[00:00:01] You're listening to Theology and Apologetics with Thomas Fretwell, bring Theology to life. So we are in our life of Messiah series. This is basically a kind of chronological journey through the life of Christ using all of the four gospels. And last week if you remember
[00:00:24] we started looking at the infancy narratives, the birth of Jesus Christ, to often what we would just call the Christmas story. And I mentioned it's obviously quite nice to not be studying this at Christmas time because you get to go into some of the details
[00:00:37] that we obviously probably wouldn't at Christmas time. You remember last time I spent a lot of time dealing with this particular Roman Caesar or Gustus, very famous Caesar and the text begins in the days that a career went out from Caesar or
[00:00:52] Gustus. So we made a big point of saying that the story or the narrative I should say of the birth of Jesus Christ is rooted with historical markers. And this of course is typical of historical narratives, not fiction or mythology or anything when you use markers like this.
[00:01:08] Caesar or Gustus is a huge one. He was formerly known as Gaia's Octavius. He became the first emperor of Rome when the Republic ended after he beat Mark Anthony and Cleopatra at the
[00:01:20] Battle of Actium in 31 BC. If you remember all of that I won't go through all of that history again. I like quite enjoy that stuff, but it all sets the scene for the times of
[00:01:29] the world that Jesus was born into. And if you remember after he won the Battle of Actium and he became the supreme ruler of the Empire, the Senate, bestowed on him the title
[00:01:39] commander Caesar the son of the divine. And that's very significant. The son of God basically is what they called him because they deified his father Julius Caesar and thus he was now
[00:01:51] son of the divine one. And with that he brought peace to the Roman Empire. They call it the Pax Ramana, this peace that he brought and he was in many ways a very good ruler he did
[00:02:01] get rid of all the internal divisions within the Roman Empire. But for our purposes here I want you just to remember as we go through our study again this morning the significance
[00:02:10] of this character Caesar or Guscus claiming to be the son of God who brought peace to the world because there's a whole count of narrative going on that we'll get into as we go through this.
[00:02:21] But that is the backdrop of the history at the time when we read this very popular Christmas story and we spent the second half of our study last week really just asking the question what would the world be like if Jesus had never been born looking at the
[00:02:34] impact and the history of that Jesus Christ, the Christian revolution who's had in the world and we went through many many different things even really from history, reform, social reform, science, education, impact and you can go back and listen to the study.
[00:02:50] I won't go over many of that again. Hopefully after listening to that you are familiar when often you hear these critical claims, these skeptical claims what has Christianity done for the world or all these things the Bible has just mythology and you can really
[00:03:03] know that those statements are coming from a place not of studied fact. We even looked at the fact that many people who object to Christianity they don't even realize but their objections are actually based on Christian values that they owe to the Christian revolution.
[00:03:17] This is a kind of explain that again now please go back and listen to the study if you want to get into that. But what we're going to do now is travel back to the first
[00:03:24] century to that wonderful night all those years ago that we call the birth of Jesus Christ the first Christmas if you want to use that terminology. I'll read the first six seven verses that we did study last week just for context and then we'll move on
[00:03:37] and read the next one. So it says Luke chapter two verse once. It is now in those days a decree went out from Caesar or Gustus that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while korenius was governor
[00:03:50] of Syria and everyone was on his way to register for the census each to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee from the city of Nazareth to Judeo to the city of David
[00:04:01] which is called Bethlehem because he was of the house and family of David in order to register along with Mary who was engaged to him and was with child. And while they were there the days were completed for her to give birth and she gave birth
[00:04:14] to her first one son she wrapped him in clothes laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the end. And we dealt with all that last time we talked about the significance of Bethlehem we'll be talking about Bethlehem again this morning but
[00:04:28] of course I did make the point there's really no reason why you should know the name Bethlehem except for Jesus Christ obviously it was a small insignificant village on the outskirts of Jerusalem population of a couple or hundred people and like our challenge last week
[00:04:43] can we name any other small towns like that. Most people card maybe a Christian you might know a mayors and headbron in a few places but these are the kind of things that we're looking
[00:04:51] out. But let's just continue now in verse 8 and we'll carry on with our study. It says in the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping what over their
[00:05:01] flock by night. So he says it in the same region so this is the hill country of Judea surrounding Bethlehem there were some shepherds. Now let's think about this for a moment. We've really just seen that this birth is the long awaited Messiah. It's been
[00:05:19] prophesied for thousands of years throughout the Bible it's one of the most significant events really that we have in the history of the world. Its impact is unmatched. We studied last week as I said. The greatest event up until this point in history you might think that
[00:05:35] such an event would require a little more pomp and ceremony like most people would do in this day and age. You might think the announcement would come to one of the power centres of the
