Luke 2: 1-7
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.
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 lineage of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was engaged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a Son. She wrapped him in swaddling cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Ta-daa! Here is the Birth of our Savior! God broke into our World, the same way we all enter it, by being born as a helpless baby! This is amazing. That the Lord God of the Old Testament would give up all His Divine prerogatives to dwell here on this Earth among us humans as one of us! This is incredible.
He didn't bake a cake, but God celebrated this Birthday with a Grand Announcement:
Luke 2: 8-20
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were terrified! But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the Town of David a Savior has been born to you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger."
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace to men on whom His favor rests." "Happy Birthday to You, Jesus!"
When the angels had left them and gone back into Heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
So they hurried off, searched, and found Mary and Joseph, and the Baby Who was lying in the manger. When they had seen Him they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this Child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.
The shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
It's always, "just as they had been told." It was done to Mary just as Gabriel said, too. God always describes the future accurately, because He sees all Time as Now. He never mistakes anything.
This is also the time a very special Star appeared in the Far East to some scholars who were looking for it. So they started out on their long journey to see this wonder.
Matthew 2: 1-12
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Wise Men from the East came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the One Who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His Star in the East, and have come to worship Him."
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the Law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written: 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a Ruler Who will be the Shepherd of My people Israel.'" (Micah 5:2)
Then Herod called the Wise Men secretly and found out from them the exact time the Star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find Him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship Him."
After they heard the king, they went on their way, and the Star they had seen in the East went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the Child was. When they saw the Star, they were overjoyed.
On coming into the house, they saw the Child and 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. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
Now we see His birthday gifts: gold because He is a King; incense, frankincense, because He is our High Priest; and myrrh, which will be used to anoint His body in death. Very symbolic. Also, these gifts are all very costly, which they will need to finance the next part of their story.
Matthew 2: 13-18
When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the Child and His mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the Child to kill Him."
So he got up, took the Child and His mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called My Son." (Hosea 11:1)
When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Wise Men, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Wise Men. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more." (31:15)
Sometimes when we are obedient to the Lord, it causes hardship on someone else. How many times have I considered the other's hardship over obeying my Lord? That would be putting an obstacle between me and God, an idol.
God is responsible for what happens to others when we obey. Just because someone else may suffer, doesn't mean the Lord hasn't spoken to me, or I misread the signals. This is one of God's ways that is not our way. I want to still trust Him above all others, and trust the others to His care. I know He loves them more than I do anyway, and I can't see the whole picture, just the tiny portion that is my circumstance right now.
Matthew 2: 19-23
After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Get up. Take the Child and His mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the Child's life are dead."
So he got up, took the Child and His mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in (another) dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene."
Joseph and Mary started off in Nazareth, where they were both from. So they went back home. They had stayed in Bethlehem for a couple of years after Jesus was born, as we see that they were in a house when the Wise Men came, and it had been that long since the Star first appeared in the Far East (2:7). Travel back then was slow by our standards, and it would have taken them years to come from that far away.
Someone counted that Jesus fulfilled over 400 Old Testament prophesies during His first coming, to be our Savior. That's a lot of details. These cited here were things that just happened to a small Child, through no choice of His own.
So, since they were still in Bethlehem, and Joseph wasn't home at the time, he was probably gone to work, and planning to settle there--until Wise Men came, and Joseph started to have dreams again. I'm glad Joseph trusted the angel in his dreams, and didn't question him, but obeyed instantly.
He woke up in the middle of the night, packed up, and left before dawn, to escape into Egypt. That's instant obedience.
O my Father, help me to always obey You instantly, like Joseph did, whenever I hear Your still, small voice in my spirit, and instantly do what You tell me to do. Don't let me "just finish this first," or "tomorrow," that never comes. Strengthen me to do today what You ask of me today. Help me to never put You off to some future time; delayed obedience is disobedience.
I love You, Father; I love You, Jesus; I love You, Spirit. I know You love me more than I can even imagine, and everything You do comes from Your love, because You are Love.
Let this Christmas Story sink down deep into my heart and my understanding. Let me know ever more of Your love in sending Your only Son, and give me the words to share that understanding, that others may also know You.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
And Merry Christmas to you all!
