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Martin Luther's Christmas Sermon

Jesus came into this world to lay down his life for our salvation.

Martin Luther's Christmas sermon is not one sermon. He preached on the nativity for a period for 30 years, and often a dozen times a year, beginning with Advent and carrying through to Epiphany. And sometimes we have three versions of one sermon. On Saturday, he wrote what he intended to say. On Sunday, his students took down what he did say. And on Monday, he wrote out what he wished he'd said.

I've gone through the whole body of that material and selected a paragraph here and a paragraph there, and weaved them together. Luther strips away all the legendary accretions of the Middle Ages. A very lush growth had attached itself to the Christmas story throughout the centuries. For example, on Christmas Eve at midnight, all the animals in the wood knelt in honor of the CChild. That in , there was a rose blooming. That when the holy family went down into Egypt, the palm trees bent over so that Joseph could more readily pick the grapes. That instead of one star, there appeared three in the sky in honor of the holy trinity. And that angel Gabriel brought a wedding contract from God the Father Almighty to be signed by the Virgin Mary.

Legends were built up also in regard to the wise men. In our first pictorial representation, there are two. In the next, four. And then the number becomes stereotyped at three. At first they ride on camels. But after they moved west, they had horses. And when stirrups were introduced in the eighth century, the wise men are properly equipped. Then they turn into kings, and their feast was called "The day of the three kings."

In the period of the Renaissance, when it was discovered that Africa was a continent, the three continents, Africa, Asia and Europe were divided between the three, and one of the wise men in consequence became black. There was some opposition to that in France, but by and by Africa achieved equality with Europe and with Asia.

As for the birth, in early representations, Mary is lying prone in bed, after the pains of genuine childbirth. But after the visions of St. Brigitte in the Renaissance periodand Brigitte saw exactly how it wasMary suffered no pain and therefore was able immediately after birth to kneel in adoration of the child.

All that disappears in Luther. He insists on following strictly the biblical account. Of course he does not hesitate to transplant, but that of course is a very common practice. The Italians had done it already. And with them, the wise men were the nobles of Florence, the shepherds were the peasants of the Adenines, the child was the Bambino, and Mary was Madonna. When the scene was transferred to Germany, Mary became a little more plump.

Luther often throws in contemporary allusions, as that the distance between Bethlehem and Jerusalem was the same as between Krakow and Nuremberg. So it becomes a German story. Although he does follow the biblical account, he's not troubled by a few discrepancies between Matthew and Luke. "I don't know," he said, "why the Holy Ghost allowed the evangelist to make a few slips, but there it is. It doesn't bother me."

As for the miracles, he accepted everything implicitly. He believed in the Virgin Birth, but he said it wasn't a very big miracle. It wasn't half as big as getting Eve out of Adam because after all Mary was a woman. But isn't any birth a miracle? Where'd the little fingernails come from?

And the great miracle is nothing of the physical character. The great miracle which fills him with uncontrollable wonder is that when God had created the world and bestowed every benefit upon man, and man rebelled against him, that then instead of wiping out the human race, God sent his Son to die for the redemption of mankind. This transcends all reason; not logical reason, but emotional reason. What man would ever do anything like that? It just exceeds all comprehension. This is the great wonder.

And there is another wonder, too, and that is that the characters that invite them there, I wouldn't have believed it. The greatest miracle was the miracle of faith.

And now I give you the story, as nearly as I may, in Luther's own words.

God prefers to come to the simple

The angel Gabriel was the of all the hosts of heaven. He had legions of angels at his command. And his appearance was so resplendent that no man could look on him with unveiled face and live, unless he divested himself of his glory. Yet despite his eminence, he was willing to be sent by God as an errand boy, with a message to a simple maid in Nazareth.

And she was a very simple maid. Her name was Mary or Miriam. It means "bitter myrrh." The Hebrews were in the habit of giving names which signified some contemporary circumstance, and Israel at that time was in a very pitiable state, like Germany in our time. She was Mary or Miriam.

I think she was probably an orphan. Of course we read that Joachim was her father and Anna her mother. And that they were wealthy, and they divided their substance in three portions: one for the church, one for the poor, and one for Mary. But there's not a word about it in the biblical account. I think she was probably a girl of about thirteen years old, and that she was entrusted to Joseph for custody. And to this girl the angel Gabriel brought a message.

