Glory to God: Luke 2:1-21 | God’s Faithfulness in Real Time and History

Have you ever noticed how seasons and events set the world in motion? Whether it’s the rush of holiday travel or the gathering of crowds before a big game, movement points to something greater at work. In Luke 2, we see that God has set the entire world in motion to fulfill His sovereign purpose—bringing the Savior into the world. Through a Roman census, a humble manger, and an announcement to lowly shepherds, the eternal King arrives exactly as God ordained. In this sermon, we explore how Jesus’ birth was not just a sentimental story but a fulfillment of God’s covenant promises. From the prophetic necessity of Bethlehem to the angelic declaration of a Savior, this passage reminds us that God is at work in real history, bringing salvation to His people. The birth of Christ calls us to worship, just as it did the shepherds, and to proclaim the good news of God’s faithfulness to a watching world. At First Reformed, we are a Confessional Presbyterian and Reformed church committed to Christ-centered preaching and scriptural fidelity. We believe in the power of the gospel to transform lives and invite you to explore the riches of God’s Word with us.

📖 Scripture Reference: Luke 2:1-21

✝️ Sermon Points:

📌God Ordains That Jesus is Born in Bethlehem – The census sets the world in motion, fulfilling prophecy and demonstrating God’s sovereign hand.

📌The Announcement of the Savior’s Birth – Angels declare the arrival of Christ, not to the powerful, but to humble shepherds.

📌God is Glorified in the Birth of Jesus – The shepherds respond in worship, showing us that Christ’s coming is meant to stir our hearts to praise.

Transcript:

There are times and seasons when the world feels as though it's been set in motion. There are times where the amount of the cars on the road is up. If you're at an airport, perhaps during these times, you can tell that a substantially higher number of people are moving around. Things are just busier. Now, you can notice this on a random day for sure. There seems to be more people out, you might say. But usually, there are certain things that generate this movement. You can feel it on a small scale in our community. During harvest, there's a lot more activity into town, right? During Dutch Festival, you can tell when the parade is about to start. There's a different feeling. In places where there are more people, you can notice it around, something like a baseball game. You feel a migration towards the stadium as people start to arrive before the first pitch, and then you really feel the migration after everybody leaves after the final out, right? I can remember the first time each of my children were caught in heavy traffic in a large city. I don't remember exactly what they said, but the idea was, why would anybody want to do this on a regular basis?

And we They're going to feel the same way, right? Business, people on the move. Now, you can even see this on a larger scale, not just in a city around an event, but like around Thanksgiving and Christmas when people are traveling for holidays. You can just tell there are more people on the road, and it doesn't matter where you are. Traffic is usually greater than a normal day on the highway. People are on the move. Something has set them in motion. Well, as we arrive in the second chapter of Luke, we find ourselves looking at a world that has been set in motion. Earlier in Luke, we found that God had set things in motion, right? In the life of Elizabeth and Zechariah to bring about John the Baptist, who would prepare the way of the Lord. Then he set Mary in motion by announcing that she would give birth to the Messiah. Then she set off to spend time with Elizabeth who the angel had told her was now carrying John. Now we see that God is once again, providentially, setting the world in motion. This time, it's the entire Roman world. It's been set in motion.

Not only are people on the move in this story, but we're reminded that God is moving to bring about the coming of the savior of the world. God has set His plan for salvation for his people in motion. As we take time this morning to dig into the story of the birth of Jesus, a story that we know very well, we're going to break it down into three points as we normally do in hopes of better understanding it and applying it. The first thing that we're going to see is that God ordains that Jesus is born in Bethlehem. As I said just a moment ago, the world is set in motion and God is moving to bring about the coming of Jesus, ensuring that he is born as he was prophesied to be born and causing him to be born in a humble estate. Secondly, we're going to look at verses 8 through 14, and we'll see the announcement of the child who was born and this child who was laid in a manger. This is no ordinary child. He's not going to be just an ordinary person. But at the same time, he's not just a guru, telling people how to have a good life and make the world a better place.

