Luke Bible Study, Day 4
Today’s passage: Luke 2:1–38
Focus verse:“I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.” (Luke 2:10)
Joseph and his pregnant fiancée travel to Bethlehem for a mandatory census. Unable to find a place to stay, they hunker down in a barn. There, among the stench and filth of livestock, Jesus is born.
This is the first Christmas.
Each Christmas my attention focuses on Jesus, the real reason for our annual celebration.
In considering the first Christmas, my thoughts are warm and cozy, happy and joyous, idyllic and serene. Angels sing, awed shepherds show up, and visitors give gifts.
But all this misses that Jesus is born in someone else’s barn, amid unsanitary conditions, and with the stench of animal feces filling the air. It seems so unholy, so unworthy. There’s no medical team to monitor Mary’s condition or aid in the birth.
It’s likely just Mary and Joseph trying to figure out what to do. Mary likely helped with the birth of other babies, but I wonder how much Joseph knows about the delivery process.
Yet despite all this, Jesus is born.
Once the trauma of delivery passes and the messiness of birth is cleaned up, I envision an awestruck Mary gazing lovingly at this miracle that God produced in her.
While nursing him, she strokes his cheek and whispers, “I love you,” as only a mother can do.
As Mary overflows with joy and basks in amazement over what God has done, out in the fields a bunch of shepherds are doing their job, unaware of what has happened.
Suddenly an angel shows up. He begins by saying what most angels say when they appear before humans, “Don’t freak out.” Even so, understandably so, the shepherds tremble at his glory.
Then the angel says, “Newsflash: A baby has just been born in Bethlehem. He’s the Savior. The Messiah you’ve been longing for.” He tells them what to look for: a baby swaddled, abed in a manger.
Then, to underscore the validity of the angel’s message, a grand angel choir appears. They chant their praise to God, giving him all glory and blessing the earth with the peace of his favor.
The shepherds rush to Bethlehem to check things out. Just as the angel said, they find the proud parents watching over the baby boy, Jesus, who’s sleeping in an animal feed trough.
After confirming what the angel had told them, the shepherds leave and tell everyone they meet about the angel’s message and Jesus’s birth. Then the shepherds head back to their flocks, in awe of God and what he has begun.
The shepherds believe what the angel told them, seek confirmation, and then tell everyone, praising God in the process. They’re the world’s first missionaries for Jesus.
After they leave, Mary grows introspective, pondering and cherishing all these events in her heart.
Questions:
What do we do with the good news of Jesus?
Do we tell others or keep it to ourselves?
[Discover more about Jesus’s birth in Matthew 2:1–23.]
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Read more about the book of Luke in Dear Theophilus: A 40-Day Devotional Exploring the Life of Jesus through the Gospel of Luke, now available in ebook, paperback, and hardcover.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront a status quo faith and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
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