Why did he not go to Jerusalem and appear to the daughter of Caiaphas, living in a palace and clad in fine raiment? It is to the simple that God prefers to come.

God comes to the people who are doing their job

And what was Mary doing when the angel came to her? Usually in the pictures, she is portrayed as reading, and that's wholesome. But I wouldn't be surprised if she was doing the chores. And the angel said to her, "Hail, Mary, full of grace." Oh yes he did. That's the way it reads in the Latin, in the Vulgate, "full of grace." But who ever heard of a girl full of grace? I know what you mean by a purse full of gold, but a girl full of grace? If I were translating that, as I would prefer, I would translate it simply "viva Maria." For what word in our language is more beautiful than that word "viva"?

"Viva Maria. You are more blessed than any woman that ever lived or ever shall live. For you shall bear a child and you shall call his name Jesus. And he shall sit upon the throne of his father David. And of his kingdom there shall be no end."

And Mary was flesh and blood. She said, "How can these things be?"

And Gabriel said, "You've asked too big a one for me, Mary. I don't know. But the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. And you will not know yourself how it has come to pass." And Mary believed.

There are three wonders here. One, that God should become man. Another, that a virgin should bear a child. And the third, that Mary believed. And this is the greatest of the three.

Now at the same time, the angel disclosed to her that her cousin Elizabeth in her old age was with child and in her sixth month. Mary resolved at once to go and help her. Think of that! She'd just been told that she was the greatest woman that had ever lived, and yet she's willing to go and do maid service for her cousin. She who had legions of angels to serve her. She might have said, "Why should I bother with that?" And yet she starts out at once to help her. And let every maid in this audience be proud that the Virgin Mary did maid service.

Now we read in the gospel of Luke that she went with haste. Not like our women when they go to market and stop to chat all along the way, but the Virgin Mary went with haste. And she went over the hills. Now let not anybody in this congregation take this as a warrant for going unchaperoned, hiking over the hills. The Virgin Mary was very special and she had a special command. She went over the hills with haste.

And when she greeted Elizabeth, the babe leapt in her womb. Now this clearly refutes the Baptists. Because if John the Baptist responded to the Holy Ghost before he was born, why should he not immediately be baptized as soon as he arrived? But Elizabeth was quite overcome and she forgot, "Dear Mary, do come in." She said, "Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb." And then when she had somewhat regained her composure, she said, "Viva Maria, do come in!"

So Mary stayed with her and helped her until John was born. And then she made soup for Elizabeth and she gave John his bath. And then after a while, she went back to Nazareth. And then what did she do? She told nobody of her secret. She went back and scrubbed the floor and scoured the pans and washed the dishes and milked the cow. And there were many lordly dames in Nazareth who looked down upon her, who had they known the wonder that she carried, would have fallen at her feet.

Now a decree went out from Augustus Caesar that all the world should be taxed. God arranged to have his Son born at exactly that time to show that he approved of government. Now there are those who say that a Christian ought not be a king or a magistrate because Christ refused to be a king. Oh nonsense. That's because he was a preacher and he had his special vocation. Some people could be magistrates; some could be preachers. I'm a preacher; I'm not a magistrate. But I think that you've got to follow every detail. Well it's like saying, "My wife's a Christian and she wears a veil, so I'll have to wear a veil if I'm going to be a Christian. Nonsense!

So they switched the time and this census required that every man went to his own village to be enrolled. Now that meant that Joseph had to go to Bethlehem. He came from Bethlehem. He was a very poor man; he couldn't get work there. So he had had to go up to Nazareth to get employment. And now he had to go back to be enrolled.

But Mary didn't have to go. She wasn't from Bethlehem. And I think if Joseph had fully understood the situation, he wouldn't have taken her. But we can see how poor he was. He couldn't engage anyone to look after her. And the couple must have been looked down upon because nobody volunteered to look after Mary while he was gone. And she didn't want to be troublesome. She put things in order and they started out.

The pictures always show her riding on a donkey, but there's no donkey in the Gospels. The girl who might have gone in a golden chariot with angels to attend her, went on foot, and trudged her weight across the snow of the Gallilean and the Judean hills. And as they approached Bethlehem, Joseph was saying, "Oh it'll be alright. We'll be among relatives." Fine idea that was.

