Road to Bethlehem—Jesus

Many years ago, a wealthy family from London, England went camping in the Scottish highlands. They pitched their tent near the top of a towering waterfall that spilled from the crags above and roared through a gorge below. The spot was wild and desolate and the only other people around were a family of Scottish shepherds who were camped further downstream.

The English family had a young son who was quite active and adventurous. One day, while exploring the river below the waterfall, he slipped and tumbled into the raging current. Before he knew it, he was swept down the gorge. He surely would have perished except for the fact that the son of the Scottish shepherds, a boy just about the same age as the English boy, had seen him fall in.

The Scottish shepherd boy, without a thought for his own safety, plunged into the torrent to rescue the young English lad. In a moment, they both lay gasping and dripping wet on the river bank, with their frightened families gathered around them.

The Londoners were overwhelmed with gratitude. They offered money to the shepherd boy, but he modestly refused it. The grateful parents asked the shepherd family, “Where does your son go to school?”

The shepherd boy’s father replied a bit hesitantly “In this part of Scotland, a shepherd boy rarely goes to school.”

“Then that’s it!” cried the Londoners. “Why not let your son come with us to London and go to school with our son? We will take care of his tuition.”

So it was that the Scottish shepherd boy went to school in London. Although he started slowly, he very quickly caught up to and surpassed the other students, winning all sorts of academic awards. He went on to the University of London, where he graduated with high honors, then to medical school, where he gained national recognition as a brilliant research physician.

The Scottish shepherd boy’s name was Alexander—Alexander Fleming, the man who discovered penicillin. Literally millions of people owe their lives to this man.

And what about the other boy—the English boy he saved from drowning? His name was Winston—Winston Churchill.

What an amazing thing that these two world-famous men should meet together as boys on a raging river in the Scottish highlands! Was it a coincidence? No, I believe that God brought them together because He had plans for each of them. By incredibly diverse roads, he brought them to the same place at the same moment in history in order to accomplish His purpose.

And in a similar way, the Christmas story unfolds in the pages of Scripture. Over recent weeks, we have been on the road to Bethlehem. We have been looking at the major characters of the Christmas story and the impact it had on them to be involved in God’s program. We’ve looked at Joseph and Mary. Today we want to look at the central character of it all—Jesus.

We often see depicted on our Christmas cards Mary and Joseph on the road to Bethlehem. Mary is usually seated on a donkey, although the Bible never mentions a donkey. It is quite possible that Mary actually walked the whole way on foot—about 130 kilometers from Nazareth. That’s how far Mary and Joseph had to travel to get to Bethlehem.

But how far did Jesus have to come to get to Bethlehem? How far did He have to travel in order to be there at the same place and at the same moment in history for this date with destiny?

He had to come all the way from heaven. How far away is that? Well, we can’t measure it in kilometers, but we know that the road that Jesus traveled to come to earth was not an easy one.

In fact, the Bible tells us something of his incredible journey in a passage that is usually not associated with the Christmas story. Turn to Philippians 2. This passage is not specifically about Christmas. It’s more about the kind of relationships that we should have as followers of Jesus Christ.

It tells us that we should have unselfish attitudes—that we should not be looking out for our own interests. And it points to Jesus Christ as our example in doing this, because Jesus certainly wasn’t looking out for Himself when he embarked on that incredible journey from heaven’s throne to Bethlehem’s stable.

This passage reveals what it meant for the Son of God to become a man. It tells us what an enormous distance he had to travel in order to be there in Bethlehem on that special night 2,000 years ago. Let’s look at it together…

Philippians 2:4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!

When you go on a long journey, you look for landmarks, or mile markers, or waypoints to measure your progress along the way. I’d like to draw your attention to several significant waypoints that Jesus had to pass on his road to Bethlehem.

Waypoint #1—He willingly relinquished his position

v. 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped

The word “grasped” means to “cling to something; to hold on to it tightly”.

As the Son of God, Jesus was equal with God in heaven. Yet he did not cling to that position of equality, with all the rights and prerogatives and advantages that it entailed. He willingly stepped down from that place.

In fact, what Jesus did was the exact opposite of what Lucifer tried to do. Lucifer, who became the devil, was not equal with God. But he tried through his own pride and selfish ambition to step up to a position of equality. Jesus, who was already equal, willingly and humbly stepped down. That tells us something about the nature and character of God. He is not haughty. He is not proud. He is not preoccupied with his own status. He is willing to step down.

Do you know what it feels like to willingly give up a position of privilege? Let’s think about that for a moment. A week ago Friday was the busiest shopping day in the United States. It was the day after American Thanksgiving, and it is traditionally known as “Black Friday” because that’s when all the stores go into the black for the year.

There are stupendous sales and many stores open their doors very early. They feature door-buster sales, offering a limited number of items at extremely low prices. For example, Wal-Mart opened its doors at 7:00 a.m. and people began lining up at 5:00 a.m.

Last year, my father in law and I noticed that one of those huge electronics superstores—a store called “Best Buy”—was offering a certain model of computer for just $399. My father in law was looking for a new computer, so we decided to get up early on Black Friday and go and get one. Big mistake!

As we drove thru the darkness to the store, we began to notice that traffic was increbibly dense for so early in the morning on a holiday. In fact, we found ourselves in the middle of a huge traffic jam at 6:30 a.m.!

We barely made it into the gigantic parking lot, only to find that all the parking places were long since spoken for. Cars were parked on the grass, on the sidewalks, in the flower beds. And the lineup outside the store was about a quarter of a mile long! There had to be at least 2,000 people in line!

We just looked at each other and laughed and turned around and drove home. That was the end of that!

