I need to finish up a couple of things regarding Judas Iscariot before we get to what we’re looking at today. One question
some people had is that the KJV says in Matthew 27:3 that Judas “repented” and tried to return the money he had received
for turning in Jesus to the chief priests. Does that mean that he turned away from his sin and was restored to a relationship
to God through the Lord Jesus?
“Repent” means “a change of mind.” From the account in Acts 1, it is clear that Judas did not change his mind about who
Jesus WAS. He never sought to be restored to Jesus or to the rest of the 12. His change of mind was more along the lines
of remorse for losing a place of status. He may have even been torn up that whatever financial gain he thought would be his
by following Jesus was not going to come to pass because of his actions.
He wanted to reverse the course of events and get Jesus out of trouble with the leaders. But this was not repentance as
you and I think of it – turning from sin and pursuing the Lord. He didn’t do that. In fact, instead of seeking reconciliation
with Jesus or the 12, he hung himself.
I also may have given the impression that it takes something other than faith or belief to be saved. Hear me now – if Judas
DID repent as we understand repentance, and he put his faith in the Lord Jesus – even though he committed suicide, he
would still be saved. All it takes to be saved is belief. If Judas believed, he was saved. If he did not believe, he was not
saved. But this brings up another hard question – what about suicide? Is that sin forgiveable?
As we look at God’s Word I can confidently tell you that suicide IS forgiveable. It is certainly not God’s will or what God
would choose. But how many sins did Jesus die for on the cross? He did NOT die for most of them – He died for ALL of
them. If someone loses their senses and commits suicide, and that person is a believer in Jesus – that sin is forgiven.
That is not to say we have permission to commit suicide. Far from it. Romans 6 makes it very clear – “Shall we continue
in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not!” “Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly
not!” God never approves of sin. But if we are believers in Jesus, we know that our sins are forgiven. We should not
presume on God’s mercy and grace to continue to pursue sin merely because we know we’re forgiven.
So we’ll talk more about Judas as we go. I did want to clear up those things today, though.
After watching “A Charlie Brown Christmas” for years, after our children being involved in numerous Christmas programs,
after hearing at least one message a year about the first Christmas, we could probably all tell the Christmas story from
memory. And that’s a good thing. It makes my job at Christmastime a little more difficult – and that’s fine. We’re not
likely going to hear anything new this year than last year about what happened in Bethlehem or in the manger or out with the
shepherds in the fields.
And that’s OK. Take a look sometime and see how many times in the Old and New Testaments we see the story of the
exodus from Egypt. It is important that we remember these things often so we can continue to think deeply about them.
And the Spirit of God, the one who teaches us, may give us new things to learn every time we hear the great story.
By the way, the story is not made up – it is real. It really happened, and it happened just as we see in the Word of God,
the Bible. Look at Galatians 4:4,5. READ. At the right time, God – the Father, Son and Spirit – determined that it was
perfect timing for Him to enter human existence and live a human life. We are in a series called “A REAL Human Life” in
the Gospel of Luke. God came to earth as a human being to live a human life the way He had always desired human life to
be lived. The Christmas account is where that plan goes into effect. Before we go any farther, let’s ask the Spirit of God
to teach us. PRAY
We skipped over chapter 2 of Luke so that we could come back to it now at Christmastime. When we left chapter 1,
John the Baptist had just been born and his father Zacharias had been praising God and prophesying about John and the
Messiah who John would prepare the way for. So then we come to Luke 2:1-3. READ.
In those days – the days of John’s birth and his father’s prophecy – Caesar Augustus decreed that a census be taken in the
whole Roman Empire. For centuries, governments and nations have counted their people. We will be undergoing a census
next year. Ours is to determine the districts represented by the House of Representatives and financial advantages for
certain areas of the country.
Caesar Augustus required in this particular year that the whole world – the whole Roman world – be registered. At this
point in history there was no knowledge of the “New World,” the Americas, so the whole world included every place that
Rome had conquered and controlled. We aren’t told why this census was taken – just when. We know that Caesar
Augustus was in power between 31 BC and 14 AD. So this census would have happened between those years.
We are also told that Quirinius was governing Syria. This helps us narrow the timing down a little more. Without getting
into too much detail – it is generally thought that Jesus was born in the year 4 BC. When the whole timeline of BC and AD
came into being a few centuries later, the person who came up with it made an error of 4 years – otherwise Jesus would
have been born in the year 0.
By the way, you may have seen or heard a new designation of time eras – BCE and CE. “Before Current Era” and
“Current Era.” I encourage you to NOT use those designations and to speak up when they are used. BC or “before
Christ” and AD or “Anno Domine” – “in the year of our Lord” help us keep the Lord Jesus as the focal point of history in
our minds. We do not want to lose that. And besides – how arrogant of us to appoint our time as the center of all of time-
keeping.
