Luke 2:1-20
In 1697 a twenty-five year old Peter Mikhailov left his homeland in Russia to travel abroad. He wanted to learn and experience the culture and technological advances of Western Europe. While such a journey may be ordinary for many young students, both in Peter’s day and in ours, Peter was anything but ordinary. You see, “Peter Mikhailov” was the alias for none other than Tsar Peter I of Russia. He took on the alias and appearance of a commoner to achieve the goals of “The Grand Embassy.” He wanted to obtain ideas to turn Russia into a modern European nation at the time. Most Europeans did not even notice that the leader of the Russian Empire was walking their streets as a commoner.
This is the very point St. Luke makes in telling the story of Jesus’ Birth: Christ our Savior enters the world in very ordinary, unnoticed fashion. He comes without royal fanfare. How excitingly ordinary is the birth of our King!
At first hearing, you might think Caesar Augustus is the king that heaven and earth must notice. He’s one of the most powerful rulers the world has ever known, ruling the mighty Roman Empire. At the time of Christ’s birth, the empire was at its high point. It’s Caesar’s decree from on high that forces Joseph and the Virgin Mary to make a journey to Bethlehem. But it’s an ordinary decree—similar to the one we’ll have this coming year for a nationwide census. It appears the Roman emperor is in control.
If he’s not in control, then we might focus on another ruler—King David. Why must Joseph and Mary travel to Bethlehem? It was a small town of only about 200-300 people. Very humble and ordinary. But it was the hometown of Israel’s greatest king. David had established Israel as the superpower of his day. He had located the nation’s capital in Jerusalem. He had put the Israelites on the world map. And both Joseph and Mary were his descendants. So, by decree of the current king, Caesar, the Holy Family travels to the town of its former king, David.
But notice how ordinary, how humble, our royal Savior is. He enters the world without the attention of Caesar or David. He comes without pomp or circumstance, without grand proclamation or fanfare, without visits from royal dignitaries. He is born without the silky comforts of royalty, without the posh pampering of a palace. Our God and Lord enters the world in very ordinary, even poverty-stricken fashion.
That’s exactly how it should be. Our God and Lord comes down from His royal, heavenly throne and is enfleshed in the womb of Virgin Mary. He is born of Mary not to rule in the power and might of a Caesar Augustus or a King David. He does not come to lay down the law or force Himself on anyone. He does not earn respect by show of force. He does not win people over by lavish government spending. The peace and goodwill He brings do not need to be enforced by might. This infant King is not like the other two kings at all. He does not become king by overwhelming His enemies. He does not retain His power by efficient government or political posturing.
Instead, our God and Lord comes in poverty on purpose. He comes knowing that He is unknown. He comes to skirt the glitz, the ceremony, and the power. He comes to submerge Himself into our manner of life. He comes not just to bring peace and good will, but to BE our peace, to live His goodwill in us. Our divine King comes not just to know about our heartaches and pain, but to take them all into Himself. When He takes on our ordinary flesh and blood, He also takes into Himself the anxieties that trouble us, the sicknesses that weaken us, the uncontrollable desires that dominate us, the grief that overwhelms us, the hardships that threaten to undo us, and the dying that mortifies us.
So our Lord comes not necessarily to bless you with money, possessions, power or glory. No, He comes to give you His peace and good will. Not only that, but He IS your peace and goodwill from God. What more can we troubled, sorrowful, anxious souls desire than the good news that God is gracious and compassionate? This is the peace and goodwill our Jesus is born to be. He does not come to earth to shove you into hell. He does not come to place extra demands and burdens on you. He does not come to demand your obedience. That’s not why He was crucified, died and buried. Instead, your Lord Jesus comes so that you may have peace and joy in Him. He is the great joy that is for you and all people.
Our Lord Jesus comes to live an ordinary life like yours. He comes to die in your place. Make no mistake—He is still King, and He uses all of His royal wisdom and might to conquer His enemies and yours. He conquers not by torturing, but by being tortured; not by killing but by being killed. So it’s only fitting that King Jesus enters the world not with a big splash, but with a lowly, ordinary birth—born of an ordinary teen-aged Virgin, wrapped in ordinary strips of cloth, and placed in an ordinary feedbox.
Exciting, isn’t it? All this ordinary stuff from the King who comes to help and save you. And His kingdom is like no other on earth. Jesus is King who rules with compassion and loving-kindness, with mercy and forgiveness. Who are His subjects and citizens? You commoners—you with troubled hearts and broken spirits, you who are completely unable to make yourselves be at peace with God. He is born not to bring fear and trembling, but to comfort you who live in fear and trembling. He brings you into His kingdom simply by helping you see your sin and death and then by speaking His forgiveness and life into you. As He took on your flesh and blood when He was born, He also puts His Body and Blood into you when you eat and drink at His royal Supper table. Ordinary elements for us ordinary people, but they bestow His divine, royal, heavenly forgiveness. Most exciting!
How fitting, then, that poor, ordinary shepherds are the first to greet the Savior King. The high and mighty—those who want to spend great riches on themselves, those who pull themselves up by their own bootstraps, those who think they matter most—they despise this King and ignore Him. But the unskilled laborers, the field hands, the coal miner types—the shepherds—they receive the angelic message. They hear it and take it to heart. They thrive on the preaching they hear. Regardless of position or wealth or birth or education, King Jesus comes for you who are brought low before God, for you who are on the lowest rung, unable to climb to God.
Those shepherds are the first to receive King Jesus. They are also the first to proclaim His excitingly ordinary birth and what it means. They praise God for sending a King who comes down to common, ordinary people. He comes to tend, nourish and feed them like a flock, to shelter them from harm, to lay down His life and rise again for His sheep. Jesus the Shepherd-King is the very food and sustenance of His people. The Good Shepherd whom the shepherds proclaimed is also the Lamb of God laid in a feedbox to be our Food and Life in His very Body and Blood.
What’s your joyous task this Christmas Eve? It’s very ordinary, and it’s very exciting. Receive King Jesus as He comes to you—hidden in the ordinary things of strips of cloth and manger hay. But don’t stop there. King Jesus still comes down to and among us commoners. Now it’s in ordinary Gospel preaching, ordinary washing with water, and the ordinary Supper of His Body and Blood. Our kingly Savior no longer makes His bed in a feedbox, but now in your ears, hearts, and minds, now in your flesh and blood as He lives His risen life in you. He is lowly and gentle of heart. He is your peace and goodwill. He is your great joy and comfort. Amen.
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