Luke 2:15-20
A. INTRODUCTION
With Christmas over for another year, who is willing to admit that on Christmas Day they were so excited that they got up at some unearthly hour waiting for the dawn to come? Yes, and it’s not just the kids either. In my home, when I was a child, the first to get up on Christmas Day was always my father. He couldn’t wait to unwrap his presents. And he always managed to find a way to wake everyone else up too. But we had a rule . . . We couldn’t open any present until after the breakfast things had been washed up. That way, my mother didn’t get stranded with the chore. Funny thing is, I think that it was my father’s idea. But it didn’t stop his hurrying everybody else to get things washed and cleared away.
So presents over. What next? Food? And for many, those special things with dinner. The bonbons, the drink, and the edibles: ham, turkey, etc. (you know I’m making myself so hungry, I think I should stop now). Anyway you get what I mean. And come the night, or the next night, it’s all over. And all that remains is the left overs (and, for some, a huge credit card bill to be paid off).
Christmas . . . It seems the preparations take forever. But in no time – it’s gone, it’s over. And it’s time to pack up the decorations and put everything away. And, indeed, it’s like it never happened.
Now, of course, that’s sad in a way, after all that effort, after all the excitement. But that’s life isn’t it? And sadly, it has never been any different.
B. AFTER THE BIRTH (Luke 2:15-20)
For example, it’s the same as it was at the first Christmas.
1. What happened to the shepherds? (Luke 2:15-20)
Remember the shepherds watching their flocks at night, keeping thieves and predators away. When all of a sudden an angel appeared to them and gave them the greatest news ever. A baby had been born—the promised Messiah. A gift from God, And they were told to go and see him for themselves. And before they had even time to think, by way of confirmation that what the angel had said was true, a heavenly host surrounded them singing praises to God.
Well you can imagine the shepherd’s excitement. In fact they were so excited, that as soon as the angels had left them they rushed off to Bethlehem to see for themselves that it was true. And sure enough they found Mary, Joseph, and the baby in a manger, just as the angels had told them. But these shepherds didn’t stop there, they were so excited that they then went out and told everyone around what had happened. They were so excited that they just couldn’t keep the news to themselves.
And then? Well we never hear from the shepherds again. Presumably, at some stage, they returned to their sheep. But the excitement? Well it must have just faded away. It’s like Christmas, the first Christmas, was over. And they were never heard from again.
2. What happened to the kings? (Matthew 2:1-18)
Some months later, after Jesus was born—and Mary, Joseph, and Jesus were now living in a house. we’re told that some Magi—or astrologers—came from the east, probably Iran or Southern Arabia. They had been attracted by a star, which to them symbolised a very special king had been born. And they had come to worship him.
Now, as they travelled following the star, they were held up by King Herod for a while. Herod, who obviously had heard nothing of the shepherds, checked the prophecies regarding the Messiah with his own people, And sending the Magi on their way, asked them to drop back in on their way home, so that he would know where the baby was, and could go and worship him too.
So the Magi continued to follow the star until it stopped over a house. And, at this they were overjoyed and went in. And when they saw the child, they bowed down and worshipped him. They then presented gifts of gold, incense, and myrrh. And then they left, and being warned in a dream that Herod’s real intentions were not so pure, they went home via a different route.
And what happened next? What happened to the Magi after they left Jesus? We have no idea.
It’s like Christmas, the first Christmas, was over. And they were never heard from again.
3. And Mary and Joseph? (Luke 2:41-52)
Only Mary and Joseph remained after the excitement of that first Christmas. Although even then their excitement and understanding waned too.
Because when Jesus was twelve, and the three of them had gone on their annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the Passover festival, Jesus was left behind, accidentally, in the Temple. And at that stage it is clear that neither Joseph nor Mary were able to understand the need for Jesus to spend time with his heavenly father in the Temple.
And, in that, Mary and Joseph’s apparent ignorance is astounding. Just as the excitement of the shepherds and the Magi had waned, so too had Mary and Joseph’s understanding of who they had been told that Jesus was.
