Many, many times since that night nineteen hundred years ago has the story of Christ's birth been repeated, yet:
The old, old story is ever new.
--P. P. Bliss, Tell me More About Jesus (song).
Everybody is familiar with every detail, yet no thoughtful, reverent person can ever read it without learning something. Indeed, so full of instruction is the narrative, that only a small portion of the Scripture devoted to this week's study can be taken under consideration.
Fulfilling the Scripture
"The fullness of time" (Galatians 4:4) had come. "And it came to pass in those days, there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled [KJV: "taxed"]." (Luke 2:1,RV)
How little the Roman Emperor thought that he was simply an agent in the Lord's hands for the fulfillment of prophecy, and that his decree would be remembered only in connection with the birth of a King infinitely greater than he.
Some hundreds of years before, it had been prophesied that out of Bethlehem should the Ruler of Israel come; Joseph and Mary lived in Nazareth, and the time was at hand; doubtless both were expecting the birth of the coming One in their home in Galilee; but: "the Scripture cannot be broken," (John 10:35) and so the decree was issued, which brought them to Bethlehem. Who shall say that God did not move the Roman Emperor to issue that decree for the sole purpose of securing the fulfillment of His Word? How often men, bent only on carrying out their own will, have been simply the unconscious agents of God's will. God works all things after the counsel of His own will.
Her First-Born Son
"And she brought forth her first-born Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger." (Luke 2:7)
In no particular was Christ separated from mankind. A theology borrowed from paganism would allow Him nothing in common with us. Not only would it have Him so far removed from ordinary flesh that His mother must be born without any trace of sin in her flesh, but He must be so far separated from any connection with humanity that no other infant could ever occupy the same body that He had once inhabited; but all this is contrary to fact.
There is no meaning to the word "first-born," if no others are born afterwards. When Christ was buried, He occupied, as was fitting, a tomb in which no man ever had lain; but that did not prevent it from being used again. "In all things [He was] made like His brethren." (Hebrews 2:17) "[He was] born of the seed of David according to the flesh." (Romans 1:3)
His flesh was just the same as that of all other men; He was one with us in all things, except in sin; and even there He is one with us, in that He takes our sin and shows us how to bear it so that it is destroyed.
Lowly Laboring Men
It was eminently fitting that the birth of Him who was to be: "[The] Shepherd of Israel," (Psalm 80:1) "That great Shepherd of the sheep," (Hebrews 13:20) should be first announced to shepherds in the fields, and that they should be the first to make it known to others. "With the lowly is wisdom." (Proverbs 11:2)
Of what use would it have been to announce the birth of Christ to the priests and rulers-worldly princes? They would have scoffed at it. "What! that babe in the manger a King! How absurd! What nonsense!"
If anybody feels inclined to doubt that the rulers of the Jews would have mocked and scoffed at the idea that the little babe was a King, he has only to glance at the record of Christ's betrayal and crucifixion. Then they mocked Him because of His weakness, and derided His claim to being King. "And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, And saying, You that destroy the temple, and build it in three days, save yourself. If You be the Son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests mocking Him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; himself He cannot save. If He be the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now, if He will have Him: for He said, I am the Son of God." (Matthew 27:39-43)
They might have had the honor of announcing the birth of the Saviour, if they would have believed it. God always sends His truth to those who are willing to receive it. It has always been the case that reformations begin with what are termed the "lower classes." They formed the bulk of the believers on Christ. The question was asked, "Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on Him?" (John 7:48)
As though that proved that He could not be true. He was not in fashion. "Not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called." (1 Corinthians 1:26)
He who despises a doctrine because its adherents are few and poor, would reject Christ for the same reason. "He that despises the poor reproaches his Maker." (Proverbs 14:31)
The Sign
"And this shall be a sign unto you: You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." (Luke 2:12)
Of what should that be a sign? A sign that a Saviour, Christ the Lord was born.
"The Jews require a sign." (1 Corinthians 1:22)
Well, there they had a sign, and they always had it before them, for the same lowliness was continued through the whole of Christ's life. What a sign! Isaiah prophesied of the Coming One "mighty to save": "Who is this that comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in His apparel, traveling in the greatness of His strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save." (Isaiah 63:1)
God had told David that He had "laid help on One that is mighty": "Then You spoke in vision to your holy one, and said, I have laid help upon One that is mighty; I have exalted One chosen out of the people." (Psalm 89:19)
And now as proof that there had "come out of Sion the Deliverer." (Romans 11:26; Isaiah 59:20)
The angel tells the shepherds that they will find a little helpless baby, wrapped up in a bundle, and lying in a manger. There He is! that helplessness is the sign. Wonderful! yet even so it was all through His life: "I can of my own self do nothing." (John 5:30) "God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty." (1 Corinthians 1:27)
He says, "My strength is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9)
Therefore the Apostle Paul said, "When I am weak, then am I strong." (2 Corinthians 12:10)
If that is so, then the weakest ought to be the strongest. Exactly. It is out of weakness that God has established strength, with which He stills the enemy and the avenger: "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings have You ordained strength because of your enemies, that You might still the enemy and the avenger." (Psalm 8:2)
A little babe is the best manifestation of the power of God that overcomes the world. Of God's people it is said that: "Out of weakness [they] were made strong." (Hebrews 11:34)
The whole of the Gospel is summed up in the acknowledgment that God is Almighty, and that we are absolute helplessness. God is everywhere, upholding all; therefore, as soon as one who has no strength recognizes that fact, the mighty power of God manifests itself.
