Welcome to the ministry of First Reformed Church of Aberdeen, South Dakota. Our worship services are at 9 o'clock every Sunday morning. Now we join Pastor Hank Bowen as he brings us God's Word. At this time, open up your Bible to the second chapter of Luke. Luke 2, and I will be reading the scripture from which Pastor Bowen has taken the sermon. Luke 2, verses 1 through 7. 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 clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. As we come to the Christmas season, it's always a joyful time for us. It's a time when we really reflect upon the joy of being a Christian. We think about all that God has done with us here. And as we look at these verses, as we hear our young people in Christmas programs reciting the verses and learning those verses and singing the songs and all of the Christmas carols, we look forward to this season. But as I've often reminded you that often as we look at the Christmas season and we see all of the festivities that go with it, we have to always see likewise that on that cradle in Bethlehem, there was the shadow of the cross. That for Jesus to be born as a child here to take upon himself our human flesh, that that was a humbling of himself. That was not a festive, joyful thing in one sense, because he's setting aside that preeminence he has as being true God, and he hides that, he veils that with taking upon himself human flesh. But nevertheless, having said that, it does become a joyful time, a glorious time for us as God's people. Because in the Son, taking upon himself our very nature, we have our Redeemer. And we have the very promises of God fulfilled that had been spoken from the time of Adam and Eve all the way to the time of Christ's birth, pointing forward to God's promise that he would send one who would crush the head of the serpent and would provide for those who are in the Son eternal life. Let us pray. Our God and Father, as we look here at these first passages of Luke chapter 2, and we think about the very birth of our Savior Jesus Christ, we pray that you might cause our minds and our hearts to be warmed by the way in which you have provided for us a Redeemer. That we might recognize that in this child born in Bethlehem comes one who preceded all of time. but he enters into time so that he might be to us, not just a savior who is remote, but rather one who comes as a son, a brother to us, one who is not only true and righteous God, but one who is also true man. And so, Father, we pray that we may see through these verses this morning how you express your love to us through that giving of the greatest gift ever given, that being your Son, our Savior, in whose name we do pray, amen. Well, beloved congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Christmas story is so filled with details that it's easy to get lost in those details. But the Christmas story, we must recognize, is but an ornament on the tree of the whole story of God's great saga of redemption of the world. And that in a sense, you might say the coming of Christ into the world is that star that's placed on the top of the tree, usually the last thing we do, right? That he culminates all of those promises that had come through the Old Testament. So now we enter into the eve of Christmas. And we turn our attention to the birth of the Lord Jesus, the only begotten Son of God. Paul reminds us in Galatians chapter 4, verses 4 and 5, but when the fullness of time came, had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. He came to redeem us. That's why he came. The cross upon the cradle to us is a is a horrible thing. But to the son, it is the ultimate act of obedience to the father and the ultimate sacrifice of love to us as his people. Several ornaments adorn the remembrance of the Christmas story. There is the Levite priest Zacharias entering the temple to offer up the incense upon the altar for the first time in his life, where the angel Gabriel declared that his prayer had been heard. and that his wife, Elizabeth, in her old age, was to bear a son, and that they were to name him John, who would be the herald to prepare the way of the promised Messiah. And then Gabriel appeared to Mary to reveal that this virgin bride would bear the one who would be the savior of the world. and nine months have now elapsed since that appearance when the Holy Spirit conceived within the young virgin Mary, the promised seed of David. At every step of human history, God has been actively involved in moving events to fulfill his eternal will that he purposed before the foundation of the world. God's word comes to you this morning. revealing that the Davidic seed is delivered according to the divine decree. This was all predetermined before the very foundation of the world. We want to note three things under this theme. First is the decree. And then we're going to look at the Davidic king. And then lastly, we're going to talk about the delivery. So first, the decree. Luke begins, and it came to pass in those days, Now, these are words that are used to denote that a new chapter is about to open, but not just any chapter, but the central chapter of the whole book. These words mark that the fullness of time had come. The words of Galatians reaffirm that all of time in history had been moving to this single predetermined point when God would keep his promise and send the seed of the woman to bring redemption to the fallen world. Our text is designed to heighten your attention to the almighty power of God by which all things happen, not by chance, but by his fatherly hand. For we must remember that centuries before, numerous predictions were made that now begin to unfold surrounding this singular life of a child who is born in Bethlehem to a young virgin. This child was to be the true heir of the line of the king of King David and of the house of Judah. He would be that lion of Judah. But Joseph and Mary reside in the city of Nazareth. Though being of the lineage of David, their covenant property would have been properly been in the Bethlehem area. Herein, we see the providential hand of God at work. A decree goes out from Caesar Augustus that all the world, the Roman Empire, was to be counted, was to be registered. A census was to be taken. Luke records that the census first took place under Quirinius, the governor of Syria. So the decree of the Roman political tyrant drives the couple back to their ancestral home to be there at the very point in time that God had determined for the child of promise to be born. the political forces, believe that they are in control. And even the people believe it is the power of human forces driving the direction of the world. But at every turn, it is the hand of God that directs the course of history, even the history of a young couple about to give birth to their first child. Think of that. Think of that in our own life, in