Jesus’ I.D.

Luke 2:11 "For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."

My imagination gets going sometime. I am thinking back around 2011 years ago when some shepherds were out in their fields taking care of their sheep. It was a quiet night. The sheep were probably sleeping. In fact, the shepherds were probably getting in a few winks themselves. In the middle of one of their snores a blast of light came out of the sky and something that looked like a person, but could not be a person because it came to them in a flash, in a blaze of glory, stood in front of them and made an announcement. Weird. An angel came to lowly shepherds. God made this major announcement to some rag-tag group of guys who watch sheep. Why didn't He tell Pharaoh? Why didn't He go to the High Priest? Why shepherds?

Anyway, this angelic being stood in the middle of the shepherds with the glory of God surrounding him and this is what he said: "There is born to you this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."

Now, would the shepherds grasp this news? Would they understand what this angel was talking about? Well, in case they didn't, the angel made it very clear who this little baby was.

First, where he was born…in the city of David. Wait. Isn't Jerusalem the city of David? Was the baby born in Jerusalem? No. Micah predicted that this child was going to be born in Bethlehem. How is Bethlehem the city of David? Because Bethlehem is where David was from. In I Samuel 16, Samuel was instructed to go to "Jesse the Bethlehemite…So Samuel did what the Lord said, and went to Bethlehem" and found a king…David. The real city of David is Bethlehem…and the shepherds knew this.

Then a couple of identifiers: A Savior. A Deliverer. A Preserver. A Rescuer was born. These were tough times. Israel was in a rough situation. And the world was lost. In fact, we are still in tough times, in rough situations…we are still lost and we all need a Rescuer, a deliverer, a Savior. Here He is. No need to look anywhere else. The Savior was born.

Then the angel called Him something that had not been heard before. He didn't call this baby by His given name, Jesus. Instead the angel called Him "Christ". What's with that? Another name. Christ means "anointed" or "anointed one"…Messiah. This Rescuer was also the anointed one of God. No one else. God had placed His anointing on this One. "There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." Acts 4:12. This Savior is the only anointed One. Not Krishna. Not Buddha. Not Mohammed. Not Joseph Smith. Only this baby who was born in the city of David. He alone is the anointed Savior of the world.

And then the big identifier: Lord. Kyrios. The same Kyrios found in Luke 1:9 (the temple of the Lord),28 (when the angel said to Mary: "the Lord is with you"), 45 (what was told to her by Lord) and 46 ("my soul magnifies the Lord"). This One born in the city of David, this Savior, this Christ is Lord-God…born as a human being. This Jesus is God.

Amazing. The God of all creation came to this earth in the form of a baby, born in a manger, announced to shepherds…His name: Jesus…Jehovah is Salvation…for He will save His people from their sins.

This Baby saved this person from his sins. Thank you God.