Christmas Eve

The Nativity of Our Lord: Christmas Eve

December 24, 2022

Text: Luke 2:1-20

            “Fear not” (Luke 2:10; KJV).  That is the preaching of Christmas to all who are “sore afraid” (v. 9).  The shepherds were sore afraid that first Christmas.  Literally, they feared a great fear.  After all, it isn’t every day (or night, as they case may be), that the angel of the Lord comes upon you, and the glory of Lord shines round about you.  And you know very well that the effeminate angel that tops your Christmas tree is nothing like the real thing.  Angels are fearsome creatures.  Mighty warriors.  And when they appear in the divine radiance of the Lord Himself, well… It’s enough to scare you to death.  In fact, it will kill you, mortal sinner that you are, unless… Unless there is the preaching.  “Fear not.”  Why?  Because this is the eternal life-saving and life-giving Gospel, the good tidings of great joy announced by the angel: “unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (v. 11).

            “Fear not,” dear shepherds, for Messiah has come.  Unto you a Child is born.  Unto you a Son is given (Is. 9:6).  God has come down in flesh and blood.  Not to execute His wrath on lowly sinners, but to be one with them, to pitch His tent among them (John 1:14), to save them, by offering Himself up as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).  And here is where you will find Him: wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger (Luke 2:12).  It’s enough to make all heaven sing.  And so heaven does.  The whole heavenly host (v. 13).  Angels and archangels and all the company of heaven.  They sing the first Christmas carol: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (v. 14).

            “Fear not,” dear Christian.  The angelic Gospel proclaimed to shepherds of old, is likewise proclaimed to you this night, as you keep watch, and long for the morning light.  God knows you fear a great fear.  God knows you are sore afraid.  Perhaps you don’t fear an intrusion of angels.  But your fears are not all that different than those of the shepherds.  The perils of the night: The dark and cold, wolves, predators, violent malefactors.  

            And for that matter, your fears are not all that different than those that plagued the Holy Family.  Government decrees and burdensome taxes.  Stressful and dangerous travel, only to be turned away at the door on Christmas Eve.  And the young woman is pregnant… an unplanned pregnancy.  And poor.  And now her time has come.  “You can sleep with the animals.  It’s the best we can offer.”  Perhaps you, or someone you know and love, have been faced with such fear and cruel rejection.  In any case, you know what it is to be crushed from above and pressured from all sides, with no apparent resources to come to your rescue.  And that is certainly the case when it comes to your sins.  The holy Law of God proffers no mercy.  Only guilt and condemnation.  It presses down from above.  And the world offers no real solace.  Only broken promises and rejection.  The squeeze to keep up, or give up.  It is enough to scare you to death.  In fact, it will kill you.  Unless…

            “Fear not,” all you who walk in darkness, and everyone who is oppressed (Is. 9:2, 4).  For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, who is Christ, the Lord.  He is born into your fear.  The Light breaks into the darkness.  Hope cuts through despair.  The glory of the Lord shines round about you in the very dark of night.  He is born in poverty and in the filth of a stable.  And the yoke of His burden, the staff for His shoulder, the rod of His oppressor, He breaks as on the Day of Midian (Is. 9:4), when, in great weakness and sorrow, He bears His cross to Golgotha to die for your sins, and for the sins of the whole world. 

            He was born of the Virgin Mary for this very moment.  God cannot die.  But a man can.  A mere man cannot atone for the sins of the world.  But God can.  This fleshy little Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger… He is God.  Our God is a Man.  The Man, suffering, bleeding, and nailed to the cross, bearing the full weight of our transgressions against God’s holy Law, crushed by God’s righteous wrath from above, hemmed in on all sides by those who mock and jeer and reject His suffering love… He is the eternal Son of the Father.  True God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true Man, born of the Virgin Mary.  But He is your Lord.  He does this for you.  Why?  To make you His own.  To wash away your sins.  To rescue you from every oppression.  To give you eternal life and joy.  So that you need never fear again. 

            “Fear not.”  That is the Christmas preaching.  And the speaking of God makes it so.  The shepherds do not die.  And neither do you.  For Christ born of Mary has died for your sins.  The Seed of the woman has crushed the serpent’s head (Gen. 3:15).  And now He is risen, in the very Body born on Christmas.  Unbreakable Life breaks into death.  Glory to God in the highest.  Our Lord Jesus has done all things well.  And on earth, peace.  That is, God’s good will toward men.  Peace between heaven and earth.  For your sins are forgiven.  God’s anger is assuaged.  He is for you, and not against you.  God and sinners are reconciled.  No more pressing down from above.

            And this makes for reconciliation between sinners.  This makes for peace between you and those who have hurt you, and between you and those whom you’ve hurt.  Christ has redeemed you from all lawlessness (Titus 2:14), and given you to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions (v. 12), and that includes all grudges and refusals to forgive.  And He’s given you to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives, and that means repenting of the sins you’ve committed against others, asking for forgiveness.  And forgiving as you have been forgiven.  And so, no more pressing in from all sides.  By His incarnation, death, and resurrection, Christ Jesus has freed you from those chains.    

            Now our Lord Jesus has ascended in this same Body, born of Mary, to the right hand of God the Father in heaven, where He rules all things for us.  As Isaiah prophesied, the government is upon His shoulder (Is. 9:6).  But this also means He is hidden from your eyes.  Nevertheless, “Fear not.”  He is not gone from you.  As a matter of fact, you know just where to find Him, where you always have access to your flesh and blood God.  You will find Him swaddled in the pages of Holy Scripture, and lying on the altar to feed you with the Bread of Life, which is to say, with Himself. 

            “Bethlehem” is a Hebrew name that means “House of Bread,” and that is the Church.  Let us go, then, even unto the Church of God to see this thing which has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us: That unto us a Child is born.  Unto us a Son is given.  He is our Savior, Christ, the Lord.  And it is right here that meek souls will receive Him still, with all His Gospel gifts.  “Fear not,” dear Christian.  The hopes and fears of all the years are met in the Christ Child tonight.  God is born in flesh and blood for you.  Merry Christmas.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.