Good News of Great Joy
Luke 2:10-11
The angel announced to the shepherds (Luke 2:10), “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.” Don’t we all need some good news in 2020? Sometimes we don’t appreciate the good news until we see it against the backdrop of bad news. Sometimes it takes a “year of disaster” to wake us up to the goodness of God.
Tonight I would like to focus on one verse of Scripture that brings us to the good news of Christmas: “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). There are four parts to this verse, and each one teaches us something important about why Christ came to the earth and what his coming can mean to each of us.
1. The Prophecy of His Coming
Notice the simple phrase, “in the city of David.” The city of David is not Jerusalem—it’s Bethlehem, which is six or seven miles south of Jerusalem. Today Bethlehem is an Arab town under Palestinian control, but when Jesus was born it was a tiny Jewish community. Bethlehem is called the “city of David” because David grew up here along with his father Jesse and his seven brothers. In fact, David tended sheep in the fields outside the village just as the shepherds were doing the night the angel appeared to them.
There is one other fact you need to know. Seven hundred years earlier the Lord had spoken through the prophet Micah and declared that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Here is the exact Scripture from Micah 5:2—
But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.
God had told the Jews 700 years before exactly where Christ would be born. There was no secret about it at all. Even the chief priests and the scribes quote this verse in Micah (Matt. 2:5-6) when the Magi ask, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?” (Matt. 2:2)
In God’s providence, Joseph and Mary were required to travel from their home in Nazareth to Bethlehem to register to be taxed at just the time that her baby was due to be born (Luke 2:4). When we read about the “city of David,” we should remember that Jesus was born in fulfillment of a prophecy made 700 years earlier.
2. The Reality of His Coming
The angel says, “born to you this day.” The reality is that Jesus was born. He did not suddenly appear as a man or descend from heaven in a fiery chariot. He was born. There was no miracle at the time of His physical birth. Even though we often speak of the Virgin Birth of Christ, it’s important to remember that the real miracle took place nine months earlier when the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary with the result that although she was a virgin, she became pregnant. That was an enormous miracle that has never been repeated in the history of the world. Both Matthew and Luke plainly ascribe the conception of Jesus Christ to the action of the Holy Spirit. Since Jesus was born of Mary, we know that He was truly human. Since He was conceived through the Holy Spirit, we know that He was the Son of God. Through the virgin birth, the Son of God entered the human race, taking upon Himself all aspects of true humanity, yet remaining sinless, and without surrendering any aspect of His deity. Thus the Babe in the manger was truly Almighty God from heaven. He was fully God and yet fully man at the same time.
Following the miraculous conception, Mary’s pregnancy followed the normal course of all human pregnancies leading to the night in Bethlehem when she gave birth to the Lord Jesus and laid Him in a manger. The phrase “this day” means that it really happened. The birth of Jesus is a true event that took place in a normal way in a very abnormal situation. The birth of Jesus is not “theological fiction”—that is, a story made up by the early church to explain the uniqueness of Jesus. So when we read “For there is born to you this day in the city of David,” let us remember that it points to something true—an event that really happened. Not a legend or a myth or a nicely-told fairy tale.
3. The Result of His Coming
Now we come to the climax of this verse: “a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Each word is vitally important. Savior is a word that means “one who delivers his people.”
We desperately need a Savior, don’t we? When the angel announced the birth of Jesus to Joseph, he said (Matthew 1:21), “you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.” Every one of us are sinners. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). But Jesus came to seek and to the lost (Luke 19:10). He came to deliver us from sin and death by dying on the cross in our place and being raised from the dead. So Hebrews 7:25 says, “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”
Christ is the Greek version of the Hebrew word Messiah, which means “the anointed One.” This is the one long-predicted, long-awaited, the one anointed above all others (Psalm 45:7). The final anointed King. The final anointed Prophet. The final anointed Priest. In him all the promises of God are yes! (2 Corinthians 1:20). He would fulfill all the hopes and dreams of godly Israel. And more, vastly more. Because he is also . . .
“… the Lord.” The ruler, the sovereign—Lord is a term for Deity. It’s a synonym for God.
He is the Savior sent to deliver us; He is Christ—the anointed prophet, priest, and king; and He is the Lord—sinless God in human flesh to whom all glory belongs. This is the heart of Christmas. God loved us enough to send His only begotten Son.
When God got ready to save the world, he sent the best that he had—his one and only Son. And in sending Jesus, he was really sending himself. This is the stupendous truth of Christmas—Immanuel—God with us.
4. The Purpose of His Coming
Our text contains one final truth for our consideration. “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” When the shepherds heard these words from the angel, they must have been flabbergasted. When Christ came, his birth was first announced not to kings, nobles or emperors, but to shepherds working at night in the fields.
Consider those two words: “to you.” He also came for you. This is where Christmas becomes intensely personal. It’s not enough to say abstractly that you believe Christ came. Millions of people say that and are still lost in their sins. It’s not enough to say that Christ came for someone else. You can never be saved until you say, “Christ came for me. He died for me. He rose from the dead for me.”
He came for you. Do you believe that?
When you receive your gifts this Christmas, what will you do? Will you not open them? What use is a gift that is never opened?
Two thousand years ago God sent a gift wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. Jesus is God’s Christmas gift to you. But you will never experience Christmas joy until you personally receive God’s gift—the Lord Jesus Christ.
Joy the world, the Lord is come. Amen.
