Revelation 12:1-6

Fourth Sunday in Advent

December 20, 2009

Revelation 12:1-6 (New International Version) The Woman and the Dragon 1A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. 4His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. 5She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 6The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.

When we think and talk about the “sights and sounds” of the Christmas season, we often do so in terms of things that are beautiful, fun, tasty, peaceful and happy. That’s why we often say “Merry Christmas” and sing songs like, “Joy to the World,” and “Peace on earth good will toward men.” Perhaps no better picture comes to mind of the peace and tranquility and joy of Christmas than the nativity scene.

But when you stop and really think about what the Scriptures say, Christmas was anything but happy and peaceful. It really was all about war, conflict, turmoil, and death itself. That’s what our sermon text is all about! In our sermon text for today we read about some amazing sights and sounds that the Apostle John was allowed to see and hear. They had to do with the birth of the Savior, Christmas if you will. But the sights that John saw and the sounds that he heard had to do with war between the Christ child and Satan, and between the Devil and us. What we learn from this text is this: because the Christ child defeated the Devil, we too shall overcome. That’s the thought we want to consider. Let’s be reminded of this Christmas truth: WE SHALL OVERCOME! I. By the birth of the child, and II. By the care of our God.

WE SHALL OVERCOME!

I. By the birth of the child

II. By the care of our God

The first thing we have to do in understanding these verses is to determine who the child is that is born, who the dragon is that tries to devour the child, and who the woman is who gives birth to the child and then flees into the desert to be taken care of by God for 1260 days.

It’s easy to determine who the child is. In verse five we are told, “She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.” There’s only one child that has ever been born in this world who will rule all nations and who is now at the throne of God. That child is none other than Jesus who came to this earth to win our salvation and then ascended to the right hand of God.

Next, we need to identify the dragon. John describes the dragon this way: “3Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. 4His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born.”

There are several things we can explain rather easily about this dragon to help us determine who it is. In the book of Revelation the number “7” is usually a number that is ascribed to our covenant God. The fact that this dragon has seven heads symbolizes its attempts to take the place of God. The ten horns, which seem to be out of place with the seven heads, may serve to alert us to the falseness of his claims to be god. That understanding is supported by the fact that the crowns that are worn are the kind of crowns ancient rulers would wear because they considered themselves to be gods! We conclude that this dragon is none other than Satan himself. The point of this vision is that in trying to devour the child, he was also trying to conquer us. But what happened? The child was born and before the dragon could swallow up the child, the child was received safely into heaven.

What this symbolizes is the victory of the Christ child. He came to this earth on a mission--to save us. He did that by being born of the Virgin Mary, suffering under Pontius Pilate, being crucified, and then dying. All the while the Devil was right there trying to keep Jesus from accomplishing that mission. Think of how the dragon tried to devour the child through King Herod who had all the baby boys killed in Bethlehem. Think of how Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness to sin. Think of how Satan kept trying to conquer Jesus by confronting him his entire ministry with demon possessions. Think of how Satan used the Pharisees and the Saducees to try and trick Jesus with their blasphemous questions. Think of how the Devil even used Jesus’ own disciples to try and keep him from going to Jerusalem and dying there. Recall how Peter objected when Jesus told his disciples about his coming death. Peter said to Jesus, “Never, Lord. This shall never happen to you.” And remember what Jesus said? “Get behind me Satan.” Think of how Satan also used the misguided zeal of Peter who tried to prevent Jesus’ arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane by drawing his sword and cutting of the ear of the High Priest’s servant. Satan was trying to conquer us by swallowing up the child. But he failed didn’t he! Jesus accomplished the mission on which his Father had sent him. The proof is his ascension into heaven!

Because the child overcame the dragon, so shall we! That’s what why we celebrate Christmas isn’t it?. If Jesus was born in Bethlehem and then died and that was all there was, then hell would be our fate. But the point is clearly this: the Devil wasn’t able to defeat our Savior and heaven’s door is now open to us. So dear friends if all we do is go to Bethlehem to celebrate a nice story about a little baby’s birth in lowly circumstances and then go on our merry way, we’ve missed the point. We need to go beyond the wood of that manger all the way to the wood of Calvary and see there why we celebrate Christmas! Jesus was born to die. By his death he defeated the dragon. By the birth of the child, we shall overcome.

II.

But we overcome not only through the birth of the child, but also through the loving care of our God. The next part of this vision we need to explain is the woman who gave birth to the child. At first we might think this is referring to Mary, the virgin mother of the Savior. But it can’t be referring to Mary because John says this woman is clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head. The number twelve is the symbolic number of the church. In addition we are told in the last verse of this chapter that this woman is the mother of all believers. So this woman is not Mary, the mother of Jesus, but the Holy Christian Church which consists of all true believers. And what does John tell us about this woman? After giving birth to the child and after the child is taken to heaven, she flees into the wilderness for 1260 days where God cares for her.

What does this all mean? When one studies the book of Revelation in light of some other Old Testament prophecies, most Bible scholars agree that the 1260 days is a symbolic number representing the New Testament era from the time Christ ascended into heaven until he comes back on the last day. During this time in which the church is in exile in this world, a wilderness, the dragon turns its attention to the woman and tries to defeat her since he could not defeat the baby. And how does Satan do that? That’s explained later on in this chapter. “The accuser of our brothers, who accuse them before God, day and night.” What that means is simply this: the Devil tries to tempt us to sin and all too often he accomplishes his goal because we are sinful human beings. But then he goes to God and makes this accusation, “God you are holy. You must punish sin. These people have sinned, therefore you must punish them.” And he’s right. God is holy and we deserve to be punished. And that’s how Satan attacks us, with our own guilt. The time in which he attacks the hardest is when we are on our deathbed. When he knows the time is short before God’s people are taken to heaven, he is most ferocious in attacking with the accusation of our guilt. He wants us to doubt our salvation and thus devour our hopes for heaven.

But we don’t have to be afraid and we don’t have to lose hope. God will take care of the “woman” while she is in the wilderness. And how does God take care of us when the Dragon attacks or when our own consciences bother us? John gives that answer too! “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb.” That’s how God cares for his church. That’s how we overcome. When the Devil accuses us and our consciences haunt us, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin. Our sins cannot be held against us because they were held against Jesus. Through that good news in Word and Sacrament God protects us from the assaults of Satan. Since God cares for us with Word and Sacrament, let us take care in making faithful use of them.

That’s what Christmas is all about isn’t it? By the birth of the child and by the care of our God we shall overcome our sin, the Devil, and death itself. What that means is one day we will experience something far better than the sights and sounds of Christmas. We will enjoy the sights and sounds of heaven. We shall overcome. Amen.