6 Things You Didn't Know About the Birth of Jesus | Beyond the Words | Luke 2

the nativity story if you're like most christians it's a story you've heard at least once a year throughout your entire life it's been read in church depicted in movies perhaps you feel like you know it so well that you could recite it on command but what really happened in the events leading up to jesus's birth 2000 years ago what if scripture actually paints a different picture than we think it does well in this episode of beyond the words we're going to look closely at what luke reveals to us in the second chapter of his gospel and i can guarantee you some of this will surprise you it did me now as we begin luke chapter 2 he opens by saying and it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from caesar augustus that all the world should be registered the census first took place while quirinius was governing syria now there is a lot going on in just these two verses and we're going to get to most of it but the first thing i want to point out is how these verses help us to date the birth of jesus you see since christianity began to spread people have been trying to learn everything they can about jesus life luke's gospel is a testament to this luke investigated the accounts of jesus talking to eyewitnesses in order to put together the story that we find in the gospel and one of the things that luke finds important to include is when jesus is born now from these verses we learn that jesus is born during the reign of caesar augustus when quirinius is governor and in the last chapter luke chapter 1 luke mentions that zechariah learned that his wife elizabeth was pregnant with john the baptist during the reign of herod now together these facts tell us that jesus was born sometime around 6 bc to 4 bc but over the centuries many people have had one significant problem with luke's opening lines luke says that jesus was born during a census and historical sources outside of the bible definitely do show that there was a governor named quirinius who conducted a census in the region that luke mentions in fact luke himself mentions it again in the book of acts the only problem is quirinius didn't become governor until 6 a.d that's over a decade later and well after jesus would have been born so how do we understand it did luke get his dates wrong did he just make this up well in 1984 dr e j vardaman was studying coins at the british museum that dated to before the time of jesus and on one of the coins he found a reference to a governor named quirinius who also conducted a census and served as governor in that region at the time of jesus's birth now this could be the same quarrenius and this appointment just isn't recorded elsewhere in history or it could be a different quernius either way it's one of several examples that we find in luke where modern archaeology is catching up with luke's ancient accounts but there's more to these verses than just dating the birth of jesus they also tell us why he is born and why he is born where he is born and let's start with that second one one of the questions that many people at the time of jesus would have had was how a man from nazareth could possibly be the messiah i mean throughout the gospels jesus is most often associated with the village of nazareth this is his hometown it's the hometown of his mother it's where he grew up nazareth is his home but scripture never promised a messiah from nazareth scripture said but you bethlehem ephrathah though you are small among the clans of judah out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over israel whose origins are from old from ancient times people believed that this meant that the messiah was supposed to be from bethlehem not nazareth he was to be from the line of david and the house of david had its roots in bethlehem so luke takes care of this by telling us that jesus's father is from the land of david and had to travel there for the census this explains why jesus ends up being born here rather than in nazareth but it also has led to some incredible confusion because this portion of the nativity is one of the most misunderstood and misrepresented pieces of all scripture while we might understand why jesus is born in bethlehem the events of his birth are so much different than we typically imagine and i'm about to explain to you why by sharing with you something that i've never shared before luke tells us so it was that while they were there the days were completed for her to be delivered and she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn now while you may have heard me share before that one of the reasons we misunderstand the birth of jesus is because of the translation of the word in right the actual greek word used here is cataluma which doesn't mean in it actually refers to the guest room of a house catalooma is actually the same word used when describing the upper room where jesus and his disciples met for the last supper pandochion is the word for in right this is the word that luke uses in the parable of the good samaritan to describe where the samaritan takes the injured man but what about some of the other things we believe about the nativity like the fact that mary was going into labor as they arrived into town right or that jesus was born in a cave where did these ideas come from did we just fill in the gaps over time well i'm about to tell you something that may shock you it definitely did me without realizing it we've been impacted by a story that was written 150 years after jesus was born you see in the second century there was a story written about the birth of jesus by an anonymous author titled the proto-evangelium of james in this story you will find details of the birth of jesus like mary said unto him take me down from the ass for that which is within me presseth me to come forth or and he found a cave there and brought her into it or and the wise men went forth and lo the star which they saw in the east went before them until they entered into the cave or how about this and when mary heard that the children were being slain she was afraid and she took the young child and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in an ox manger so as you can see from this story we get the idea that mary began to deliver