“The Rejection of the Christ at Christmas”
(Sunday Morning December 23rd. 2012)
Passage: Luke 2:1-7
O.S. I Will Admit to You That There are a Lot of Things That I Enjoy About the Santa
Claus Tradition
-> In Fact, When My Children Were Young, They Would Sometimes Ask Me if Santa
Claus Was a Real Person, and I Would Always Answer by Saying,
“Yes, and I Know Him Personally”
-> That Worked for Many Years;But of Course, They Eventually Caught On
-> This Past Thursday I Was Even Pleasantly Surprised to Meet Up With a Burnt
Orange Santa Claus at the Walmart Here in Pearland
-> And Since I Was Born in Austin Texas, I CouldNot Resist Having My Picture
Taken With Him (Show Picture and Pause)
-> But as I Pointed Out in My Sermon Last Sunday, if Christ Had Never Been Born,
There Never Would Have Been a Santa Claus
-> Because the Santa Claus Tradition Can be Traced Back to a Christian Man Who
Lived in Myra in the 4th Century Who Was Known for Giving Gifts to Children
on His Feast Day Which Was December the 6th
-> He Came to be Known as “Saint Nicholas,” and It is From Him That We Got
Santa Claus
-> I Do Have One Problem With This Jolly Old Man, However, and That is That
My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is Often Upstaged by Him
-> And It is Disappointing to Me to See so Many Houses Decorated With a Santa
Claus on the Roofor a Santa Claus on the Lawn While They do Not Include
a Nativity Scene or Any Other Christian Symbols
-> And the Irony is This
-> Many, Unfortunately, are More Than Willing to Receive the Santa Claus
Tradition and the Generous Spirit That Comes Along With This Jolly Old
Man, But They Will Reject the Christ Who Inspired Him
Ex = This Irony is Even More Pronouncedin the Country of Japan
-> For You See, the Only Holiday That is More Popular in the Country of Japan
Than Christmas is New Years Day
-> Christmas is Celebrated in Japan Even ThoughIt is Made Up Almost Entirely
of Shinto and Buddhist Believers and Less Than 1% of the Pop.n is Christian
-> And So, During This Time of the Year in Japan, You Will Find Wreaths
and Christmas Trees and Santa Claus Decorations, and Red Garbed Choirs
Giving Enthusiastic and Uncertain Voice to Christmas Carols, But You Will
Not FindAny Nativity Scenes or Any References to Jesus Christ
Ex = Worst of All, on ChristmasDayBack in the Year 1989, the Israeli Government
Passed a Law That Made It Illegal for a Messianic Jew to Immigrate to Israel
and to Become a Legalized Citizen There
-> A Messianic Jew, in Case You Did Not Know, is a Jew Who Believes That Jesus
Christ is Their Messiah
-> The Supreme Court in Israel, ON CHRISTMAS DAY IN 1989, Ruled That Belief
in Jesus as the Messiah is Incompatible With the Jewish Faith, and Therefore, It
is Also Incompatible With Israeli Citizenship
-> This “Law of Return,” as It is Sometimes Called, Does Not Require a Jew Seeking
Citizenship to Practice Judaism, or Even to Believe in God, a Person Can be an
Atheist, or an Agnostic or a New Age Guru, They Just Can’t be a Christian
-> Now, to be Fair, This Law Was Modified to Some Degree in 2008, But It is Still
Extremely Difficult for a Messianic Jew to Gain Citizenship in Israel, and Those
Who are Courageous Enough to Move There are Severely Persecuted
-> And That, as I See It, is a Very Profound Rejection of the Christ at Christmas
-> But, of Course, This is Nothing New
-> From the Very Beginning, We Can See the Rejection of the Christ at Christmas
-> With the Exception of Joseph and Mary and a Few Shepherds, There Was No
One Else Who Celebrated His Birth
-> He Was Also Born, of All Places, in a Cattle Barn and He Was Laid in a Cattle
Trough, Because the Bible Says, “There Was No Room for Them in the Inn”
St = This is Exactly How the Prophet Isaiah Had Said That He Would be Treated
-> He Said That the Messiah, the Christ, Would be “despised and rejected by men,”
and He Most Certainly Was(Isaiah 53:3)
-> In Fact, He Was“despised and rejected by men” Even Before He Was Born
