Upside Down Christmas: Luke 2

02 - Luke 2

0:00

Welcome back to our Advent series called “Upside Down Christmas” where we’re looking at the Gospel of Luke—one chapter at a time—and tracing this great theme of reversals in the life of Jesus.

And in the second chapter, we see this theme in abundance. But one of the more obvious ones reveals that it’s not just that the low get exalted—like we saw with Elizabeth in chapter one—but that the high become low. What do I mean by that?

Well, in this case, we’re talking about Jesus himself. It’s just one verse, but it’s implications are really extraordinary. “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:7)

And of course, the reason this is so crazy is because those are circumstances that are no where near befitting a king, let alone the prince of all the universe. But this is where Jesus, the Son of God, is born—lying in manger.

And what I love about this so much is that this isn’t something that just sort of “happens” to Jesus. But this whole thing was the product of the plan of God. That is, Jesus willingly entered into poverty and circumstances that were, frankly, beneath him. He did it on purpose.

And he did it because it was the way to show that he was going to be taking our place so that we could have his. Or you might say, Jesus’ birth foreshadows his death because it shows the great one becoming low for the sake of those whom he loves. It’s like a rich man who sleeps on the street so the homeless guy can stay in his penthouse. The Apostle Paul puts it like this: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9)

Jesus didn’t have to embrace poverty for our sake. But he did. And he did it so that we could become rich in him.

And I think what that does for us—other than showing us how much we’re loved—is it puts all of this other stuff in our lives into perspective. I mean, how much energy do we put into gain and maintaining material things in this life? How occupied are we with our material comforts and our lifestyles—the clothes we wear, the house we live in, the cars we drive? How much of our mental and emotional energy get wrapped up in that?

When we look at the choice that Jesus made to leave the comforts and status and riches of heaven to be born in a lowly manger, when we meditate on that, we begin to really see that the stuff we’ve been counting as so important—it isn’t nearly as important as we thought. That’s not where the real treasure is.

Where in your life are you clinging to things that—in light of what Jesus does—just aren’t worth it? What idols of lifestyle, wealth, comfort, class, status, and all of that are you clinging to that Jesus, by his birth in a manger outside the inn, is gently asking you to give up for his sake?

Let’s pray: Lord, we are fleshly beings, material beings with material needs and a strong desire for comforts. More than that, we look around us and compare and it seems like so many people have it better than we do, lifestyles that are fancier or bigger or better than ours; and we want to have that for ourselves. Truthfully, Lord, we’re caught by envy and we’re caught by covetousness and we’re trapped in this cycle of want—always wanting more, never satisfied, never content. Forgive us, Lord. And teach us to be content in you, to pursue the real treasure of a relationship with you through Jesus Christ, who though he was born rich, became poor for our sake—for my sake. Help me invest my heart in the kingdom of your Son. Make me like him, O Lord. In his name we pray. Amen.

Family Devotion:

Can you imagine what it was like for Mary and Joseph that night that Jesus was born? (Close you eyes and describe what you see!)

Jesus was "rich" but became "poor" for our sakes. How was Jesus rich?

What are some of the "riches" or comforts that you wouldn't want to give up? What would be the hardest to give up?