80 miles just to be taxed. We would have raised on outcry against the tax itself, and how it was unfair and unjust and way more than Caesar needed, and how the Roman government was wasting what money it did have. Maybe we would have said that because we were of the royal line of David, such a law shouldn’t apply to us. But not Joseph. He took it all in stride. Literally. He put a sign on his carpentry shop which said, “Went to be taxed – will be back soon,” packed his suitcases, hopefully got a donkey for Mary who was going to deliver her child any day, and they left for Bethlehem. That’s it. No complaining and no campaigning. Just obedience. And of course, things only get worse when they finally arrive in Bethlehem. The journey went much slower than normal, because of how far along Mary was. And so they arrived in Bethlehem long after everybody else. This means there was no place for them to stay. All the inns were full. The end of Luke 2:7 says, because there was no room or place for them in the inn. It cannot get much worse than this for Joseph. He has to leave his home, he has to close his shop, he has to go on a 80 mile journey, he feels bad he has to take his very pregnant wife, and then, to top it all off, when they arrive in Bethlehem, he realizes all the inns are full, and he forgot to make reservations. I imagine he’s feeling like a pretty good husband at this point in the passage. Nothing is going the way he hoped it would. All his plans to provide food and shelter and safety for his new wife and his soon-to-be-born child have been destroyed. This is not a way to start a marriage or a family. The problems he is facing are beyond anything he knows how to deal with. Is it not how it is with us today? He’s at his wits end. He doesn’t know what to do. He feels ashamed and depressed. He sometimes feels angry at Caesar Augustus for making him do this; is it not how sometimes we feel angry with our leaders. Other times he feels angry at God for allowing this to happen. Sometimes, he just wants to throw in the towel and quit. But he doesn’t. He presses on. He faced the challenges head on! Though sometimes it doesn’t look like it, and though it doesn’t feel like it anymore, he knows that God still loves him and is somehow going to work things out for good because He is still in control. Besides, Mary came to the same conclusion, and if anyone had something to complain about it was her. How many of you ladies, when you are nine months pregnant, want to go on a 80 mile journey which takes several days, and then at the end of it, rather than a hot meal, a warm bath, a comfortable bed, and the evening news, you only get a stack of hay out in a barn, which you share with a few cows and a horse? The stable, by the way, was probably a cave rather than a wooden structure the way all of the nativity scenes portray it as; Ray Vander Laan talks about this in video series, That the World May Know . But then, to make matters worse, while Mary is trying to make this dirty cave feel a little bit more like home – where would you begin? – she starts to feel contractions. And I know what Mary was thinking. “Oh no! Not now! Not here!” Isn’t that right, ladies? No woman I know wants to give birth in a barn. I can imagine Mary just praying. “God, can’t this wait for a few days until we find a cleaner place to stay? God, you gave me this child. Can’t You also postpone the delivery for just a few more days?” But God didn’t wait. He had His reasons and His purposes for having His Son born in a lonely and dirty stable. And the baby Lord Jesus was born there. It appears from the verses that she didn’t have any help. No doctors. No midwives. Just Mary and the animals. It appears that Joseph wasn’t even there. Maybe he was out looking for a midwife, or a better place to stay. There is a lot of loneliness in verse 7. It’s hard to say, but Mary probably cried. Remember, she is no more than 17 years old, maybe as young as 14. This was not the way she wanted to have her first child. And not the way she thought such a miraculous baby would be born. Joseph probably cried too when he came back. It’s not what he wanted for his young wife, either. But he felt completely useless and helpless and unable to do anything about it. Those are terrible emotions for a man to have. Big problem! But that is the way it happened. And according to Luke 2:7, Mary wrapped the new born babe in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger. Again, a manger is not the best crib. It didn’t have any safety features. No soft mattress with baseball pattern sheets and football pillows. Just a feeding trough for the animals and hay to lay on. That was it. Again, something I am sure distressed both Mary and Joseph. They probably sang Lord Jesus to sleep that first night with the song, “Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen.” But they couldn’t help but think, as they gazed down upon Him, that somehow, everything was going to be alright. And if fact, although they didn’t know it, the swaddling clothes they had wrapped him in were symbols of that very thing. Swaddling clothes are strips of linen which are wrapped tightly around newborn babies. In fact, they would even straighten out the babies legs, and wrap the strips of cloth very tightly around the legs so that they couldn’t bend back into the fetal position, that is the position they were in the belly. They thought that this would help the baby grow stronger, with straighter legs. But it is an interesting picture here, because it would be about 33 years later that Lord Jesus would be wrapped in strips of linen again and placed in a cave once more. And in both instances, things changed drastically. In both instances, at Lord Jesus’ birth, and three days after His death, just when the night was darkest, just when those who loved Lord Jesus (His parents at His birth, and His disciples at His death) began to wonder if God had forgotten them…angels came to announce a change. An uncaring tyrant caused Joseph and Mary great troubles, but they endured them without complaining or becoming bitter, and as a result, God acts on their behalf and everything changes. In verses 8-20 we see the troubles turned into trumpets. Beginning with verse 8. Meaning that any time we are able to bear our troubles and problems in similar manner: they endured them without complaining or becoming bitter, God will begin to change things for us for the better and best!