[00:05:47] world. Might come to Caesar's palace, might come to the temple in Jerusalem, might go to the scribes, the learned men, the philosophers of the age. Normally the birth of a king would be announced
[00:05:58] to other kings and dignitaries first even in modern times or just reading the other day about when king Charles will princes reforming you in was born. They still have to the royal laws that they had to post a proclamation on the palace walls of his birth before
[00:06:13] midnight as the first announcement. Then on the following day in Hyde Park they have several cannons fired, they have 21 gun salutes that various places across the capital and they would ring the
[00:06:25] bells from Roy at the Abbey in celebration of his birth. That's the kind of thing and if you go back through history you'll find much more elaborate birth announcements for different kings. But they're just human
[00:06:36] kings but here what we're thinking about this is not just human king, this is the king of king. This was the king of the Jews but you don't get any pomp and ceremony here. His announcement happens out in a tiny little village
[00:06:49] on the outskirts of Jerusalem and it appears to some shepherds. I think the manor of his birth here points to the mission that he had in his first coming, the pattern of his ministry. What was that?
[00:07:00] We know that it says he humbled himself, he became lonely as one of them and he came to serve people. That was the ministry of Jesus in many ways that we have here. That's why we see him being born, not in the
[00:07:13] palaces we see him born in a cave basically. That's what the manor was. It was an animal cave in the rock country of Judea where they would keep their animals to shepherds who do that. That is where he
[00:07:24] was born. The announcement came to a group of shepherds. Although in the Old Testament shepherds were despised to be framed. They were looked down upon. It had very negative connotations. They were considered unskilled, untrained, uncapped. Considered to always be filthy, smelling of animals
[00:07:44] living on the edge of society because of their involvement with animals. They were considered unclean. Most of the time, thus they could never engage in any of the religious ceremonies. That
[00:07:54] was an idea that you were an ill-religious man if you chose to be a shepherd and you did not care about those sorts of things. That was the connotation that we had with shepherds. It's
[00:08:03] more fitting because Jesus came to save the lost. That again, his announcement did not come to the high priest, did not come to Herod or Caesar. His announcement came firstly to the
[00:08:14] shepherds. There is much more going on in the text here that I want to get into because there is a subtle word play with location. You notice where it says they were out in the fields
[00:08:26] in this same region, keeping watch over their flock. Around this time, in Bethlehem there was a very well-known watch tower and it was simply called the Tower of the flock, the Miguel Edir, Tower of the flock. You find quite a few of these scattered around this area
[00:08:44] that agricultural things they basically be at a small tower, which steps where the shepherds could go up and basically watch a whole area and just keep an eye on all of their flops.
[00:08:53] This was a one that you had around Bethlehem, the Tower of the flock. The picture is not the actual one, that's just another just to give you an idea of what they would have
[00:09:01] looked like. I wanted to dig into this a little bit with you because I think the way the text is worded here, keeping watch over their flock. This is where that would have
[00:09:08] been happened. They are in this region. This was the watch tower. It was quite a famous watch tower. This whole area is known for this tower here. So let's go a little bit deeper
[00:09:16] into this. You find this tower mentioned a couple of times in Scripture, which is significant. When you have things mentioned a few times it's worth studying them to see what's going on here. The first reference we have to this is in Genesis 35. So this is a long, long
[00:09:31] time before the birth of Jesus Christ. This is right back, a very pivotal portion of Scripture. You remember the story, Jacob, the father of Israel and Abraham Isaac and Jacob. He had fled from his brother E.Saw. Then after he deceived him, he stole his birth right then
[00:09:47] and fled. You remember that story. Years later, God called him to come home. As he was traveling from a place called Bethel, which is where the Lord met him, changed his name
[00:09:57] to Israel, confirmed to him that he would be the father of a great nation. He'd have many descendants and the land of Israel would be given to him. That's we call that the Abrahamic
[00:10:05] covenant. That's the period of history. Long before Jesus was born. I'll pick it up for you in Genesis 35, 16. It says then they journeyed from Bethel and when there was still some distance to go to Ephraim. Now remember that phrase, Ephraim. But for you, Bethlehem,
[00:10:26] Ephraim. It's Bethlehem, basically. That was what it was called. Rachel began to give birth and she suffered severe labor and when she was in severe labor the midwife said to her do not fear. For now you have another son and it came about as a soul was departing
[00:10:40] for she died that she named him Ben on E. But his father called him Benjamin. So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephraim, which is Bethlehem. Jacob said up a pillar
[00:10:51] over her grave. That is the pillar of Rachel's grave to this day. Then Israel journeyed on and pitched just ten beyond the tower of her dear, which is the tower of the flock, the
[00:11:01] watch tower. So it's in this region that this is all happening. And this is very significant. Rachel, of course, being one of the matriarchs of Israel. And she named the son she died
[00:11:10] in childbirth is what this story is saying. I'll say her, but she named the son Ben on E, which means the son of my sorrow. And of course remember this is all happening in
[00:11:19] the place where Jesus was going to be born. So you have this other reason right here years earlier being called the son of my sorrow. Of course you remember one of Jesus' names.
