Matthew 1:1-16 * Christmas Day 2010 * Pastor Leyrer
Dear
Friends in Christ,
What
the missionary reported was truly remarkable.
For ten years he lived in one of the last forgotten places on earth and
labored among a remote tribe that had no written language. His task was first to learn the natives’
language and then create a written form for them to use. Once this was achieved, he set about the work
of translating the New Testament into their language. He began with the Gospel of Matthew.
In
his eagerness to get the Gospel of Matthew into print the missionary prepared a
shortened version for initial publication.
This shortened version did not include the first 16 verses of chapter
one – the record of the genealogy of Jesus.
It
was an exciting day when the trucks finally arrived at the missionary compound
delivering the freshly printed copies of the Gospel of Matthew. The missionary made a point of presenting the
first copy to the chief of the tribe.
After the chief read the abbreviated version, he gave no positive
response.
Later
the missionary completed the translation of the whole Gospel of Matthew,
including the genealogy. The evening
this printed edition arrived and had been distributed, the chief burst into the
missionary’s quarter in a fit of astonished excitement. He asked, “Do you mean this Jesus you’ve been
telling us about was real?”
Now
it was the missionary’s turn to be astonished.
He was shocked to discover that for 10 years the natives had assumed the
story of Jesus was nothing more than a religious myth. Not until the chief read the genealogical
record of Jesus did he realize that Jesus was a real historical person.
With that understanding, the chief and many others became Christians.
At
first glance these opening words of Matthew may seem less than exciting. If fact, in our personal Bible reading we may
consider these verses Scriptural fly-over county and skip over them in the
interest of time.
But
what they lack in literary pizazz is more than made up for in theological significance,
because these words place Jesus Christ
squarely on the plane of history. And that is why, as unlikely as at first
they may seem, these words are an excellent text for us to consider as we celebrate
our Savior’s birth today. They speak to
us about
and how the real
God became a real man for real sinners to make a real difference.
Some measure the reality of
Christmas by an upswing in retail economy or an increased number of parties,
concerts, or social obligations. Christians
don’t see it that way. The reality of
Christmas is that the Babe in the manger is “Immanuel,” God with us. The
promise God made through Isaiah and throughout the Old Testament was kept
today.
It
boggles the mind to think – to realize – that this baby is True God, yet it becomes
quite evident as we page through the Gospels.
We find that this Babe grew up to do things that only God can do. He healed the sick. He gave eyesight to the blind. He calmed a raging storm with a verbal
command. He fed thousands of people with
just a little food. He raised the
dead. He raised Himself from the dead on Easter Sunday. Yes,
the reality of Christmas is that this Babe is the real God…
…Who became a real man. That long list of ancestors
we read a few minutes ago is not just a bunch of funny, made-up, hard to
pronounce names. They are real
people. They are the ancestors of Jesus
according to the flesh. The reality of
Christmas is that this Babe, in addition to being the Son of God, is also the
Son of Man.
He
became one of us, and as he grew He would experience the same things all
mankind experiences. He would get hungry, thirsty, tired and would feel
sorrow. When He was cut, He bled. When He was struck, He felt pain. When His closest friends abandoned him, He
experienced with full force the inner hurt of rejection.
This
is both the mystery and the wonderful reality of Christmas: The
real God became a real man. Our limited minds will never be able to fully
comprehend it, but what happened on that first Christmas was nothing less than
the very intersection of heaven and earth.
But
why did He come this way, in this form, in this manner? The answer:
He came this way for real sinners.
That’s
us. A simple definition of sin is
disobedience to the expressed will of God; and ever since Adam and Eve fell
into it, this condition – this blight which we call original sin – has been
passed down through the ranks. No one is
immune. No one has been missed. The plain fact of the matter is that we are
all real sinners. The evidence is all around us.
Since
we live in a culture that routinely downplays or minimizes or redefines sin to
make it acceptable (even embraceable), and since we have within us our own
tendency to do the same, we can’t be reminded enough that sin is not just some
little foible that God overlooks or shrugs off or takes lightly. Sin is very serious stuff. In the courtroom of our just and holy God,
sin damns us to a very real hell.
