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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
‘And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.’
Luk_2:10-11.
I. ‘Unto you.’—It begins with that without which it would be of little worth—those two sweet words of appropriation—‘Unto you.’ We all know the difference of a gift which is general to all and the gift which is specially to ourselves. God give us the faith to make it ours—our very own. Who were these privileged ones? Shepherds! Poor shepherds! Men of no high birth or lofty attainment; men carrying on their humble work, attending to their sheep in the darkness and coldness of the hills of Bethlehem. And that whole picture is an allegory.
II. ‘Is born.’—And there is much comfort and importance in the fact that He was ‘born.’ Christ might have come in the fullness of His manhood; but in that He was ‘born’ an infant, there was a thoroughness given to His work which otherwise there could not have been. He took the fullness of our human nature, and He is in sympathy with our whole life at every stage from the cradle to the grave.
III. ‘A Saviour.’—Let us take care that we attach to that word its true meaning. Perhaps the old Saxon word will help us to do it better. Salvation is safety. A Saviour makes safe; He makes safe. Christ was ‘born to make us safe.’
IV. Christ the Lord.—He was born ‘Christ,’ Christ ‘the anointed!’ Anointed for the three offices which required the holy oil. The prophet—to reveal God’s truth to man; the priest—to offer the atoning sacrifice; the King—an absolute monarch. ‘A Saviour which is Christ’—the anointed—‘Christ the Lord.’
Illustration
‘With no thought of fulfilling a prophecy did Joseph and Mary undertake that long journey of eighty miles to Bethlehem. Like other citizens they obeyed the Imperial edict that every one should go up to be taxed “into his own city.” It is a marked characteristic of the Scripture prophecies that there is no trace of human intention, no seeking on the part of the friends of Revelation to put themselves in accord with the Divine purposes. The immediate agents knew no more of the ends they were furthering than does the clay while being fashioned by the potter.’