A Simple Birth, A Sovereign Savior

Scripture: Luke 2:1-20
Sermon Series: Mary, He called her Mother – Sermon 03

Expectant parents meticulously plan for their birth experiences, but nature likes to remind us that babies arrive on their own schedules. A child’s entrance into the world can happen when a mother least expects it and in the strangest of places. While 98% of American births are in hospitals, many women make plans to give birth at home. But the best-laid plans can go awry. There are some great stories of moms giving birth in the wildest of places. Though very rare those births in are the ones that make the news

One of those is dubbed the “Miracle on 68^th Street.” The 2014 birth of Ila Isabelle McCourt took place in New York City on an Upper East Side Street corner. Her mom, Polly McCourt (picture), was in her apartment building on 68th Street when she realized she was in labor. She headed downstairs, where the building’s doorman, Anton Rudovic, took her outside to hail a cab. But her water broke, right in the front foyer. She sat down on the street and with Rudovic’s help gave birth right there. A crowd of kind passersby stopped to help, offering shirts and coats to keep mother and daughter warm while waiting for an ambulance to arrive.

Isn’t that a great story? This morning we’re looking at a greater one, the birth of Jesus. It’s A Simple Birth of A Sovereign Savior. But the Christmas story is so familiar that it’s easy to overlook all of its wonderful nuances. Often our Christmases are focused on the events following Jesus’ birth. But what was going on just before that pivotal event? What was it like for Mary and Joseph as they walked in obedience through a multitude of hardships? Let’s use our sanctified imaginations and go back to Bethlehem. It’s a simple story but what depth for us. If you’re taking notes…

1. Government is a pawn in the hand of a Sovereign God.

When Mary and Joseph made the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, Israel had suffered under Rome’s heel for over sixty years. Luke 2:1, In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

Caesar Augustus (picture) was the biological nephew of Julius Caesar who was surprised to learn he’d been adopted by his uncle and named his successor upon Julius’ death. He proved to be the most effective Roman leader and became the first true emperor of the Roman Empire, reigning over virtually all the known world. He had real power and had the authority to make any decision that pleased him. He was the absolute ruler over absolutely everything. Every person was subjected to his plan for the world.

After his death, Julius Caesar was officially declared a god. From then on Caesar was considered deity, “the son of god.” Rome used four expressions for Augustus. The angels used the same four expressions for Jesus.

Caesar thought that he was filling his coffers when he ordered a census to raise taxes. He didn’t have a clue that his fiscal plan would be used by God to raise up the true and better ruler. His edict forced a common carpenter and his very pregnant bride to make the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, a journey that undoubtedly taxed the strength of this young expectant woman.

Caesar Augustus could do whatever he wanted to do whenever he wanted to do it. He was unaccountable for every decision he made. In fact, this is what frustrated the Jewish people so much. They were God’s chosen people, yet this Gentile emperor determined exactly how they’d live, what taxes they’d pay, and how they’d carry out business. God’s people — and with them God’s promises and plans — appeared subjected to the whims of a pagan emperor. From Caesar’s perspective he was advancing the glory of his name and increasing his renown. But Caesar was a pawn in the hand of God.

700 years before Micah had prophesied where the Messiah was to be born. “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for Me one who is to be ruler in Israel,  whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days” (Micah 5:2).

During the last election there was a lot of handwringing about who would be elected. The Trump crowd was terrified of Kamala and the Kamala crowd was terrified of Trump. With a snap of His fingers God could take out both.

For nearly 25 years Assad (picture) was the dictator of Syria. He’s gone, an inkblot on the pages of history. Caesar was a pawn in God’s plan. So is every other leader. Too many worry and fear the wrong leader. God was in control when Caesar was on the throne. He’s still in control today. It doesn’t matter who the President, Governor or Mayor is. They’re pawns in God’s hands.

2. It was a simple birth.

One of my favorite Christmas songs is “Labor of Love” by Point of Grace (picture). “Labor of Love,” more than other Christmas songs is based on the biblical account of Jesus’ birth. It captures the emotions and experiences of Mary. The lyrics offer a fresh perspective on the nativity. We’re going to play it now (Labor of Love).

It was a simple city. It was about 100 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem (picture/map). They had to travel that distance just to pay their taxes.