-> Most of Us, in Our High School English Classes, Learned About Something
Called “Foreshadowing”
-> “Foreshadowing” Refers to Something We See at the Very Beginning of a Story
That Gives Us a Hint About How the Story is Going to Turn Out
-> And I Believe That is What We Have in This Passage of Scripture Right Here
-> This is a “Foreshadowing”
-> This is a “Harbinger” of Things to Come
-> The Writer of Hebrews Said That Jesus
“…had to be made like His brethren in all things,…” (Hebrews 2:17)
-> And This Obviously Included Coming Into This World as an Infant Totally
Dependent Upon Others to Care for His Basic Needs
-> As Well as Being Born and Raised in a Poor Family and Experiencing the Sting
of RejectionFrom the Very Outset
______
-> For You See, He Was the Rejected Christ
-> And His Rejection Began on That Very First Christmas Day
______
T.S. That is What I Believe This Passage of Scripture is All About
-> And So, With That in Mind, I Want to Draw Your Attention to Three Things
Morning
______
I. The Christ Was RejectedFrom the Time of His Birth
-> “The Christ”, by the Way, Means “The Anointed One” or “The Messiah,
and Jesus is “the Christ;” Jesus is “The Anointed One;” Jesus is “The Messiah”
-> Now, the Key Verse in This Passage is Found, in My Opinion, in Verse 7 Which
is Very Familiarto All of Us; It Says
“…she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid
Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn”
-> I Especially Want You to Underscore That Last Phrase; the Bible Says That He
Was Laid in a Manger, “…because there was no room for them in the inn”
-> There Was “No Room” for Him, or to be More Exact, There Was “No Room”
for Them
-> This Means That God Himself Visited This Planet, But We Had “No Room”
for Him
1) JesusWas RejectedPolitically
-> Dr. Luke Makes It Clear That the Real Man of the Hour, From the World’s
Perspective, Was Caesar Augustus
-> And By the Way, This Was Not His Name; This Was His Title
-> “Caesar” Means “King” or “Emperor” and “Augustus” Means “Highly Esteemed”
-> His Actual Name Was “Gaius Octavius,”and He Was the Grand-Nephew of Julius
Caesar
-> Julius Caesar Was so Fond of Gaius That, at the Age of 20, He Adopted Him as His
Own Son and Declared Him to be the Heir to the Throne of the Roman Empire
-> Initially, However, Gaius Octavius Was Not the Only Ruler of the Roman Empire
-> Mark Antony, Who Had Married Octavius’ Sister Was a Co-Regent
-> But Then, Mark Antony Left His Wife, Who Was Octavius’ Sister, and He Became
Attracted to a Woman Named Cleopatra Who Was the Queen of Egypt
St = Increasingly, Mark Antony Appeared to Become More Preoccupied
With the Affairs of Egypt Than He Was With the Affairs of Rome
-> And So, This Led to a Civil War, But Mark Antony and Cleopatra Were
Soundly Defeated in a Naval Battle
-> Shortly After This, They Committed Suicide, and Gaius Octavius Secured His
Position as the Sole Emperor of the Roman Empire
-> And He Turned Out to be a Brilliant Political Leader
. He Allowed the Conquered People Under His Realm to Keep Many of Their
Customs and Religions Which Resulted in the “Pax Romana”(Roman Peace)
. He Also Constructed the Great Roman Roads
. Caesar Augustus Was so Admired That He Was Called by Some “The Savior
of the World”
Q.n = But Listen to Me, Are You Listening?
-> The Irony is That Caesar Augustus Was Not “The Savior of the World”
-> On the Contrary, He Was Just a Pawn Who Was Used by Our Sovereign God
to Orchestrate All of the Circumstances Necessary for the Coming of the Real
Savior of the World
-> The Roman Roads That Caesar Augustus Built Enabled Those Early Christians
to Spread the Gospel Very Quickly
-> This Census Brought About the Fulfillment of a Word of Prophecy About
the Messiah Given 700 Years Before, and It Also Confirmed His Lineage
-> In Micah 5:2, the Prophet Had Said,
“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from
long ago, from the days of eternity."
