Jesus is Lord: Luke 2.11

 

As Christmas approaches we picture a nativity.  Baby Jesus is in the center and the others are standing around him.  Mary and Joseph, the shepherds and if you’re historically incorrect, the wise men are there too.  There’s a cow, a donkey and even sometimes a chicken.  The center of the nativity is the person of Jesus.  The question that’s asked is, Who is this child?  What’s he come to do?  We have the answer in Luke 2. The angels tell us.  He is the Christ of Christmas.  Jesus is Lord.  We are a contrarian people.  We don’t like anyone lording it over us.  We are independent but we still need a King over our heart. 

How many times have you said to yourself, “I cannot believe I just said that!”?  We are aware of the weaknesses in our hearts.  In Jesus we have the One who comes for our soul; Jesus is a gift for us.  Jesus is the One we can entrust our hearts to.  Jesus is our gift.

Merry Christmas to you!

This is a message of great joy!  Jesus is born.  The long awaited Messiah is here!

“For unto you is born this day” Luke 2.11a (ESV)

“Unto you” is the key word here.  The angels are calming down the shepherds.   The angels just showed up military style to say this is a gift specific for you.  As we think about Christmas, Jesus is a gift to you.  He knows you.  It’s impossible to think about Christmas without thinking about gift shopping.  The ultimate gift is Jesus Himself.  When we see a gift that has our name on it we get excited whether we are 5 years old or 75 years old.  You wonder what it is.  "It’s for me," you think.  It’s exciting.  My mom is getting a large gift for by brother in law.  It’s a ladder.  She’s trying to figure out what to do with it.  I jokingly suggested she wrap it.  Some things are so big we cannot disguise them.  Here in this verse Christmas is personalized.  It’s for you. He is for you.  Jesus came for you.  He is a gift to you.  In this day, this is what we need.

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9.6 (ESV)

What is this gift given to us?  What is given to us in the gift of Jesus?   Jesus knows your heart more than any other.  There’s a Gallup survey I saw on the state of mental health this year.  There’s a list of people and it concluded everyone is worse this year than they were last year.  Every category of people were worse except for one.  One group were better off this year than last year.  This surprised them.  Those who were better off this year are the people who regularly attend worship on a weekly basis.  God calls us to be together.  God is our Counselor.  God knows our hearts and what we need.  He is the mighty God!  We feel powerless but God is mighty and everlasting.  After 2020 is gone God will be the One who remains.  God gives a peace that lasts forever.  This is what we are given in Jesus.  These are the things we are looking for and striving to get.  It’s already given to us in the gift of Jesus.

The One who fights for you is here.

This is an amazing thought: God fights for us.  We feel alone but we are not.  A Savior is one who takes action for our good.  The Romans called the emperor their savior.  Can you even imagine someone calling our president their savior?  Any president?  We just don’t do that.  In Bible times Christians picked up on this term savior and called Jesus the Savior.  If anyone claims to be Savior other than Jesus that upsets us real quick.  Christians applied this term to Jesus. 

“in the city of David a Savior,”  Luke 2.11b (ESV)

Bethlehem was sometimes called the city of David.  The angels took the shepherds back to their roots.  They carried a messianic hope for centuries.  One like David, but greater, would come to lead them.  David was a shepherd in Bethlehem.  What did a shepherd do at that time?  He fought for his sheep.  He protected the sheep.  He lead the sheep.  The shepherd provided all that was needed for the sheep.  Jesus is that for us.

The main image here is of David as a warrior, a great king who fought for them.  We remember people who stand up for us.  Think about someone who has stood up for you.  They have a special place in your heart.  Most moms are there for us, in our corner.  Moms might be our toughest critics as well; moms stand up for their children.  David was remembered in this way.

“In the past, when Saul was our king, you were the one who really led the forces of Israel. And the LORD told you, ‘You will be the shepherd of my people Israel. You will be Israel’s leader.”                 2 Samuel 5.2 (NLT)

David fought their battles.  He put his life on the line for his sheep.  When Samuel went to anoint David, David was the unlikely one.   He was just a kid.  God anointed David.  Jesus was the unlikely one as well, a baby.  Jesus is a mighty King who fights for us.  Jesus stands up for us.  A great image in the Bible is the resurrected Jesus.  In Revelation it looks like He is slain but Jesus is still living!  Revelation can be terrifying but freeing at the same time.  Jesus goes into battle for us.  Our hearts need to know this.  Baby Jesus fights for you even in your struggles.  He is with you.  Our King is here, the One who cares for us.

Jesus is already king.

“who is Christ the Lord.”  Luke 2.11c (ESV)

“Christ the Lord,” are words that were carefully chosen.  Notice they’re in the present tense.  It’s not will be, but IS.  He IS Christ the Lord!  Jesus is already King! Christ means, “anointed one.”  Jesus is King. Let’s go see the One BORN King!  It might be more difficult to get excited about Christmas this year.  There’s 12 days to Christmas.  Today is Partridge in a Pear Tree day!  There’s 12 days to Christmas and Jesus is King!  He is already King!  This shocked everyone.  King Herod picked up on this as well:

“Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” Matthew 2.2 (NASB)

We saw the star in the east.  Herod went through a political process to become king.  Here’s the One BORN King!  Herod knew what that meant.  This is the REAL King!  If we have an absence of good leadership over our heart we’ll give ourselves over to things we shouldn’t.  Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?”  Jesus is not just King of the Jews but the King of the world.  He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords!  Jesus was BORN King!  The message of Christmas is that we have a future hope but we have this present hope too.  Jesus is already King and He is already fighting for us.  Jesus is a gift to us.  Let’s gather around Jesus, surrender our lives to Him.  Let’s say, “God, You are the One who leads my heart.  I will trust my life to You.”

Sermon Notes are taken, transcribed and posted by Jeni Martin Johnson.  Sermon is by Dr. Scotty Carpenter.