Her time came as they were drawing near and Joseph sought room for them in the inn. But there was no room in the inn. Of course there was! There was all the room in the inn! But nobody would give up a room! Shame on you, wretched Bethlehem. You ought to be burned with brimstone. And don't let you people in this congregation think you'd have done any better if you were there. I can just hear you saying, "Ooh, we would love to take care of the baby Jesus. We would wash his diapers." If you'd been there, you wouldn't have done a bit better. And if you think you would, why wouldn't you do it for your neighbor in your midst who is Christ among you? Joseph did the best he could. But nobody came to give a hand.

There the guests were in the inn, guzzling and carousing and unmindful of the wonder that was taking place in their midst. And they went to the stable. And she brought forth her firstborn child and wrapped him in swaddling clothes. I wonder where she got them. She hadn't brought anything. I'm sure she didn't use Joseph's britches that they have on exhibition at Aachen. Perhaps she used her veil.

And she laid him in a manger. Why in a manger? Because she didn't have a cradle. She didn't have anything. No warm water, no cold water, no pan, no towels, no table, nothing that our German women have at such a time. I marvel that the little fella didn't freeze to death. And I don't know how Mary knew what to do. She'd never had a baby before. And don't think it didn't hurt her. She was flesh and blood.

And then when he was before them, what did they do? The pictures always show them kneeling in adoration. And we may be sure that they looked with wonder and with joy on this gift which God had given. And let us also gather about his crib, as we do when one of our children is born. How fair is the maid. How lovely is the child. And what is more disarming than a babe? See him smile as he plays upon the breasts of his mother. Look upon him and know that in this little child is all your hope, your joy, your comfort, your salvation.

Now there were shepherds abiding in the fields by night, watching over their sheep. That's a mean job. Looking after sheep is a mean job at any time, especially at night. But there they were, doing that which was assigned to them. And that's the kind of people God comes to. Oh it's the dirty devil, there's a few people like that today. Everybody wants to be somebody else. The peasant wants to be a prince and the prince wants to be a king and the young married man wants to be unmarried and the unmarried man wants to be married and the maid wants to be a princess. But a maid who says, "If I were" will end up with a bad husband. It's to the people doing their job that God comes.

God comes to those who worship him

And the glory of the Lord shone about them. The whole hillside was ablaze with light. And they were sore afraid. And the angel said, "Fear not. Behold I bring you glad tidings. For unto you this day is born a Savior who is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: that ye shall find him in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts. A multitude! All the angels in heaven. And there are more angels in heaven than there are blades of grass on earth. And they were all singing, singing, singing!

I wonder why one of them didn't go and give Mary a hand. You'd think one of them could have taken her a feather bed or a pan of warm water. But there they were, all of them singing. They were so happy they just had to break out of heaven and sing to somebody. They would have had a bigger celebration if God had let them. I don't understand it. But there they were.

And then when they disappeared, the shepherds said, "Let us go even unto Bethlehem." They believed! I wouldn't have believed. I would have said, "This doesn't make any sense." All the heavens to open up and the angels sing a cantata just to a few shepherds on a hillside! Why if a king were born, surely the angels would have gone to Jerusalem and sung for Caiaphas or for King Herod. That they should do it for us out here, it doesn't make any sense. We must have been dreaming. Besides, if I'd been God and wanted to save the world, I wouldn't have done it that way. I just would have called in the devil and twisted his nose and said, "Let my people go."

But God is amazing. He sends a little baby as weak as an earthworm, lying in the feedbox of a donkey. And that little baby crunches the devil's back and overcomes all the power of hell and sin and death.

And the shepherds went to Bethlehem and they did not recoil when they saw the squalor, but knelt in adoration. And then they told the whole countryside, round about, what had come to pass. And then we read, "And the shepherds returned." That certainly must be a mistake. It ought to be, "And the shepherds shaved their heads and went into a monastery." But no, it says, "They returned." And where to? To their sheep! And a very good thing for the sheep indeed.

Now at that time there were wise men in the east. They were not kings. Scripture doesn't say so. They were wise men. Learned in all the lore of the east. Today we would call them professors. Neither do we know that they were three. There were three gifts, but then twelve might each have brought three gifts. But we do know that they were wise men. And they knew that when a star appeared, a king was born. Now how they knew, I don't know. But they were descended from Abraham by Keturah and Abram had no secrets from Keturah and Keturah probably passed it down the line so that's how they knew.

