Incarnation! (Luke 2:1-20)

Headlines shouted about emperors, decrees, and peace from the point of a sword. We turn the camera 1,500 miles away to a dusty road, a tired couple, and a manger that upends everything we assume about power, timing, and hope. By walking through Luke 2, we explore how a taxing order from Caesar becomes the unlikely path that lands Mary and Joseph exactly where an ancient promise said the Messiah would arrive—Bethlehem. What looks like political control is actually providence in motion.

We also dig into the startling choice of first witnesses. Angels bypass palaces and pulpits and light up a field of shepherds, men considered unclean and unreliable in court. The message they carry is the core of the Christian claim: good news of great joy for all people. Savior, Christ, Lord—each title is loaded with truth, announcing both rescue and reign. The sign is not luxury or status but a feed trough, a picture of humility that does not diminish glory. It reframes peace from a Roman promise into a reality that reconciles hearts to God.

From there we follow the shepherds’ simple pattern: go, see, tell. They become a living model for how ordinary people share extraordinary news. No formal training, just firsthand wonder and a clear message. We reflect on Mary’s quiet pondering, the mixed responses of the crowd, and the long arc of history that outlives Rome’s slogans. Augustus dies without a resurrection; Jesus will rise and validate every promise sung by that angel choir. If you’re feeling pushed around by headlines and mandates, this story steadies your steps: God is awake, purposes are intact, and peace is nearer than it seems.

If this conversation encouraged you, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs hope, and leave a quick review to help others find it. What part of the story spoke to you most today?

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Chapters

• 1:05 Sing The Glory Like Shepherds
• 1:38 Rome’s Savior Claims Versus Reality
• 2:48 Luke’s Spotlight Leaves Rome
• 5:08 God Moves Kings To Keep Promises
• 8:41 Taxes, Travel, And God’s Timing
• 13:20 Angels Announce Good News To Outcasts
• 17:47 Why Shepherds Become First Witnesses
• 21:26 Heaven’s Chorus And A Humble Sign
• 24:26 Wonder, Doubt, And Mary’s Pondering