Bethlehem is located in the hill country outside of Jerusalem. It’s a fertile land which is probably why it was first called Bethlehem which means, “house of bread.” It was a tiny town, somewhere between 300 to 600 people when Jesus was born there. Instead of choosing the holy city of Jerusalem as Jesus’ birthplace, God selected a town so small it wasn’t even listed in the registry of towns in Joshua or Nehemiah. As John Piper (picture) explains, “God chose something small, quiet, out of the way, and did something there that changes the course of history and eternity.” 

Bethlehem is first mentioned in Genesis as Jacob and his family are journeying home to Canaan. Rachel goes into labor and gives birth to Benjamin but dies in childbirth. She’s buried outside of Bethlehem. So, Bethlehem is first associated with sorrow and death.

The sky was growing dark as Joseph and Mary neared Bethlehem. They’d been on the road for days. Mary settled awkwardly on the back of a donkey, every step jostling the very pregnant young woman. Maybe Joseph looked back as he led the donkey and said, “We’re almost there Mary.”

The Nazarene couple probably arrived unnoted in busy Bethlehem that evening. It didn’t help that Mary and Joseph were despised Galileans, disdained by most. The crowd that had come to Bethlehem in submission to Caesar were unsympathetic on that night we call Christmas Eve. God came to them, and they never noticed.

It was a simple birthplace. The crush of people was worse than Joseph had imagined. With an eye on the dwindling sunlight, he wondered, Where will all these people find lodging? When was the last time you thanked God for a crowd and knew that He was in control of even the huge crowd? But He is.

Joseph shook his head over the oppressive Roman laws that they were under, laws that didn’t care if a woman was pregnant and shouldn’t travel. Not even a full-term pregnancy was enough to exempt his young bride from appearing on the day appointed for Caesar’s census.

Prior to labor mothers are in pain but fathers easily are scared, exasperated and desperate. Well, do I remember the birth of our second child, Ben. Jane’s doctor was on vacation, golfing in Arizona. He had left an intern in charge…who didn’t want to make a decision. Jane was desperate for something to ease the pain. We asked but the Intern waffled. I think he may have been on the phone with the doctor getting instructions.

I’ve grown a lot in grace since those days. Finally, after watching Jane in terrible pain, I’d had enough. So, I went out in the hallway and yelled, “Lead, follow or get out of the way.” Later the nurse whispered to me, “He needed to hear that.”

When a woman is in her last trimester, her doctor discourages travelling. Mary shouldn’t have been there, but God took her there. The Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem so God used even Caesar’s greed to fulfill His will.

Can you imagine how desperate Joseph felt. “My wife, she’s having contractions. Her water broke…what do you mean there’s no room?

Quietly, Joseph led the donkey and his groaning young wife around to the stable. Mary winces with every contraction. I wonder how long she was in labor as Joseph made a bed in the straw for Mary. Luke describes Jesus’ birth in very simple, unadorned terms. No doubt Joseph is the midwife. Kent Hughes (picture) imagines the sweat and pain and blood and cries…the earth was cold and hard. The smell of birth mixed with the stench of manure.

He had simple clothes and a simple bed. Since a baby’s first outfit will be remembered as a keepsake, it’s a significant choice for new parents. One website suggested a onesie with a wrap top (picture).

He was wrapped in swaddling cloths. Back then newborns were wrapped in strips of cloth, “swaddling clothes,” to protect them from the elements. Usually, mothers wrapped the arms and legs separately and then the torso until the baby looked like an Egyptian mummy. It severely restricted the child’s movements. In a world with little medical care, where babies routinely died before their first birthday, it provides a kind of protection.

Some suggest that the swaddling clothes were a foreshadowing—a prophetic reference—of Jesus’ burial cloths. In the descriptions in the Gospels of Jesus’ burial, we see variations on the phrase “wrapped in linen cloth.” The swaddling clothes could prefigure Jesus’ burial like the Magi’s gift of myrrh in Matthew 2.

What we do learn from the binding of baby Jesus is it reminds us of another time, years later, when He’d stand before the Jewish authorities, bound and guarded like a common criminal. When falsely accused, He made no reply. When reviled, Jesus refused to answer in kind. He stood before His accusers with His hands tied, awaiting the verdict that would end His life.It is no coincidence that He entered the world as He left it—bound and helpless.

Looking at the baby this way, no one can say He came only for the rich and powerful. Nor can anyone say that He used his heavenly prerogatives to make an easy entrance into this world. He came not for the faith of a few but to be the Savior of all. Jesus was bound that we might be set free.