as they reached the town the jesus was born in a cave and that the magi came when jesus was a baby this story even talks about how joseph had other sons with him while mary gave birth now when this story was written it was actually rejected by the church but over time it infiltrated itself into popular belief and evidently still impacts the way that we see the christmas story today i mean it's crazy isn't it something we believe so strongly something that is ingrained in our minds was totally made up by someone almost 200 years after jesus's birth it is a powerful reminder of just how important it is that we always approach scripture with humility and a fresh set of eyes that we engage with scripture in such a way that we are verifying the things that we believe jesus and the people of his day had huge portions of scripture memorized right they believed that memorization was more reliable than writing things down this is why the oral traditions weren't allowed to be written down it's why the gospels took decades to be written down manuscript writers can make mistakes people can misread the text but oral teachings shared among one another maintain accuracy and we can see a strong case for that here when we have read something often we don't return to it we believe that we've captured the information but when that happens our recollection of what we have read may be different than what was actually written but when we memorize things and when we share that collective memory together it initiates a system of checks and balances that ensure that the words are also maintained and what is also important to remember about the fact that these stories were originally shared orally is that they also maintained the context of the story in jewish culture words of scripture or oral traditions or the teachings of a rabbi were considered so sacred that they had to be memorized it was actually a horrible offense to inaccurately share the teachings that had been passed down but in addition to that by sharing these stories orally it also gave the opportunity for explanation people could ask questions about the stories they were hearing and one of the places where such an explanation would have been very helpful is when it comes to the next group of people that luke introduces the shepherds you see often we think of shepherds as kind gentle men who take care of sheep right we picture king david as a young boy with a sheep slung across his shoulders or maybe we think of the gentle nature of the 23rd psalm and the idea that the lord is our shepherd but in reality at the time of jesus people had a very different view of shepherds shepherds were poor rabbinic tradition labeled them as unclean their sheep roamed and grazed on private property which made them an unwanted nuisance they were considered to be dishonest and untrustworthy the mishnah indicates that shepherds were under a ban they were regarded as thieves in fact the only people considered lower than shepherds at the time of jesus were lepers i mean when you think about it these are the last people you would choose to add credibility to such a significant moment like this now according to luke the shepherds are told by the angels to visit the messiah but here's the thing they know nothing of joseph and mary they have no idea of the station of this couple or what they've been through with this pregnancy that's taken place during their engagement all they know is that they're visiting the messiah and his family and they're unclean and there is a strong possibility that they will be rejected by this family just like they have been by everyone else this is why the angel's description of jesus is so important right the angels tell the shepherds that the messiah will be in swaddling cloths lying in a manger in other words they'll be visiting a baby and beyond that that baby will be in a manger i mean this wasn't normal babies weren't normally placed in mangers it tells them something about this baby station in life that he isn't as imposing as they feared but there's more right the angels tell the shepherds that the manger and the swaddling cloths will be a sign for the shepherds which begs a really important question why call it a sign right is it such a strange thing that it will be obvious right what other baby will be lying in a manger well this is where things get really interesting you see the mishna tells us that swaddling cloths were used to wrap passover lambs after birth to protect them from injury when a baby lamb is born it often thrashes and risks injury and since these lambs were meant to be unblemished when they were sacrificed the swaddling cloth was meant for their protection the shepherds would have known all about this practice especially since lambs used for temple sacrifices were raised in bethlehem the shepherds would have seen this as a sign not only to indicate where this child was but who he would become this is the messiah the lamb of god the one who would be sacrificed for the sins of the world and the shepherds are the first to witness this what is so easily lost on us is just how beautifully upside down this story is the savior of the world comes to the dregs of society the ones who receive the greatest privilege are those that everyone considers the least worthy it's something we see throughout the gospels and it's a powerful message to all of us because i know that some of you feel like the shepherds you feel unwanted unclean unloved but the savior of the world has come to you you are not too bad for god to love you have not made too many mistakes for god to forgive but even you have been chosen for great things in god's kingdom just like these shepherds now before we get to the final thing that luke reveals to us in this nativity story i want to take a quick moment to invite you to click the thumbs up if you're enjoying this video and while you're down there please click that subscribe button these things help us to reach even more people with these videos and so thank you so much for doing it okay now back to luke alright so just a moment ago the angels revealed to the shepherds that the messiah is here and they connected jesus to the perfect lamb sacrificed for israel but there's also something else they say that explains to the shepherds who jesus truly