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:38

We need to follow the example of these shepherds and keep singing about the glory of God. We need to follow their example. They're telling everybody they can't keep it to themselves. You say, but I'm not trained in evangelism. Well, you don't need to go to medical school to tell somebody you found a good doctor. You don't need to go to culinary school to tell somebody you found a good restaurant. You don't need to be formally trained in theology to tell somebody you found the savior. If this group of unlettered, illiterate, poor shepherds can do this, so kid. So can well it didn't take very long for the news to literally reach around the world that a baby boy was born, a very special baby. He was heralded as the one who would bring peace. In fact, one document outside of Scripture that survived for more than 2,000 years announced that he was the Savior of mankind. A quote, his birth marked the beginning of all good tidings for the world. The problem is they weren't talking about the birthday of Jesus. They were celebrating the birth date and reign of Caesar Gaius Octavius, later named Caesar Augustus, which means supreme or divine ruler. Augustus had ascended the seat of power after his adoptive father, Julius Caesar, was assassinated. Augustus took over a rather disorganized association of regions, fractured by division, tribes, and over the next forty-five years he forged them into the Roman Empire that we think of today. He built magnificent buildings, temples, paved roads, built aqueducts, instituted the Pax Romana, the peace of Rome. He was indeed the deliverer of peace. So it seemed. He administrated financial, legal, religious reforms. Several years before the birth of Christ, Halley's comet blazed across the night sky, and a middle-aged Caesar Augustus proclaimed that it was the spirit of his adoptive father Julius Caesar being ascended to his glory in heaven. And the superstitious Roman Empire believed him, and Augustus jumped on the opportunity and had coins minted on one side the likeness of Julius Caesar, and on the other side his own likeness, along with the word Caesar, son of a god. And the gospel accounts seem to highlight this distinction as Luke in particular begins the narrative of the birth of Christ. The birth of Christ is going to take place 1,500 miles away from the seed of Rome's power on the other side of the Mediterranean. And it's as if Luke is highlighting here at the outset, you know, listen, if you think what's really happening in the world today, if you really want to talk about headlines, don't look at Rome. You need to look 1,500 miles away to this little obscure village and what's happening there. So let me invite you to open your Bible and let's go back as we are studying through Luke's gospel and rejoin our study. We're in chapter 2 and verse 1, and we'll go through it fairly quickly. Verse 1, in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be registered, that is, for the purpose of taxation. This was the first registration when Curinius was governor of Syria. Now, stop. This is almost as if to imply, as far as Luke's concerned, this would be the perspective of the world that these guys are the ones in charge. These are the ones who control the lives of the citizens in their empire. You've got the national leader in Rome, and you've got the regional leader, the governor here in Syria. I mean, these guys are the movers and the shakers of power. They're the ones calling the shots in everybody's life. I find it interesting that with all of the edicts and decrees that Caesar Augustus sent out, this wasn't the first, this won't be the last. Of all the mandates he announced, of all the speeches he delivered, of all the buildings he dedicated, of all the reforms he initiated, none of it, none of it is mentioned except this one decree. Why? As if to say, Luke is telling us who really happens to be in charge. A decree went out from Caesar Augustus. Yeah, but what's God really doing here? What's God really doing? Well, if you're old enough in the faith, you you already know. You got a young couple expecting a baby, and they're living in the wrong city. They're living in Nazareth. They're not where they're gonna need to be in order to fulfill the prophecy of Micah, delivered 800 years earlier, that the birth of the ruler of Israel, the Messiah, will take place 90 miles away in Bethlehem. So how do you get this couple from Nazareth to Bethlehem 90 miles away at the worst possible moment of their lives? Well, God ordains the means. He controls the hearts of kings. They seem to be in control, but they are only indirectly. God is controlling history. History, as you've probably heard, is his story. And we're given here sort of an inside peek at how God is working behind the scenes, and I think this is great. God moves the heart of this Caesar to make him all of a sudden hungry for a little more tax revenue. And he wakes up with a bright idea. I think I'll tax the whole world. And 600 senators evidently agreed, and probably wholeheartedly, because that's what rulers and senators do. They tax people. But for Joseph and Mary, this is the worst of times. They among the Jewish nation hated the oppression of Rome. This would have been the talk of the town. Look what Caesar's done. He's messing up our lives. We gotta leave everything and take this trip for the purpose of taxation. Where is God in all of this? That's what they would have been asking. Maybe you felt like that in these days lately. Maybe you feel like your life's been upset and changed, and maybe you feel like your life's been bounced around like a pinball, and all of it's outside your control. You've adapted from one decree to the