The Birth of the Son of Man

The Birth of the Son of Man
Luke 2:1-7
August 25, 2024

While perhaps not the most significant authority on the subject, a couple of years ago the India Times compiled a list of “The 10 Most Important Events in Human History.”  They didn’t reveal what the criteria for making the list was, or who voted on the list, but here is the list:

1. The Neolithic revolution: Shift from hunting, gathering to farming 10,000 B.C
2. First cities emerge in Mesopotamia 4000-3000 B.C (Iraq)
3. Gladiators in ancient Rome (even after reading the article, I don’t know why they were so important)
4. The plague outbreak 1346, England
5. Death of Roman empire, 49 BC — “Caesar led a single legion across the Rubicon River, sparking a civil war that would lead to the death of the Roman Republic.”
6. First university opens 895 CE
7. The beginning of the end, 176 — the assassination of the Roman emperor, Commodus, whose “death marked the end of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. His reign is commonly thought of as marking the end of a golden period of peace in the history of the Roman Empire, known as the Pax Romana.”
8. Beginning of Industrial revolution 1760
9. First vaccine invented 1796
10. End of Cold War 1989

They seem to be missing an event or two that you and I would believe to be more significant than those — the birth and then life and death of Christ.  Even though they aren’t believers, it is hard to conceive how they could overlook the significance of Christ in the course of history.  Ignoring Christ suggests both the rejection of Christ and the humility of Christ’s life which makes Him “forgettable” to the world. 

And His life and birth were humble.  Christ’s life is the most remarkable story in the history of the world — surpassing creation, the coming wrath of God, the worldwide flood of Noah’s day, or any miracle like the feeding of the 5000 or the raising of Lazarus from the dead.  Yet His arrival is told in remarkable simplicity.  Like the death and resurrection of Christ which are spoken of in such simplicity (“Christ was crucified”…“He is not here…”), so the advent of God into time and space, the immortal taking on mortality, is told with great simplicity and understatement.  “Most regal figures are born with great ceremony and celebration. But Jesus’ birth is as average as it comes.” [Bock, 83.]

It has been noted that the story of Christ’s birth anticipates Paul’s declaration of Christ’s life in Philippians:  “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:5-7).  The humbling has begun.

But as we come to this familiar story, don’t miss the wonder of what takes place in this account by the ordinariness of the language.  This is an extraordinary story — the most extraordinary story of history.

Luke gives us the simple account: 

Christ’s birth evidences God’s sovereignly gracious plan of redemption, and stimulates us to faith.

In Luke’s account, we see the advent of the Son of Man in three stages:

1. God’s Sovereignty in Christ’s Birth (vv. 1-3)
2. Joseph and Mary’s Faith in Christ’s Birth (vv. 4-6)
3. Christ’s Humility in Christ’s Birth (v. 7)

Download the rest of this sermon on Luke 2:1-7.

The audio will be posted on the GBC website by Tuesday.