November 10, 2024
Luke 2:6-14
“Myths Busted”
A couple of months ago, pastor and author Steve Bezner opined {if you’re inclined to sound your approval, wait until I share my take on it}:
Sometimes I joke about what I’d do if I had one day left to live. Eat junk, go crazy, etc.
Today it hit me: Jesus knew. And he washed feet.
Au contraire, mon frère. While the social justice wing of evangelicalism resonated with that, it couldn’t be wronger. Knowing his earthly life was coming to an end, how did Jesus spend his last day? What was Jesus’ final act of service? He died on the cross. That was his last act of service.
Sometimes myths have to be busted.
Did you know a lot of people believe the saying, “God helps those who help themselves” is in the Bible? Couldn’t be further from the truth. Nowhere to be found in the Bible.
Sometimes myths have to be busted.
Mary was a perpetual virgin. As we saw in our series from the Book of James, totally false.
Sometimes myths have to be busted.
We always get the clearer, more beautiful truth of something when we reject the myths surrounding it.
With that in mind, let’s now read Luke 2:6-14:
And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
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, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
Before we separate the beautiful Biblical truth from Christmas myths, here are the final three Biblical affirmations from Luke 2:
THE SAVIOR – Jesus Takes Away All Our Guilt
THE CHRIST – Jesus Fulfills All Our Hopes
THE LORD – Jesus Defeats All Our Enemies, And Makes Us Safe And Satisfied Forever
We will close with the implication of those powerful Biblical truths, especially the third one. They are profoundly tied to the praising of verse fourteen - “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
Right now, let’s look at verses six through eight. We’ll tackle some myths along the way.
First, verse six is fairly direct and to the point. “And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son…”
What’s the first thing you notice? Luke doesn’t belabor the point. Mary gives birth. I loathe the depiction of childbirth in television shows and movies. It is so cliché. Graphic and over-the-top. Luke spares us that. There is so much discretion and respect. It happened. Mary gave birth. We don’t need details.
The other important thing Luke tells us is that Mary and Joseph will have at least another son. Why do we know that? Because he says firstborn son, not only son.
Next there’s the sweet touch of a cultural practice. “And she wrapped him in swaddling cloths.”
Normally, at birth, a baby was wrapped in bandage-like strips to keep the legs and arms still. It provided warmth. It was also thought to give the newborn a sense of security.
First, swaddling reveals parental care for the child. In pronouncing God’s punishment for His disobedient people, Ezekiel 16:4-5 gives us the exact opposite of that:
And as for your birth, on the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you out of compassion for you, but you were cast out on the open field, for you were abhorred, on the day that you were born.
The infant Jesus was shown parental care.
Second, swaddling reveals Jesus shares the same experiences of all people. He was born into our shared humanity. Solomon once said:
“I was nursed with care in swaddling cloths. For no king had had a different beginning of existence; there is for all one entrance into life, and one way out.”
Third, and most importantly, at the end of his life, Jesus will be wrapped in a linen death shroud. Luke is signaling the true meaning of Jesus’ birth. Jesus Christ was born to die. To take away the sins of the world.
Now on to some myth busting.
As I shared last week, over twenty years ago, during the holiday season, I
was invited to speak to a community organization about Christmas. What I’m about to share with you, I shared those lo, two decades ago. After-ward, someone I didn’t know, told me I ruined the Christmas story for her. I ruined Christmas with Biblical truth. It felt good knowing I was the destroyer of idols and false sentimentalities. That’s my superpower.
The first piece of the reality puzzle is the word translated “manger.” A more better translation of that word would be a crib for fodder. Or feeding trough. It makes sense that Mary would wrap her baby and lay him in something that can function as a crib. And what’s in the feeding trough? Right…probably straw. Perhaps, instead of “Away in a Manger,” we should sing, “Away in a Feeding Trough.”