next, from one mandate to the other, from one confusing report to the next, and maybe you've wondered where is God in all of this. Well, we may not have all the answers, but we do know that God is at work. And this opening line reminds us. In fact, the psalmist says in Psalm 121, verse 4, our God never slumbers or sleeps. You know what that means? That means that you can. You can sleep. Not now, at night, but whenever you get the chance. Beloved, don't get too distraught or distracted or caught up in the decrees and mandates and decisions of emperors and senators and governors. God is ultimately doing something, and we usually don't catch on until later. But if the people in Joseph and Mary's world were looking to Rome now, which they were, and grumbling about Rome, which they were now, and upset with Rome, which they were now, they're looking in the wrong direction. What's really happening is God setting this up for something that's going to happen 1,500 miles away. They're misdirected. Caesar Augustus here, no doubt, thinks he's in charge. No, no. God is in charge of Caesar Augustus. Yes, this trip came at the worst time, made their lives uncomfortable. The trip was difficult, even dangerous. But get your perspective right. It's easy for us to say that about them. What about us? But get it right about them. Joseph and Mary are not pawns in the hand of Caesar Augustus. Caesar Augustus is the pawn in the hand of God. God's purposes are being fulfilled through this imperial decree. Verse 3 tells us that all the empire is scattering back to their hometown origins. They've got to obey this imperial decree. Now we know from history that wives would not have been required to accompany their husbands. Certainly not a betrothed or an engaged, expecting woman. The original construction of verses four and five indicate that Joseph is registering and Mary is with him. Not to register, she is simply accompanying him as he registers. It's a little tricky in the English language. And frankly, you you gotta wonder why is she along? We're not told why, although my guess would be that she welcomed the opportunity to get out of town. The shame she has experienced by her pregnancy would have been extremely painful. Nobody's believing her story. Even Joseph needed an angel to confirm that she was still a virgin. He didn't believe it. You wouldn't have believed it, nor would I. See, Luke is not writing to satisfy our curiosity. He's keeping the account simple, he's keeping it uncluttered. He's giving us enough details to allow us to see the humility of Christ's incarnation, the unusual fulfillment of how God orchestrated events and turned the heart of the king so that they'd end up in Bethlehem. The perfection of his timing, that God is in control. Luke also lets us know how some of the most unlikely people become really the first human evangelists. They're introduced to us in verse 8. Notice there. And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them. He's unnamed, it could have been Gabriel, he's been busy during the season. But we're not told. And the glory, doxa, the Shekinah glory of the Lord shone around them, which is unique in its expression. There's so much here, I'm flying through it, but think about the fact that the Lord is lying in a manger, feed trough, but now here the glory of the Lord is shining around these shepherds. If there's anything that would indicate at least two persons of the Godhead, it would be this. You got a baby, the Lord, and you have the glory of the Lord shining here. But the glory of the Lord is shining around them, and of course, they do what we do, they shake with fear. The angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. By the way, this phrase you ought to underline, I bring you good news is one verb, youangalizumai, it gives us our English word evangelism. That's what evangelism is. We've got some good news to tell you. We want to tell you some great news. This is what evangelism is. In fact, in the first century, this one verb would be used for a messenger delivering a message from a king. It would be used to announce the birth of a royal heir. It would also be used to announce some victory. And isn't that the gospel? Isn't that what we're informing people? We're delivering a message from the king. We're telling them the royal heir to the throne of David has been born, the Messiah, and he's gonna win. That's it. And that's true because this isn't just any baby. Look at verse 11. For unto you is born this day, today, in the city of David a savior, a savior that's deliverer, rescuer from danger, typically used, who is Christ. That means the anointed one. Only the Messiah could claim that title. And he's also, notice, the Lord. Curios is the word. It's used a thousand times in the Greek translation of the Old Testament. For Yahweh, Jehovah, Jehovah. This is Jehovah, this is God in the flesh. And here's the sign. Notice, wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger, feed trough. That's the sign. How could that be a sign? Well, there might be more than one baby born in Bethlehem among all these travelers, but he'll be the only baby lying in a feed trough. Which highlights his humiliation. Now back up just a minute. The angel is delivering this rather stunning incarnation news to shepherds, which is fascinating. If you're older in the faith, you're aware that shepherds in these days weren't allowed to testify in court. Why choose them to testify of Christ's birth? They were ceremonially unclean. They weren't able to keep all the regulations. They had to work on the Sabbath. They worked seven days a week. Evidently, the sheep wouldn't take a day off. And so, because of that, they're in trouble. According to the Mishnah, a collection