He was laid in a manger. Luke is the only writer in the Bible to use the word manger in the New Testament. What he does with this one word — what God does with this one feeding trough — is amazing.

Manger comes from the Latin word for chew or eat. It refers to a trough where livestock ate. In those famous Christmas paragraphs, Luke rivets our attention on the manger three times. She gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. (Luke 2:7).  

But a manger is dirty. I’m sure Joseph cleaned it up as best he could. He probably tried to pad it. But there’s no way to romanticize this bed into anything other than a feeding trough for slobbering animals. The first bed for the Son of God wasn’t a royal cradle. It’s a trough for feeding animals.  

God arranged that the most powerful leader in the world, Caesar, would order everyone in the empire to go to the town of their origin to register. You might call it providential overkill. God is making a point: “You think you know what I am doing globally? You have no idea. I’m putting things in place exactly as I please, including the birth of my Son.”

In view of that, it becomes ludicrous to think that a God who wields an empire to move one woman to Bethlehem can’t arrange for there to be an available guest room. Planning a bed for His Son was easier than planning a global census. Jesus was lying in exactly the place God planned: a feeding trough. In doing so our attention is directed to Jesus’ poverty, obscurity and rejection. The only place there’d be room for Jesus was on a cross. The One born in a place for animals was God’s sacrificial lamb.

Don’t you wonder what Mary thought as she placed Jesus in a manger? Was she hesitant to put him there? Did it feel safe? As she watched her sleeping baby, did she wonder if this was what God had planned? This manger, this messy, dirty, smelly trough, was the sign that God used to show the shepherds where the Savior lay.

Signs in the Bible are significant. Gideon’s sign was the wet fleece and dry ground. Hezekiah’s was the shadow going backward. And Ahaz’s sign was that a virgin would conceive. All of these were miraculous, extraordinary and unnatural. And so, as Mary put Jesus into the manger, it must have felt unnatural for her. No one would expect to find a baby in a manger, let alone the Son of God. But when the shepherds told Mary of their “sign,” it must have been an amazing confirmation for her, one she treasured. The manger had been God-ordained all along. She hadn’t escaped God’s notice. Maybe Mary needed a sign just as much as the shepherds to know she was in God’s will. That God was still with her, and she was being used by God.

He had simple first-time visitors. A survey was done to see which characters from Jesus’ birth most people identify with. How many of you think its Mary? Joseph? The wise men? Not surprisingly, the shepherds came out on top. And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night (Luke 2:8).

I doubt even back then that many kids said, “When I grow up, I want to be a shepherd.” And who typically works second and third shift? The low men on the totem pole. Even here God was in control.

What amazing news these shepherds were given. The religious leaders didn’t know. The Roman rulers didn’t know. No one who was in the who’s who or what’s what knew but these working stiffs knew.

What’s the point? It’s obviously not important to be one of the so-called great, rich or famous ones to be used by God or to have dealings with God. God loves to deal with humble folk, just faithfully doing their jobs.

Isn’t that what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1? For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God (1 Corinthians 1:26-29).

There are no little places if God put you there. Moses was tending sheep, Gideon was threshing wheat, Elisha was plowing when God called them, laying His hand on their lives. God selects humble, hardworking men to give the first birth announcement to.

While Caesar is used by God to accomplish His purposes, he’s not esteemed by God to announce the birth of His Son too. This good news instead is given to peasants, blue collars guys, not the elite.

You know why God chose shepherds? I think because they’re so normal. God is the wisest steward. He sends His angels to the most receptive audience. Caesar might have been skeptical. At the very least, he’d have thought that he deserved to have God make an announcement to him.

My friend, you can’t come to Jesus standing up. You must come on your knees. Those who think that they deserve a Savior will never be saved. Only those, like these shepherds on a Judean hillside, will be rescued. They humbly know how sinful and unworthy they are.

Are you sitting here today, still lost in your sins because you think you’re good or moral? Jesus didn’t die to save nice people. God never saves moral ones. He rescues spiritual wrecks. Those are the only ones who will be in heaven because they know that apart from God’s grace, they shouldn’t be there and desperately need a Savior to die for them and pay their sin debt.   

The shepherds went home changed. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them (Luke 2:20). Meeting Jesus always changes you. It’s what the gospel does. It brings us to faith in Jesus and leads to witness and worship. First, we come and see, then we go and tell, glorifying and praising God.

