Bible Passage: Luke 2:7
Pastor: Joel Jenswold
Sermon Date: December 24, 2024

Bulletin Christmas Eve

In the name of, and to the eternal glory of, Jesus,

It would come as no surprise to you if I asserted that manifestations of God in the Bible are generally quite impressive.  For example, after the Israelites had come out of Egypt, they camped at the base of Mt. Sinai.  There the Lord God appeared on the mountain, and we are told, There was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast…Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire.  The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder…The LORD descended to the top of Mount Sinai. (Exodus 19:16-20, excerpts)  There!  At Sinai!  Behold your God!

Or there was the appearance of the LORD to Joshua.  Shortly before the battle of Jericho, Joshua saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand.  Joshua approached the man and asked him if he was friend or foe.  The man identified himself as the “commander of the army of the LORD.” (Joshua 5:14)  It was the Lord himself.  There! With a sword in his hand!  Behold your God!

Or one more example.  Isaiah once saw the LORD.  He saw the Lord seated on high throne.  The robe of the Lord cascaded down the high throne and filled the temple.  Angels were flying around the throne singing, “Holy! Holy! Holy!”  There!  On the throne!  Behold your God!

But tonight he looks so different.  She gave birth to her firstborn, a son.  She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger.  No, no!  This is all wrong, it seems!  Where is the thunder and lightning?  Where is the sword?  Where is the throne and the robe?  Tonight we see none of it.  Tonight we say, “There!  In the Birth…cloths…manger…Behold Your God!”

She gave birth.  A baby had been growing inside Mary for nine months and was now ready for life outside the womb.  Mary went into labor.  Contractions and pain.  We don’t know how long Mary was in labor.  It’s not important.  But in the end she delivers a little baby boy! A baby covered in birth-blood and vernix caseosa.  If you’ve ever seen a baby the moment after birth, it’s not all that glorious.

Newborns must be kept warm!  They must swaddle their little bundle of joy!  What to do?  She wrapped him in cloths. (v. 7)  Where did Mary and Joseph get cloth to swaddle Jesus?  The legend is told that Joseph tore his robe into strips of cloth.  Maybe he did, but the text doesn’t say that.  Here’s what we know.  They had cloth and they tightly wrapped  baby Jesus in it.

And finally, She…placed him in a manger.  A manger!  Do you know what a manger is?  Go, visit a farm.  Out in the barn or in the barnyard you will see a feeding trough for the animals.  They’re gross and unsanitary.  There is a manger!   Who places their newborn baby in a feedbox?  A dirt-poor couple from Nazareth who couldn’t get a room in Bethlehem, that’s who.  So there you have it.  Birth, cloths, a manger.  Behold your God!

Here a person might object and say, “There’s a simple reason this baby doesn’t look like God.  He isn’t God!”  But that option isn’t left open to us.  The angels who appeared to the shepherds made it all too clear.  The angels told the shepherds, Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:11)  And just so the shepherds would find the right baby when they went looking, they were told, You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger. (Luke 2:12)  This baby in cloth and manger is the Lord himself!  Behold your God!

So we are left with just one, all-important question.  Why?  Why would God come in flesh?   Why not appear as of old, with thunder and lightning, with a drawn sword, with throne and kingly robe?  Because this time things were different.  God wasn’t just making an appearance.  He was making an entrance.  He was entering our world on a one-time mission.  It is summed up in the word of the angel:  “Savior.”  This time he has entered the world to be our Savior.

To save us from our sin, God took on flesh.  To be our Savior, the Jesus who was so lovingly and carefully placed in manger was also hatefully and violently nailed on a cross to pay for our sins.  To be our Savior, the flesh that was wrapped in cloths on the day he was born was wrapped in strips of cloth again, this time for burial.  To be our Savior, Jesus would leave his strips of grave cloths in the tomb for Peter and John to find when he rose again Easter morning!

And it all starts so humbly.  She gave birth to her firstborn, a son.  She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger.  Did you notice that this text doesn’t tell you to do a thing?  It just states a simple fact.  When you hear a simple statement, you can do one of two things with it. You either believe it, or you don’t.  “I had eggs for breakfast.”  Believe it, or don’t.  Dear ones, believe what you have heard and seen this night!  No scary thunder, no sword, no throne.  But there, in that birth, in that cloth, in that manger…behold your God!  Your Savior!

Amen.