Dead Man Walking

Luke 2:6-11

And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

⁷ And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

⁸ And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

⁹ And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

¹⁰ And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

¹¹ For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

Many years ago, there was a book (the book was adapted into a Hollywood movie in 1996), "Dead man Walking."  The book title comes from the phrase that is exclaimed as the inmates in the state of Louisiana are marched from the death row cell block to the death chamber. I must be forthright and honest, I support capital punishment, in fact I don’t think we use it nearly enough.  But I also must admit that when I read about this practice, I developed a sense of abhorrence at the seemingly callousness of this practice, which is probably what the liberal anti-capital punishment author, Catholic nun Helen, Prejean, intended.

The cry as they walked from death row to the death chamber was, “Dead man walking.” How final, how seemingly irrevocable, and regardless of your view on capital punishment, most people cannot help but be left with a sense of uneasiness at the execution of a fellow human being.  "Dead man walking," a forecast of doom, the ultimate declaration of guilt, and an appropriate moniker to a deserving inmate on death row.

But how would you feel if you visited the birthing center at your local hospital, and amidst the cries of the newborn and the excited celebration of their families could be heard the cry resonating from the ward, "Dead man walking?"  And yet on that night in Bethlehem, as myriads of angels burst into ecstatic praise heralding the birth of a special Baby in that hastily arranged, and rustic labor ward, an alternative to that celestial composition entitled "Glory to God in the Highest" could very well have been "Dead Man Walking." 

For on that night in the little town of Bethlehem, while shepherds did what shepherds do and wise men studied the stars and kings assessed their political futures and priests sought to defend the faith by upholding the status quo and adhering to tradition, a baby was born to die.

The very announcement of His birth was also a proclamation of His impending execution.  Jesus was not born to live a charmed life, but He was born to face execution. It was not to receive the adulation of adoring crowds that Christ came into the world that night in Bethlehem, but it was to be slain for the sin of man. The King of kings did not come to ride in regal grandeur, but to be led like a lamb for slaughter.

The son of God was not afforded the mercy of lethal injection, the electric chair, or the hangman’s noose. No, nothing as merciful as that. But instead the one that came to bring light into the world was destroyed upon an object of abject torture. On a hill far away, on an old rugged cross, on an instrument of torture devised in the cauldron of hell by Satan himself and ultimately applied by human agents. Some of those human agents had raised their voices a few days prior to His death in shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David." They now joined the very forces of evil in human form standing in the courts of Pilate chanting "Crucify Him, crucify Him."

Born to die -- in agonizing tones of bewildered prediction the prophets had scratched out on tablets of clay, on papyrus sheets, and scrolls of parchment the sometimes-cryptic clues as to the destiny of the Son of God:

Genesis 3:15

15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel."

Isaiah 53:1-7

For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

³ He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

⁴ Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

⁵ But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

⁷ He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

The heavenly celebration of joy that appeared in that little town of Bethlehem did not initially allude to the ultimate purpose for His coming to this earth.

The writer Ellen White records for us:

“Christ was treated as we deserve, that we might be treated as He deserves. He was condemned for our sins, in which He had no share, that we might be justified by His righteousness, in which we had no share. He suffered the death which was ours, that we might receive the life which was His. "With His stripes we are healed."

This year, as the world focuses on the glamour and glitter, the glory and grandeur of the birth of the Babe of Bethlehem, let us recognize that His birth, death and resurrection had been determined from before the beginning of time as the ultimate solution to the problem of sin in our lives.  May we recognize this Christmas that the ultimate Gifts were provided by the Supreme Giver:  the gift of forgiveness for our sin, the gift of freedom from our guilt, the gift of unconditional acceptance, the gift of the assurance of salvation, and the gift of eternal life.

For on that night in the little town of Bethlehem, while shepherds did what shepherds do and wise men studied the stars and kings assessed their political futures and priests sought to defend the faith by upholding the status quo and adhering to tradition, a baby was born to die for you and for me.

Jesus was born to die, but he conquered death, and arose in triumph! This Christmas I want the whole world to know that God has made that baby from the manger, who grew up to be a man, was crucified for our sin, who rose from death and is alive forevermore, and whose name is Jesus, both Lord and Savior. The blood that was shed on that cruel cross breaks the power of sin. At the name of Jesus, the chains of addiction are broken, cancer is healed, marriages are restored, and the prodigal is led home. I urge you friends, if you have not yet, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

I pray to God that as we celebrate His birth this year that we will not reject His death on the cross for us, that we embrace the power of His resurrection, that we all gladly receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, the very power of God living in us, and flowing through us to reach others in Jesus’ name!

And friends, we must remain watchful, because as shepherds are still doing what shepherds do, as wise men are studying financial and economic indicators, politicians are still assessing their political futures, and many in the church seek to defend the faith by upholding the status quo and adhering to tradition: Jesus is coming again! No longer as a baby, or a suffering servant, but this time as a conquering King. And I echo the words of the John the Revelator – Even so, come Lord Jesus!