[00:11:29] He was a man of sorrows acquainted with grief. But then obviously the father says no he's going to be called Benjamin. And Benjamin means son of my right hand. And you may know
[00:11:39] if you read the Bible, the one who sits at the right hand, whose Jesus Christ is often referred to as the one who sits at the right hand of the father. So both of these titles here
[00:11:48] of this person being born, this Israelite point us towards the story that's going to happen that hundreds of years later. But let's dig a little deeper too. Bethlehem remember last week we studied was famous for the prophecy in Micah 5 2 where it says, out of you Bethlehem
[00:12:03] one will come forth who's going to be a ruler in Israel. And his days are going to be from the days of eternity and you have that whole prophecy where it speaks about this coming child
[00:12:12] that would be born that would in fact be eternal as well to speaking of his divine nature. That's a very famous Christmas prophecy as we could call it that. But most people miss another
[00:12:22] prophecy in Micah 4 just in the previous chapter verses 6 to 8, let me read it to you. The context of this prophecy is dealing with the future time of the kingdom. So when this king is born,
[00:12:34] when he eventually usher's in his kingdom and it says, in that day he declares the Lord, I will assemble the lame and gather the outcasts even those whom I have afflicted and I will
[00:12:44] make the lame a remnant, the outcasts a strong nation and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion from now and forever. And then he says, as for you, tower of the flock, hill of the daughter of
[00:12:56] Zion, to you it will come even the former dominion will come the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem. That doesn't mean much an issue of thinking in this sort of sense there but he addresses this
[00:13:07] whole announcement to the kingdom and he says to you tower of the flock that's the tower that the Middalt Tower there, this is the tower around Jerusalem, this is the Bethlehem Tower, sorry, that we're
[00:13:17] talking about here and he addresses that and he says to you it will come and what will come? The whole prophecies in the context of the kingdom and what does the kingdom need? It needs a king, yes, absolutely.
[00:13:28] To you, tower of Middalt, the kingdom will come, basically this area around Bethlehem that we're talking about. So you see, this tower is very significant, its prophecy pattern that builds up
[00:13:40] up to the time of Jesus. So what we have here is an Israelite born in Bethlehem in this connection with the tower of the flock, his name is called the Son of Sorrow, the Son of My Right Hand. And you have
[00:13:50] this prophecy that the king would come to this very area also that he would come to the outcasts, which of course shepherds were at this time they were outcast. So you can see this pattern even
[00:14:00] hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus being laid down. Profitically, a point of two, just in the names of people, the locations, that's why when we study the Bible, everything's significant,
[00:14:10] the names, the language, the word, the geography and we must get into all of this and this is the subtext to this whole birth narrative that we're so familiar with at Christmas time and I think
[00:14:19] maybe we're over familiar with it that we miss a lot of the depth, there's so much rich background here. But let's get a little bit deeper still. There's much more significance about this. Some additional Jewish background will help you understand what is going on here. Again,
[00:14:35] looking at the question, why Bethlehem? Why this tower? Why is that so significant? Why these shepherds everything going on here? I'll read you two regulations but one of these are both from
[00:14:45] the missionaries that's Jewish law basically a compilation of Jewish law and terminated commentary and things like that. This is one of them, it says the missionaries expressly forbids the keeping of flocks throughout
[00:14:56] the land of Israel except in the wildernesses and the only flocks otherwise kept would be those for temple services. That's from the missionaries. I'll read you another one here from a different section.
