Certainty!
Luke 1:1-4
Luke 2:1-20
I think most everyone, whether they go to church or not, is familiar with Luke’s account of the Christmas story. Those of us in church are certainly familiar with it. Familiar with its tone. Familiar with its verbiage. Most of us are familiar with its introduction.
In fact, we may be so familiar with it that we tend to read right over it, choosing to get to the more meaty parts. The parts concerning shepherds, and angels singing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace, goodwill towards men.”
So we rush ahead… in a hurry to get to Bethlehem. But occasionally, as R C Sproul has said, “it’s worth pausing over phrases” from God’s Word... because certain words and phrases carry significant meaning for the overall story.
And the opening phrase of Luke’s second chapter is such a phrase. It’s significant, and we need to understand it’s significance... because it places the birth of Jesus succinctly in the context of actual history. The King James version actually reads, “and it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Cesar Augustus that all the Roman world should be taxed.“
It’s that phrase, “it came to pass” that’s so significant. We’re given a crucially important clue that places everything in this story in actual time and space.
Just like we’re all familiar with the Christmas story... I think we’re all familiar with the way most fairytales begin, right? How do most fairytales begin? “Once upon a time…”
“Once upon a time” is a particular phrase that used to denote that the story is not being told in respect or relation to any particular time or date. In other words, we know immediately from that simple phrase “once upon a time“ that the story, the fairytale, never actually took place. It’s fiction.
Star Wars fans know a similar phrase that carries the same intent. “A long time ago... in a Galaxy far, far away...” In other words, the story’s fiction! You know that from the start!
However, Luke is not writing a fairytale. Luke is claiming very matter-of-factly, that something happened. That something actually took place in time and space. And he recorded it. Not some fun story that we sit down to read, or listen to, for entertainment. Luke set out to write an account of the birth of Christ, so that we could know with certainty, that it’s the truth. That’s why he began his story with the simple phrase, “it came to pass.” In other words he was saying this story is true.
Luke went to great lengths at the beginning of his gospel, chapter 1, to stress the fact that he was writing a “orderly account.” That he had conducted meticulous research, interviewing eye-witnesses. Affirming the story, by listening to the accounts of people who had actually been there.
Theologians tell us that it’s actually within the realm of possibility, that Luke even interviewed Mary, the mother of Jesus. Regardless, Luke stresses emphatically, that he wrote an orderly account so that you & I can have certainty concerning the things we’ve been taught.
Of course, most of us in church on any given Sunday during the Advent/Christmas seasons, take all of this for granted. We take it as a given, that what’s offered to us, and handed down to us, is a true story. But we live in a world, that doesn’t necessarily accept God‘s Word as true. And Luke seems to have intuitively realized that such a world would (filled with sceptics and doubters) would exist. So he went to extremes, to make sure that you and I could have confidence, that the words he has shared with us, are, as we frequently say, “the gospel truth.”
It all happened. A decree went out from Cesar Augustus, a real person. Luke says a census took place while Quirinius, an actual man, was governor of Syria. The setting of his birth narrative is placed clearly in the context of actual, recorded history. There was also, as history confirms, a nation called Rome... the Roman Empire... that occupied a region called Syria. Nazareth and Bethlehem are actual, physical places. Luke’s assertion is that the birth of Jesus is no fairytale. It came to pass, as did the whole of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.
In fact, 2 Peter 1:16 reminds us, “for we did NOT follow cleverly devised myths, when we made known to you the power, and coming, of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were witnesses to his Majesty.” Of course, Peter wasn’t talking about the birth of Jesus… he was talking about the transfiguration: the moment when the majesty of Christ’s glory broke through and was witnessed... his disciples actually saw it. But the point is exactly the same. Peter was establishing for us, that what he was presenting was (and is) the truth.
It actually happened. The birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus, took place... and the way that Luke recorded it is how it happened.
You and I can embrace this story, we can understand it. We can always trust God’s Word.
Jesus was born, he lived, he died, and he rose again!
Such words are more than just history... they’re foundational to our Faith... presented and preserved for us in God‘s word… and they’re established in us. Making the Truth of this story, even more powerful than it’s reality.
God Word offers us historic truths, that you and I can literally build our lives upon.
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