The Unexpected Messiah Celebrated

Luke 2:6-7 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.  And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

That is all we are told about the actual birth of Jesus. Mary gave birth and laid him in the manger, because there was nowhere else to lay him. The unexpected part of that is that is it so...unexceptional, just so normal. 

Luke 2:8-11 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

Now we’re talking. Finally some respect. An angel makes the big announcement. The unexpected fact is to whom the announcement is made. To shepherds. Not to the priests. Not to the religious leaders or students of the law. Not to teachers. The angel came to shepherds to tell them that the Savior was born. Shepherds were at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder. Children did not aspire to be shepherds when they grew up. It was a dirty, demanding difficult.  The shepherds were awake, watching over their flock, watching out for lions and bears who would prey on the sheep, and watching over the sheep who would easily wander away and get lost or hurt.  These are the ones that the angel came to.

Luke 2:13  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"

I love this verse. It just seems to me that the angels could not hold back any longer. The chosen angel made the announcement, then all the angels broke through the curtain of heaven and began a chorus of praise to God. 

Who else got to hear about the Saviors birth?

Mat 2:1-2 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him."

Who are these wise men?  We don’t know much about them, but we do know they are not Jewish. They are from the east, probably from the area that is now Iran. The actual Greek word used to describe them is “magi”, the name given by the Babylonians, Medes, Persians, and others, to the wise men, teachers, priests, physicians, astrologers, seers, interpreters of dreams, augers, soothsayers, and sorcerers. These are men who studied the stars, experts on astronomy. God revealed to these gentile men from an idol worshiping nation that a new king was born. God spoke their language. They studied the stars, so God used the stars to tell them about the Messiah. 

Who would have ever guessed that God would tell gentile magi? 

 

They didn’t know exactly where the king was to be born, so they went to the capital to look for him. Herod asked the priests and scribes, and they immediately said that according to the prophecies, he would be born in Bethlehem. The magi went on their way to Bethlehem, where they worshiped this new king and gave him expensive gifts from their treasuries. 

It is interesting that the priests and religious leaders just stayed in Jerusalem. Bethlehem was six miles away. Six miles. The magi travelled about 1000 miles to worship this new king, and he was not even their king. The Jewish leaders would not go SIX MILES to just see if perhaps this was the Messiah they were waiting for.

Matthew 2:11 and going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.

I like to consider what Mary thought and felt when this caravan of wealthy scientists/astronomers came to her home, fell down before her son and worshiped him, then opened their treasures to offer him gifts of great value. She must have been shocked.

Everything about this Messiah is so unexpected.

Sometimes we forget. We may have heard the story so many times that we have lost the mystery. We know the story. If we can for while forget that we already know what happened and regain the wonder, not just of Jesus birth, but the wonder of everything about Jesus.  Because, it is not just his birth that was so unexpected. Everything about Jesus was unexpected.