EXTRAORDINARY

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Luke 2:1-20            

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

That day in Bethlehem, the day when Christ was born was no special day. In fact, had it not been for the census ordered by Caesar Augustus, it would have been just another quiet day in a little town that rarely had excitement or fanfare.

There were a lot of people in town as they had been required to return to their hometown to register. Many had traveled a distance to get there and needed a place to stay. The guest rooms, usually available, were all booked. There were no vacancies.

This was bad news for a young couple, Joseph and Mary, who arrived in Bethlehem after a three day journey from Nazareth. Now that journey would have been a challenge for anyone during this time of year but what made it even more so in this instance was that Mary was very much with child and close to the time of delivery.

Once in Bethlehem, the young couple searched for a room in the town inns but there were none available. Desperate to find a place of shelter for the time had come for the baby to be born, Joseph and Mary took refuge in a lowly stable. It wasn’t the best option but it was something. And in that stable, Mary would deliver her firstborn son, the son who would be named Jesus on His eighth day of life during His circumcision by Jewish tradition.

His coming transformed that ordinary day into something extraordinary. For this was no ordinary child but rather the most extraordinary child ever born.

Joseph and Mary knew this because, although engaged and abstinent in their sexual relations, she became pregnant by way of the Holy Spirit after the couple received individualized visits from God’s angel, Gabriel. He told them that this would be no ordinary child, not only in the way He would be conceived but who He would become. Gabriel told them that their son Jesus would be great and the son of the Most High, a title reserved for the Lord God Almighty. He would be given David’s throne by His father God and He would reign forever. His kingdom would never end. And this wasn’t all. For the main purpose of Jesus coming would be to save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:18-25, Luke 1:26-38).

Extraordinary. One baby coming to reign as King forever and save the world from their sins. And now, that child was born but not in a royal palace as one would expect a king to come into the world. No, this King of kings, the King of the Jews and all other people of the world, was lying in a manger (a feeding trough) in a stable in the little town of Bethlehem.

There were other extraordinary things happening around Bethlehem.

A group of shepherds were in the fields keeping watch over their flocks under the night sky. It was just another ordinary night for them, another night of making sure the sheep stayed together so none would stray, another night of ensuring the sheep were safe from predators. How ironic that on this ordinary night something extraordinary was happening unbeknownst to the shepherds as the One who would call Himself the Good Shepherd (John 10:11) was being born a short distance away in a humble stable.

Yes, it was an ordinary night for the shepherds, that is at least until the night sky suddenly burst into a glory-filled light as an angel of the Lord appeared before them with an extraordinary message:

“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

And as if that wasn’t enough, the night became even more incredible as the angel was joined by a great company of the heavenly host who praised God in the presence of the shepherds exclaiming:

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

Wow! What a night this was! Simply extraordinary.

Imagine that you were one of those shepherds. No one else had received this news but them. And so after the angels left them and ascended back into the heavens, they excitedly discussed what they should do saying:

“Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

And so they hurried to the place where Jesus was lying in the manger. It was just as the angels had told them. So astounding was their experience that they had to find others to spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. When they were done in Bethlehem, the shepherds returned home, not the same as when they left for they were glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, the things that occurred just as the angels had said they would.

Friends, how will we respond to the celebration of Jesus’ birth this Christmas? Will we, like the shepherds, go excitedly to tell others that this is no ordinary day but rather the extraordinary day when the Savior of the world was born? Will we like Mary, treasure up all the extraordinary events of this extraordinary day in our hearts and allow extraordinary joy to buoy us up in unspeakable hope and love?

This extraordinary day was just the beginning of an extraordinary life when an extraordinary baby would grow up to be an extraordinary man who would die as humbly as He was born before being raised to extraordinary glory and power, opening the way for the most extraordinary promise in human history, a promise that whosoever believed in this Jesus, the extraordinary Son of God, would not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

Merry CHRISTmas everyone and may our focus not be on a tree or nicely wrapped gifts or even on family get-togethers and lavish meals. May our focus be on the extraordinary Jesus, God’s greatest gift ever given, who was born this day to reign over us and save us from our sins.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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