The angels speak clearly of who Jesus is when they tell the shepherds that the one lying in swaddling clothes is a savior. Finally, we see that God is glorified. This is an amazing story that is the culmination of the promises made to generation upon generation in the Old Testament. When the shepherds see the child, it causes them to glorify God, for they have seen with their own eyes the fulfillment of the covenant promises that God had made to their forefathers. We're going to jump into this story that is so familiar. We look at the story of Jesus arriving, and we see right away all the movement that is going on, all this stuff that is happening because the Roman government wants the people to pay taxes. I mean, that's really what this is about. They want everyone to be registered. In other words, it's a census. As I'm sure I've mentioned when we've looked at this passage on Christmas Day in the past, this piece of information seems inconsequential. What does it matter? Why? But there's really something important that this does for us because it talks about real time, space, history. It places Jesus into real history.

Most religious stories. Most religious stories can happen any and nowhere at any time, and it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if it happened or not. It just matters whether or not the principles are true. As I said, whether or not they actually that actually occurred, doesn't matter because they're only concerned about the principles. But you can't do that with Christianity. You just can't. Because by stating these names and places, Luke is doing something rather bold and honestly, something very dangerous because he's saying that this happened when this was occurring. He gives people the opportunity to say, That didn't happen. That's why most religious stories happen anywhere and everywhere, nowhere and in no time. It doesn't matter because they don't want it to be falsifiable. But Luke does something bold here because he's anchoring this story of Jesus in history. He's saying this really happened, and it matters that it really happened. We can't say that it doesn't matter if Jesus was really physically born into the world. We can't claim it's more about the principles of God coming to the poor. Nope, the author of this gospel is doing more than suggesting that this is a good story with some principles for you.

He's saying that all that we are about to read took place in the real world, and therefore, it's more than just nice ideas. By doing this, he's also setting up something else very important. In order to have a crucified and risen savior, you have to have someone who is born into the real world. He's setting up the whole thing, helping us to understand that this is about what God is doing in real history to save His people. And so God ordains all of this to come to pass. God is in control here. And if you knew the prophecys of the Messiah, as you were reading the first chapter of Luke and didn't know the rest of the story, you might have been confused. This Mary is a Nazareen? Why is she living in Nazareth? The prophecy in the Old Testament was that the promised one would be born in Bethlehem. Well, God has to get Mary and Joseph on the move. So providentially, this census takes place to get them on the move, and they end up in Bethlehem. Because Joseph was in the line of David. He had to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem, and Mary comes along because she was betrothed to him.

Luke reminds us that she is with child and lets us know that the time for this promised child to come is while they are in Bethlehem. If you just look at the story on the surface, this feels like a massive inconvenience, doesn't it? After Christmas last year, we had gone to Kansas to where my sister-in-law lives, and I had to have a classes meeting online there, and I was annoyed because I couldn't do it with my usual stuff. Imagine what it was like to have a baby in Bethlehem. I was annoyed about a simple meeting My laptop worked perfectly. It didn't matter. But imagine getting to Bethlehem and finding out this baby's coming. God has ordained this to come to pass, though. This fulfills his purpose It isn't about Mary's convenience. It isn't about human convenience. The Messiah is to be born in Bethlehem, and the promise of God must be fulfilled. And we see that she gives birth to her first born. And we know the story. He's wrapped in swaddling clothes. He is laid in a manger because there was no room for them in the end. Let's stop and appreciate what has come to pass here.

This is the fulfillment of centuries upon centuries upon centuries of people waiting on the promises of God, from the garden to the Ark, to the promise to Abraham, waiting for Isaac, through Jacob through the centuries to David. All of it has led to this moment. Stop for a moment and think about where we've arrived. Think of all the looking forward that the Hebrew people did over the centuries and all the buildup to this. What do we have here? God, the Son in human flesh, lying in a manger, the promise has come. Once again, in scripture, we find something that you and I would not expect. It goes against how you and I would assume this should happen, how you and I would write the story, the coming of the promised one, the one that has been built up through all of scripture, all the way back to Genesis. Shouldn't he be greeted by parades? Shouldn't the parade be way better than the one the Braves had on Friday? More people, more excitement than a World Series. This is the Messiah, the promised one. The street should be full. There should be news reports. There should be fireworks.