From the highs of understanding just how important Jesus was, the importance of that first Christmas was over, even for Mary and Joseph. No longer was there any excitement over the birth of the Messiah. Now it was almost as though he was no more than just an ordinary little boy. And that’s sad.
C. COMMENT
So just as our Christmas is soon over, so too was the first Christmas, for Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and the Magi.
But hold on, shouldn’t the effect of that first Christmas have been different? Shouldn’t Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and the Magi, have been continued to be excited? After all, just who did they think Jesus was? What was the significance of his birth?
Well for the Magi, they knew he was someone very special. How special, we don’t know. What we do know, however, is that they were looking for the ‘king of the Jews’. And they wanted to worship him as a god, whatever that meant to them.
For Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds, though, they knew exactly who Jesus was. He was the Messiah, the promised one of God. He was the baby, who was to grow up, and rescue his people. A baby of divine origin. A baby who had the one and only solution to a relationship with God, without whom eternal life was, and is, not possible.
So, if you think about it, the excitement should have continued on well past the nativity and early years of Jesus. But it didn’t. No more that many people get excited about it today
D. IMPLICATIONS
But if that’s who Jesus was, and is, shouldn’t we be excited about him too? Far from Christmas being over when the parcels are undone and the food is eaten, the excitement of Christmas should go on. After all, Jesus is just as much our one and only means to a relationship with God—our only ticket to eternal life—than he was to the people two thousand years ago.
So what is it about Christmas that makes us the same as the disappearing shepherds and the Magi?
Is it the fuss and bother that many of us go through? The amount of preparation that we are encouraged to do, and the feeling that it’s not Christmas unless we do it? As a consequence many people feel quite relieved when it’s over.
Is it the emphasis on buying and giving presents? The effort in trying to find just the right thing for the right person, and the constant pressure to buy bigger and better things each year.
Is it the cost—the financial cost—that we just have difficulty keeping up with, and the enormous social pressures to conform?
Is it that the story is too familiar? The events that is, not the meaning. Has the story of the baby, the shepherds, and the angels taken on more of myth or a fairy tale, rather than having any true meaning?
Is it that people genuinely don’t feel any need for God unless they are in trouble?
Or is it that people really don’t understand what this religion thing is all about? Because mixed up with stories and language and ideas of a different culture, it’s very difficult to translate it into terms that can be easily understood. It’s all far too confusing. And, the church, over the years, has not made it any easier either.
Christmas should be an exciting time. It should be a time to celebrate the birth of a saviour. And yet, for many, the excitement is either gone, or was never there in the first place. And that has grave implications for life after death as well.
Sadly, celebrating the birth of Jesus started as, what seemed like, a good idea, but for most people that’s not how it has turned out at all. The 25th December was a pagan festival—the worship of the sun god. And the celebration of Christmas was an attempt by the church to eliminate the pagan festival.
Now, in one sense the church succeeded—the worship of the sun god has largely been replaced with idea of ‘Christmas’. But in many ways the 25th December has become just as pagan as it originally was.
E. CONCLUSION
So, regarding Christmas, how long did your Christmas last? Well the preparations may have gone on forever, but if Christmas only lasted one or two days then you’ve probably missed the point. Christmas should be a celebration of the birth of a saviour. And that is something we should never pack away.
Because when the parcels have been opened, and the food eaten, we need to ask ourselves ‘What’s left this Christmas?’ And I just hope that what you say is not just ‘the leftovers, and a huge bill’. Because if that is our answer then we are no better than the shepherds or the Magi, who after the initial excitement just faded away.
What I hope, then, is that you will say what’s left is the greatest gift the world has ever known. The gift of God—a baby—and the gift of eternal life. And that is something to be excited about not just today, but tomorrow, and every day. Because that is what Christmas is really all about.
Posted: 1st January 2024
© 2024, Brian A Curtis
www.brianacurtis.com.au