[00:15:07] It says an animal that was found between Jerusalem and the McDell, Edur, the tar of the flock or a similar distance in any direction, the males were considered to be used for burnt off rings,
[00:15:16] the females for peace offerings and rabbi you who'd have says that those who are fitting and those which are fitting as a pesser offering considered to be the pass over offering if it was found 30 days before the festival. So what this is basically saying, I summarized for you,
[00:15:31] you couldn't keep flocks in Israel, particularly this close to Jerusalem unless you were out in the wilderness. This area was not considered the wilderness, that was the desert area more into the south.
[00:15:40] This was the hill country but it was not the wilderness. So the flocks that were kept here and as he labelled, flocks between Jerusalem and the tower that we're talking about in Bethlehem. It's about a six mile distance there. Those flocks were temple sheep. The flocks at the
[00:15:56] ship was raising there with a very sheep that were going to be sacrificed from the temple for pass over. That's the law that's dated there. So when it says he's announced that the boy had to be born in Bethlehem
[00:16:07] there's so much significance to that. When the announcement came to the shipwreth, there's so much significance to that. It's no surprise that the very first people who were told and who were to come
[00:16:17] and adore this saviour born in Bethlehem are the very shipwreth whose lives have been dedicated to watching over the pass over lambs. And if you know the story years later Jesus Christ will be killed on
[00:16:27] pass over as a pass over lamb. Very shortly we're going to read of John the Baptist and how does he introduce Jesus when he sees him coming. He says behold the Lamb of God that takes away the
[00:16:37] sin of the world. So it's no surprise that the Lamb of God was born in the exact area where the actual lambs of God were being raised for sacrifice in the temple. You see God laid down this pattern,
[00:16:48] every single element of history completely ordained there. This story has got so much in it. But let's carry on. Verse 9, back in Luke chapter 2. It says, and an angel of the Lord suddenly
[00:16:59] should before them and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were terribly frightened. So now we get another angelic messenger as we've seen with all of these birth announcements where
[00:17:09] it was John the Baptist Jesus. This is the angels have been busy, but he appears in front of these shepherds suddenly it says, now you imagine that this is a dark night in the country of this area.
[00:17:20] There's not much light so this must have been quite an impressive thing and it's just the glory of the Lord shone around them. Now notice it does not say the light from any angelic appearance,
[00:17:30] it says the glory of the Lord shone around them. This again is a very significant theme when we're contemplating what we remember at Christmas. The glory here is used. It's the visible
[00:17:40] presence of God. That's what we mean when we say the glory of God and the Hebrew would be the Shakina. It talks to the word means to dwell like I could throw away get the word tent from as
[00:17:49] the Hebrew. That's what it means to the dwelling presence of God. The word we dealt with this a little bit in our introduction to John if you remember, it's relevant again here I'll try and summarize some of
[00:18:00] it for you. The glory of God is something that you see appear throughout the Old Testament. It first appeared to Abraham in the ear of the cowdees when Moses spoke to the burning bush.
[00:18:11] Of course that was not fire, that was the glory of God there. The glory is seen in the wilderness leading Israel around the wilderness. Exodus 13 says the Lord was going before them in a pillar of
[00:18:21] cloud by day to lead them and a pillar of fire by night to give them light. That's talking about the glory of God there, the Shakina. The glory filled the temple. One King's age says it happened
[00:18:32] that when the priests came from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the house of the Lord so that the priests could not stand to minister because the cloud for the glory of the Lord filled
[00:18:41] the house of the Lord. This is why the temple was constructed. That's the whole point of a temple. It was to be a place where God would meet on earth with His people. And it was in there in the
[00:18:51] Holy of Holies above that arc of the Covenant that had the blood of the Passover Lamb sprinkled on it where God dwelt and this is all building us pointing towards exactly what Jesus would do.
[00:19:01] This is why when the blood of the final Passover Lamb was, it says that the veil in the temple was torn. No longer do you have to go through this elaborate ritual to get to the presence of God?