is but to really understand it we actually have to go all the way back to the beginning of this story and look at something luke says in verse 1. you see when luke begins his gospel he opens by saying that the census decree was given by caesar augustus and this matters you see when augustus came to power he was heralded as the bringer of peace several decades earlier when julius caesar died there was a fight for power and augustus whose name then was octavian initially teamed with mark antony and a man named marcus lepidus right after caesar's death but eventually each of these men wanted power for themselves lepidus was removed from power when he tried to usurp power in sicily and several decades later octavian convinced the senate to declare war on marc antony and throughout the years that all of this was going on there was incredible political turmoil and even death as a result of these battles for power but once anthony finally committed suicide octavian was left as the sole leader of the roman empire they saw him as the one who brought peace to the empire they gave him the title augustus which means venerable one and ultimately the people deified him inscriptions can be found referring to augustus as savior and the son of god his birthday was described as the source of uengelian a word that translates good news but we also translated gospel and so with all of this in mind look at what the angels proclaim to the shepherds about jesus they say i bring you good news you and galion of great joy which will be to all the people for there is born to you this day in the city of david a savior who is christ the lord and suddenly there was with the angels a multitude of heavenly hosts praising god and saying glory to god in the highest and on earth peace good will toward men i mean when you look at it through this lens you realize that the angels are making a very pointed statement despite what the world has been told these angels come bringing the real good news the real gospel they come declaring the true bringer of peace the world declares that caesar is lord but they come proclaiming that christ is lord because jesus is their true savior i mean what this reminds us of is that at the time of jesus everyone was looking for a savior most people thought that only rome could save them only caesar could bring peace there was even a phrase circulating at the time that there is no other name under heaven by which people can be saved but caesar and yet what the angels herald in this moment is that the only name that can truly save us is jesus that the true savior of the world isn't living in a palace on one of the seven hills of rome he's in a house surrounded by animals sleeping in a manger wrapped in a sheep's cloth welcomed by shepherds in other words the savior of the world is here but he's not as we expect him and this same message is still true today i mean even today it's still so tempting to look for another caesar right this leader will take us to glory this politician will finally bring peace this money will finally make my life better this trend will save my marriage this news will make me happy but even 2 000 years later we realized that the story of the nativity is still true it's not going to be someone who comes to power or gains popularity who saves us we're not going to find our salvation in this product or that job or those achievements it's jesus it's always been jesus the savior we are looking for is jesus and so let me ask you what in your life might you be looking to to save you when what you really need to be focusing on is jesus what are you looking to to take away the loneliness or to numb the pain or fix all of your problems where are you putting your hope what do you believe will save you and where in your life do you need to shift that focus to jesus because this is the good news that this story proclaims that salvation has come to the world that the messiah is here that he has come for all of us and that that gift is ready for us to receive and i actually want to end by praying for you and inviting you to receive that gift today i want to invite you to let this be a moment where you put all of your hope and all of your faith in jesus where you embrace him as your savior maybe for you this is the first time you've ever done this or maybe you've shifted your focus away from him and you want to bring it back to him either way i want to pray for you right now now after this prayer i'll share with you some video suggestions that will help you to understand even more about the nativity and the people who were part of it but right now let's pray dear lord we thank you for the gift of your son jesus that you've sent to us our true savior and i know that there are some of us listening today who truly need to experience your salvation and so i pray for each and every person listening help us lord to surrender our hearts to you to look to you and you alone to save us help us to let you be our lord the only one that we serve and bless us lord with the gift of salvation the same gift that you announced to the shepherds 2000 years ago may we receive it right now and may we like them realize that we are not too lowly not too blemished not too ashamed to receive that gift but that you have chosen us and your view of us is the only one that matters thank you lord for this incredible undeservable love it's in your name that we pray amen okay now before you go click this link right here that will take you to more beyond the words videos about the nativity as well as videos that will teach you things that you didn't know about mary and joseph thank you for watching have a great week and god bless

Channel: Brandon Robbins

Views: 200,651

Keywords: The Nativity, the birth of Jesus, the chosen messengers, the chosen the shepherds, the chosen christmas special, the chosen christmas special 2020, the chosen christmas special 2021, the chosen christmas special the shepherd, mary and joseph, the nativity story, bethlehem, matthew 1, the magi, wise men, genealogy of jesus, joseph of bethlehem, mother mary, the virgin mary, mary mother of jesus, the christmas story, Christmas, Birth of Jesus, luke 2, matthew 2, the shepherds

Id: QMeWD79YXJ0

Length: 20min 41sec (1241 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 01 2021