And the Government Shall Be Upon His Shoulders

Christmas Eve

December 24, 2013

Luke 2:1

And the Government Shall Be Upon His Shoulders

In the name of Jesus.

I.

The Romans have nothing to do with Jesus, except for two things: His death and His birth.

The Romans pushed our Savior out of Jerusalem and crucified Him on a hill called Calvary.

But this was nothing new. The Romans had pushed Jesus around even before He was born. Jesus should have been born in Nazareth. That's where His mother and His guardian were living. But

Caesar Augustus issued a decree that census should be taken of the entire Roman world (Luke 2:1)

and that was that. They were going to have move to Bethlehem to be counted. Take about having the government be upon your shoulders.

But this was just as Jesus wanted it. He willingly placed Himself under human government for His own purpose. He was

born of a woman, born under law (Galatians 4:4)

and He lived His life under authority.

Above all things, His will is always in perfect harmony with the authority of His Father. Jesus Himself tells us,

I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can do only what He sees His Father doing. (John 5:19)

But He also places Himself under the authority of His parents, Mary and Joseph. After the twelve-year old Jesus is finally found at the Temple, Luke tells us

Then He went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. (Luke 2:51)

Throughout His years of preaching, He went to church and placed Himself under the authority of the Old Testament church. When He was asked to read at the synagogue, He read the appointed text for that Sabbath day.

He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,

to set the oppressed free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:16-19)

And then in the end, He placed Himself once again under the authority of the Roman governement.

[Pilate] was even more afraid, and he went back inside the palace. “Where do You come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. “Do You refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t You realize I have power either to free You or to crucify You?” Jesus answered, “You would have no power over Me if it were not given to you from above.” (John 19:8-11)

And the rest is history. At the beginning of His Incarnation when God's eternal Son wrapped Himself up in human flesh to the moment when Roman legionaries guarded a tomb that tried and failed to wrap up His body, He was under law. And He placed Himself under this authority for you.

By perfectly and actively living under the Law, He dotted the all I's and crossed all the T's for you. Through the work of Holy Spirit in His Church, you have been gifted His righteousness lawful life. Merry Christmas!

In the name of the Father

and of the † Son

and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.