World leaders should be coming to see this child. Instead, we find this child among animals, and the promised one does not lie in the nicest furniture intended for the son of a king. He's in a manger. Not at all how you and I would craft this story. Instead, he has come to the lowly and without earthly praise. But we see, as the story continues, that it is not without fanfare. There is something better than the Braves parade that happens, but it is a heavenly celebration, not an earthly celebration. As we move on to our second point, we find the last group of people that you and I would announce something to. Shepherds in their culture are on the bottom rung. They are the lowest rung of society. We read that they were in the same region, they were watching their flocks, and suddenly an angel of the Lord appears and the glory of the Lord shown around them. Well, now we're talking, right? Finally, something worthy of the promised one. Now, this is what we would expect. This is how the Messiah should be announced. But shepherds? Really? Shepherds? Shouldn't the angels show up in Rome and tell Caesar that his reign is over?

Because the true king has been born? Shouldn't the angels announced the birth of the savior to the high priest in Jerusalem and let him know that he's going to be out of a job because a savior has been born? But that isn't what happens. The glory of the Lord is shown, but it's delivered to the shepherds. It doesn't this vividly show us who God is and how he cares for the least of these. The Son of God didn't take on human flesh to acquire earthly glory and to look good in the eyes of the world. He came to be a servant. We know that he will ultimately suffer as a servant. He will suffer to save his people. That is what is actually so glorious about the announcement to the shepherds. In this announcement, we see a reversal in the way things are usually done. Jesus is a servant, not a politician. Jesus is a servant, not a military commander. This one who has come is not an elite who you and I can have no part of. As we saw in His birth, he came all the way down, all the way down to a manger, all the way down to the least of these.

But yet, even though he has this humble beginning, he gets the glorious proclamation he deserves, right? We know who this child is. In the previous chapter of Luke, we read of the amazing proclamations of Mary and of Zechariah regarding the salvation that this child would bring. We see the same idea here in the words of the angel, Fear not, I bring you good news. Now, we might expect the arrival of an angel to normally be the announcement of judgment, right? I mean, how often do you and I have someone tell us that they need to talk to us, and automatically, what do we do? We assume the worst, right? I need to talk to you later. Oh, the world's coming to an end. That's how our minds go. Our minds quickly jump to something bad. You know that this is how we operate, because what do people usually say? I need to talk to you later, but don't worry, it's nothing bad. We automatically assume judgment. We automatically assume that the worst is going to happen. If there was fear of judgment when these shepherds saw the glory of these angels, it's quickly dispelled here by the angel.

This is good news. This is good news of great joy. We see the exact theme that has been coming through in the text of Luke all the way from the beginning, everything we've seen so far. This will be great joy for all people. This idea has not only come through the words of Mary and Zechariah, but now in the humble arrival of King Jesus and the announcement to the people considered to be at the bottom of their society. And so what's announced? Not that a guru has appeared who will help you to be enlightened. No, this is a savior, and he has a particular identity. He is Christ, the Lord. This means something. It goes back to what I said earlier. This is the formal declaration that the child in the manger is the Messiah. Christ is a title that means anointed one. It means Messiah. This is the one, the one that has been pointed to in type and in shadow and in prophecy throughout the entire Old Testament is here. This is the one, the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One, the one who will crush the head of the servant. Now, I'm slowly reading through the Gospel of Mark with the confirmation students on Wednesday night.

At the beginning of a class, we read half a chapter, maybe a whole chapter. We're going through it slowly. In that gospel, it starts out differently than Matthew or Luke. It doesn't have a story of Jesus being born. It jumps right into Jesus being an adult. See John the Baptist preparing the way. We see the Ministry of Jesus right away. In this Ministry of Jesus, there's an idea that we can know who Jesus is, but he is persistently telling people, Don't tell people I'm the Messiah. Don't tell people this. I've been telling the students on Wednesday nights to watch for this idea in Mark because it's prevalent and it's known as the Messianic secret. Jesus doesn't want the people to know It's most clearly seen in the gospel of Mark. It's in the other Gospels, but it's most clearly seen in the gospel of Mark because he's concerned that if people know he's the Messiah, they'll elevate him before it's his time. That's the idea. But the idea that Jesus is the Messiah in other parts, in other Gospels, and in other parts, even of the gospel of Luke here, the idea is that this is a secret.