our own circumstances. God is in control, using even tyrants to bring about His will. Consider the time of this blessed miracle. Rome holds a powerful grip on the known world. The covenant people of God have no power and no self-governance. The Jews appear to have been forsaken by God. They are still allowed to follow their religious rituals, but only by permission of Rome. The people must go where they are told. But these things are of lesser decree, all formed and fitted together, so that the decree of God from the foundation of the world would be met, and the Savior would be born. For God had revealed in Micah 5 too. But you, Bethlehem Ephratah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to me the one to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting." This one born at this time in Bethlehem was the same one who, through him, the worlds were created. Moreover, as recorded in Luke 1, Mary, the betrothed wife of Joseph, was with a child, though she was a virgin. This too reveals God's decree and the moving of his divine hand, for we are all too familiar with God's declaration in Isaiah 714. Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel, Emmanuel being God with us. And so verse three records So all went to be registered, every one to his own city. And for Joseph and Mary, this means the city of King David's ancestry. Both of them are descended from King David's line. And so we see in this Davidic seed how Luke now begins to circle in on the wonder of God's divine design. Joseph also went up from Galilee, he says, 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. I don't know if you've ever thought about that fact, that both Joseph and Mary come from the Davidic line. Why was it essential that Mary be from the Davidic line? So that he would be of the bloodline of King David. Why was it important that Joseph be of the Davidic line? So that when the census is taken, they go to Bethlehem. Mary was of the family and lineage of David so that the Christ child would be of the royal bloodlines of King David. Joseph was of the family and lineage of David so that they would return to Bethlehem to be registered not just by political decree, but according to God's divine timing. Herein lies so many intricate details that are carried out and are meeting the prophetic fulfillments. History records that Joseph was a common carpenter, probably newer in his trade and not fully established. Though of royal lines, he would be of the simple working class under an Israel ruled by a foreign power. Because he was from the royal line, he would have been a target for mistreatment by the powers to be. So he may well have moved from his ancestral home so that his lineage might be less conspicuous. But when the time came to be numbered according to their family and tribe, he returned to Bethlehem. There is an entire tradition of Joseph, of Mary, of rolling into town just as Mary's about to deliver, but there's no room for them in the inn. This is a misleading concept. It is unlikely that Joseph and Mary would have traveled at the last minute with no place to stay. This was their ancestral home. These were their relatives. And there would have been a number of family ties. So the likelihood is that they had arrived in Bethlehem sometime before Mary was due to give birth. It's more likely that they were staying in the home of some relative. The registration would not have been a time of mourning and sadness and resentment in Bethlehem. No, there would have been an element of family reunions. This is the capital city of the family of David. Everyone is related somehow, and they would be keenly aware of that. And isn't it interesting how Christmas brings us together, brings our families together, even as it brought Mary and Joseph together with their family. The registration becomes the occasion to bring everyone together. To think that this couple would be left out on the street to fend for themselves while the young wife is in labor would be contrary to life itself in the promised land. The idea that they had arrived previous to Mary giving birth is evidenced in verse six. which says, so it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. The construction of the sentence says, so it was while they were there, signifies that they had arrived and had been there for a period of time. They would not have been living out on the street that while the text is silent, the common practice of hospitality to travelers was a common thing. And that would be even more the case with the arrival of family into Bethlehem. A more reasonable conclusion is that they were staying with relatives awaiting the time for the registration. And this brings us to our third point, the delivery of the child. Our passage reads that she brought forth her firstborn son, wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn. Now again, tradition would lead us to believe that Jesus was born into extreme poverty, so much so that Jesus had been born in a barn surrounded by all kinds of animals. Those who embrace what is called liberation theology appeal to this to say Jesus identifies with the poor, and therefore the Bible teaches that we should support Marxist socialism as the remedy to overcome poverty, that is, that it is poverty Jesus comes to save us from. Most of the images that we have of the birth of Jesus have been formed by tradition. The stories, the hymns, the Christmas carols, all of those things. But what does the Bible say? What does it actually tell us? It tells us that he was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger when he was born and that there was no room in the inn. That's it. That's what it tells us. So let's break this down. What are swaddling clothes? The typical way that a baby was clothed at that time was to take strips of cloth and to wrap them around the baby and, in a sense, bundle them the same way we take a blanket and we bundle our babies. That was the common practice. The swaddling clothes are a description of a normal baby child. Let's take there was no room for them in the inn. We need to understand that homes in that day were, and it's interesting in my study, I came across this, there's two words that are translated as the inn. The one that we have here really is a word that refers to a home that was there. They were normally two stories high. They normally had a guest room. Quite often, they would have on the lower floor a stable kind of area where the animals could be kept. And so the word here for in is the same word that's used when Jesus tells his disciples to go and secure the upper room for them to celebrate the Passover together. It's the same kind of a building. There's another word for what we might call an inn in those days that was built, and it was square, and it was open in the middle of the big courtyard. And the caravans would come through, and they would place