[00:19:12] You do that now through Jesus Christ. This is where we're pointing towards. So significant, but this is what we have here at the glory of the Lord shining around them. And then the glory
[00:19:21] of the Lord if you remember famous part of the Old Testament is because of His rail sin, the glory of the Lord departed from the nation and this is very significant. Our read it to you
[00:19:30] as equal 10 verse 18. It says then the glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim. And when the cherubim departed they lifted their wings and rose
[00:19:39] from the earth in my sight and the wheels beside them they stood at the entrance. And the text goes on and you see the glory of the Lord, leave. It's a tragic moment in the text that the Lord who loved
[00:19:49] this people so much desire to dwell with them but because of their continued rebellion against him and they're sin, he had to leave. And then for 500 years the nation had no really visible sign
[00:20:00] of God's presence as they had always been used to at some point in their history. And this is kind of the backdrop that you need for the Christmas story. The longing of Israel was for the glory
[00:20:10] of the Lord to return. That is always what the longing of Israel was. So when we get to this time five, 600 years later in Bethlehem and this small little village where it says the glory of the Lord
[00:20:22] once again appeared to these shepherds that's a monumental moment but the glory of the Lord is appearing to announce something even greater, to announce to the nation that the glory the presence of God
[00:20:34] has now returned to Israel. But this time it has not returned as a pillar of fire, it's not returned as a burning bush, it's not returned as a cloud of smoke, it's not returned to the
[00:20:45] holy of Holy's in the temple. Now the glory of the Lord has returned to dwell in human flesh. This is what John's gospel where it says the word became flesh and tabernacle among us. This is why
[00:20:58] you show all his name in manual, God with us. So this is a massive moment for Israel. The glory of the Lord has now returned but in a different form than his previous he known,
[00:21:09] he's veiled himself in human flesh as continuous 10. But the angel said to them do not be afraid for behold I bring you good news of great joy for which we which will be for all the people
[00:21:23] for today in the city of David there has been born for you as Savior who is Christ the Lord. So now we have the angel speak, you'll notice every time an angel speaks they begin their sentence
[00:21:34] with do not be afraid, tells you a little something about what that must have been like. But he gives a reason here do not be afraid for and he's about to explain why I don't want you to be afraid
[00:21:44] because fear has no place in the announcement of what their danger was going about to say. He says I bring you good news of great joy. The message that the angel is here to announce is good news
[00:21:58] and that good news there that's the word Evangelion. That's gospel, that's the word gospel there that's where we find that. So I'm bringing you a gospel and bringing you good news basically
[00:22:08] he's saying that they are here to evangelize the world with great joy. Their message is one of great joy for the world sounds wonderful doesn't it? Now what is that message that they're talking
[00:22:18] about right now in Bethlehem the glory of the Lord has returned to the nation the Savior of the world has arrived the Messiah the Lord has come that was the great news of great joy.
[00:22:32] So where the song joy to the world the Lord has come let earth receive her King. Now I want to take you into another deep dive into these verses because there's much more
[00:22:42] again we're quite familiar with this story the Savior born in Bethlehem but I want to go into it a little bit deeper now than we would our Christmas time because there's some amazing themes coming out from this again.
[00:22:54] Let's look at this message the wording again is very significant all of the wording is significant in the Bible of course but sometimes you've got to really dig to get it out. Now to the Hebrew mind to the Jewish people to the shepherds people living in Jerusalem
[00:23:07] obviously engaged in the Judaism of the first century they would have understood that this announcement good news of great joy to all the people the Savior Christ the Lord these are themes that
[00:23:17] would resonate from Old Testament prophecy for hundreds of years these have been the promises of the Lord to the nation so that the right to the angel here is clearly picking up on the themes there
[00:23:27] of the Old Testament prophecy but there's a secondary review going on at this time too. Remember Luke's audience would have not just been the Jews it was also to the Roman and Gentile world
[00:23:39] so there was other themes and what we have in this announcement from the angels is also a direct review to the political establishment at the time in some very remarkable ways which we'll get into.
