Luke 1-2 – And So It Happened...

Lord,
As we look at this chapter, summarize it, and talk about this familiar text, help us to see something new or different in this narrative. Help us to grasp the magnitude of your advent, your birth, and your mission here. Help us to keep the cross and the empty grave in mind as we look at the story of your birth, from announcement to gestation, with drama, to the context of Mary and Joseph, the perils of the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, to the Hosts of Heaven scaring the shepherds half to death and all the rest, the symbolism and fulfillment of prophecy that your birth signified. Thank you that you are the Messiah, the anointed King who saved us all. Thank you that you are David’s son, yet David’s Lord.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.

Ok, we all know that the Christmas narrative is something of a tome. I will not directly refer to verses, but simply to the overall narrative arc, as presented in the chapter.

And so it happened...

So it happened, early in First century Palestine, Caesar called for a tax hike, so needed to see how many people there were in his empire, which he ruled over as a god on earth. It was with this backdrop that our story opens. What was the reality of life in First Century Palestine? Over the previous 100 years, there had been a few rebellions, first, against the Ptolomies and Greeks, then with Judah Maccabee, against Rome itself. Rome tightened its grip on the area in a less than characteristic fashion, not only through taxation, but through heavy military presence. Rome usually was fairly lax in how it ruled its territories, unless they misbehaved. Judea and Galilee were two areas which did, so they got the spiky Roman boot on their necks, even with mercenaries from neighboring Syria, who hated the Jews. This led to a very hard life for Jesus’ parents, as it did for most who were alive at the time. Sorry, broke the fourth wall a bit there, but the context is key for the story.

At any rate, so it happened, in that time and place, in the midst of the so-called Pax Romana, that God sent Jesus to us, not as the son of a reigning king, but of a humble workman and hardworking young mother. And so it happened that an angel appeared to both Mary, and later on, to Joseph. This angel announced that the coming child was of God. This assured that Jesus would grow up in a stable home, with two parents, and not be immediately shunned as the bastard son of a harlot, which is what would have happened if Joseph had chosen to divorce her. Instead, he adopted Jesus as his own, shielding him from much of that shame, though the people in Nazareth likely still mocked Mary anyway.

So it happened that they had to go to Bethlehem, at the height of the travel season, thanks to the census. Why Bethlehem? They were both of different branches of the line of David, and everyone had to go to their ancestral home to register to be counted in the census. This massive influx of travelers led to there being no room in the inn. The innkeeper conveyed this reality to them, and really, the inn was not like a Motel 6 or something, it was likely a family home, and there just wasn’t space for them to stay, so they wound up in what was probably a nearby cave (Bethlehem is in the Judean hillcountry), where the family kept the larger livestock that they could not fit into the home (most families slept with a few sheep, a cow, and a donkey [if they were wealthy enough to have all of those animals]), both to keep the animals safe, and to increase the body heat in the space, to make sleeping more comfortable.

So it happened that they wound up in a barn of sorts, while Mary went into labor. In the midst of this, the Hosts of Heaven (not the choir/ musically talented angels, mind you, but the warriors of Heaven) appeared to some shepherds, who were doing the midnight shift with the sheep, making sure that they were safe from thieves and wild animals (this was likely not December, by the way... It was more likely April or September. It was not blazing summer, but nor was it the dead of winter, and even if it was cold, there wasn’t likely to be snow on the ground in Bethlehem, as the elevation was not that high. You do not graze sheep in snow, after all. You would keep them in the fold and that way they would be safe and warmer. These shepherds were just regular guys. You try having one angel appear to you and not crap your pants. They had the hosts of heaven manifest before them and start shouting praises to God because Jesus was born. I don’t know how I would have handled that experience... I could see myself falling down like Daniel earlier, or John, later. Dumbfounded, nearly catatonic, yet the primary speaker who announced the birth opened with “Fear not, for I bring you euangelion (Greek transliteration, this word had very political connotations, as it was used to announce the ascension of a new Caesar to the throne of Rome, and other such similar events) that will be for ALL people, this night, in the City of David (Bethlehem), a child is born, he is Christ, the Lord. Here is how you will know which one he is, you will find a newborn, swaddled in rags, and lying in a manger.” The song that commenced was not likely something like the Hallelujah Chorus, from Handel’s ‘Messiah’, but it likely sounded more like a war cry of praise to God.

I don’t know about you, but I doubt I could have moved much after that experience. Not sure my legs would’ve worked to go find the child, at least not at first. However, this, if the angels were to be believed, was the Messiah who had been foretold from the Garden of Eden as the “Seed of the Woman who would crush the serpent’s head”, then prophesied about through all the prophets, From Moses, to Samuel, to Isaiah, Jeremiah, Joel, Malachai, and others, which I’d have heard read in Synagogue for my whole life, some of which I had probably memorized as a child. The weight of that might have been enough to overcome my jello legs in that moment. I don’t know.

And so it happened that the shepherds went to go find and worship Jesus, and tell Mary and Joseph what they had seen and heard. There were no magi as yet, they came far later. The shepherds only came with their hearts open and hopeful for what the angels had said and sang over them that night. These men were likely broke, they may have been tending sacrificial herds, but we don’t know. Bethlehem is only 8 miles from Jerusalem, after all, and if Jesus was born in either April (right near Passover) or in September (right around Yom Kippur), then this would make even more sense, as it would place the herds within a day’s walk of the Temple right around major festivals which required sacrifices to be made. Why wouldn’t the Lamb of God be born around Passover or the Day of Atonement, both of which were foreshadowings of his coming and role. After all, there weren’t any major Jewish festivals which entailed sacrifices in December, just some form of Hanukah, which is all about light and the miracle of the oil in the menorah during the Maccabean Revolt against the Syrian Antiochus Ephiphanes IV in the 2nd Century BC.

And so it happened, in the fullness of time, that the Son of God came to be born into our world. Jesus bar Joseph, the son of David, was born in Bethlehem, and the whole world began to change, as the war for the ages would be decided through his life, ministry, teaching, death, resurrection, and bodily ascension to heaven about 30 years later. He came to those who could not laud him, rather than being born in a palace. The masses can relate to Him fully because of this, and he to us. That is beautiful. So it happened that the world changed that night when that one baby was born in a stable and laid in a manger.

Just so happened to be 17:17 long... I didn't try. Q:Q, lol