The shepherds had just experienced the greatest light show ever…more sensational than the biggest fireworks display…more glorious than anything the world had ever seen. Mixed with their awe and wonder was excitement…they had just been told about the coming Messiah. No wonder they all agreed to, “go to Bethlehem and see this thing,(Rhema) the Lord has told us about.” They had been given God’s Word…the Greek word is Rhema…and their enthusiasm was infectious. And after they had found the Christ child, their elation didn’t wane, for in Luke 2:17 it tells us that, ” When they had seen Him, they spread the Word ( Rhema) concerning what they had been told about this child.” These plain, ordinary men were the very first missionaries, spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ. They had no Theological degrees or advanced education… God’s Word had touched them and couldn’t contain their elation. They were compelled to tell others just as we should be. For the greatest story ever told is the one they spread…a Savior has been born to you; He is Jesus Christ the Lord.
Tag: the baby Jesus
Luke 2:6-7 ” While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her first born, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”
For Mary, this was her first baby…and for the world, it was likewise a new beginning. For Mary, it was her first labor and delivery in rather dismal conditions.. for us, it was the gift of a new start. It tells us in Colossians 1:15 that, “He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born over all creation.” When that tiny baby was born, the manifestation of God the Father came to earth to dwell among us. And when Mary laid baby Jesus in that manger, surrounded by livestock and hay, the preeminence over all creation arrived to light the way for sinners.
Matthew 1: 20-21 ” An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joeeph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.’ “
When the angel came to Mary she had questions, but in the end accepted the unfathomable. With Joseph though, it wasn’t that easy. The very human feelings of hurt and rejection were evident in his decision to divorce Mary quietly. And it certainly was within the Law to dismiss her from the bond of marriage with a Certificate of Divorce for her perceived conduct. But before this could happen, the angel visited Joseph and convinced him that what Mary had told him was true…she in fact had not been unfaithful. The Lord will sometimes give us a promise so wonderful and far-fetched that we can’t put our heads around it either…it’s at that point we will make the decision to either believe God or reject it based on our shallow emotions.
Matthew 2:11 ” On coming to the house, they saw the child with His mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.”
The Magi came seeking the Messiah, and bringing with them, gifts…but very special gifts. These gifts were expensive luxuries of the day…fit for royal presents. But beyond that, they were also very symbolic in their meanings. The burning of frankincense symbolized prayers rising to heaven like the fragrant smoke it gave off… the prayers of Jesus interceding for us at the right hand of the Father. The myrrh was used for burials and symbolized death…Jesus’s death on the Cross for us. Finally, the gold was given to symbolize His royal status…and also for the very practical reason – His parents would soon need finances as they escaped to Egypt to flee from King Herod.
Matthew 2: 4-5 ” When he had called together all the people’s Chief Priests and Teachers of the Law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. ‘In Bethlehem in Judea.’ they replied…”
When King Herod needed information, he went to the source. That’s why he called in the most intelligent and learned Jewish historians of the day…who in turn quoted the Prophet Micah as to the birth place of the Messiah. But we also have that same source today at our disposal, for the future has been foretold to us. And in Revelation 22:20 it is made quite plain…”Yes, I am coming soon.”
Luke 2:4 ” So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.
Caesar Augustus had decreed a census of the entire Roman world…and so everyone had to travel to their home town to register. If it hadn’t been for that, Joseph probably wouldn’t have subjected his very pregnant wife, Mary, to the long, hard journey on bumpy roads. But God used a godless Roman King to fulfill His ultimate purpose and plan. What we see as just common, ordinary, unrelated threads in our life, God is using to weave a tapestry of unbelievable beauty according to His will.
Micah 5:2 ” But you Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for Me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
Even 700 years later, this prophecy written by Micah was still revered as the telling where Jesus Christ would be born. The Messiah would be born in a humble place, in very humble circumstances, amongst humble people…people like you and me.
Luke 1: 26-27 ” In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.”
The fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy came to pass in the small town of Nazareth…to a young girl named Mary. This miraculous conception was wonderfully accomplished by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit. A tiny baby born of man, but born also of God…perfectly holy, yet sharing in our humanity.
Luke 2:7 “…and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”
Mary and Joseph could find no lodging as they arrived in Bethlehem, so instead the baby Jesus was born in a stable, with animals standing quietly by. The greatest birth ever, wasn’t witnessed by kings, but only by cattle and donkeys. The birth of the Christ child wasn’t heralded by throngs of people, but only by the soft bleating of the sheep nearby. There were no great fireworks set off at his birth…only a brilliant star rising in the East.
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