[00:23:50] And the way we'll do this is we'll focus in on four specific words from that angelic announcement. We'll focus on the word good news we'll focus on the word Savior we'll focus on the word Messiah
[00:24:01] and we'll focus on the word Lord okay that's really the summary of what that message from the angels was. Let's first look at it from the perspective of the shepherds the Jewish mindset these
[00:24:10] are the ones who were looking for the coming Messiah. So what would have the term good news meant to them? Good news the particular word used is it's a messianic theme that comes from the book of Isaiah
[00:24:24] so remember Isaiah written about you know 500 years before this time this is a theme they would have understood Isaiah 40 verse 9 get yourself up on a high mountain Ozi on bearer of good news lift up your voice
[00:24:38] mightily Ojirislam bearer of good news lifted up do not bear say to the cities of Judah here is your God you almost see that's almost the angels are almost looks like they're drawing from that do not fear
[00:24:49] Here's the good news Isaiah 52 verse 7 how lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news who announces peace brings good news of happiness who announces salvation and says to Zion your God reigns
[00:25:03] So the good news here is associated firstly in both those texts with here is your God and your God reigns The good news is associated with the coming of the Lord
[00:25:13] That's how they would have understood the term good news there then the term savior when we did our study about the text that said you show call his name Jesus remember I told you what Jesus means
[00:25:22] the word Jesus is obviously a transliteration having gone through two different languages the real name was Yeshua In Hebrew and it simply means Yahweh the name of God it means God saves that's what the name of Jesus actually means God saves
[00:25:37] So again to the Jewish mind this is connecting it with themes from the Old Testament verses like this Isaiah 45 verse 21 where the Lord says to Israel declare set forth your case indeed let them consult together
[00:25:51] Who has announced this from old who has long since declared it and what he's doing here is he's just given an amazing prophecy that predicts the future
[00:25:59] of nations and he's basically saying to the nation if you can come up with another explanation as to how I can do this
[00:26:06] Give it to me now and I'm all ears basically, but of course we can't we've studied this many times and he says the reason I'm telling you these sorts of things
[00:26:12] Which is the reason why we have what we call prophecy in the Bible is so that when you see it come to pass He says you will know there is no other God besides me and then he goes on a righteous God and a Savior
[00:26:25] There is none except me That's the God of Israel speaking so when this baby is born and it's announced that he is also a Savior the connection there is teaching again about the divine nature of Jesus Christ
[00:26:36] This one who announces salvation from Zion again. It's real deep connections in the Jewish mind of the theology there Now let's look at the term a sire Messiah is the same as Christ Christ is the same word they're just Greek and Hebrew it means anointed one
[00:26:53] The anointed one the coming of the anointed one this was always the hope of Israel I won't go through all of this, but you've heard them speak many times on Old Testament Messianic prophecy
[00:27:02] All these different things that we're told about the coming one right back from Genesis chapter three throughout the whole Bible
[00:27:07] This is why when he has to be from the family of David had to be born in Bethlehem. He had to do this and do that there's over 300 of them in the Bible This is Messiah the coming one who would restore
[00:27:19] Peace to the earth that's also a very significant thing and have Caesar in your mind here The coming one was the one who would the Messiah would restore peace to the earth. It was a very established Jewish theme
[00:27:30] In this announcement Jesus has clearly been presented as the one who will fulfill that and then the final word is Lord Now the angel was very clear he says the Messiah the Christ the Lord
[00:27:43] In the text it says now in the context we must remember that Lord although it was often used just as a kind of title for master In the Jewish mindset it had become a widely used substitute for the word yaway, which is the name of God
[00:27:57] though it is this the use of this word is a clear acknowledgement and connection to again the divine character of the Messiah So basically these are the themes that for the shepherds for those in first century Judaism
[00:28:08] They would have picked up and made these connections. It's writing it for filling all of these hopes and a weighted promises that they've been given However, we also know that Messiah Jesus was not just the Messiah of Israel
[00:28:21] The message the angel said was good news for all people not just for the Jewish nation It was good news for all and all the people for the whole world
[00:28:29] So there's also another thing going on in here that's happening in the text that's quite fascinating that we don't often talk about Hopefully this will be new information to you give you another way to understand some of this for those living outside of the Jewish
[00:28:42] Messianic hope for those who weren't expecting the Jewish Messiah to come Generally people who weren't following the religion at that time This is also speaking Really towards Caesar or Gustus It's interesting that the angels make reference with these four words again
[00:28:58] So let's push a little deeper remember I said all gustus had claimed to be the son of God at this time An emperor worship was being set up quite rapidly throughout the Roman Empire