Now when the star appeared, they knew that the king was born. Now let nobody take that as a warrant for practicing astrology, because this was a very special star. Any ordinary star is so far up that people who are ten miles apart will think that it is immediately over them. But this star was able to guide to the very place where the young child lay, so it must have been very low down. And then it was a moving star. During the day, when they were riding on their camels, the star went along with them. And when they stopped at night, the star stopped and waited 'til they got up in the morning, and then went along them again.

And thus they continued 'til they came to the border of Judea. And then they said to themselves, "Now we will go straight to the capital city of Jerusalem." And God said, "You know the way alright. You don't need the star." And he took it out of heaven. He must have done because when they got to Jerusalem, they didn't know where to go. So the star couldn't have been there.

Well when they came to Jerusalem, they couldn't find that anybody knew anything about this king that had been born. "Why," they said, "if a prince were born, the whole city should be strewn with mayflowers." Luther slipped at that point and got his mayflowers in midwinter. Otherwise he's very strictly biblical. "In our country," they said, "there would be more excitement over the birth of a lamb or a calf, than there is over this king. We certainly have made a mistake. We'd better go back. But still we're here. Maybe we'd better go and see the king."

So they came to Herod and told him that a star had appeared and that this presaged the birth of a king. And Herod trembled and all Jerusalem with him. Well, one could understand why Herod would tremble if there were a new claim unto the throne, but why all Jerusalem with him? Because they knew what Herod was like. He had killed a wife; he had killed a son. The emperor Augustus said, "It were better to be Herod's sow than his son." Jews knew perfectly well that if there were a new claim unto the throne, there would be bloodshed. Herod trembled and all Jerusalem with him.

Then he called in the wisemen privately and he said, "What time did the star appear?"

They told him. He had the time.

Then he called in his own wisemen to inquire as to the place. And he said, "Where is this king to be born?" And they searched the Scriptures. Now that's the thing to do when the star disappears: search the Scriptures. Now they came back and said, "In Bethlehem." Herod now had the time and the place and he commanded the wisemen to go to Bethlehem.

You can see that they weren't kings. Herod knew all the etiquette, of course, and he wouldn't command kings. They were only professors.

Now we read, "And when they saw the star that appeared in the east, they rejoiced greatly." See, God put it back. When they took the word of the Scripture and were willing in all humility to go to Bethlehem, God put it back. And it led them to the very spot where the young child lay. And they were not too proud to dismount from their camels, to kneel in all of the squalor, to present their gold and frankincense and myrrh. And these gifts turned out to be very handy on the flight into Egypt.

Then being warned in a dream, they returned to their own country by another way. Herod perceived that he had been mocked. And was all the more certain that some plot was afoot. He determined on a foul measure, he would put to death all the children in Bethlehem up to the age of two years. And no doubt he could put a plausible face upon what he was doing.

He would call in the leaders of the Jews and would say, "See if there is a rival to the throne, there will be strife. The Romans will come in. Our whole land would be inundated with blood. Is it not better that the children should be killed in one village than that our whole country should be involved?"

And they would say, "Dear Herod, you are undoubtedly right."

And so this bloodhound could cover his brutality with the air of justice.

Now Joseph was warned in a dream, and he was not one of those who say, "Well we'll get started in a couple of weeks." He said, "Mary, wake up! Your secret is out!" And before dawn, they were beyond the boundary of Judea.

That night the mothers in Bethlehem served soup to their children, tucked them in bed and said their prayers. And in the morning, there was not a single home in Bethlehem where not one or two children had been killed. And there was weeping. Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted! Oh why did God let his Son escape and let these parents so suffer? I'm not so sorry for the children; they were taken straight to heaven as blessed martyrs. But their fathers and their mothers, they didn't understand that if God allowed his Son to escape, it was because his time was not yet come.

For to this end came he into the world, that he might lay down his life to save his people from their sins.

Roland Bainton taught church history at Yale University from 19361961. His books include Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther (Plume, 1995).

(c) Roland Bainton

Preaching Today Tape # 171

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Sermon Outline:

Introduction: In his Christmas sermons, Luther stripped away legendary additions.

I. God prefers to come to the simple.

II. God comes to the people who are doing their job.

III. God comes to those who worship him.

Conclusion: Jesus came into this world to lay down his life for our salvation.