David & Christmas

December 24, 2025 · Ben Hoyer · 21:51

This Christmas Eve message reflects on Luke's nativity account, noting how the story of Jesus is rooted in real history with its mention of Caesar Augustus, Quirinius, and taxes, and connects Bethlehem as the town of David to the chronological series' arrival at Samuel anointing David in 1 Samuel.

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Well, it's fun to be here with you all. I love Christmas. I was like thinking back, I learned a new thing about Christmas today. Hazel was saying, where did the presents things start? And you know, like maybe it was like St. Nicholas and the Catholic Church, but then that was like a feast day on the sixth. So then they moved it so we could celebrate Jesus instead of the St. Nicholas. I was thinking that Christmas is such a

kind of a cultural holiday. Like we so it's so broadly celebrated. And I was thinking it's nice that it's so rooted in the narrative of Jesus. And then I was like thinking back through the Christmas movies I've watched this year and like having it's kind of it's creeped, right? If the 25th was ever about Jesus, it's like kind of partially about Jesus now and partially about a lot of things, right?

But definitely there is a core in there of the story that endures, that has endured, the nativity scene, the idea of Jesus and the birth of the baby. I was thinking about how that story starts and how consistently we read.

You know, it was in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. This was for the first registration where Quirinius was governor of Syria. I realized it's the only governor of Syria that I know is Quirinius, you know? I don't know any other governors of Syria. I've never, I don't know any from antiquity. I know some of the like Roman Caesars and stuff, but that's pretty specific.

It's crazy that like the story of Christmas, even in the scriptures mentions a governor and taxes, is it? That like the religious as faithful as we can get about the broadly celebrated Christmas holiday, we get all the way down into the actual gospel story. And when we read it, we get a governor and taxes.

There's something important in that for us, a lot of things I guess, but one that comes to mind now is that the story of Jesus, the faith of our families and our heritage has always been rooted deeply in reality and the things of the world.

The story of Jesus is caught up with governors and taxes. But it doesn't start with Quirinius. You know, Quirinius is governor of Syria and the Caesar of Rome wants to make sure that all the known world is paying him all the appropriate money. And so he requires everyone to go to their hometown, the town from which their family descended. I don't know how it works out, like how far back how many generations back you have to go.

Like they're not all going to Huron where Abraham is from. Like at some point, maybe it goes back to when they took the promised land and the tribes are separated. So which tribe are you from? But Joseph goes to Bethlehem and Luke says that Bethlehem is called the town of David. I don't know where I would go if I was supposed to go somewhere, right? It doesn't work like that anymore, maybe. Or maybe just for my family, it doesn't work that way.

Maybe your family has a place to which you would return. I don't know how that town or place gets its name, but I know how Bethlehem gets its name of David. If you've been with us at all through the last several weeks, we've been walking through this story of scripture and it just so happens that this week we're on the section of 1st Samuel where he meets David. Remember where we are, like Samuel is this like profit at a critical point in the history of Israel.

God has given in and given them a king. They wanted a king, they took over the promised land. They wanted a king and he picked a king that looks like a king. When you saw the first thing of Israel saw, everybody would say that's what a king looks like. When you read the Bible, the Bible, the story of Israel, the Bible, the scriptures in 1st Samuel says, when you look at Saul, you would know immediately, there's no man better looking in Israel than Saul. It says that in 1st Samuel.

Then it says that he is head and shoulders above all the other men in Israel. He's taller, better looking and stronger. He's exactly who you would think a king should be. Saul, his reign was short. He wasn't even done before God realized this guy's bad. He sends Samuel to go start with a new king. He says, go to this rural town, it's called Bethlehem. There is a Bethlehemite there, not the town of David yet,

but a Bethlehemite. His name's Jesse, he's got seven sons. Go out to the rural town of Bethlehem, call Jesse and have his seven sons come in front of you and one of them will be the next king. You'll anoint him as the next king. So Samuel gets out there, he talks to Jesse, says, bring all your boys, you got seven I heard, bring them all in front of me. They come one at a time, the oldest first because he knows something important is gonna happen and everything that's important happens to the first one. There's an order, there's a reason, there's a predictable outcome.