But I want you to put yourself in the place of the person who was first in that line. There you are, standing there with your face pressed up against the glass doors. You’ve been standing there in the cold since 4 a.m. There are 2,000 people pressing in behind you. Ahead of you, inside the brightly lit store are riches untold—computers, giant screen TV’s, video games, microwaves, appliances—and they’re all on sale at unbelievable prices. And you’re first in line! You get first dibs at them!

But just then, you notice two latecomers—two pastors, in fact—who are just about to drive out of the overcrowded parking lot in discouragement because they know that they have absolutely no chance of even getting in the store, let alone buying anything on sale.

So what do you do? You call out to them “Wait… Stop… Come back! You can have my place in line! Right here… at the front… you can be first in!” Do you see yourself doing that?

Why do we find it sooooo hard to put other people first? To let others go ahead of us. Last year there was an actual fight in the parking lot of a department store near where we lived because one driver pulled into a parking spot that another driver had been waiting for!

We have such a hard time deferring to someone else. Putting someone else first. It is our pride that makes us this way. But Jesus stepped down from heaven, because there was no evil pride in him. He willingly relinquished his place.

Waypoint #2 - he emptied himself of his powers

v. 7 (He) made himself nothing…

The Greek word is “kenosis” and it means that he emptied himself. Theologians have debated for centuries as to what that expression means. How did Jesus “empty” himself?

Well, he certainly didn’t stop being God. He did not empty himself of his divine nature. He didn’t become less God in order to become a man.

But his divine attributes—his omniscience, his omnipresence, his omnipotence had to be screened, or limited because he had become a man. You see, Jesus, as the Son of God, could always be omnipresent. But because he had chosen to take on a human body, He voluntarily restricted his ability to be everywhere at once. Now he could only be in one place at once.

As the Son of God, he was omniscient. But because he had chosen to become a little baby, He voluntarily limited his knowledge and his consciousness, even his awareness of the world around him—the world that He himself had made. Now he had to learn and grow in his awareness as his physical brain developed.

Jesus didn’t lose or set aside his deity when he became a man; he just allowed it to be restricted. Think of it this way…

I’m not sure who currently owns the title of the world’s fastest human? I do know that that title was once owned by a Canadian sprinter named Donovan Bailey. Bailey won the Olympic gold medal in 96 in Atlanta and was the holder of the world record in the 100 meters. He was, for a time, the World’s Fastest Man.

Now suppose, at the peak of his career, Donovan Bailey entered a three-legged race. He voluntarily decided to run a 100 meter race with his leg tied to the leg of a partner. The two of them might do quite well—in fact, they might even win the race. But you know that their time isn’t going to be anywhere near what Bailey could do if he were running on his own. Although his physical ability would not be diminished in any way—he would still be the World’s Fastest Man—the circumstances of a three legged race would limit his performance.

It’s the same way with the Incarnation. When Jesus emptied himself to become a man, he wasn’t setting aside His Godhood, but he was voluntarily limiting the full expression of His Godhood. He emptied himself of his powers.

Waypoint #3 - he took on the role of a servant (v. 7)

There are two words for servant in Greek. One is diakonos, from which we get the word deacon. A diakonos is someone who serves voluntarily.

The other word for servant is the word doulos, and it really means “slave”. A doulos is someone who serves because he is owned by someone else. He is under the authority of his Lord and Master. And that authority is compelling. It supersedes however he feels, or whatever he thinks about things. The opinion and the will of a slave is irrelevant—only his master’s will is relevant. “Doulos” is the word that is used here.

In stepping down from heaven, Jesus didn’t just become a diakonos—a voluntary servant with a will of his own; he became a doulos—a slave.

There was no point at which Jesus could say “This business of being the Messiah is not to my liking. It’s too tough, too unpleasant, too painful. I think I’ll resign and go back to heaven.” He completely gave himself up to do His Father’s bidding. He totally surrendered and became a slave of His Father’s will.

This is the road that Jesus took to get from heaven to Bethlehem. From equality with God to emptying of his abilities to enslavement to the will of the Father to being a human embryo in Mary’s womb.

Waypoint #4 - he identified completely with us

He became a human being. Christmas is when God became a man. And he became a man—not by coming down from heaven in a blaze of glory with a perfectly designed human body in mature adult form. He came into the world the same way that every other human being has come into it—by being born.

So that means that He floated quietly in Mary’s uterus for nine months, heart beating, bones forming, tiny fingers grasping, little legs kicking, connected to her life by an umbilical cord which gave him sustenance.

And when he was born—the shock of the cold night air must have made his little lungs gasp. His tiny nose must have wrinkled at the strange smell of the animals. And the cry of every newborn was his cry. The blurry forms of his father and mother he could barely see from his immature eyes. He felt the need to nurse at her breast. The desire to be held and comforted and rocked back to sleep.

This is God we are talking about here. What a long way he came from heaven to be with us!

But came he did, because he loved us. And he loves us still.

There were still more waypoints ahead of Jesus after he got to Bethlehem, because Bethlehem was really just a stopover. The final destination of his incredible journey from heaven was a hill called Calvary where…

- he humbled himself

- he became obedient to death

- he willingly endured the disgrace of dying on a cross

He came so far down to save us! What humility! What condescension!

And when we look at the immediate context of this passage in Philippians, we hear the Lord telling us to have the same attitude as Jesus had.

Am I willing to come a long way down from where I am to help someone in need? Am I willing to step down, to set aside my rights and privileges, to humble myself, to empty myself, to enslave myself to the will of my Father in heaven, to die to myself the way that Jesus did?

James 4:10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

Christmas is when God came down. And we capture the spirit of Christmas when we come down, too.