Here's the point and the importance of the more accurate translation:
THE SAVIOR WHO DIES ON A SHAMEFUL CROSS WAS PLACED IN A LOWLY TROUGH FOR BARN ANIMALS WHEN HE WAS BORN…HIS HEAD RESTS WHERE CATTLE HAVE FED.
Everything Luke writes makes a distinct theological point.
Next up is the translation of the phrase, “No place for them in the inn.”
First, remember the feeding trough. The feeding trough was in a stall. The stall was attached to the house, where the animals would be brought in on cold nights. Think of it as a garage attached to a single room peasant dwelling in a small village. Also understand, and this is a little hint of what’s coming, there is no record of any type of inn in Bethlehem. None whatso-ever. With absolute archeological/historical certainty…zero…zilch…nada. Not even an Airbnb.
Here's what Luke reports in 22:11, as Jesus directs his disciples on where to go for the Last Supper:
“And tell the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’”
Luke uses the same word, kataluma, here that he uses in 2:7. It makes no sense to translate them differently. Luke uses the correct Greek word for “inn” in the parable of the good Samaritan in 10:34. Luke was a smart guy who knew what he was doing. So there was no place for them in the guest
room.
“No place for them in the guest room” wasn’t as bad as it sounded. What the archeological and historical record does show is that single room peasant dwellings often had a guest room cobbled together on the roof of the house.
This was the home of a relative of Joseph. The family cooked, ate, slept, and lived in the main room. Animals were brought in at night and kept in a lower level of the living room. It was in the lower level where the feeding trough would be.
Here’s why there was no room in the guest room. Because this was the village of Joseph’s family, obviously other family members arrived first for the census, so they were given the guest room. No phone ahead plans 2,000 years ago. It would have been impolite to ask the guest room folks to leave, so Mary and Joseph were accommodated in the main section of the home.
Our Savior was born in a one room peasant dwelling and placed in a feeding trough. There was no inn, innkeeper, or innkeeper’s wife. With apologies to all you lovers of A Charlie Brown Christmas. Besides, Biblical truth is much better than any bastardization of the real Christmas story. The gospel truth of a one room peasant dwelling and a feeding trough is a much more beautiful thing.
One last point. “And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.” Notice it doesn’t say she was in labor as they travelled or immediately upon arrival in Bethlehem. It doesn’t even say they arrived late at night so they had to accept whatever shelter was available. Yet how is the birth of Jesus always portrayed? At night. No indication at all about the time or exact date.
Why do we assume Jesus was born at night? Because, in verse 8, we read, “And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.” We are never told when after the birth the shepherds were visited by an angel of the Lord. We’re simply told it happened at night.
Luke wants us to understand how important it is to remember all of these things. In the same way, as we’ll see much later, it will be essential for us to remember the empty tomb. Here we see a baby, born in a one room peasant dwelling, wrapped in bands of cloth, placed in a feeding trough. How simple and basic is that? In the same way, three decades later, we’ll see an empty tomb with burial cloths unwrapped and set aside. Bookends. The story of our salvation history begins as it ends.
A feeding trough marks the beginning of the story. Let’s connect it with the ending:
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” And they remembered his words.
Luke remembered the words. From beginning to end, he remembered them. And he also remembered Isaiah 1:2-3:
Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth;
for the Lord has spoken:
“Children have I reared and brought up,
but they have rebelled against me.
The ox knows its owner,
and the donkey its master's crib,
but Israel does not know,
my people do not understand.”
Can you hear it? Isaiah lamented that sinful people did not know God as their feeding trough who nourished His people. Luke 2:7 connects to Isaiah 1 in which the sign to the shepherds is a lowly baby lying in a feeding trough. Luke, with some subtlety, tells us that the feeding trough is now made known. It’s the sign to the shepherds of God’s salvation history.
We’ll end here with something you might want to write down:
THROUGH JESUS CHRIST, GOD WILL FEED HIS HUNGRY PEOPLE.
Until next week:
SOLI DEO GLORIA…
To the Glory of God Alone
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