The first one comes, Eliod, not him. Shaman, not him. There's another one with an R, I can't remember his name. Heh heh, heh. He goes through all six of them, goes through six of them and Samuel's like, it's none of these guys. Do you have any other sons? And Jesse's like, I got one, but he's the youngest and we knew something important was happening. So he's out taking care of the sheep, will all the older ones are doing the important things? He's out there watching the sheep

and Samuel says, bring your youngest in to me. And when David the youngest comes, Samuel is like, this is the king, this one. David is a shepherd and the youngest and from the small little town of Bethlehem. He is a very unlikely king. So unlikely that even though Samuel anoints him king at that moment and God told Samuel, this is the next leader of the people of God in the world,

they kept it quiet and didn't tell anybody because nobody would believe him. That this youngest of seven shepherd boy from the small town of Bethlehem would be the king. And this is the story of David, always unlikely, right? Most famously when he goes out to the battle and all of his likely warrior brothers are there and he is not, right? And he goes and the Goliath Philistine

has been taunting him for 40 days. None of the warriors go against him and David goes without a shield, without a sword, the youngest shepherd with the tools that he uses to defend the sheep, defends the people of Israel. Unlikely, Samuel looks at David in the field of Bethlehem in front of his brothers and his dad and tells him, you will be the king. And then later God would promise him, David,

there'll be someone that sits a descendant of yours that sits on the throne of the people of God forever. I think it would be very difficult for David. I mean, David, when you read his story, he's cocky, so maybe not as hard as it would be for me. But it would be hard for a shepherd boy to believe he was going to be king. That that's what was coming for him. That when he walks into the battlefields with Goliath, that God would protect him and provide for him.

But when you think about the story of scripture, this is consistent. God is always picking unlikely people. Always picking unlikely people. We told the story of Ruth. She's a mowabite on the outside. She would have no way of knowing when she cast her lot with Naomi. That God would provide for her in such a way that not only would she have Obed and Obed have Jesse

and Jesse have David, that not only would she survive with Naomi, but that her kids would be in the line of Jesus. There's no way Ruth would know that, right? Or think about Moses. Moses is an exile and a murderer on the wrong side of the desert, living alone with his family and God calls him and says, you will lead Israel out against the Pharaoh. Unlikely pick, an inheritance that would be hard to believe.

You can see why so many people missed the birth of Jesus. This is the thing that kind of messes with me that the story of Jesus persists in Christmas amongst everything else. Sometimes when we read Luke two and I hear that Caesar Augustus put out a decree.

There's no way he could have known. Caesar Augustus, when he puts out the decree to find out how much the world owes him. That on the far side of the desert, in the backwoods town of Israel, backwards country of Israel, all the way down in Little Bethlehem, outside of the home in a manger, is one being born that changes all of humanity. There's no way Caesar Augustus could have known that, right? He would have to have supernatural knowledge. I'd give him credit.

And Quirinius, he's governor, just of Syria, but still there's a lot to be in charge of when you're governor of Syria. So I can understand how he might miss it, right? But think about this, remember when the wise men come from the East, because they've seen the star that heralds the birth and they go to the king of the Jews, Herod, remember? And they're like, hey, Herod, we know you're king of the Jews,

where is the one that's born king of the Jews? And Herod has missed it completely? He does not know anything about it. So he goes to the religious leaders, the people who know the scriptures, and he tells them, hey guys, these guys from the East are here and say there's a new one born king of the Jews. What do you know about it? They're like, we don't know anything about it. Let's look at the Bible and see, oh, it should be somewhere in Bethlehem maybe, right? The religious leaders missed it, Herod missed it.

But that's not even like Herod had his head in the sand, clearly. And the religious people were ivory towers, academicians, I can understand how they missed it. But think about the night of, I mean, they have a baby and they're in a town so full of family that they can't find a room to stay in. And the savior of the world is born

and we don't get the story that anybody comes. They should have had a parade. There's not a parade till he's what, 33 in the, there's the shepherds, the dirty shepherds keeping watch over their fields, keeping watch over their flock and the fields by night because they're lamin. The angels clue them in. The migrant workers in the field come in.

Jesus is an unlikely savior. And we would be so unlikely that we could give them a pass that Mary and Joseph, she pondered these things in their heart. But we could give them a pass if in the moment, it was hard to believe that Jesus would inherit the throne of David.

It would be hard to believe. What do you inherit? Might you be an unlikely inheritor tonight? I was thinking about the unlikely inheritors in the story of scripture and did they get what they were promised?

One of my favorite stories is Abraham and Sarah in the Old Testament and their promise that they'll be the father and mother of a nation that blesses the world and they'll have a whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole

whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole whole