-> By the Way, This Was the First Census Taken by Rome; the Motive Was Obviously
Related to Money, and It Took Four Years for Ceasar Augustus to Get It Enforced
-> But Ultimately, Augustus Set a Strict Deadline for It, and That Deadline Turned
Out to be Right on God’s Divine Timetable (Don’t We Have an Awesome God?)
St = Another Main Character in the Christmas Story, as Most of Us Know Was a Man
by the Name of Herod Who Considered Himself to be “The King of the Jews”
-> He Became “Greatly Troubled” Matthew Tells Us When He Heard the Magi Say
That They Were Looking for the One Who Had Been “Born King of the Jews”
(Matthew 2:2)
-> That Word “Born” Went Off Like Bomb in Herod’s Mind, Because He Was an
Idumean Which Means That He Was a Descendant of Esau Not Jacob
-> So, When He Heard That the Real King of Jews Had Arrived, He Gave an Order
for Every Hebrew Child Under the Age of Two to be Executed
-> The One He Really Wanted to Kill, of Course, Was the Christ Child
-> And So, This is Another Example of How Jesus Was Crowded Out Politically
______
Ill: I am Reminded Every Year of the Fact That Jesus is Still Being Rejected
Politically in Our World
-> And as We All Know, It is No Longer Politically Correctfor People in Our Country
to Call This “The Christmas Season” or to Simply Say “Merry Christmas”
-> It is Also Considered “Unconstitutional” for Us to Display a Nativity Scene on Govt
Property Unless We AlsoInclude Things Like: a Jewish Menorah, and a Hindu Idol,
and a Crescent Moon
-> OneCity in Our Country Even Decided to Take a Different Approach to This
-> A Few Years Ago, in St Albans West Virginia, a City With a Population
of Approximately 11,000, the City Officials Erected a Nativity Scene
But They Left Out the Baby Jesus
-> The Display Has Shepherds, a Guiding Star, Camels, a Palm Tree(Comment)
and Even a Manger, But Baby Jesus Isn’t There(Tom Breen, Associated Press 12-2-06)
______
Q.n = Now, Isn’t That Ridiculous?
-> Apparently, There is “No Room” for Jesus in a Nativity Scene Anymore
Pt = Jesus is Still Being Rejected Politically
2) Jesus Was RejectedReligiously
-> As Most of Us Know, Herod Summoned the Religious Leaders of His Day
-> The Greek is Very Specific and Emphatic in Matthew Chapter 2
-> It Means That He Brought Several Religious Leaders Together in What We Might
Call Today “A Special Session”
-> And We are Told That This Included the Chief Priest and the Scribes
-> He Asked Them Where the Christ Child Was to be Born, and They Answered Him
by Quoting Micah 5:2
-> The Chief Priests and Scribes Got It Right; They Nailed It Down Perfectly; They
Pinpointed the Exact PlaceWhere the Messiah Was to be Born
-> But Nevertheless, They Were Unwilling to Make the Six Mile Journey to Bethlehem
to Meet Their Messiah
NOW, THAT IS INCREDIBLE TO ME
Q.n = And Why Didn’t They Take the Time to Travel Only Six Miles to Meet Their
Messiah?
