Luke 2:1-20 – Jesus: Our Peace

Introduction

As a child, what is the number one question a child gets asked right before Christmas? “What do you want for Christmas?” As a child it is often some type of toy or gadget.

But, if you are older, what is it that you want? Often, maturity in us produces a desire to give and not just get. So, when asked, some say..." I have everything I really need, but what I really want is world peace." Or "all I really want is everyone to get along." Or perhaps…”I want to see more joy.” But have you ever heard…”all I really want is God’s favor.”

Whether personally, as a society, or as a world, we know about sorrow and sadness. All we need to do is look at the news, and our most joyful Christmas thoughts are eclipsed. But if we shut out the news of the world around us, is our own time together much better?

When was the last time you can remember spending a Christmas that was filled with only joy and no sorrow came along with it? How many conversations with your spouse, children, siblings, or cousins went south? How many times did a pleasant meal end up with either frustration, awkward silence, or raised voices?

So, when we experience this, we ask ourselves, what would I give for a world of joy and not sorrow? What would you give for a world full of peace and not war? What would you give for God’s favor and not guilt?

In today’s passage, we see that God gave a gift so that our Christmas desires could come to reality in a world full of trouble. Today, we will see that in order to remove our sorrow, warring and guilt, God’s good news is that he sent his Son to bring us joy, peace and his favor.

Background

But before we get to this let me just give a quick summary of the text: In verses 1-7 Jesus is born into a troubled world. In verses 8-9 the shepherds see an angel of God and are afraid. Then in response to their fear in verses 10-11 the angel brings joy by proclaiming the gospel of God’s Son coming. This is followed by God’s heavenly army appearing and proclaiming God’s peace and favor instead of war in verses 13-14. Because of this, in verses 15-16, the shepherds respond in belief. Then in verses 17-20, the shepherds share the good news about Jesus.

Exposition

In order to remove our sorrow, God’s good news is that he gave his Son to bring us joy.

In vv. 1-3 we see the world in turmoil. A young, poor couple is forced to travel at the most inopportune time (the late stages of pregnancy) living in a world of forced peace under a tyrannical king claiming to be a god.

In Rome, peace had been declared. There had been peace for 10 years, and it would remain this way for thirty more. A monument was erected which was called the “Ara Pacis Augustae”, an altar that represented the peace of Augustus. Rome and Augustus had beaten every one of their enemies into submission. Was there peace? Yes, but it was a violent peace—a dictator’s peace—no one could oppose it or disagree for fear of death. Thus, the peace was a bullied peace.

Then in vv. 4-7 we see a picture of a crowded town with no place for a young, poor couple to stay but in a room with animals. A baby’s first breath in the outside world was a reminder of how cruel and uneven the world is. No furniture to put the baby in, just a feeding trough. No nice clothes for the baby, just strips of cloth. This is the very essence of sorrow and sadness. A young adoptive father who can’t find and maybe can’t afford a place for a new baby and his young fiancé to stay. Was he crying? Maybe. A young woman having just given birth thinking about how she wants so much more for her son. Was she crying? Maybe.

A King, a Lord, the One true God, entering life into the most humble and weak circumstances one could ever dream up. The Lord of lords entrusting himself to a young girl. The Light of the world born in darkness. The breath of all having to gasp for air. The King of kings having to have blood wiped off him.

In vv. 8-9 there is a group of shepherds. They are outside just making sure that the sheep, more than likely used for the temple, are safe from predators and thieves.

These shepherds were not the kind of people that a king or any good Jew would want to hang around with. They were despised because their work kept them from keeping the ceremonial law. They went about the country and were seen as thieves by many. They were thought of as unreliable and couldn’t give evidence in the courts.

All of a sudden, this despised group of people, see an angel from God. Because the angel comes from heaven, the shepherds see a bit of God’s glory and majesty. It is so wonderful and powerful a sight that they become afraid. Heaven has come to earth, and this terrifies them.

The angel quickly responds to this and tells them that the purpose is not to bring judgment or terror or sorrow, but rather a message from God. A message of Good News. A Message that will bring joy and not sorrow.

