NL 416: Christmas Eve

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Luke 2:1-20

December 24, 2021

Luke 2:1-20

1 In those days Caesar Augustus declared that everyone throughout the empire should be enrolled in the tax lists.

2 This first enrollment occurred when Quirinius governed Syria.

  • Luke is a terrible historian

    • There was no empire wide census by Augustus, but there was by Quirinius

      • The revolt of Judas the Galilean (see Acts 5:37)

    • Quirinius was not governor until 6CE (and Herod the Great died in 4 BCE)...awkward...

3 Everyone went to their own cities to be enrolled.

  • No evidence that this would have been required- they were interested in 

4 Since Joseph belonged to David's house and family line, he went up from the city of Nazareth in Galilee to David's city, called Bethlehem, in Judea.

  • Zooming in to the most unlikely place from the most likely Augustus in Rome to Joseph in Bethlehem

  • Census – no historical record of this census (even if there were a census women would not have need to be present in person) – reason to get the Holy Family to Bethlehem

    • Different from Matthew – they settle in Bethlehem after returning from Egypt

    • Sets up the juxtaposition of Jesus against empire - taxation was the tool of oppression, exacerbated by the demand that a 9 month pregnant woman would be forced to travel a long distance in order to be taxed

    • “City of David” - the only place in scripture where this refers to Bethlehem

5 He went to be enrolled together with Mary, who was promised to him in marriage and who was pregnant.

6 While they were there, the time came for Mary to have her baby.

  • “The time came to give birth.” “And she gave birth.” Skips right over the labor. And that’s allowed many of us to kind of forget about the fact that Mary was in labor at all and what that would’ve entailed. 

  • Katey Zeh, Women Rise Up--how she think it’s easy, particularly with the depictions we have of the nativity in art, to forget about the messiness of birth that brought Jesus into the world. Consider the pictures of Mary we often see. 

    • She’s so pensive and serene-looking. Not a stray hair in sight. No milk stains on her dress. No sign of a woman who has just given birth. 

    • No sign that she’s a girl. 

  • Rachel Marie Stone’s book Birthing Hope: Giving Fear to the Light. “A girl was in labor with God.” 

    • “A girl”--Mary was young.

    • “In labor”--the birth was a physical event--one with sweat, tears, and blood

    • “With God”--God was both with and within Mary. Sharing the vulnerable dance of birth and being born. 

  • And so, I’ve often said that in my view, the Christmas miracle is two-fold: that God was born, and that Mary lived through the experience. She was a high-risk pregnancy, and things could have gone poorly--just as they did for Rachel back in Jesus. And as they continue to do for so many women around the world today. 

  • So, when we celebrate the hope of Christmas, we’re celebrating the idea that every birth ends like this--that every woman can beat the odds, and that the odds themselves are better for everyone, no matter their circumstances. 

  • And that birth is to be celebrated--in all its messiness and humanness. 

  • Valarie Kaur, Sikh Activist and lawyer - Watchnight Speech, “Breathe and Push”

7 She gave birth to her firstborn child, a son, wrapped him snugly, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the guestroom.

  • “Jesus not born in a stable” by Ian Paul

    • “Manger”

      • Medieval artists put the ox and the ass in the paintings, partly because of Isaiah 1:3 “The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.”

      • Manger is where animals eat, but not necessarily a separate building. 

    • “No room in the inn” 

      • The inn is translated from kataluma.

      • Palestinian houses were (and many still are) one room spaces with two sections. 

      • The kataluma is the same word used when describing the Upper Room where the disciples gathered for the Passover.

      •  The kataluma is not a seperate place for travelers to rest, but a guest area within a home. 

      • “No room in the kataluma” implies that there was already family there, so they stayed in the main part of the home, where the animals are brought in at night. The indentation with hay was a soft, logical place to put a child.

    • “What, then, does it mean for the kataluma to have ‘no space’? It means that many, like Joseph and Mary, have travelled to Bethlehem, and the family guest room is already full, probably with other relatives who arrived earlier. So Joseph and Mary must stay with the family itself, in the main room of the house, and there Mary gives birth. The most natural place to lay the baby is in the straw-filled depressions at the lower end of the house where the animals are fed. The idea that they were in a stable, away from others, alone and outcast, is grammatically and culturally implausible. In fact, it is hard to be alone at all in such contexts.”

  • So what?

    • If Jesus was born among family, in the inner sanctum of a home and awash with radical hospitality, doesn’t this actually make the story better?