But today, here at the beginning, it's not a secret. We're to know who Jesus is. Here in Luke, we've been seeing this over and over. It is clear that Jesus is the Messiah. It's plainly stated, he is a savior, he He is the Christ. He is the one that has been waited for, and he is here. It's time. But then we see the good news shift a little bit from the angels. We're used to it because just by default, you and I practically have verse 12 memorized. You read through chapter 2 of Luke, you know it for no other reason. You've watched the Charlie Brown Christmas special a bunch of times. You just know it. But this is it. This will be a sign for you. You'll find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. Let's slow down for a second and do our best to think about this story. You and I aren't hearing it for the thousandth time, but we're hearing it for the first time. The best news, literally the best news of all time, is being announced to you by an angel. There is a savior. The Messiah has finally come.

Wow, Amazing. Then suddenly, he's in a manger. Can you imagine the shepherds? Wait a second. What? They're sent to find an infant who is their savior, and he's just a regular baby in a manger. When you get there, his mother might say, The savior of the world is sleeping. Think about that. Don't wake the promised one. I think you get my point. This story is amazing, and it's the greatest news ever. But at the same time, isn't it extremely ordinary? It Again, the point is that the savior of the world comes in human flesh. In real ordinary time, he entered the world that you and I inhabit in our very own flesh. He did this to come and rescue us from the curse that afflicks our very own flesh. God did not arrive to save by descending in a cloud and to say to you, 'Ascend to me. ' That's not what happened. Instead, he condescended to you and I. This is why it is unbelievably good news, and it's why the heavenly host now burst forth in praise. How amazing, how How amazing must this have been? I think we've all been somewhere where the singing was awesome and impressive.

If we're impressed by the people of God singing the praises of God, imagine what this must have been like. The words of the angels continue to reflect the idea of God's saving work. They not only proclaim the glory of God, but they also declare peace among those whom God is pleased. Now, to our minds, what does that sound like, that peace among those to whom God is pleased? Well, this sounds like if God is looking down on you and if God is happy with you because you've been good, Well, then maybe you'll have peace. Then you'll have peace. If God sees you and he's pleased with you, you've done everything right, then you'll have peace. But that's not the idea being expressed here in these words. God is pleased with his people. Not when he looks at them and, Hey, you're doing good. That's not what the Bible means when it says God is pleased. God is pleased with his people when he shows them favor. This isn't about you and I working and elevating ourselves in the sight of God. It's about how he shows favor and mercy to his people in his good pleasure.

This is talking about you and I. It's about all people that God has bestowed his saving favor upon. In Luke so far, what have we seen? God, by his grace, bestowing his favor on Elizabeth and on Zechariah. Then we see that Mary is found to have favor in the sight the Lord. Now the message is claimed to the shepherds. You and I, now, by grace through faith, we now have the peace of God because his saving favor, It is good pleasure, it rests on us. It rests on us. With this amazing news, claimed to them, the shepherds respond and they head out to Bethlehem where they quickly go to find things to be just as the angels told them it would be. We read that they let Joseph and Mary know what they have seen and heard, and they faithfully announced what happened to them. Verse 18 tells us that all who heard it wondered at what they heard. You think, Luke? No kidding. You think people wondered at the fact that these shepherds were watching their flocks by night, and the next thing they know, they hear about the savior of the world being born, and angels assault their senses with praises to God Most High.

Yeah, I think the people were amazed. That's the point. That's the point. This is an amazing thing that has happened. God has brought his promise to pass. We have seen this in his humble birth and in the glorious proclamation of the angels. We see in our third point that this brings glory to God. We start out here with a well-known phrase from the gospel of Luke, Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. Such a simple verse, but I'm honestly blown away by the thought of this. Think for a moment about what Mary has experienced. She's minding her own business one day, and her young life is invaded with the news that despite being a virgin, she's going to be carrying the promised Messiah. She goes on a trip because the angel told her that her older barren relative is carrying the child who's going to prepare the way for your child. She has likely experienced so many different emotions. She has likely experienced difficulties from the way people would have looked at her, looked down on her for being a young pregnant woman who isn't even married. But she and the man to which she is betrothed have been faithful.