Ans = I Believe the Answer is That They Were More Interested in Keeping Their
Position Than They Were in Achieving Their Purpose
-> And the Bible Says That This is Ultimately Why They Put Jesus to Death
-> In John 11:48, We are Told That the Jewish Leaders Said This; They Said,
“If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans
will come and take away both our place and our nation”
-> That’s What They Were Really Concerned About
-> They Were Concerned About Protecting Their Political Power
______
T.S. I. The Christ Was Rejected From the Time of His Birth
1) Jesus Was Rejected Politically
2) Jesus Was Rejected Religiously
II. The Christ Was Rejected During His Lifetime
1) Jesus Was RejectedDomestically
-> There is a Tendency in Our Day to Exonerate the Innkeeper, But I Say, “Not so Fast”
-> Mary Was Nine Months Pregnant, Let’s Keep That in Mind, and We Know That
There Was at Least One Room Available in That Inn - the Innkeeper’s Room
-> So, if the Innkeeper is to be Exonerated, It is Should Only be Because There May Not
Have Been an Innkeeper at All
-> The Word for Inn That is Used Here is the Greek Word “Kataluma” Which Literally
Means “Shelter”
-> Hospitality Was Considered to be a Sacred Duty in the East; So, Some Towns Erected
Public Shelters Which May Have Been What This Was(Comment = Storm Evacuation)
-> We Should Also Not Forget the Fact That This Was Joseph and Mary’s Ancestral
Home; so, if They Had Some Kinfolks Here, Their Kinfolks Must Have Refused
to Give Them Lodging as Well(Comment = Her Suspicious Condition)
-> Ultimately, We Know That Even Jesus Own Brothers and Sisters in His Immediate
Family Rejected Him
-> And We are Told in Mark 3:21 That They Began Telling People That Jesus Had Gone
Insane
-> Moreover, the People in His Own Hometown of Nazareth Kicked Him Out, and They
Tried to Kill Him by Throwing Him Off of a Cliff (Luke 4:28-29)
-> There are Also Two Poignant Verses Found in John 7:53 and John 8:1 Where
the Bible Says
“Everyone went to his home. But Jesus went (Up) to the Mount of Olives”
-> And in Matthew 8:20, Jesus Himself Said,
“…’The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests,
but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.’”
-> This Technically Means That Jesus Was Homeless; He Had Friends That Would
Often Give Him Lodging, But Technically, He Was Homeless
2) Jesus Was Rejected Economically
-> In Mark 5, We are Told That the Citizens of the City of Gadara Asked Him
to Leave Their Area
-> They Did This, Because They Did Not Approve of How Jesus Healed a Demoniac
by the Name of Legion
-> Jesus Had Ordered Some Demons to Come Out of This Man, and the Demons
Asked if They Could Enter a Nearby Heard of Swine
-> The Bible Says That Jesus Granted Their Request; and Then, These Swine Rushed
Over to a Nearby Cliff and Intermittently, the Greek Says, Jumped Into the Sea
-> After That Happened, We are Told in Mark 5:17 That the Leaders of That City
Began to Ask Jesus to Leave Their Region
-> And They Did This for Purely Economic Reasons
-> In Fact, What the Leaders in GadaraWere Saying, in Essence, Was This; They
Were Saying
“Listen Jesus, This is How It Is; You Save Souls, But We Sell Sausage”
“And So, Since Your Presence is Bad for Our Business, We Just Don’t Have Room
for Someone Like You Around Here”
______
App: I’m Glad to Say That the Christmas Greeting is Back in Many Department
Stores This Year
-> But This is Only Because They Have Been Pressured Economically to Bring
It Back
-> But Really, the Issue Goes a Lot Deeper Than This, and the Question We Ought
be Asking is This One
Q.n = Are There Any Companies Today That are Honoring Jesus Even if It is Not
Economically Advantageous for Them to do So?
Ans = Only TwoBig CompaniesComes to My Mind; One is “Chick Filet” Which
is Owned by a Christian Man Truett Cathey, and the Other One is Hobby
Lobby Which is Owned by a Christian Man Named David Green
3) Jesus Was RejectedCollectively
a. He Was Rejected by the Jews
-> In John 1:11, the Bible Says
“He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him”
b. He Was Rejected by the Gentiles
-> That Crowd That Cried “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” Included a Conglomerate
of All Races: Jews and Gentiles
-> And Ultimately, the Bible Says That He Was Crucified on a Hill Called “Golgotha”
Which Was Located, as We Might Expect, Outside of the City of Jerusalem
-> Hebrews 13:12 Says
“Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood,
suffered outside the gate”
Pt = He Wasn’t Even Allowed to Die Inside of the City of Jerusalem
______
Ill: Dr John Rice, in a Book Called “I Love Christmas” Did a Wonderful Job,
in My Opinion, of Showing How This World Has Always Begrudged Jesus
for Everything That Was Rightfully His
Ex. He Was Begrudged for Having Fellowship With People He Loved by Calling Him
“a winebibber and a glutton and a friend of taxgatherers and sinners”(Luke 7:34)
Ex. He Was Begrudged of His Right to be in His Father’s House, and When He
Cleansed the Temple, They Called His Authority Into Question (Matt 21:23)