LifeWay Family Bible Series for Dec. 21: God’s unexpected arrival on the world scene_120803

Posted: 12/05/03

LifeWay Family Bible Series for Dec. 21

God's unexpected arrival on the world scene

Luke 2:1-40

By David Jenkins

New Hope Baptist Church, Big Sandy

Life is filled with many celebrations. We have birthdays and weddings and new babies and graduation from high school and college. We celebrate Mother's Day and Father's Day and the Fourth of July, and we observe Thanksgiving. But the grandest celebration of all time revolved around God's condescension to enter human flesh, be born as a baby, live among us and then offer his life as a ransom for our sins. Hints of this celebration appear throughout the Bible. Many believe the most thrilling record was written by a Gentile physician, Luke, which is the text of this lesson.

The occasion of this celebration

The political atmosphere in Palestine when Jesus was born was tense and volatile. Palestine was a part of the Roman Empire, and Roman soldiers were quartered throughout the land.

In the first chapter of his Gospel, Luke mentioned “Herod, the king of Judea” (1:5). In the first verse of chapter 2, he named “Caesar Augustus,” the emperor of Rome. Only two things did these men have in common–both were pagan (they did not believe in Jehovah, the true God, but worshipped false gods instead) and they were men of superior ability. This is where the similarity ended.

Herod was evil to the core, and Caesar Augustus, the great-nephew of Julius Caesar, was a wise ruler and generally a benevolent person. He was a great builder, and during his reign the world enjoyed its longest period of peace. Herod was paranoid, demonic and sadistic, demonstrated by his determination to kill the baby Jesus by destroying all of the male babies in Bethlehem.

Caesar's decree requiring all to be enrolled for taxation meant Joseph must register in Bethlehem–the town where his most noble ancestor, King David, was born. We see here the divine hand of God in the timing of the census and the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy concerning the location of Jesus' birth (Micah 5:2).

The congregation assembled for this event

It was the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy (61:1) that the first announcement of Jesus' birth was made to poor and despised shepherds. These shepherds were encamped in the open, keeping watch by turn over their flocks. Suddenly, while most of the shepherds were sleeping, “an angel of the Lord” stood by them. Fresh from God's presence, this angelic creature radiated a heavenly brightness. The angel delivered his message concerning the birth of Christ in Bethlehem, telling the shepherds exactly where they would find him. The angel emphasized his birth would constitute “good tidings of great joy to all people.” Thus in the first announcement of Jesus' birth, his universal salvation was proclaimed.

As soon as the angel finished speaking, he was joined by a multitude of his fellow angels, lifting their voices in a mighty concert of praise. When the angels had all vanished from sight, the shepherds were moved to follow the angel's orders immediately. They rushed to Bethlehem, found the inn and worshipped the baby Jesus.

What a motley congregation God had assembled to celebrate the birth of his Son–lowly shepherds, majestic angels and lowing cattle, no doubt stunned and amazed by it all. The shepherds suddenly became evangelists, glorifying and praising God for what they had seen and heard.

The dedication of Jesus in the temple

According to Jewish law, a woman became ceremonially unclean when her child was born. When the child was eight days old, he was circumcised. The mother remained unclean an additional 33 days. After this period, the mother offered a sacrifice, either a lamb or, if she were poor, two young pigeons or turtle doves (Leviticus 12:6-8). That Mary offered turtle doves confirms she and Joseph were poor and also shows Jesus identified with the poor of the land.

Luke introduced two individuals who played a significant role on this day of Jesus' presentation in the temple. The first was a godly man, Simeon, to whom the Lord had revealed the Messiah would come before he died. With incredible divine timing, the Spirit brought Simeon to the exact spot where he would encounter Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. In a touching scene, Luke revealed the baby Jesus in Simeon's arms and recorded the beautiful psalm that came spontaneously from Simeon (vv. 29-32). His conversation with Mary and Joseph ended on a somber note concerning the suffering of Mary and the rejection of Jesus.

The second person Luke included in this amazing drama was Anna, a prophetess (v. 36) who was “very old.” After the death of her husband, she remained a widow and lived in the temple precincts. She devoted her life to prayer and fasting. Once more we see evidence of divine timing as Anna came to Mary and Joseph and gave thanks to God because it was revealed to her that this child would be the fulfillment of the messianic hope many Jews cherished concerning the deliverance and redemption of Jerusalem.

In what diverse and remarkable ways did God introduce his Son to this world!

For discussion

Considering the accounts of Jesus' birth by Matthew and Luke, list the unexpected and surprising ways God brought his Son into the world.