To
rescue us from this fate is the reason that God became flesh. He became a man so that He could fulfill the
demands that God made of man – to be sinless.
At the same time He remained God so He could carry them out perfectly. He became a man so He could grow up and die
as the substitute for all mankind, while remaining God so that the ransom He
paid would be for the sins of the world as the ultimate God-sent sacrifice for
sin.
In other
words, He became real flesh and blood
because we are real sinners. True God merged with True Man in the person
of Jesus Christ in order to fulfill what the angel Gabriel had announced to
Joseph – “He will save His people from their sins…”
And
that makes a real difference in our
lives. Jesus came to be with us so that
one day we will be with Him eternally.
It may be a bit of a sobering thought on this happy morning but every
one of us here is in the process of dying.
Some of us will die sooner than others, but unless Jesus' Second Advent
comes in our lifetime, death will claim each one of us because it, too, is a
reality.
But it’s not the end of the story. In fact, it’s just the beginning. Thanks to the Babe of Bethlehem, death is now the passageway to a joyful and glorious eternal life. And that has an impact on our attitude and understanding of the present.
Think,
for a second, of the shepherds on that first Christmas Eve. Could we conceive of them saying something
like this on the day after Christmas: “Sure, we saw angels who lit up the sky. Sure, we heard
their proclamation of the Savior’s birth.
Sure, we understood their message.
Sure, we dropped everything and ran to Bethlehem. Sure, we understood we were in the presence
of majesty and bowed down and worshiped this little Baby. Yeah, it was all
pretty neat. But it doesn’t have any
impact on my life. It doesn’t make
things any different…” That would be
inconceivable. And so it is with us.
Knowing Jesus Christ and the true meaning of Christmas changes things. You’ve seen that TV commercial where one
spouse leads another spouse to the driveway (or living room) and there is the
brand new high-end car with a bow on top of it followed by big smiles all
around? We see that and I’m guessing
most of us think that’s a bit over the top in terms of expense and
extravagance.
Well,
the presents bestowed upon us on this day far exceed a new car. The gifts we receive come in packages marked
peace and joy and comfort and assurance and confidence. And that changes things. Knowing Jesus Christ and understanding who it
is in the manger and what He comes for makes
a real difference in our lives.
Even
if – and perhaps especially if – this
will be a difficult Christmas. And it
will be for some of us. Some Christians
will eat their Christmas dinner at the hospital. Others will eat at home or with family, but
this year there will be an empty seat because a loved one is now gone. Others will be keenly aware of changed
circumstances, and how their lives this Christmas are vastly different from
Christmases in their past…
What
about them? Or, to the degree we find
ourselves in those situations, what about us?
What is the message of Christmas for those whose lives may not be all
sweetness and light this year; for those who are struggling while others are
busying themselves with merry making?
The
message of Christmas is the reality
that pain will pass. The
reality that heartache is temporal.
That setbacks will someday be reversed. That loneliness will not last forever. We can say this with confidence. How?
Look in the manger. Find there
the real Savior.
Perhaps we can put it this way. An artist once made a sketch of a wintry twilight. The trees were laden with snow, and a dreary looking house, lonely and desolate, stood in the midst of a drifted field. The sky was gray. It was a bleak and depressing picture.
Then
the artist took some yellow chalk and with a few quick strokes put a light in
one window of that home. The effect was
almost magical. The entire scene was
transformed into a vision of comfort and cheer.
So
it is with the birth of Jesus that we celebrate today. 2000 years ago God sent a light into the
midst of a people and a planet darkened by sin.
2000 years ago an event took place that may not immediately take away any pain or troubles we are personally going through, but does guarantee us that they will someday come to an end. Which means whatever our circumstances may be, today we rejoice.
Because
today the real God became a real man for real sinners like us to make a
real difference in our lives, both now and for eternity. The reality of Christmas is Immanuel: God is with us.
“O come
let us adore Him, Christ, the Lord.” Amen.