In the name of Jesus.

“Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Lk 2:10-11)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, that beloved account of the birth of our Savior, in the second chapter of St. Luke’s Gospel, begins with the words, “And it came to pass.” These are important words because they remind us that at this festive season of the year, we’re really celebrating an actual, historical event … in the real town called Bethlehem … at the time when Caesar Augustus and Quirinius were the governing Roman authorities.

While there’s certainly nothing inherently wrong with a bit of fun and merry-making … all the lights and decorations and gift-giving and thoughts of peace and warmth and holiday cheer … while there’s nothing wrong with a bit of that, we must be mindful of the fact that such fanciful aspects can become for us nothing more than an escape from the often-difficult realities of life.

St. Luke, who was called by God to be the inspired writer of the third Gospel, was an educated man.

And His style of writing emphasizes the historical reality of what he’s writing about: people, places, and events that – no matter how miraculous or mysterious – were, in fact, historical realities.

The true joy of Christmas is not to be found in the fun-but-fanciful aspects of our holiday celebrations, but in the reality of knowing that Christ – the second person of the Holy Trinity – was born in real flesh and blood. It’s found in meditating on the fact that a godly Virgin gave birth to the Creator of the world in the cold of the night amidst real animals in a real manger … along with all the real sights, smells, sounds, and textures that we would expect in such a pastoral setting. It’s about Jesus – the Lord of all – taking on the form of a servant to save us from our sin.

No, the true joy of Christmas is not to be found in the fun-but-fanciful, but in the reality of Jesus’ unwavering love for us and the forgiveness He won for us by humbling Himself to be born of a virgin in real flesh and blood, lying in a real wooden manger and ultimately bearing all our very real sins on a real wooden cross. In Adam’s sin, all mankind fell. We’re all conceived and born in sin and continue to sin throughout our lives.

So, to save us from eternal doom, the eternally begotten Son of God, took our human nature upon Himself, was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger, in order to raise us with Himself. At His Incarnation, the Son of God joined Himself to our human nature so that we might be made new in Him. By His conception and birth Jesus sanctified and purified humanity. Almighty God has exalted us by becoming a true man, and our human brother.

The humble birth of Jesus foreshadowed the life of humility He would lead for us and the ignoble death that He would suffer in place of us.

The wood of Jesus’ manger would be replaced by the wood of the cross where His bleeding love was poured out as the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world.

Jesus, the very Son of God, was born in human flesh for the singular purpose of dying in human flesh the very death that our sinful flesh deserves; and for shedding His blood in order to purchase and win us from all sin, from death, and from the power of the devil.

Jesus’ humanity is just like ours in every way, except without sin (since He’s also true God), so that He might be the perfect, once-for-all sacrifice for the sin of the world. He humbled Himself to take our place in suffering and death: paying the price our sins required: a debt we could never pay by our own works or merits. That’s why eternal life is only to be found in Christ: true God and true man. Only in Christ who was once laid in a manger and who is now risen from the dead and living and reigning at the right hand of the Father for all eternity.

In Him only is our hope and our salvation for as fully God and fully man, only He could accomplish it.

The voice of the Angels has rung out for two millennia and rings out again even this night: “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

Do not fear, beloved children of God, for in Christ there is no longer any fear of death or hell, for your many sins are forgiven. Christ the Lord is born for you and has come to save you from the snares of the devil and to bring you into God’s eternal kingdom. Christ, the true Light, has shattered the darkness of sin and death forever. This is truly ‘good tidings of great joy,’ because Jesus has done all this for you.

No wonder the holy angels themselves rejoiced at the birth of Jesus. After announcing these eternally good tidings to the shepherds, a whole multitude of the heavenly host sang out with praise to God, saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men!” (Lk 2:14) … as we too just sang – having ended our Advent fast.

The very fact that Jesus was born is proof of God’s good will toward us. It’s a sign that He wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. This world – the world we live in day-in and day-out – is filled with unrest, discord, and strife on account of our very real sin.

But by His birth, Christ has come to bring us very real peace – not the fleeting peace that we sometimes experience, say, around festive times like Christmas – but eternal peace with God that isn’t troubled by the turmoil around us.

Apart from Christ we are at enmity with God, but in Christ the blessed communion between God and man that was lost by Adam’s sin is reconciled and restored. “He who believes and is baptized will be saved,” says Scripture. Thus, we are restored to communion with God and are united to Christ the Prince of Peace.

God became man. The Almighty became a little child. Therefore, we journey to the manger this night with humility, repentance, and faith. We journey to the manger as those who have nothing: that Christ might impart to us the rich treasures of forgiveness and eternal life that He brings.

His birth was announced to lowly shepherds – He who, though born a lowly child – is our Good Shepherd: leading us to still waters, restoring our souls, leading us in paths of righteousness, and guiding us through the valley of the shadow of death into the house of the Lord to feast at the eternally abundant table He has set for us out of His divine goodness and mercy.

Let us this Christmas Eve follow the example of Mary, the virgin handmaid of the Lord, by treasuring all these things and pondering them in our hearts with real contrition, repentance, and faith. And let us likewise follow the example of the lowly shepherds in praising and glorifying God for sending His only-begotten Son, who was born in real flesh and died for our real salvation.

“Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

Amen.

Pr. Jon Holst