their animals around the outside, and they would bed down on the inside. And they're normally two stories, and there would be private rooms on the top. But that's not the word that's used here. The word that is used here is really for more where we have a home that we've got an upstairs guest room area. And so what we really need to see in this is that the inn is not a Super 8 motel. It's, in this particular sense, more of a family dwelling. maybe a large house. Livestock may be there underneath, like we park our cars in the garage. So when Jesus is born, it said there wasn't any room in the inn, or maybe we should better understand there wasn't a guest room vacant for them to have privacy. So the probability is they may well have gone down and gone into that area where animals have been kept to have some privacy, and there was a manger there. So either way, however we look at that, what we see is not that they rolled into town and there was a no vacancy sign on the inn. They were there, and they were moving to where what they normally would do is find privacy for the bringing forth of the child. And that was not available to them. And it makes sense, right? Because all these people who are from Bethlehem's origin have come into Bethlehem for the registry, and so all the guest rooms are probably full. In fact, Mary and Joseph may well be sharing one of those with several people. Well, that brings us to the third element, the manger. Pretty much the whole stable tradition is based on this one statement, that Jesus was laid in a manger. The word here used for a manger often referred to a larger container, often hewn out of stone or carved into the side wall of a cave where animals might be kept. And it held food and water for the animals. But it can also be a crib which was constructed for the animal to stand and feed and was designed to hold larger amounts of feed. The third thing is that this word may refer to a feed box that was smaller. It would hold feed or grain, or it could be used to hold anything. It might be made of stone, but may also have been made of wood. At times, it may have been the box that was used inside the home for storing a firewood or some other items. And this is the most likely for what a baby would have been laid in. And again, this would have been a common practice, not something unusual. To be laid in a crib means that the child was an infant. There are a couple of conclusions you might draw from this. It was possible that when Joseph and Mary went came to that time where they went for some privacy, that it was time to give birth, that there wasn't anything private available. So in their attempt to find some privacy, they found themselves down below. Might have been a cave where the house was built over it. Might have been a section of the downstairs that was made into a stable to keep animals. But anyway, that's where they may have gone. Having given birth, then they laid baby Jesus in the feed trough. Under this scenario, the emphasis is on Jesus being born into a condition that was of a humble estate. Understand, this was not a normal circumstance, right? Because they're traveling, they're not at home. But nevertheless, in this particular context, we see that he has set aside his glory to take on our nature that is being highlighted. It was, in a sense, a confirmation of what Jesus later referred to when he stated, the Son of Man has no place to lay his head. The other option is to see that this was a very normal birth under difficult circumstances. Giving birth while one is a guest in someone's home is not ideal. But we are not told where Mary ended up giving birth. They may have just as easily gone back to where they were staying for the birth. They may have been there all along. But we are simply not told. We are only told that Jesus was not born in a private room that was in an inn, a separated room. The point of this narrative, that's some of the background. So as we're singing our Christmas carols and the away in the manger and all of those things, a lot of those are tradition and there's nostalgia to them. And we love those things, we enjoy those things. But we also have to recognize that the biblical account is really not focusing so much on how Jesus was born. That that was not really what the point was. We are only told that Jesus was not born in a private room. But what we conclude from that is that Jesus came into this world in a normal way to any child being born, like any of us were born into this world, normal for his time. He was a normal kid that you could not set apart from any other kid. And that way may well be why only two of the Gospels record the details of his birth. And this is a surprising thing. As you read this story, and as you understand the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, he is the fulfillment of the promise made to King David that on the throne of David would sit one forever. What would you expect of the arrival of such a one? You would expect pomp and circumstance for the birth of the King. But Jesus arrives in a way that identifies with you and me. But he did not come to rule over us as a tyrant, but he came to deliver us from our sins, to redeem us, to buy us back, to do what scripture records. He was at all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Paul said, in the fullness of time, God sent forth his son to do what? To redeem us, so that we might receive the adoption as sons. That even as he was the very son of God, the only begotten son of God, he comes into this world as the son of Mary and Joseph. And he becomes to us a brother. He becomes one of us. And that through his coming to us, he brings us back into relation to God through the adoption of his sons. There was nothing unusual about how Jesus was born. That's the point. What stood out was the attendance of the angels and their declaration of who this child was. That's what's important. Not how he was born, but who he is. And that'll be the focus of our message this afternoon, part two. Amen? Let's pray. Our God and Father, we thank you for your Son, Jesus Christ, who comes into the world. Father, we are to be Christ-centered in our lives. That is, we are to see everything through the eyes of your Word, to recognize that it is through your Son, Jesus Christ, that we have been redeemed. Our sins have been paid for. The penalty of our sins has been paid for. The guilt has been removed. And Father, a place for us in heaven has been purchased. That for us, there is no one saying there's no room in the inn, but rather there is our Savior saying, I prepare a place for you, and I will come and bring you into that place when it is the right time. Father, we thank you for the wonders of your grace. We pray, Father, that you would strengthen us in the faith that we have. We pray these things through Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.