The shepherds went back, went back where? They went back to their jobs, but praising God for His grace to them. God doesn’t call us to a spectacular, constantly exciting life. He calls us to believe in the Savior and then sends us back to the normal, to learn to rejoice in Him and share His salvation with all of those around us. The gospel is this world’s only hope.

Conclusion

Nazi Holocaust survivor, Corrie Ten Boom (picture) said, “If Jesus were born one thousand times in Bethlehem and not in me, then I would still be lost.” That’s the biggest question: Has Jesus been born in you?

A few years back, The Washington Post carried this story…“He emerged from the Metro at the Plaza Station and positioned himself against a wall beside a trash basket. By most measures, he was nondescript: a youngish white man in jeans, a long-sleeved t-shirt and a baseball cap. From a small case, he removed a violin. Placing the open case at his feet, he shrewdly threw in a few dollars and pocket change as seed money, swiveled it to face pedestrian traffic, and began to play. It was 7:51 a.m. on a Friday. For the next 45 minutes the violinist performed six great classical pieces. During that time, 1,097 people passed by.

But no one knew that the violinist was Joshua Bell, (picture) one of the world’s leading classical musicians who fills concert halls. On this Friday morning Bell played on one of the most valuable violins ever made – a Stradivarius valued at $3.5 million. The train station provided good acoustics for his performance and his beautiful music filled the morning air.

Over the time that he played, seven people stopped to listen for at least a minute. 27 people gave money. Just to give a frame of reference, Bell was accustomed to getting paid $1,000 per minute in his concerts. This day, in total, he received $32.17. At the end of each piece, there was no applause – just silent indifference. The master musician was ignored.

People walked past musical glory without giving it a second glance, with the exception of two people. The first was a postal worker named John who had learned the violin as a youth. He recognized the quality of Joshua Bell’s performance and stood enjoying it from a distance. And then there was a woman named Stacy. Stacy had seen Bell in concert three weeks earlier and recognized him. She had no idea what was going on, but whatever it was, she wasn’t about to miss it. She moved closer, positioning herself front and center. She had a huge grin on her face and stayed until the concert was over. Later Stacy told the reporter: ‘It was the most astonishing thing I’ve ever seen in Washington. Joshua Bell was standing there playing in rush hour, and people were not stopping, not even looking, and some were flipping quarters at him! Quarters! I was thinking, what kind of a city do I live in that this could happen?’

Let me take you to another place and another time. The night was filled with heavenly music and brilliant light. Angels sang to some workers about a majestic one – a Savior; the Chosen and long-awaited One. His arrival was good news of great joy for all people.

Where would the workers find this glorious one? An angel gave the astonishing news: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. Who’d expect to find a heavenly King in such a setting? Usually, He lived among angels, now among cattle. What a surprising place to find God. The One who made the universe placed Himself in the inexperienced hands of a teenage mom and the rough hands of a carpenter. God among the normal and only some shepherds, who were let in on the secret of His identity, stopped to acknowledge Him and enter into the joy of His presence in their world.

One of the puzzles of Christmas is why God did it this way. Why not make the angelic sound and light show a global event? God came as a baby in a manger because God wants to be accessible to everyone, especially to the least and lowest of us. Like a violinist playing in a train station, God made Himself available to the masses so we can all enjoy the beauty of His gift.

Finding Jesus in the manger, the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they’d heard and seen which were just as they’d been told by the angel. The shepherds were close to Christmas yet still needed to make the journey to Jesus.

My friend, you may be close yourself, but you’ve not yet made the discovery that will change your life. Jeremiah 29:13-14: ‘You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord… Like the shepherds, you don’t need to know much. What matters is whether you’ll go. It’s in the going that you’ll start knowing.

Is God trying to break into your life with the message of good news? He loves you and sent His Son to be your Savior. How long will you continue to ignore Immanuel? When will you hurry to the Holy One? He wants to bring you joy in the midst of all the junk going on in your life. Will you receive what He has done for you? Jesus was born to the whole world, but He was also born “to you.” Christmas is history, but it must become  your story.

“Today [that means right now – don’t hesitate or procrastinate] in the town of David a Savior [one who forgives sins] has been born to you; [personal] He is Christ [the long-awaited Messiah] the Lord [Leader and King].”

It’s so simple that we easily miss it. Have you like the shepherds, come to Jesus and believed? Have you surrendered your life to Christ? Is Jesus just a nice story…or is He your Savior?