Verse 3 says that “all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.” This was either Herod the Great, the ruler of Judea’
s idea or maybe Quirinius. The Jews would have wanted to be counted in their hometowns. So rather than just try to
count them where they were, either Herod or Quirinius allowed them to go to their family areas and be counted there –
kind of a way to gain some brownie points with the Jews.
Luke 2:4,5. READ. This man named Joseph lived in Nazareth in Galilee, but was part of David’s family – obviously not
royalty as David was – but one of David’s descendants. So he went with his betrothed wife Mary, who was also one of
David’s descendants, to their hometown of Bethlehem. Betrothal is a custom that we don’t know too much about. It was
more serious than engagement in our culture. The betrothed couple was referred to as husband and wife – even though
they would not share the wedding bed until the wedding day.
So Joseph and Mary were committed to their marriage that was still coming. But, as we saw in chapter 1 of Luke, Mary
was carrying the unborn Messiah. In Matthew 1, God had spoken to Joseph in a dream that Mary was still righteous and
had not committed adultery – so Joseph could confidently marry her – the Child she carried was God’s own Son and
Joseph was the man God chose to be His earthly father.
Luke 2:6,7. READ. While they were in Bethlehem for the census, Mary went into labor. It says in verse 7 that she
delivered her “firstborn Son.” This is a definite indication that there were children born to Joseph and Mary after Jesus.
We see later in the Gospels that Jesus had brothers – James and Joseph and Judas. Joseph and Mary had a normal
marriage after the birth of Jesus and raised a typical Jewish family.
The delivery of her firstborn obviously took place in stable or an outbuilding because there was no room for them at the inn
they went to. After the Baby was born, Mary wrapped Him in strips of cloth – probably torn from their own clothes – and
she laid Him in the manger or the feeding trough.
Why wouldn’t God make some better preparations for the coming of the Son of God to earth? Why wouldn’t He allow
Him to be born in the finest medical centers of Bethlehem? Why wouldn’t God surround the coming of the Savior of the
world with more dignity? Those are interesting questions – and the answers are surprising.
God made the absolute perfect preparations for the coming of His Son. We will hear in a few minutes that this birth will be
great news to all people of the earth. He didn’t just come for rich, clean people. He came for everyone. We have already
heard from Jesus Himself that He came not for the righteous, but for sinners. We will also hear later from Jesus that it is not
what is on the outside of people that defiles them or makes them sinful – it is what is in their hearts, the innermost part of
them.
So it made no difference that the Savior of the World was born into a dirty place. God surrounded the birth of His Son
with the most dignity there was on earth – it doesn’t matter if we are in the finest palace or the dirtiest cattle stall – it is all
the same as God views it. And Jesus came to the right place.
And the first people to welcome Him were also the right people. Luke 2:8-14. READ. According to what the Bible says,
ONE angel appeared to the shepherds at first. And he did not sing. He spoke – opening up with the usual angel opener –
“Don’t be afraid.” I am here with good tidings of great joy which will be to or will be experienced by all people.
A Savior is born TO YOU – the angel was speaking to the shepherds, but had also said that these tidings would be for
ALL people. The Savior was born to US, too. And this Savior is Christ, the Lord – Messiah, the Master. The Promised
One who is the Ruler of all. Do we hear those words? Jesus is the Savior – He is the Promised One – He is the Master
and Ruler. Do we treat Him that way? We should – that’s who He is. That’s why He came. This year as we hear those
words, let’s examine our hearts and see how we respond to Him as Master and Ruler and Savior.
Then the angel gave the shepherds a proof that what he was telling them was true – you’ll find this Baby in a feeding trough
wrapped in strips of cloth. And then it says suddenly this one angel was joined by a multitude of other heavenly beings.
And still, they did not sing. They said what it says in verse 14. Let’s all say that – not like zombies, all together. Say it at
your own pace and say it LOUD! -- I don’t know if they said it once or a hundred times.
I wonder what these shepherds were thinking. Out there in the dark – in the fields – sheep sleeping, maybe sitting around a
campfire. All of a sudden, a man appears and the whole area is lit up as he speaks. He speaks words that you have been
waiting to hear your whole Jewish life – the Messiah is here! And then this shiny man is joined by a lot of other shiny
people and they are all shouting and praising God and saying great things.
Luke 2:15,16. READ. There was no question in these shepherds’ minds that God had just talked to them through these
angels. There was no question that they ought to go to the place the angel had told them about. Men, think about this – if
you had just been told about a baby having been born, laid in a feeding trough, what would have been your first inclination?
Would it have been to GO there? I’m not sure I would have. EXCEPT that this was the Savior of the world – the
Promised Messiah.
Women – if you were Mary and had just delivered a baby – apparently with no one but your fiancé and possibly some
animals attending and in an outbuilding – would you have been comfortable with a bunch of unknown men, smelly and
rough and dirty, coming in to visit?
