We are so far removed from the events of the birth of Christ and so familiar with the gospel that it is easy to miss how surprising was the nature of his coming. He was an unexpected Savior in more ways than one. Given the busyness of a typical December, it may be helpful to slow down and revisit just one way in which His coming was unexpected.
The Jews were expecting a Savior from the Jews and for the Jews. In a sense, they were right on both accounts. But their expectation was not large enough. He would also be a Savior for the Gentiles.
In Luke 2:22-38, Joseph and Mary bring Jesus to the temple to present Him to the Lord, as the Law required for every firstborn male. (Lord willing, we’ll see this requirement shortly in our study of Leviticus!) A man named Simeon, who had been promised by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Christ, was moved to go to the temple, as well. When Simeon saw the baby, “he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said, ‘Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel’”(Luke 2:28-32).
Prior to this, the birth of Christ appeared to be a gift to the Jews alone. Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, prophesied in Luke 1:68-79, speaking of salvation “in the house of His servant David,” “to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant.” Mary, in her song of praise in 1:46-55, sang of God helping “His servant Israel.” When Gabriel foretold of the Lord’s birth, he revealed “He will reign over the house of Jacob forever.” Every indication in the early section of Luke is that this would be a Christ for the Jews exclusively.
And yet, Simeon reveals that He will be a light for revelation to the Gentiles, as well. Consider for just one moment how different your life would be if that were not the case.
We should note that it was God’s plan all along to save the Gentiles. There are some who believe that God’s saving the Gentiles was something of a “plan B” – the Jews rejected Christ, so God had to call for the evangelizing of the Gentiles in order to salvage His plan for salvation. However, this text in Luke 2 shows that God intended to save Gentiles long before the Jews rejected Him.
For the next two Sundays, we’ll consider together the birth narrative of Matthew 1–2. I won’t give away the goods now, but we’ll see hints there of God’s intention to save the Gentiles.
We also find in the epistles evidence that it was always God’s intention to bring salvation to the Gentiles. In Galatians 3:8, Paul writes, And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all the nations be blessed." That is, all the way back in Genesis 12, when God first called Abraham (while he was still Abram!), He planned to save the Gentiles.
In Ephesians 3, we read about “the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit” (vv4-5). What mystery? “This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (v6). Verse 11 indicates this was the plan all along: “This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
How then do we explain Jesus’ statement to the Canaanite woman in Matt 15:24, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel"? This is a matter of chronology, not intention. It was always God’s intention to save “the nations” (Gal 3:8), yet in the accomplishment of His plan, it pleased God to proclaim the gospel to the Jew first, then to the Gentile (Acts 1:8; Rom 1:16; 2:9-11).
We have further evidence that this was God’s eternal plan in that Scripture teaches that God blinded the Jews, that He might bring the gospel to the Gentiles. Romans 11:7-8: What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, as it is written, "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day." V11 adds that “through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles.” In His providence, God has brought about this chain of events “in order to make known the riches of His glory for vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory – even us whom He has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles.”
It is crucially important for us to consider that the Christ was sent to us, as a matter of God’s eternal elective purpose, rather than as an afterthought. God is not like a man whose plans don’t always pan out. Salvation history is not the story of how God’s hopes were riding on the Jews, yet against His intention, they rejected Christ, forcing Him to seek an alternative so that the incarnation would not go to waste. No, it was all His plan from eternity past, and it has all, is all, and will all come to pass exactly as He desires.
This magnificent tapestry of salvation moves Paul to exclaim, Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. (Rom 11:33-36)
There is so much meaning, history, prophecy, and providence present in the manger scene. Just a small Jewish child asleep on the hay – and yet the singular hope for the eternal reconciliation of Jew and Gentile in one body to God. For the Gentile, deeply needful and blessedly unexpected.
I’m looking forward to worshiping Him with you this Sunday. Oh, come let us adore Him.
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