The Eve of the Nativity of our Lord, 2022

Rev. Thomas Van Hemert

Wisdom 18:14-15; St. Luke 2:1-20

The Eve of the Nativity of our Lord

December 24, 2022

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit.

God, who is eternal and mighty, omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient, all-powerful, and all-knowing; He who sits upon the heavenly, royal throne ruling creation; He who cannot die because He is not mortal has descended from His throne and has made Himself to be mortal. The writer writes, “For while gentle silence enveloped all things, and night in its swift course was now half gone, thy all-powerful Word leaped from heaven, from the royal throne, into the midst of the land that was doomed” (Wisdom 18:14-15).

All that the Prophets prophesied; all that the Law of Moses pointed toward, especially the foreshadowing of the Day of Atonement, has found the beginning of its summation in the baby born in Bethlehem. The Lord God, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle has made Himself to be the weakest of men—a baby; a human baby that cannot protect or defend Himself. He is the ruler of all. And yet, He comes to subject Himself to the powers and rulers of this world; to become sin though He knows no sin; to be the propitiation, to shed His blood; to be the Scapegoat—the Lamb that sheds His blood for the sin of the world. He is strong and mighty but He forgoes His strength and might. He humbles Himself and takes on the form of a servant. He leaves His throne behind and descends to earth to become weak and seemingly insignificant. And yet, in doing so, it is not His glory that He seeks. He does not undertake this mission to show His own strength or to prove that He is all-powerful. He goes about this mission so that fallen man, doomed man, might be redeemed and saved. For we were once a people that was doomed.

His birth takes place almost in secret. Mary and Joseph found no room in the inn. They were led out back and were given space in a cattle stall with only a manger—a cattle feeding trough, in which to lay Her baby, who is Christ the Lord.

No one would have or could have known that the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this manner, on this exact night, that is, if it were not for the angels, the entire host of heaven announced it to shepherds in their fields.

There were in the same country, shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. Suddenly one angel of the Lord came upon them. He appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone round about them and they were afraid. And the angel said to them, “Fear not. For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” If we quickly read over the angel’s message, we miss something. If you notice, the angel says he is bringing the shepherds good tidings of great joy. Not good tidings of great joy just for the shepherds, but a general statement of “good tidings of great joy.” That’s because the birth of our Lord brings good tidings of great joy for all creation, even for the angels in heaven. Even the angels rejoice in the birth of mankind’s Savior. The angels don’t need to be saved. They’re perfectly conformed to God’s will. But even they rejoice exceedingly. 

Notice also the order in which angels appear on this night. One angel appears to the shepherds in their fields, while they’re watching their flock. He announces to them that the Savior of the world has been born. Then, it’s almost as if the heavenly host can’t contain themselves. They cannot remain silent any longer. “Suddenly there was with the angel—that first angel—a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.’” The angels cannot contain themselves. They burst into the sky singing and praising God because God and sinners are reconciled.

The joy of Christmas, then, is not merely in spending time with family, singing Christmas songs, caroling, eating yummy food, or giving and receiving material gifts, although we celebrate these things and we know they’re good. But we enjoy them because Jesus was born and He has reconciled us to His Father. In fact, it is only because Jesus was born that we can enjoy these things as reminders of what He has done. The joy of Christmas is that God has drawn near to us and has taken our toil, our hardships, our sorrows upon Himself. For when all was still and it was midnight, the Almighty Word of the Lord—the Word of God—descended from the royal throne. All creation rejoices. The angels rejoice. The saints in heaven rejoice. We rejoice. God has become like us to save us from ourselves and from our sin. The Lord has made this known to us because of the angels’ announcement and so we rejoice.

In this way, Christianity is so far removed from every other religion on earth. One of the Persons of the Holy Trinity, our God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, now is not only God, but He is also a man. Zeus never fully became a man. I mean, he’s not even real. Both Zoroaster and Muhammad were mere mortals, mere mortal men with false ideas about God. Jesus, according to Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses, who for some reason might celebrate Christmas, not sure why, but according to them, Jesus is only a man. But the baby who lies in the manger in the stillness of night is fully God and fully man. He is not God. But we know, we believe, teach, and confess that Jesus is the God who is; the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has become one of us who understands us. He created all things and He now joins His creation to redeem and save His creation.

Jesus does not waltz down to earth in a chariot with His angel hosts accompanying Him. He is born as a helpless baby. Christianity is a religion of meekness and weakness. As Christians, we are not called to go out and force the whole world to accept our religion with threats of violence. We are called to suffer this world’s violence and we will suffer injustice. Just as the Son of God became a helpless Babe, in this way did He also overcome the world through meekness and weakness. From the moment He was conceived in Mary’s womb, He relied on those around Him to care for Him. From the moment He was conceived in Mary’s womb, He was a threat to the devil. And from the moment He was conceived in Mary’s womb, the devil and the sinful world were out to get Him. But in the end, just as He laid aside His glorious majesty and royal throne in heaven, He also laid down His life for us. Because Jesus is Wonderful, our Counselor, our Mighty God, our Everlasting Father, and truly, our Prince of Peace.

In +Jesus’ name.