What is this message? It is none other than that God has sent his Son as a baby (v. 11). Haven’t you seen all those pictures of a little baby in a manger? What is the point of it, and why in the world would such a thing as that bring joy? The reason is caught up in a word that shows up in that same verse, 11, Christ. The shepherds were Jews and knew their OT bible. In it, there was a promise, a promise that was given that a chosen or anointed one would come. This promise that they knew was found in the OT book of Is. 61:1, referring to the anointed one it says: "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound."

The word Christ is a word that means Messiah, or anointed one. It means the chosen one. You see, the great joy of the shepherds is that the chosen one has come to heal our broken hearts, to bring liberty to the captives.

The Christ has come to take people who are poor and despised and allow them to enter a life of freedom and new identity. A life with God. A life and a world filled with joy.

So, what would you give for a world filled with joy? Maybe you would give your life in service, or all your money to eliminate world hunger, or you would spend all your time counseling the broken and troubled.  Maybe you would work tirelessly to solve all the sorrow that you see. But can you solve all the sorrow out there? Can you solve the sorrow in your own heart? Can you heal yours and other’s broken hearts?

If we are honest with ourselves, we can’t, but the reality of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that he is the only one who can truly remove all of our sorrow. Because our sorrow is not just external, even if we could eliminate world hunger, sorrow still lives in our hearts. This is where it needs to be eradicated.

This is the promise of the gospel, this is the Good News. Now to be sure, it isn’t a promise that there won’t be any more sorrow, at least not in this life, but that a stream of joy and peace will live inside us, flowing out to everyone. It will produce in us a river of life that will flow to the nations, bringing healing as they see there is a Savior, Christ the Lord. 

But what are we being saved from? Just our sorrows? No. It is also warring.

If you look at the world right now, is there peace? No, there are wars between countries, wars between tribes, wars between people, wars between religions, and wars within families. War everywhere. When we think back to what we want for Christmas, how many of us would want to stop these wars? What would we give for a world full of peace?

In order to remove our warring, God’s good news is that he gave his Son to bring us peace.

In v. 13 we see a multitude of the heavenly host that suddenly appear. Now what is a heavenly host? It is God’s army. These are God’s angels who execute his judgment and fight for him: God’s standing army.

Now, have you ever faced down an opponent that you couldn’t beat? Have you ever been in a fight with someone, or were afraid that someone was terribly angry with you and might hurt or kill you? Not everyone has experienced this. If you have, you might know, but if you haven’t, just imagine with me for a moment.

You know someone who is very powerful and has a reputation for making sure his name is clear and free of bad connotations. In an encounter with him you say awful things about him, hurt him in some way, and ultimately damage his reputation. You leave, and think nothing of it. Yet, at some point in the future, he shows up, and with him is a show of his force and power, and it is bent on harming you. Now what is your emotional response? More than likely, it would be fear.

But what if the powerful one who you thought was going to destroy you came with nothing but favor and good will?

This is what we see in v. 14. God’s armies announce peace, and not war. Why is this a big deal in relation to God? The Bible teaches that man is at war with God. From the beginning of the Bible, God made man and told him to enjoy life and peace with him, but he must obey him. Man didn’t, and because of it brought the judgment of God upon himself and all of his children after him, including you and I. This put us in a state of war with God. Humanity doing whatever they want to do, not caring that their Maker disagrees with their actions. This is the war, and those who are not at peace with God are doomed to face his army of angels.

And this is why verse 14 is so amazing. The armies of the one who is in the highest heaven come to earth and tell a group of shepherds who represent mankind that they should not be afraid because God’s army is happy to announce that favor from God is towards them and that God has only good intentions for them.

So instead of war, the Good News is that God sent his Son to bring us peace. But how many of us feel this peace? How many of us are living in guilt that only we know?

What have you done in your life that you are ashamed of? What dark secret lies under the covers that you think no one knows? But if no one really knows, then why does the guilt of it still linger on and on? Why does it eat you alive day after day? Why can you not escape it? What would you give for a life without guilt?

The armies of God announced the favor of God, but there is a subtle nuance here. Verse 14 says that peace comes to those in whom he is pleased with. What does this mean? Who is God pleased with?