See how God has removed all possible ground for complaint and discouragement. If He had said, "My strength is made perfect in the power of the ocean, the whirlwind, the tempest, and he who can exhibit the most might, the most endurance, is the one who approaches most nearly to me," then we might well have expected many sighs of discouragement. Then the complaint, "Oh, I'm so weak, I know I can never overcome," might have been in place. But how is it? Why, He has manifested himself in the lowliest, humblest, poorest, weakest possible form, and has said that there is the perfection of His power. That is the wisdom of God, and the power of God. It is all the power He asks or expects anybody to have. So whenever a person would begin to complain, or to excuse his failure, by saying, "I'm so weak," he finds his mouth stopped. At the very weakest point anybody can be, there he finds the Lord. God says, "I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble." (Isaiah 57:15)
The First Advent Includes the Record
The span of Christ's manifestation in the flesh is from the manger to the cross. In weakness He came, and in weakness He ended His work. "He was crucified through weakness." (2 Corinthians 13:4)
Nevertheless, "He lives by the power of God." (2 Corinthians 13:4)
And that is how we are to live. Christ is coming again; but His coming in the clouds of heaven, "with power and great glory," (Matthew 24:30) will be only the manifestation of the power that lay in the manger and hung on the cross. "The hiding of His power" (Habakkuk 3:4) [margin: "bright beams out of His side"], is from His side, where once the spear pierced, but where the stream of glory issues. He is King of glory solely because of His humility. "And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also has highly exalted Him, and given Hima name which is above every name." (Philippians 2:8-9)
He is coming to save His people; but He will save at His second coming only those whom He has already saved at the cross. That manger in Bethlehem is capacious enough to contain all mankind: it contained Divinity.
The second coming will be only the complete manifestation of the first. In the manger Christ was the Son of God; but it was the resurrection from the dead with power according to the Spirit of holiness, that demonstrated the fact. When He comes again, it will be for the purpose of showing all men that He really lives.
Great Joy
"Good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." (Luke 2:10)
What is the joy? A Saviour!
Joy to the world! the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King!
Let every heart prepare Him room;
And heaven and nature sing.
--Isaac Watts, Psalm 98--Second Part, The Messiah's Coming and Kingdom, 1719.
When Philip went down to Samaria, and preached the Word, so that devils were cast out, and the afflicted were healed, "there was great joy in that city." (Acts 8:8)
There is always joy in victory, and: "God ... gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:57)
God does not wish the world to go bowed down with sorrow. He says, "Look up! Lift up your heads." (Luke 21:28)
Christ, the anointed King, came "to proclaim liberty to the captives; ... to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." (Isaiah 61:1,3)
This joy is "to all people;" then let everybody be glad and rejoice in the great salvation that by the grace of God has appeared to all.
Our Saviour
"For unto you, is born a Saviour." (Luke 2:11)
The message is to you, whosoever you are who read these lines, and to everybody else. The Saviour is born to you. "The Word is near you, even in your mouth and in your heart;" (Romans 10:8) "that you may do it." (Deuteronomy 30:14)
Somebody says that a child was born to Mary that night. Oh, no; He was born to you. He did not belong to her, but to the world. He is "the Son of man." (Daniel 7:13)
He is your Son, and mine. He is our child, and formed within us, He is "the hope of glory." (Colossians 1:27)
Unhesitating Faith
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 has made known unto us." (Luke 2:15)
They did not say, "Let us go and see if this thing is so."
Ah, how very cautious we are when God speaks; we cannot believe until we have tried every test. God comes, making known the most exceeding great and precious promises, such as would make men leap for very joy, and lo, straightway they begin to devise some means to keep from accepting them. They try every way possible to prove that the promises are only a delusion.
Men act toward God's promises just as a child does toward bitter medicine. One would think, to see how loath men are to take God at His word, that He is announcing some terrible calamity, something to be dreaded, instead of a blessing to be enjoyed. So they hold it off, until when at last they do hesitatingly embrace it, after every possible objection has been removed, half of its sweetness for them is gone.
But the shepherds, as soon as they heard the message of God's great salvation, said, "Let us go and see this thing which is come to pass, which God has made known unto us." (Luke 2:15)
There is an example for us. You need not wait to hear the word of the Lord, for it is speaking now. Believe it, and: "The God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost." (Romans 15:13)--Present Truth, December 28, 1899--Timeline: I-5 (Visit of the Magi), 6 (Flight to Egypt)--Luke 2:1-16.