Birth Pains

[Read Luke 2:1-21 - Matthew 24:3-14]

I would have to believe, this passage from Luke is one of the most well known passages of the bible. Many people are aware of the birth story of Jesus. Many Christian schools require their elementary students to memorize this entire story. Our family, along with many others, reads through this story every year before we open our presents on Christmas Eve. Yet, as I prepared my sermon this week, the context of Jesus’ birth opened up to me in a new way. John Calvin helped me. 

The story opens up this way, “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.” (Luke 2:1–5, NIV). We’ve all heard that paragraph a thousand times. We can easily skip over it, trying to “get to the good stuff” of the story. Yet, I want to take some time to put ourselves in Joseph’s shoes (or in the shoes of many other Roman citizens). 

This decree came down from Caesar. It was a nationwide mandate. Every citizen HAD to comply and follow the order. Everyone had to travel back to their hometown in order to register to pay taxes to Caesar. There could be no excuses.  

Now, put yourself in Joseph’s shoes. The emperor has ordered that he and Mary HAVE to travel to Bethlehem to register to pay a tax. Yet, he’s looking at his wife who is 9 months pregnant and wondering how he’s going to make this journey. Calvin has a great line that says, “Joseph was not so devoid of feeling as to have no concern about his wife’s delivery.” (112). Think about it. The government was forcing him to take his 9 month pregnant wife on a long, arduous, treacherous journey because they wanted his money. Imagine the frustration and anxiety that Joseph experienced in that moment. But he had no choice. He had to take his pregnant wife on this journey. There were no excuses. 

As I thought about that this week, it continued to reinforce the reality that Jesus was born in the midst of severe difficulty and trial. Last week, I mentioned how far God’s people had fallen away. The vast majority had given up waiting. There hadn’t been a prophet for 400 years. God’s people were a mess. 

Yet, their governmental situation wasn’t any better. The Roman government didn’t care about the Jews. In fact, they continually took advantage of them. There’s a reason there were Jewish zealots who wanted to fight the Roman government. The government was oppressing God’s people. Calvin says this about the census and the tax on the Jews: “Thus an ungodly man takes forcible possession of that which God was accustomed to demand from his people. It was, in effect, reducing the Jews to entire subjection, and forbidding them to be thenceforth reckoned as the people of God.” (109).

At the point when Jesus was born, God’s people were a mess and the government was a mess. It was a very difficult time to be alive. 

Now, if you were God—which you’re not, but play along with me anyway—and you saw this situation playing out. You see your people falling away from you and you see you people struggling greatly under governmental oppression. What would you do? Here’s what I think our tendency would be—almost every one of us. If we had the power and the resources to take care of things, we would come in kick some tail and take some names, right? We would want to rain fire and brimstone down upon the Roman empire to show them who’s boss. We’d want to do a powerful, glorious work that everyone could see in order to draw our people back to us. Right? Isn’t that what we’d want to do? 

Yet, we’re not God. And God does things differently than we do—or even imagine. God sees this happening—the falling away of his people and the oppression from the government—and he has his Son born in a stable and placed in a manger. “While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.” (Luke 2:6–7, NIV). On the outside, there is nothing majestic about this—nothing glorious. Nothing that would place fear in the Roman empire or attract the hearts of God’s people. Jesus was born in the midst of a severe trial, yet he was born in complete humility. 

And his birth was announced with complete humility. “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.” (Luke 2:8–9, NIV). The announcement of Jesus’ birth—the Savior of the world—did not come to the powerful armies of Rome, or to Caesar Augustus, or even to the religious leaders of the day. It was proclaimed to a bunch of freaked-out shepherds watching their sheep out in the field—a bunch of rednecks living in the boonies of Northern Wisconsin. Jesus was born in the midst of severe trial, but born in complete humility and announced in complete humility. 

Yet, the message that was proclaimed about Jesus was not humble. The message about Jesus was GRANDIOSE. “But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.” (Luke 2:10–11, NIV). The Savior has been born. The Messiah who was promised throughout the Old Testament. The LORD—the ruler of God’s people, and a tip of the hat that he was God himself.

Yet, here is where I want to focus for a bit. What will be the result of Jesus’ birth? “I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.” (Luke 2:10). Great joy for who? Just Israel? No. ALL PEOPLE. The birth of Jesus was promised to bring about joy for all peoples. So, in the midst of extreme trial and difficulty, Jesus was born humbly and announced humbly, but these humble beginnings had a glorious end in sight. 

This end is mentioned by Jesus in the book of Matthew. He says, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14, NIV). The “good news” that the angels proclaimed at Jesus’ birth is the gospel. It’s the same word. They proclaimed the gospel to the shepherd and promised that this gospel would bring joy to all peoples. Now, Jesus is telling his disciples that this gospel WILL BE PREACHED in the whole world…and then the end will come. That is the end goal of Jesus’ birth—to bring the gospel of the kingdom to the ends of the earth for the joy of all people. 