    • Jesus’ birth story is not about rejection and isolation, which eventually leads to the cross. Jesus’ birth story is about overflowing hospitality, where accommodations are made for travelers. Jesus was born in a very ordinary way, with peasants in a simple home. This is the story of Incarnation - that God is with Us, not just the caesars of the world.

  • Detail Notes (from Born Divine: The Births of Jesus and the Other Sons of God by Robert J. Miller)

    • Bands of Cloth - “they swaddled him”

    • Manger - “does not signify poverty, but the haphazard circumstances of the time and place of the birth”

      • also alludes to Isaiah 1:3 - “An ox knows its owner, and a donkey its master's feeding trough. But Israel doesn't know; my people don't behave intelligently.”

    • Shepherds - connects Jesus to David (1 Samuel 16:1-13)

      • While shepherds were among the lowly in society - these shepherds apparently own their sheep which distinguished them as not being the poorest or outcast

    • Angel’s announcement

      • Very similar to the public proclamations of praise for the emperor. Ex: in Priene the annual declaration on Emperor Augustus’ birthday ended with, “The birthday of the god marked the beginning of the good news for the world.”

8 Nearby shepherds were living in the fields, guarding their sheep at night.

  • Shepherds

    • Who are they?

      • Representatives of the hoi poloi - “the people”, not kings or priests, but ordinary people

      • Outsiders, the marginalized, living away from settled community - who Jesus would reach out to (Luke 4)

      • Perhaps a reference to one or both: 

        • the bad kings in Ezekiel 34 

        • the good King David in 1 Samuel 16:11

    • God meets people- not in the temple, but in the fields and farms

    • Continues the juxtaposition of Jesus and Augustus

9 The Lord's angel stood before them, the Lord's glory shone around them, and they were terrified.

10 The angel said, "Don't be afraid! Look! I bring good news to you—wonderful, joyous news for all people.

11 Your savior is born today in David's city. He is Christ the Lord.

12 This is a sign for you: you will find a newborn baby wrapped snugly and lying in a manger."

13 Suddenly a great assembly of the heavenly forces was with the angel praising God. They said,

14 "Glory to God in heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors."

  • Juxtaposition of Jesus and Augustus

    • Bringer of peace for ending civil wars – Pax Romana (altar of the peace of Augustus in 10 BCE)

    • Savior of the World – How Augustus was known in Asia Minor, declared a god in 42 BCE and his birthday was celebrated as New Year’s Day

      • Jesus is referred to as Savior only twice in the Gospels (Luke 2:11; John 4:42) and once by Paul (Philippians 3:20)

    • Currency depicting Augustus’ image hails him as the “Son of God”

    • Luke – Jesus the true “Savior of the World” is born amidst the demonstration of Roman “power” and domination

15 When the angels returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, "Let's go right now to Bethlehem and see what's happened. Let's confirm what the Lord has revealed to us."

  • Angel’s message

    • Good news for all the people

      • inclusive message (not only inclusive through culture and socio-economic status, but chronologically inclusive too- for us)

      • All the people surely includes the marginalized - central to Jesus’ message, but also includes the powerful and rich )i.e. Pharisees, Zaccheus, etc)

    • Peace and Goodwill


16 They went quickly and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger.

17 When they saw this, they reported what they had been told about this child.

18 Everyone who heard it was amazed at what the shepherds told them.

19 Mary committed these things to memory and considered them carefully.

20 The shepherds returned home, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. Everything happened just as they had been told.

  • Shepherds and Angels

    • God meets people- not in the temple, but in the fields and farms

    • Continues the juxtaposition of Jesus and Augustus

    • World Changing- what is happening in Bethlehem will affect everyone from shepherds to angels to emperors

Thoughts and Questions

  • The angels bring good news to you! What is the good news that the Angels are telling you as the preacher? Be an angel: Share it!

    • "What good would it do me, if he were born a thousand times and if this were sung to me every day with the loveliest airs, if I should not hear that there was something in it for me and that it should be my own?” Martin Luther, Luther's Works, vol. 52, Sermons, II, ed. Hans J. Hillerbrand (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1974), 21.

  • The message of Christmas is often viewed to be very Christian-centric, but the message in this passage is actually very inclusive - this is good news for all people. How will you share this good news with others without discounting their different beliefs or disbelief?

  • Twible: Scandalous love! Out of town unmarried couple has child! Filthy migrant nomads see hallucinations in the sky and come to see baby!

  • Many times we dream of the perfect Christmas (think National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation), but the original Christmas was anything but perfect- it was messy. God chose to enter into the messiness of the world to show us how to love and forgive in the midst of the mess.

Year 4Eric FistlerLukeComment