[00:29:09] We have many of these you can go to museums today and see some of the altars and statues and I'll show you a few in a moment
[00:29:15] This is what was going on but let's push a little deeper because there are some deep political implications here too with this announcement So let's go through those four words again now trying to look at it from maybe the Roman mindset
[00:29:27] Good news savior Messiah and Lord now interestingly all four of those words That encapsulate the angelic announcement Caesar had claimed all of those words for himself at this time like to the letter
[00:29:42] He'd claimed all of those words and we actually have quite a few interesting archaeological things here There's an inscription they call it the pireon the pre-in calendar inscription This is basically an inscription written by a Fabius Maximus who was the pro console of Asia at this time
[00:29:58] It's actually it's about eight BC it was written so 4 BC was actually roughly when Jesus was born so was actually before Jesus was born But just gives you an idea of the mindset of the nation at this time
[00:30:11] And part of it it's been fully translated a part of it reads this It says with his appearance Caesar Augustus exceeded hopes of all those who anticipated good news Before us not only surpassing those who had been benefactors before him
[00:30:28] But not even leaving those to come any hope of surpassing him in the future So this was the atmosphere and understand what that is saying there with the arrival of Caesar Augustus the hope of everyone who hoped for good news Caesar's arrival brought that good news
[00:30:44] He was the fulfillment of that and he even goes on to say and there was no one before him and there's no one after him who will ever compare That's the kind of understanding of what they had obviously of the Caesar's at this time
[00:30:56] It's not hard to see how the announcement about Jesus was a direct reputation of this mindset at the moment You could say it's a direct political challenge if you want to use that terminology. It is a challenge to the Augustin decree The good news was not
[00:31:13] That Caesar had come the good news for the world was that the Messiah had come and he's building this reputation here Let's look at savior
[00:31:22] And again, we say savior and we think of Jesus because we've got two thousand years of Christianized history in the western world in that kind of a thing
[00:31:29] Go back to the first century you hear the term savior and let Anne and I could say if you're in the Jewish mindset You'd refer it back to the Old Testament if you're not within the Jewish nation
[00:31:38] If you're a Roman or a Greek or a Gentile at this time you hear the word savior That's gonna be associated with Caesar at that time. Let me read you the pirate inscription goes on it. It says this since providence
[00:31:50] Which has ordered all things and is deeply interested in our life has set in most perfect order by giving us Augustus whom she filled with virtue that he might benefit human kind sending him as a savior
[00:32:04] Both for us and for our descendants that he might end war and arrange all things And I find that amazing really this is talked about Caesar Augustus and
[00:32:15] The inscriptions talking about the God's giving Caesar Augustus as a savior of the world who will bring peace to the world As savior who will bring peace to the world we also have another inscription from the city of Halecarnassus
[00:32:28] Which says this it says since the eternal and deathless nature of the universe has Perfected its immense benefits to mankind in granting us a supreme benefit for our happiness and welfare Caesar Augustus father of the fatherland divine Rome Zeus paternal and saviour of the whole human race
[00:32:50] Once again he's referred to as saviour of the world. I'm just trying to give you a flavor of what this would have the impact this would have made to the world at the time
[00:32:57] We also have writings in the Horace who it was a poet of been about 13 century BC He was writing he writes this in his Oads Vine age O Caesar has brought back fertile crops to the land has wiped away our sins and
[00:33:15] Revived the ancient virtues and the fame and majesty of our empire where were spread from the sun's bed in the west of these The Oads of Horace here talking about the age of Caesar wiping away sins bringing the Bantiful harvest to the land and peace across the empire
[00:33:32] You see that's the idea that we have here so again we see in this angelic announcement that the Lord is directly Refuting this propaganda put forward by Augustus. He was not the divine saviour of the world as we go through the genealogy of your
[00:33:47] Of Luke you'll notice why the genealogy has traced all the way back to Adam there making this point Caesar is not the savior of the human world Messiah is Let's look at the next word Messiah
[00:33:59] Now the thing I want to focus on about here one of the ways that Messiah was used is it was used to speak of an age Like we use it today the Messianic age the Jewish people were longing for the age of Messiah at this time
[00:34:11] That's how they would have understood it and that what that meant is that when Messiah came you would be ushered into a new period of history A period of peace and prosperity That's the idea of the age of Messiah now notice. I just read it didn't you Horace
[00:34:24] He said the age of Caesar It's the terminology that he uses the age of Caesar and what they actually did are read to more from the perian inscription They actually wanted to try and make Caesar's birth as a marking of a new calendar
[00:34:40] So they want to do calendars now to stop and restart from the birth of Caesar and you have a few statements like this It says since the birthday of the god Augustus was the beginning of good news for the world that came by reason of him