Yet, take a moment to put that glorious picture in context. What will it look like as the glorious gospel advances throughout the whole world? “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.” (Matthew 24:4–8, NIV). The glorious gospel of the kingdom will advance in the midst of severe difficulty and trial. 

Jesus is saying this in response to a question from his disciples. He and his disciples had been hanging out at the temple, and as they left the temple, they marveled at its majesty. They were in awe of its beauty. And Jesus takes the opportunity to take them down a notch. He basically says, “You think this is beautiful? There will be a day when it is completely destroyed.” The disciples are shaken. They can’t imagine the temple being destroyed. They assume that if the temple is destroyed, it must be the end of the world. So, they ask Jesus, “Tell us when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3, NIV). And Jesus answers them by giving the answer about wars and rumors of wars, and natural disasters, and famines and earthquakes. 

So, throughout the years, many have held tightly to these signs of the end times. When we enter into seasons of history like our current situation, and we see many of these signs happening, people begin to wonder if it is the end times. We are not wrong to wonder these things BUT there are a couple important words that most people overlook in this passage. 

The first word is BEGINNING. After giving all of these signs to the disciples, he says, “All these are the beginning of birth pains.”(Matthew 24:8, NIV). These signs are not signs of the end. They are signs of the BEGINNING of the end. That’s really important. 

The second words we need to pay attention to are BIRTH PAINS. All of these signs are the beginning of birth pains of the end. There’s a lot to unpack here, but let’s take a moment to consider birth pains. 

One important aspect of birth pains is that they come and go. The pain comes for a bit, then goes away for a bit. There is a repetition of pain and relief, pain and relief. Yet, this repetition isn’t consistent, is it? At the beginning of the birth pains—the pain is weaker and the relief is longer. Yet, as things progress—as the birthing process moves forward—the pain increases in intensity and the period of relief shortens.

This is what Jesus is talking about when he speaks of these signs being the beginning of the birth pains. They will start off with lesser intensity and longer periods of relief, but they will come back again eventually, a little stronger this time. Then, there will be relief for a bit. Then, they’ll come back again. And the closer we get to the birth—the new heavens and the new earth—the more intense these signs will be and the shorter the time of relief in between.

This is why people have repeatedly thought they were in the end times. These birth pains come and go. They come and go, but they also increase in intensity. So, the next generation says, “This is the worst it’s ever been! It must be the end.” Yet, the season passes and the pains go away for a bit. Yet, the pain will come again and it will be stronger next time. And this will keep happening over and over and over again until the kingdom of God is fully born when Christ comes again. Just like Jesus’ birth, the kingdom of God is being born into the world in the midst of severe trials and difficulties.   

Jesus goes on to talk more about these birth pains: “At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:10–14, NIV).

With this in mind, consider something else we know about birth pains. They are not pointless. It is not pain for no reason. The pain is actually accomplishing something—it’s preparing the body to give birth to a child. And this is also what Jesus is talking about. He ends this passage talking about the good news of the gospel being preached to the whole world—to all nations—and then the end will come. That’s when birth will happen. But, don’t forget that the birth pains are actually accomplishing something, they are preparing the way for the kingdom to be fully born into the world. That means God is using the famines, the earthquakes, the wars and rumors of war, the nations rising up against nation—EVEN many growing cold and turning away from the faith—to birth the kingdom into this world. These birth pains are ACTUALLY bringing about the birth of the kingdom of God. 

And this continues to point to the fact that the kingdom of God comes into the world humbly—just like the King of that kingdom. It doesn’t come in the power of armies or political power. It doesn’t come with flashing lights. It comes in the midst of struggle and difficulty. It comes through God’s people faithfully holding fast as the world around them gives way. It comes through God’s people faithfully going out into the world with the gospel—proclaiming the good news of great joy for all people.

And it comes with JOY—even in the midst of trial and struggle. When Jesus was born into the world God’s people were a mess and the government was a mess and the angels still proclaimed, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.” (Luke 2:10–11, NIV). 

We may be tempted to look around at our current situation and say, “The church is a mess. The government is a mess. The world is a mess.” Yet, the angels have the same word for us. We have a Savior—the Christ, or Lord. And that is good news of GREAT JOY—especially in the midst of difficulty. Why? Because Christ has brought, and is bringing redemption. He is bringing about the birth of the new heavens and the new earth. And when we find ourselves in seasons like this—where we see signs of the end, where we see birth pains all around us—we should not be focused on the birth pains but on what the birth pains are bringing about. They are bringing about the kingdom of God and the new heavens and the new earth. So, rather than putting us into a state of despair, they should remind us that Christ has come, he has brought redemption, and He is bringing his kingdom into the world. 

So, we rejoice in his salvation and we JOYFULLY hold fast to him. Then we JOYFULLY keep telling people the good news. We have a Savior. He’s been born. He is Christ, the Lord. And he can bring Great JOY—even in the midst of struggle and difficulty.