Turn to 1 Corinthians 1:18-21. READ. God does not operate by our way of doing things. Often, He operates by the
opposite of what we would have done. And His ways are always right. So, the shepherds came to honor the newborn
Savior of the world in a dirty, smelly place. As far as we know from God’s Word, the shepherds were the only ones who
came that night. Not the wise men, not angels.
It says they came with haste. They may have burst in – like Kramer into Jerry’s apartment. And they found Mary and
Joseph there. And they found the Baby lying in the manger – the feeding trough. Just exactly as the angel had told them,
the Savior of the world was there. And they let people know. Luke 2:17-19. READ.
What did they tell people? What did these shepherds make known? They made known what THEY knew – good tidings
of great joy for all people. They made known that the Savior of the world, Christ the Lord had been born in Bethlehem.
They made known that exactly as the angel had told them, they had found the Savior. They made known that they had
seen a great crowd of angels saying “Glory to God in the highest and earth peace and good will toward men!”
I wonder, of all the followers of Jesus we have seen up to this point – I wonder if any of them were there on that first night.
If a shepherd was between the ages of 15 – 20 on the day of Jesus’ birth, he would have been somewhere between late
40s and early 50s when Jesus started His ministry. It sure doesn’t seem to me that a person who had seen angels and
found the stable would lose sight of that experience or forget about it. I wonder if any of the 12 may have been some of the
first to come visit Jesus. We don’t know – we are never told. I just wonder.
Verse 18 says that all who heard what the shepherds were proclaiming marveled – wondered – were astonished at what
they were saying. “Can it really be true?” And Mary – perhaps under the age of 18 – kept all these things, kept thinking
about what was happening, and pondered all this in her heart. We know from chapter 1 of Luke that Mary had a good
understanding of God’s purpose for her. She knows who this Child is and what His purpose for coming is.
We’re not sure how long the shepherds stayed at the stable, but they couldn’t leave their sheep out there unattended for
long. Maybe they left a few guys out there – what a rip for them. That would be like Michael Collins – I had to stay on the
command ship while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin went down and walked on the MOON. I stayed with the sheep
while all those other guys went and saw the MESSIAH.
It was certainly the same night that the shepherds returned to the fields praising God for what they had seen and heard –
exactly as they were told it would be.
How about us? The angel brought good tidings of great joy for all people – US, too. This Savior came for US – we can
take great assurance that everything this angel told these normal, regular guys, these shepherds, was true. They found
everything exactly as God had told them it would be. And if the circumstances of finding the Child were all in order, the
circumstances and purpose for His coming are all in order, too.
Why did He come? We heard a few reasons and we have seen a few others in our REAL Human Life series. In Luke 2:
11, He is the Savior. Matthew 1:21 says that He will save His people from their sins. In chapter 4:43 heard Jesus say that
He came to proclaim the Kingdom of God. We also see that in chapter 1:32,33.
Chapter 4:18,19 give us a lot of information about why Jesus came. He came to preach the Good News to the poor – any
kind of poor. He came to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind. He
came to free those who are oppressed and to proclaim that the acceptable time for salvation has come. These are reasons
He was born. And since we’re talking about it, even though we are starting the Christmas season – talking about His birth
– let’s take a few minutes to talk about how His life continued.
This Baby grew up – we’ll look at more of that next Sunday. He grew up and did human life like all of us have to. And
even in growing up, He did it perfectly – the way God intended it to be. The human life of Jesus is presented to us in God’s
Word to allow us to experience a real human life in practice. What Jesus did, we are now able to do if we believe in Him.
That happens as a result of what went on at the end of His earthly life. After going all the way through life – at least 33
years – never sinning, always trusting God and doing what He said, Jesus fulfilled the main purpose for coming. He took
our sins upon Himself – He who knew no sin, had no experience with sin, became sin for us and He died. Since He did not
have any sins of His own to carry, His sacrifice satisfied God’s demand for sin.
But Jesus wasn’t done. His death met the demands of God’s requirement for sin. Every person in all of history has that
satisfaction of their sins available to them. But it won’t take affect in a person until the last piece of the story is put in place.
Jesus was buried and after 3 days, rose from the dead by the power of God. His resurrection defeated death and threw it
in the face of Satan, our enemy. And now, we who believe in Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, can experience His kind of
life the way He did – totally dependent on Him as He was totally dependent on the Father.
Romans 5:10 says, For if when we were enemies [of God] we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much
more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. Salvation comes through belief in the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead. Romans 10:9,10. READ. When we believe, we are made righteous by the forgiveness of our sins
and that righteousness, shown by the Christ, the Messiah, the Master living in us is what SAVES our lives.
What is your response to these good tidings? How will you respond to this Savior? The only logical thing we can do is to
yield our lives to Him fully – or as fully as we know how. Colossians 1:27 summarizes it completely – the whole reason
Jesus came is to reveal what God has always had in mind. It was a mystery for ages, but now is revealed to those who
believe in Jesus. The mystery is Christ IN you – Jesus living IN you. Now is the time to receive that gift.