Characters at the Cradle: The Birth of Jesus, The Main Character

by David Chadwick

This week, we are going to look specifically at the birth of Jesus and the important role that the shepherds and angels played as characters at the cradle. However, before we look at some more of these secondary characters, we must first STOP and look at the main character. Jesus is the main event. He IS the ultimate character at the cradle, around whom God’s entire story is written. He is the pinnacle of all creation, the peak of all prophecies, and the climax of the story!

Join me today as we look at Luke 2:1-4.

Did you know that everything in human history is under God’s control? There is not one atom outside of his creation. Even the disappointing, confusing, and discouraging parts of life are used for the glory of God and for his purposes to be accomplished both in us as individuals and in the world.

Luke 2 starts with a decree from Caesar Augustus to conduct a census. In his decree, everyone had to return to their hometowns to register for the taxation. What began as a tax request paved the way for the birth of Jesus to take place in Bethlehem!

Before we continue, notice Dr. Luke’s detail-oriented insights. His medically trained mind, once again, gives us details that others may have overlooked. He shares the name of the emperor and the governor of Syria. Because of that, we now know that the history of Jesus’s birth took place during the same time as Quirinius was governor of Syria, which confirms that history aligns with God’s Word!

While Caesar Augustus was the emperor of Rome and Quirinius was over Syria, God remains the eternal “emperor” of the world! He is the King of kings. The Emperor of emperors. God is in control and every intricate detail exists to fulfill Old Testament prophecy. From Nazareth to Bethlehem, everything took place the way it did in order to carry out God’s plan!

Jesus had to be born in Bethlehem to fulfill prophecy in Micah 5:2, specifically in the city of David, called Bethlehem, where David, too, was born. Did you know Joseph was from Bethlehem as well? Jesus was in the lineage of King David, another fulfillment of prophecy.

Always remember this truth: man proposes, God disposes.

Daniel 2:21 says that God “changes times and seasons; removes kings and sets up kings…” Augustus, so mighty and powerful, was nothing but a mere puppet in God’s hands, used strategically for God’s glory. This is true of every ruler and authority throughout human history, and it’s true of rulers today. Take heart. God is always in control. The Father is the master author, Jesus is the main character and, through his Spirit, he continues to be the conductor of the world!

Characters at the Cradle: Zechariah’s Prophecy, Light to the World

by David Chadwick

Zechariah concluded his prophecy in verse 79 by proclaiming that John the Baptist would “give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” John the Baptist would proclaim a message that would give light to the shadow of death, which is often people’s greatest fear. But this light would also guide our feet to the way of peace. So we don’t misstep, trip, or fall!

As we discussed yesterday, God gives us the sunrise every morning, simply because of his grace. The sun gives us light for the day. In the same way, the SON of God shines light on the darkness of our sin. What a wonderful insight for Jesus’s advent, his coming to us!

Jesus aimed to give us light in the midst of our darkness. In fact, in John 8:12, Jesus called himself the light of the world. Why is this significant? Because when sin cursed the world, darkness overtook the light. We became a world without hope. A story without promise. A life with no future. But God!

Jesus saved us from all darkness and all sin. Peter said that we were delivered out of the kingdom of darkness into Jesus’s marvelous kingdom of light (1 Peter 2:9).

If we follow Jesus and his light, we, too, are called to be lights in this dark world! Once Jesus invades our hearts and his light dwells in us, we are salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16). We bring light to the darkness of the world and salt to that which has no flavor.

Sometimes that light will cause unbelievers to squint in pain as our light exposes their sin. But it’s needed to reveal the purity of the Gospel! The light of Christ helps us see each step clearly that ultimately guides us home to our Father in heaven.

Luke 1 concludes in verse 80 by saying, “And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.” Every day that John got older in body, he became older in the Lord.

We see in Scripture that God’s greatest saints often spent long hours in solitude and contemplation before their ministries became public. This was certainly true of Jesus! Think about him between the ages of 12 and 30. He spent that time in tremendous preparation for his public ministry.

As for John the Baptist, God eventually called him into the wilderness until he was to go public. How long was that? We don’t know. But by the time God finally made John public, he was preaching a message of repentance that drew thousands to baptism. He spent his life continually preparing the way of the Lord, Jesus, the Savior of the world!

Characters at the Cradle: Zechariah’s Prophecy, A Message of Repentance

by David Chadwick

Zechariah’s prophecy gives strong gospel implications to the importance and need for repentance.

Luke 1:77-78 says that John, in preparing the way for the Lord, would “give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high…”

Zechariah knew that John’s life’s mission would be to point to Jesus. John the Baptist would bring a message of repentance before people even heard Jesus’s message. His words would prime the hearts of people to receive the Word (John 1:1).

Jesus’s message would then bring people the knowledge of salvation and offer the forgiveness of sins. Through him, all of mankind would be offered the perfect union that had once existed between God and his creation. Jesus would restore everything that had been broken. He would repair, reunite, redeem, and rebuild!

My dear friends, our greatest need as humans is not more “stuff” that we don’t actually need. Rather, it is to know that we are forever forgiven, that our eternity is secure through Jesus, and that our lives are meant to bear fruit for his Kingdom while living on this broken earth. If we truly understood these realities, we would never need to worry about anything again!

God made this salvation message known first through John and then through Jesus. Because of the “tender mercy of our God,” he does not want any of us to receive what we deserve. If karma is true, then all of us deserve an eternity in hell for our sins, disobedience, unrighteousness, and godlessness. None of us are blameless and without fault. Any sin, even the slightest one, scars us. God knew this!

Instead of leaving us to wallow in our brokenness, God, rich in grace and mercy, came to us. He came to us from “on high,” heaven, and visited us like the sunrise visits us every morning of every day. What do we do to cause the sun to rise each day? Absolutely nothing! It’s only because God loves us SO much that he gives us this daily reminder of his mercy and grace.

Lamentations 3:22-23 says, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” What a great God we serve!