8 And in that vicinity there were shepherds living [out under the open sky] in the field, watching [in shifts] over their flock by night. This took place in late September (see study on Luke 2:1-3). It is also true that around Bethlehem is the only place in the land of Israel where flocks could be kept, and especially where sheep for the temple services could be tended. These shepherds were watching Passover lambs which would be sacrificed later that year. So it is appropriate that they are about to go look at another Passover Lamb who will also be sacrificed later in His life. Do you see how God keeps His similarities? 9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord flashed and shone all about them, and they were terribly frightened. Again we see that fear comes upon people when they encounter angels. It is hardly ever a sense of peace and well being with tingles and goose bumps the way many people would have us believe today. And again, as have been mentioned, many scholars believe this angel was the angel Michael. At this point in the story, it is only the one angel that has appeared to the shepherds. 10 But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people. 11 For to you is born this day in the town of David a Savior, Who is Christ (the Messiah) the Lord! 12 And this will be a sign for you [by which you will recognize Him]: you will find [[c]after searching] a Baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. The angel tells the shepherds about the birth of Christ, and that He will be Savior, and how to find Him. 13 Then suddenly there appeared with the angel an army of the troops of heaven ([d]a heavenly knighthood), praising God and saying, 14 Glory to God in the highest [heaven], and on earth peace among men with whom He is well pleased [[e]men of goodwill, of His favor]. Isn’t it interesting though, that the Caesar Augustus, who wanted to be hailed as god, through his selfishness, set into motion events in which, the true God would come to earth and be praised by angels? Furthermore, history tells us that Caesar Augustus was praised for having inaugurated worldwide peace. But we know it was not a real or lasting peace. Even the Stoic Philosopher Epictetus said, “While the emperor may give peace from war on land and sea, he is unable to give peace from passion, grief and envy. He cannot give peace of heart for which man yearns more than even for outward peace.” Stoic is a person who can endure pain or hardship without showing their feelings or complaining. But the angels proclaim Christ will bring peace. Peace does not come through money and power of the Emperor, but through humility and service. And the all important peace with God comes only to those who believe in Lord Jesus for eternal life. Only through Christ can you have true and lasting peace. That is the message the angels proclaim. I also want to clarify the angel’s message for you. During the Christmas season, we see this heavenly Christmas carol plastered all over Christmas cards and store front reader boards. But it does not mean what most people think it means. You see, the translation is a bit poor. A more literal translation is in this way: Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth toward men of goodwill.” Or we could say, “Toward men who are in God’s will.” When you meditate deeply on this, you find out that the Peace that God gives are for people who do things according to the Will, Plan and Purpose of God for them in life. People have always asked how they will know God’s will, plan and purpose for them. You will know if you allow Christ in you. I humorously criticized the NIV earlier, but it does an excellent job of translating this verse. It reads, “…and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests.” You see, Lord Jesus did not come to bring peace to the entire earth and to all people. Oh, to be sure, it is offered to all people, we see that in verse 10, but that only men (and women) of goodwill will receive it. You see, in Isaiah 48:22, God says that there is no peace for the wicked. We live in a wicked, sinful world. And those who live in wickedness and sin will never have peace. If, however, you are one of those who has come to know Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior by believing in Him alone for eternal life, then you can know this peace the angels proclaim. Romans 5:1 states, “Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Peace is available to you today, if you are a person of God’s will. What is God’s will? To believe in Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life. In John chapter 6, some people come to Lord Jesus and ask Him, “What must we do to do the works of God? What is His will?” And Lord Jesus said, “This is the will of My Father, that you believe on Him whom the Father has sent” (6:28-29). That’s