Christmas Eve

1  Unto us a Child is born

You may know a lot about Jesus.

What He taught and did, how He died, how He rose again and ascended to heaven.

But let’s put all that aside for a moment, and pretend we don’t know about it.

If you only knew about His birth,

would He still be special to you?

Think of two boys, near the same age.

One rich, one poor. The rich boy is inside his big, warm house,

a Christmas tree in the corner and piles of presents, steaming hot cocoa and the smell of dinner cooking.

The poor boy is outside the window, looking in.

He has nothing to celebrate, and no presents to receive. His stomach is growling, and he’s shivering with cold.

That’s us, living in a world

of pain, sorrow, and frustration.

Jesus is the other one,

living in heaven, where we don’t even deserve to be.

The boy inside looks out the window and has compassion,

He can’t bring the other one inside

where he doesn’t belong,

so he comes out instead,

taking the warmth, the food, the drink, and as many gifts as he can carry with him.

Why? Because the two are brothers.

The Son of God came to earth because He loved us.

He brought with Him the blessings of heaven itself,

especially the love of God the Father.

You and I are the other one.

Jesus came into our world, for us.

Unto us a Child is born. This is

a great and mighty wonder, and the beginning of peace without end

2  Luke 2:1–14

And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.

So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

2.1  A great and mighty wonder

The time was long ago,

but a certain time in history, nonetheless.

The place was Bethlehem.

It’s still there — a town with hills about,

where shepherds are watching their sheep even now.

The people were civilized,

under the emperor in Rome and King Herod in Judea.

A census was being taken.

A man and woman from Nazareth in the north came late into town.

She was very late in her pregnancy, too. The inn was full.

Finally, the man found a stable for shelter that night.

That’s where she had her baby.

(You can visit what may well be the very place!)

They were thankful for the shelter of the stable,

and used the animals’ manger of hay

as the baby’s first cradle.

Oh, holy night.

But it was just a night,

and Bethlehem was just a town like ours,

and the stable was just a stable,

perhaps built in a cave.

In fact, this baby seemed no different from any other.

Except for the angels,

and the baby’s virgin mother.

Nine months before, Mary had seen an angel,

who told her that all this would happen.

Joseph had also seen an angel, in a dream,

who told him that this baby was from God.

Joseph was chosen to serve as the baby’s father on earth,

to name Him Jesus, and to raise Him.

Mary was chosen to be the child’s mother,

to carry a fetus and bear a baby,

who was the Son of God.

Then, on that night,

an angel appeared again, to shepherds nearby.

The message: go find the baby in the manger,

and know that he is the Savior,

the Christ, which means Messiah, and the Lord Himself.

The shepherds, who had cowered in fear before one angel,

then saw multitudes of them glorifying God

for this great and mighty wonder.

The shepherds did not delay.

They ran into town, and checked mangers until they found Him. They found Him just as the angel had told them:

a great and mighty wonder.

Do you see how great and mighty this event really was?

The very creation of the universe in six days

can hardly compare.

God is the Creator, after all.

But now He has taken human flesh and form,

to redeem us all, who were His enemies,

bringing peace and reconcilation.

Now, try to comprehend what it means personally,

that this holy, divine Infant

was born so humbly for you.

This is just as great a wonder as His birth that night:

Unto us a Child is born.

A great and mighty wonder.

2.2  The beginning of peace without end

The shepherds knew a bit about babies being born.

Why were they so excited about this one?

Again, the answer can be found in the words of the angel.

I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

The angel told them that this baby was the Christ.

He wasn’t just another humbly-born baby.

He was the Christ, and the Lord.

Understand that these shepherds were Jews,

children of Israel.

They were despised by some for being so different,

but they had been made different by God.

Believing Jews were waiting for one thing, above all:

for the Christ to come.

So for the shepherds, for Joseph, and for Mary,

the meaning of their identity as Jews

was swaddled and lying in a manger before them.

What did it mean?

It meant that all of God’s promises were coming true. In short:

Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!

It’s hard for Gentiles like me to understand

what this must have meant.

But we have some idea if we remember

that some of God’s promises fulfilled in this child

were made for us.

All of them have some effect upon us,

but some of those promises were for us.

From the Beginning, there have been believers:

Sinners who repent and trust in God’s salvation.

From the Beginning, God’s salvation has been this child.

When our first parents disobeyed God,

they were taking sides against Him in a mighty war.

After that, every child of Adam and Eve,

every descendant,

is born captive to God’s enemies.

Worse yet, we come into this world as enemies of God.

Sinful human nature hates His rules, resents His discipline, and despises His will.

These are the iron bars of our captivity to sin.

Yet every generation also has some

who hear the promise of redemption, repent, and believe it.

Those promises, those believers — Jews and Gentiles,

all looked forward to this baby.

He was born for us all.

God’s own Son is born a child.

He’s born a child!

God the Father is reconciled.

This is the fulfillment,

and so begins everlasting peace between God and man.

The divine child is our Redeemer and our Redemption.

He came to free us from the iron bars of captivity, from the guilt of our sin.

If we remain in Him,

nothing can prevent us from entering eternal life:

not our own sinful flesh, not the rebellion of the world around us, not even the power of Satan.

Unto us a Child is born.

This is the beginning of peace without end.

Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria!