Book: Luke
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Luke 2:8-11                                A Savior
Intro. Luke is telling us the story of the birth of the Savior in
           Bethlehem of Judea. After the child was delivered, and safely
           wrapped in swaddling clothes, the angels made the announcement
           to the shepherds.

I. The angelic announcement to the shepherds.
        A. Shepherds were generally looked down upon by the orthodox Jew,
           they were engaged in a profession that made it quite unlikely
           to participate in the worship ceremonies. It would be nearly
           impossible for them to fulfill all of the ceremonial washings
           that were required.
                1. Perhaps this is why the angel said that the good news
                   was for all people. The common as well as the orthodox.
                2. Perhaps it was a foreshadowing of the future, for as
                   Jesus began to minister we read that the common people
                   heard Him gladly, though He was rejected by the
                   orthodox.
                3. Some have suggested that these were not ordinary
                   shepherds, but were actually the Temple shepherds, who
                   tended the flocks that were raised specifically for the
                   temple sacrifices.
        B. The announcement was of good tidings of great joy which was for
           all people.
                1. The Greek word translated good tidings is the same word
                   that in other places is  translated gospel. You have
                   heard that the word gospel means good news.
                2. The announcement was indeed good tidings of great joy,
                   for these people were in both spiritual and physical
                          .
                        a. They were in         to the Roman government.
                           Roman soldiers walked their streets, a Roman
                           appointed king ruled over them and they had to
                           pay taxes to Rome.
                        b. They were in spiritual         for the
                           priesthood at that time was controlled by
                           thieves. They had turned the house of God into
                           a market place for the merchandising of
                           religious articles at horribly inflated prices.
                        c. Even to the present day one of the negatives in
                           visiting the so called holy sites in Israel is
                           when you want to meditate on the things of the
                           Lord, you are harassed by the pushy vendors
                           trying to sell you their wares.

II. The announcement, "For unto you is born this day in the city of David
    a Savior, which is the Messiah, the Lord."
        A. What good news to those who are lost in sin, there is a Savior.
                1. The Bible asserts that all have sinned and come short
                   of the glory of God.
                2. The Bible declares that the wages of sin is death.
                        a. That puts all of us under the sentence of
                           death.
                        b. This death is spiritual death, that is,
                           separation from God.
                        c. The effect of sin is always that of separating
                           man from the holy God. Isaiah 59:1
                        d. This spiritual death eventuates in physical
                           death.
                3. In a sense the human race is locked up on death row
                   just waiting for the day of the execution of the
                   sentence.
                4. Man has often sought to save himself from his sin.
                        a. There are all kinds of programs that offer
                           help, usually for a very substantial fee, to
                           those who are bound by addictions.
                        b. The Greek philosophers had concluded that
                           redemption was an impossibility. They concluded
                           that if a man was once down, he could never
                           rise again, he can never be truly changed.
                        c. In a sense they were right, in that man cannot
                           with his best efforts save himself.
                        d. Some try to excuse their sin by saying that
                           they cannot help doing what they do for they
                           were born that way.
                        e. They are confirming what the Bible has already
                           declared that we have been born in sin and
                           shapen in iniquity.
                        f. Where they are wrong is in their declaration
                           that they cannot change. It is true that they
                           cannot change themselves, but there was born in
                           Bethlehem a Savior who is able to save them,
                           even as He has saved us. For if any man be in
                           Christ he is a new creature, and the old things
                           are passed away, and everything becomes new.
        B. Before He was ever born, the angel commanded them to call His
           name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins.
                1. He was one day to proclaim, "For the Son of Man has
                   come to seek and to save that which was lost."
                2. In Psalm 53:6 we read,
PSA 53:6    Oh that the salvation of Israel [were come] out of Zion! When
                  God bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob
                  shall rejoice, [and] Israel shall be glad. Good tidings
                  of great joy.
                3. Later in the chapter we read when Jesus is brought into
                   the temple for dedication this aged godly man Simeon
                   took him in his arms, and declared, "Lord let thy
                   servant die in peace for I have seen thy salvation."
                4. Peter was later to declare, neither is their salvation
                   in any other for their is no other name under heaven
                   given among men whereby we must be saved.
                5. Paul was to write to the Romans, "For I am not ashamed
                   of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God
                   unto salvation, to him that believeth."
        C. This Savior is described by the angel to the shepherds, as
           Christ, Lord.
                1. The Greek word Christos means anointed, it is the Greek
                   word for the Hebrew word Mashiach. Thus the angel is
                   declaring that this child born in Bethlehem is the
                   Messiah.
                        a. The word anointed refers to the rite that was
                           conducted in the inauguration of the king. They
                           would pour a cruse of oil over his head, the
                           was thus anointed as king.
                        b. This babe that was born, was the anointed One,
                           who was to proclaimed King of Kings, and Lord
                             of Lords.
                2. The word Lord is the Greek word Kurios, it is the Greek
                   word that is used to translate the name of Yaweh or
                   Jehovah into
                   the Greek language. Acts 2:20 is one of the many
                   examples.
                        a. The announcement is then that God has come in
                           human flesh, He is born in Bethlehem and now is
                           cradled in the manger.
                        b. Paul declared to Timothy, "Great is the mystery
                           of Godliness, God was manifested in the flesh."
                        c. John said, "In the beginning was the Word, and
                           the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
                           And the word was made flesh and He dwelt among
                           us."
        D. He is the Savior, the Messiah or anointed One, He is the Lord
           of the universe.
                1. He is Savior only to those who believe in Him.
ACS 16:31   And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou
                   shalt be saved, and thy house.
ROM 10:9    That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and
                  shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him
                  from the dead, thou shalt be saved.