They stand out to us in the story, right? Now, the story continues for Mary, what she's experienced. You leave town because some political leader wants to tax you, and then you give birth away from home and you have to stay with the animals and you put the most anticipated baby in history into a manger. Then you're trying to rest. It's been a busy day. You're trying to care for this newborn. Then suddenly the shepherds show up to tell you that they have received the news of your baby's birth and the sky was filled with angels of the Lord, and they saying, Praises to God for this child that you just delivered and you now hold in your arms. Yeah. Wow. Amazing. I can't even begin to imagine the feelings of humility and of praise that Mary had from what she had experienced. But it was more than just Mary who experienced these things. Imagine being the shepherds in your lowest state. You're visited by angels to tell you about a savior, and you go and find things to be just as the angels had spoken. I mean, seriously, how do you go back to work after that?

I'm just going to go home. I can't go back and watch the sheep. That was too good. You had to just be in awe of the glory and Majesty of God. Now, my luck would have been that that would have been the one night I took off in 25 years, and the angels would have showed up that night. That's how it would work for me, and you probably feel the same way. But this was a once in history event. The entire story of scripture was leading to the coming of this child. A young virgin and some lowly shepherds are at the center of it. Yeah, they are praising God for the outpouring of his kindness, The praise is flowing out of them, and it's rooted in this amazing work of God and what he has shown to them. Isn't that the root of our praise as well? We praise God for his power and for his Majesty, but we praise him also for his mercy and the kindness that he has shown to us in the visitation of God, the Son, in our very own flesh, to save us and to make us a people for himself.

We praise him for his covenant faithfulness. Despite our being unfaithful to him, we praise his faithfulness to us, and we praise him because God visits us with his favor and shows us mercy. As this passage comes to a close, we see in the final verse for today that Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day, just as was required. His parents kept the law. They did what was commanded of them. Mary and Joseph didn't let the inconvenience of the baby being born away from home come in the way of their commitment to fulfill the things required of them. Then we see another important act of faithfulness from Mary. She does what the angel told her to do. She named him Jesus, just as the angel told her to do. Remember the significance of that name. It means the Lord saves. In his name, the work that he has come to accomplish is claimed. He will save his people. As we will see unfolding in the gospel of Luke, this child is the savior, and through his work, he will accomplish his purposes to save his people. Just as he came in humble estate, the salvation that he brings will be accomplished by the humility of the cross.

What do we do with this very familiar story of God bringing his promise to come to pass as we step out into the world this week to live and serve in God's world? What do we do with it today? Well, the first thing that I think is vital is that we remember that we serve a covenant keeping God. We're looking at this passage in Luke at an interesting time. We're on the verge of the Christmas season. In fact, some of you may have already started listening to Christmas music. Don't raise your hands because that can bring scorn. But some of you have. We're ready for this. If you have started listening to Christmas music, you have probably been harshly judged by family and friends. I'm not judging you, but some people may. You may have even stepped into a store recently and realized not only does the calendar tell us that we're beyond October 31st, We can now see it in the way the stores are decorated. As I said, we are looking at this story out of our normal sequence, out of our normal schedule. This gives us the opportunity to remember God's covenant faithfulness, because we're going to have persistent reminders in the coming weeks of Christmas.

What is the story of Christmas about? The covenant faithfulness of God. We have seen this in the promises made and now in the promise kept in the arrival of Jesus. And this should fill us with peace in the midst of a world that's unpeaceful around Christmas, trying to get all the shopping in. Christmas brings us peace. We have seen that this is the promise made and the promise kept. God works all things together to keep his promise to his people. And so despite the difficulties that you and I face, we know that we have a sure promise of salvation because God has shown himself to be faithful to his promise. May we relish in the promise kept as we see the external signs of the Christmas season around us this year. Secondly, like the shepherds, may we faithfully share what we have heard. It is really a beautiful thing to see that the announcement of Jesus came to shepherds of all people. They were the least and the lowly, and like them in our sin, we are the least, we were the least. Because of our rebellion, we were far from God. But God in Christ came near to us, and the gospel of salvation was announced to us, and God in his mercy created faith in our hearts to believe this good news about Jesus.

And we have seen his covenant faithfulness. And so, like the shepherds, may we share how he has come to us with those that we come into contact with. May the grace of God that he has shown to us be on our lips as we speak to our children, as we interact with those that we come into each week. As we leave from here today, may we be like the shepherds who returned glorifying and praising God at all that they had seen and heard. For we have heard the good news of God's salvation today, and we have seen how he saves his people. So may all praise and glory be to God of highest heaven for his glorious and saving work. Amen.