it. Believe in Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life. Do you want to have the peace the angels proclaim here? You need to be a man or a woman of God’s will, you need to do God’s will, which is to believe in Lord Jesus for eternal life. But if you reject Him, you also reject peace. There can be no peace in this world without Him. 15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing ([f]saying) that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us. 16 So they went with haste and [[g]by searching] found Mary and Joseph, and the Baby lying in a manger. The angels disappeared, went back into heaven, and the shepherds say, “Let’s go!” So they did. It says they came with haste. This was the first Christmas rush, but certainly different than the Christmas rush we are familiar with today. They were rushing to see Lord Jesus. I wish we all were more like these shepherds. They heard the Word of God spoken here by angels, and they immediately acted upon it. They didn’t wait around until it was morning. They didn’t ask for better directions. Can you imagine them saying, “Uh, Michael. There’s a lot of stables in Bethlehem, you wouldn’t by any chance have a street address, would you?” They received by faith the message God sent to them, and then responded with immediate obedience. I’m sure they knew where all the stables were, so they just checked around until they found the one Mary, Joseph and Lord Jesus were in. We should also note that the angels didn’t appear to kings. They didn’t appear to the mayor of Bethlehem. They didn’t appear to the religious leaders in Bethlehem. They appeared to shepherds. Just humble shepherds out in the field. Shepherds were really outcasts in Israel. Their work not only made them ceremonially unclean, but their work also kept them away from the temple for weeks at a time so that they could not be purified as frequent as required. Mary’s song pointed out back in Luke 1:51-53 that this would be a pattern in the life of Christ, and it has already begun here (cf. 1 Cor. 1:26-29). It seems that the poor and the people who are nobodies are often the ones whom God gives special attention to. 17 And when they saw it, they made known what had been told them concerning this Child, The shepherds became the first Christian evangelists. The first witnesses to spread the good news of the Messiah. When they saw Lord Jesus Christ, they could not help but keep silent about Him. They told everyone they met. Again, they are a lesson for us. Not only did they obey God’s Word immediately, but they also went beyond that and told others about Lord Jesus. Once you have seen Lord Jesus, it is a privilege, it is an honor, it is a necessity to tell others about Him. Once you have seen Lord Jesus, you can’t keep from talking about Him even if you tried. The shepherds were so excited about what they had seen and heard, they just had to tell everybody. Look at the result in Luke 2:18. Luke 2:18. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. Isn’t this a spectacular lesson? Joseph and Mary’s trials and troubles were overwhelming. They could even point the finger, if they had wanted to, at that selfish emperor, Caesar Augustus. But they didn’t. They didn’t become bitter, they became better. All of the suffering, inconvenience, and discomfort caused by the decree of Caesar was actually the loving hand of God working things out to accomplish His will, purposes and divine plan in His own way. And this is exactly same thing that He does with us which we see as trial and troubles. You see, about 700 years before these events happened, God declared through the prophet Micah that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem. And so while Caesar thought he was the one in control, it was really God who was in control. That arrogant emperor was only a puppet, a tool, in the hand of God to accomplish His purposes. And one of God’s purposes was to give more praise and honor than Mary and Joseph could have ever imagined, or could have ever raised for themselves. All of us need to learn from Mary and Joseph that our sufferings, and our troubles and our trials and our challenges in life are tools in the hand of God to mold us and shape us and make us into something beyond our imagination. When trials and troubles come into your life, you may feel like you are getting beaten with rods and ground into powder – remember the grain in Isaiah 28? – but remember, grain must be ground to make bread. God is making you into something great. In whatever trials you are facing, ask God these kinds of questions: Say, “Father, what are you trying to teach me in this situation? How can this trial make me more like Lord Jesus Christ? What chaff and flaw in my life are you trying to grind out of me? How can this troubling time make me better instead of bitter?”