The true answer is not us. If we think through our hearts, we know that we have done things that broke his rules and laws. Thus, he can’t be pleased with us. This is why we live in so much guilt. So, who then is he pleased with? The answer is quite simple, only one person. His one and only Son, who would obey him perfectly…Jesus, the One who has just been born. And those who are united to Jesus, who have their evil paid for by his death and are alive in him.

In order to remove our guilt, God’s good news is that he gave his Son and if we believe in Him, He is pleased with us.

Let’s look for a moment at a few other passages. First, Is. 61:2-3: "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me …to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified."

This Messiah, this Christ, the Son of God was anointed to be the One who would come and proclaim God’s favor. This favor is that he would live a life of perfect obedience, pleasing God in all his words, thoughts and actions, and then, because we deserve and need to be punished to satisfy justice towards God and man, he would die upon the cross and take the punishment that we deserve.

Instead of the ashes upon their head, a thing they used to do to show they were repentant, they will have a beautiful hat. Instead of crying, they would be perfumed and beautiful. Instead of being weak in their evil deeds, they would be strong in doing good. God would do this.

Thus later in Is. 61:10 it says: "I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels."

So instead of being covered in evil deeds and having God angry at us, Jesus Christ took God’s anger upon him, and took all his good deeds and acts of love and kindness and gave them to us. He traded our evil for his goodness. So now we are beautiful to God and his face smiles at us.

But the story didn’t end there, there is another holiday, Easter. It is about the new life found in Christ. Christ died, but three days later he rose from the dead because of his perfection.

Instead of a judge who is going to sentence us and look at us in anger and reproach, we have a Father who looks at us with love and kindness. God gave his Son to pay for our crimes to allow us to live in his favor and to live a life without guilt.

So now the one ultimate question is how in the world do we become people in whom he is pleased? The answer is found in our second passage, Romans 10:9-10, 13: "if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. …For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

All you must do is admit that you are guilty. You must admit that you have done evil things and are warring against God. You must admit that you are in misery and need someone to help you. You must own up to your guilt, warring and sorrow.

Then, you must see and confess that God sent his perfect Son, his anointed one to right the wrong and die on the cross for your sins. Though he died, you must see and confess that he didn’t stay dead, but rose again from the dead.

Once you do this, because he saved you, and loves you and is now smiling at you, you must submit to him as your lord or master, as the one who has full authority over you. Essentially, all you must do is cry out to the Lord for salvation and believe all that he says and follow him, and you will have the favor of God upon you.

And so, what should your response be to this great gift? The shepherds and Mary show this in verses 15-20.

The shepherds reaction was that not only did they believe the angel’s report, and had to go see this wonderful sight, a “Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” But they did it “with haste.” In other words, they dropped everything to go and see Jesus, the Savior of the World. And what did they do after this? They went and told everybody. How can anyone hold on to such amazing news?

And there are really 3 reactions we see in this text that many people have. First, some wonder (v. 18), saying wow, is this really a thing? Has the Savior of the world been born? Second, some ponder and wait (v. 19), saying, I am expectant that something will happen, but I am going to wait and see what it will be. Third, others worship (v. 20), glorifying and praising God. There is, however, a fourth response that some also make…they waste it, doubting and rejecting this good news.

The question that I have for you today is what will you do with this good news? Will you wonder? Will you wait? Will you worship? Or will you waste it?

My prayer is that you will ultimately worship and follow Jesus as he calls you to trust in him, the Savior of the world, who gives you peace.

So, what would you give for joy and not sorrow, peace and not war, and favor and not guilt? That question doesn’t really matter, because you can’t give anything to get it. What you must do is be like a little child at Christmas time who has no money. You receive the gift, delight in it, and live in gratitude to the giver.

God gave the greatest and most precious gift, his Son, so that our Christmas desires could come to reality. To remove our sorrow, warring and guilt, God  sent his Son to bring us joy, peace and his favor.

May God open the eyes of our hearts to see the Lord Jesus Christ as the most beautiful and wonderful gift of all time. May hearts that do not know Christ personally be opened to accept the free gift of the gospel, and may those who have already accepted this gift live their lives in a way that shows gratitude for it.