[Machine transcription]
And when the shepherds saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.
You may be seated.
In the name of Jesus, Amen.
Dear Saints, Merry Christmas, and in the name of Jesus,
may the Holy Spirit open our ears and hearts to rejoice in the good tidings of great joy
that the angels had for the shepherds on the first Christmas night.
I think that this bulletin, and God be praised for all the hard work that Jonathan has done
assembling this, and I hope it becomes a tool for you as you⦠as you reflect on the
joy that Jesus gives to us in looking at the art and all the preaching that’s in there
for you.
But I think that there’s one thing that I want to make sure we point out tonight, and
And that is that almost all of the paintings that you see in your bulletin are wrong.
And they are wrong in this way.
In almost every painting, there is a light that’s emanating from Jesus.
Now theologically, this is absolutely 100% correct.
Jesus is the light of the world.
In Him is no darkness at all.
We’ll hear it tomorrow.
The light has come into the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
He is the light that lightens all humanity, and so it’s right when these painters would
preach that to us by showing Jesus glowing and all of the people and even the animals
in the manger are reflecting that light that’s coming from Him.
But when the shepherds went into the manger and saw Jesus sitting there in the food trough
for the cattle, they did not see a little glowing baby.
They saw a baby that looked like every other baby they had ever seen.
In fact, the only reason the shepherds knew that this child was something different, something
unique, something to be preached and wondered at and rejoiced in and the news about this
child to be spread throughout the world. The only reason they know is because the angels
told them. The angel, we don’t know the name of the angel, probably the angel Gabriel
comes to appear to them, the angel of the Lord, and he appears, and he, and he preaches
this glorious sermon which contains almost all of our theology. He says, for unto, he
says rejoice, I bring you good tidings of great joy. Don’t be afraid, for this joy
will be, this great joy will be for all people for unto you is born this day in the city
of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord and this will be a sign for you. You will find
the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. And then, and it’s very
emphatic in the Greek, and then suddenly, blam, together with the heavens sort of unfurl
like a curtain in the sky is thrown back and there’s all these angels there that are singing.
I get the picture like this, that Gabriel is there and he’s kind of sent to preach this
sermon to the shepherds and there’s a bunch of other angels who are kind of hanging around
to see how this thing went. And then, and then Gabriel announces the news to the shepherds
and they can’t help it. They just burst out in song. It’s almost like they cut off the
sermon and they, and they, because they can’t hold back for the glory. And I think, by the
way, that’s what we’re doing tonight. I mean, have you ever thought about how we’re
jumping the gun? I mean, Christmas is tomorrow, but you’re all here tonight. You can’t
wait to celebrate Christmas. You can’t hold off. This is how the angels are, and
they preach glory to God in the highest and peace, goodwill to all those with whom the
Lord is pleased. Now, why are they so excited? In fact, I noticed something in the text that
And I never noticed before, until this year, all the years thinking about the text, studying
the text, reading the text, preaching the text, I never noticed this, is that you know
what the shepherds are talking about when they leave the manger, when they leave the
cave where Mary and Joseph and the baby were?
Do you know what they’re talking about?
They’re talking about what the angels said.
They’re telling everyone not what they saw, but what they heard.
that this child that looks like just like every other child that we’ve ever
seen, this baby that looks like every other baby that we’ve ever seen, that
this one is something different. This one, in fact, is the Savior, Christ, the Lord,
the one who will save his people from all their sins. Jesus, the Son of God, is born
just like you were born. Wrapped in swaddling clothes just like you were
wrapped in swaddling clothes, laid in a manger. Not like you, probably. You probably had a
crib. But this is the point, just like us.
Remember the story of the two⦠the father-son space explorers? Did I tell you guys this
last year? The father and son space explorers, they’re traveling around space, and they’veâ¦
and they come upon this planet, and they kind of circle in close, and they’re⦠they’re
studying this planet, and as they study this planet, they find out that this planet is
full of dogs, mangy dogs.
They get closer and they see that it’s full of
this almost ravenous, mean,
huge, angry dogs, packs of wolves running around everywhere,
destroying each other, eating each other,
and clawing at each other.
As the father and son space explorer
get closer and closer to this planet,
that father, he was a captain,
turns to the son and says,
He says, you know, you know what I think about these dogs?
And the son says, that they’re horrible.
And he says, well, that’s obvious, but,
but I love them.
And I want to save them.
Okay, says the son, how are we going to do that?
He says, well, maybe some bad news.
You’re going to have to go down there and do it yourself.
Okay, says the son, I’ll do that.
What’s the plan?
And he says, well, you’re going to have to become a dog,
like them.
In fact, maybe a little more bad news,
you’re going to have to become a Chihuahua.
And they are going to claw at you.
They are going to scrape at you.
They are going to destroy you.
And they are going to devour you.
But after you’re dead and buried, on the third day,
You’ll be raised and back up here with me
But you will be also a Chihuahua
forever
Forever and
Joyfully
the Sun comes down and
Is born of the Virgin Mary?
For us and for our salvation. He is incarnate in our flesh sharing in our flesh and in all the
So, the weaknesses in all of the pain and all of the suffering, even in all of the sin.
He was perfect, remember, in every way.
He never sinned and never broke God’s law, but all of our sin was laid on Him.
Here’s another picture.
I was talking with a pastor friend of mine yesterday.
We were trying to work this out.
It’s not finished yet, so you’ll have to bear with me.
Maybe next year we’ll be finished.
But can you imagine going to the doctor
and the doctor tells you, I’ve got bad news.
You are sick with a terrible disease.
And you probably only have a few months to live.
But the good news is that I’ve been working
on a cure for this disease, but it’s not completed yet.
But I think with a little motivation,
we can get it finished.
And so here’s what I’m going to do.
I’m going to take your disease and I’m going to put it into my own body, so that if you
die, I’ll die with you.
And if there’s a cure, then we’ll both be cured.”
Do you see when Jesus takes upon our flesh and blood, when He takes upon Himself our
humanity, He is joining us, so that how it goes with us, so it goes with Christ, or better,
However, how it goes with Christ is how it goes for us.
So Jesus joins us in our flesh, joins us in our weakness, joins us in our mortality so
that we can join Him in life that never ends.
He carries our sin and our sorrow so that He can give us peace and forgiveness.
And this, dear saints, is what the angels preach.
Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for everyone.
for you is born this day in the city of David,
a Savior, a Savior, your Savior, Christ the Lord.
His manger means that there is
a place for you in eternal life.
His humility means that there is for you
glory that never ends. His poverty means riches beyond our asking or imagining in the eternal
glory of heaven. His suffering means your peace. His sacrifice means your forgiveness.
His being stricken and smitten means your comfort and His death means that you will
live forever.
So God be praised.
This is a good sermon that the angels preached, not just to the shepherds, but for all people.
That means for you and for me.
For unto you is born in the city of David,
a Savior, Christ the Lord. Amen.
The peace of God,
guard your hearts and
your minds in the name of Jesus,
now and always. Amen.