[00:34:53] And as another similar inscription that says having become god manifest Caesar has fulfilled all the hopes of earlier times the birthday of god Augustus Being for the has been for the whole world the beginning of good news concerning him so the proposal was the becoming of Augustus
[00:35:08] I should in a new age Almost a Messianic age if you could say it like that and we need to restart the calendar from his birthday I find that funny Didn't happen like that but again This is the the announcement that we had
[00:35:23] Let's look at the final word lord it says as we've seen in these inscriptions I've read them a few times often he's called the god or Augustus or god manifest in the flesh Emperor worship was being established quite Wiedly throughout the emperor at this time
[00:35:38] Let me read you just one last inscription often what you would find is towns around the empire that wanted to Show that they were fairly impressed and press there overlords or their emperor
[00:35:48] They would they put a temple usually where you could burn in sense to Caesar and offer your worship to sim Caesar And they'd usually have a quite an or an a statue. We have quite a lot of these still in museums around the world
[00:35:58] And usually they'd have an inscription at the bottom there's one from a statue in a myra in Lycia In the inscription reads like this it says the god Augustus son of god Caesar
[00:36:10] Or to crater which is absolute ruler of land and sea the benefactor and saviour of the whole Cosmos the people of myra has set up the statue for him the saviour of the whole
[00:36:24] Cosmos this is what the world was like at that time. This is what the emperor did to the Roman Empire He did have a vast territory Caesar expanded the Roman territory hugely and he did bring the patron man who did bring peace
[00:36:36] So if you were outside of the Jewish mindset Longing for the for the Jewish Messiah to come this all of these words you would have associated with Caesar You'd walk through you'd see it on the statues you'd see it in the the Rome
[00:36:49] They'd give they'd open their council meetings by pledging these sorts of things to Caesar That is how you would associate this so again when the and the angels came They came to the shepherds in the field. It's no mistake that they use these exact words
[00:37:02] The words the Caesar was claiming for himself that he is he was the Messiah He was the lord he was the saver and that his reign was good news It's a strong counter message He's he was he thought himself to be lord
[00:37:19] But God comes along and says no Jesus is Lord and soon when when we study the book of access some point you'll notice One of the ways that they used to try and flush out Christians when they were trying to eradicate them from the empire
[00:37:30] Is they'd bring them to a statue and they'd say if you just say Caesar is Lord Burn that you'll be fine. We'll leave you alone But of course Christians could not do that because they would they knew Jesus was Lord and that's obviously how they got themselves
[00:37:43] Persecuted by clearly we see here I think we see here anyway and there's both narrative this Christmas story is yes a message to the Jewish Heirs but also a message to the Greek heirs too to the Jews
[00:37:55] We know that Messiah has arrived the one from Bethlehem the one who fulfills all of these messianic promises The one whose origins were from eternity the one who will be a ruler in Israel the future king the Messiah the son of God
[00:38:07] The Savior of the world for filling thousands of years of prophecies But then to those Gentile heirs a strong countercultural message Throning the political establishment of the day Caesar is not the son of God Jesus is Caesar is not the Savis of the world Jesus is
[00:38:24] Caesar's reign did not usher in a new age Jesus will do that and must remember then it was Caesar like Caesar Augustus particularly It's not really much different today because there are still those things that stand in opposition to the message of Jesus Christ
[00:38:42] And again the angelic announcement still must speak to us. It's a reminder that the message of Christianity is counter cultural It goes against many things of the world
[00:38:55] It goes against any divine pretence that people like Caesar might have and we need to try the world tells you that's a bad thing
[00:39:04] Said to be a nuisance to the world said to be the wrong side of history at least different slogans and phrases that are so popular remember what the angel said It is good news of great joy for all people
[00:39:16] It's actually the most inclusive message because it is told we are told to take it to the whole world Every tribe every tongue every nation across the globe is who Jesus died for So when we come to this announcement I read it one more time
[00:39:30] But the angel said to them do not be afraid for behold I bring you good news of great joy Which will be for all the people for today in the city of David?
[00:39:39] There has been born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord the Messiah the King God in flesh Emmanuel all of these terms for filled on this day and our message really too
[00:39:52] We're told to go and tell the world think of it like the angels did we are told to evangelize the world with the message of great joy
[00:39:59] And it is the best message in the world. Amen you've been listening to theology and apologetics this podcast is supported by your generous donations To help us continue to bring you great content
[00:40:10] Please visit our patreon site at patreon.com slash theology and apologetics if you've been blessed by this podcast Please leave us a review and remember to connect with us on social media for more resources Please go to theology and apologetics.com. Thanks for listening