of Jewish codified law, they're considered perpetually unclean. They're just an inch or two above lepers. Why announce this to them? Ever wondered what happened to the Sanhedrin? Israel's Supreme Court with these Jewish scholars and attorneys? What happened to the leading rabbis of the day? What happened to the chief priest in Jerusalem? What happened to Augustus? I'd love to send an angel over to that guy and tell him, hold on, big boy, you're not the savior of the world. You'd think the angel got the wrong address. In fact, to this day, shepherds are not the movers and shakers of society, especially in third world countries. They're hired to do labor nobody else wants to do. Timothy Laniac, in his journal he published a few years ago, I pulled it off my shelf again this week. He recorded his insights gleaned from a year of field research living among Bedouin shepherds in the Middle East as he worked on his PhD. He literally lived with him, traveled with him. In his introduction to his book, he records what happened when he told them he wanted to live with them and study them and research them. Here's their response to him. Quote What is there to research about us? We we spend our lives running after sheep and goats. We don't have a home nor an address. We sleep under the open sky in winter, summer in the rain, year after year carrying cooking utensils on camels and mules. We can't even rest in one place for a week. Why will you waste your time? We are nothing. Isn't it interesting how the gospel begins in this manner? In fact, elevating this humble role to stand to this day as a metaphor for biblical leadership. In Ephesians 4 11, the term for pastors comes from this term for shepherds. The Apostle Peter will call Jesus Christ the chief shepherd of the church. The writer of Hebrews will call him the great shepherd. In fact, the Lord himself adopts this term as he refers to himself as the good shepherd. You may be aware that today is our first Sunday to assemble under a new name. Well, what a sweet image. And that's what we hope to present of our Lord and his leadership and care. We want to be known above all the other titles and identifiers and terms and names as simply a church that belongs to him. We are the shepherds church. It's actually a military term. And they begin saying or singing the word I ne'o is often used to replace halal in the Old Testament. This is more like chanting. You don't have the big angel singing bass and the little angel singing tenor. This is really more of a chant. And it would have shook the earth. You can imagine John and his tour will see a hundred million angels. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased. Jewish couples would typically hire local musicians to help them celebrate the birth of a child. Joseph and Mary are alone. They certainly can't afford musicians and they're far from home. God the Father sends the musicians directly from heaven. When the concert is finished, the shepherds take off, verse 16, and they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby in a manger and indicates, implies they're alone at this point. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning the child, and all who heard it wondered. It's clear others are showing up now. The news is spreading. Everyone's mystified. They're marveling at the tale of these shepherds about angels appearing in the sky and singing of a savior. No, no, no, the savior is over there in Rome. Oh, really? Some of the people probably walked away shaking their heads, thinking those shepherds have been out in the open way too long. They've been doing seven days a week too long. Others, no doubt, ask questions. We're told here in verse 19 that Mary treasured it all up. She pondered it. It means she tried to put the pieces together. She can't quite figure it out. Notice the shepherds returned, glorifying, praising God. Same verbs used for the angels. They're not doing what the angels were doing. It implies they're now singing what the angels were singing. They're now chanting on their way back the lyrics to the song they just learned. It stuck with them. In fact, I'm sure they never, ever forgot it. This becomes the first hymn, so to speak, the first chorus after the birth of Christ. We need to follow the example of these shepherds and keep singing about the glory of God and the gospel of God. We need to follow their example. They're telling everybody. They can't keep it to themselves. They're giving, they're delivering the gospel, the good news. Let's pray that God will allow us to do that in this year. You say, but I'm not trained in evangelism. Well, you don't need to go to medical school to tell somebody you found a good doctor. You don't need to go to culinary school to tell somebody you found a good restaurant. You don't need to be formally trained in theology to tell somebody you found the savior. If this group of unlettered, illiterate, poor shepherds can do this, so can so can we. Well, several years after this scene here in Luke 2, Caesar Augustus, ironically, in the month of August, caught a chill on a night journey by ship, developed into pneumonia, and this 76-year-old son of a god, worshipped as deity, called the savior of the world, the deliverer of peace. Those were all his titles. He passed away. And three days later, he did not rise again. Jesus would have been around eighteen years of age. I spent time just wondering. When he heard the news, if he quietly reflected on the tragedy that this Caesar had adopted titles that Jesus knew by now belonged only to the Messiah, to him. That he was the divine ruler of a kingdom to come. That he was the Son of God. That he was the Savior. That he was the Prince of Peace. Who is he? To you, I don't know.