The Coming of Jesus

Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, and Joseph

Zechariah was a priest, and he was the father of John the baptist. His wife, Elizabeth was barren which meant that she was unable to have children. Priests were separated into 24 divisions that served twice a year. Zechariah was on duty when Gabriel, God’s messenger angel, brought him news that he and Elizabeth would have a child together and he would prepare the way for the Messiah. Zechariah doubted the angels news by questioning the possibility of a child being born to him and his wife because she was barren and now they were both old. The angel assured it would be so because God said it would be, but Gabriel took Zechariahs voice for the entire duration of the pregnancy because of his doubt. Gabriel told him he could have his ability to speak back when the child was born.

Elizabeth was told that she would be carrying

Mary was next visited by Gabriel. He explained that God had chosen her to carry the Son of God. Why was Mary chosen? Well she was righteous, and she would strive to be holy, and with that she was a virgin. Joseph was righteous and upright. Honorable and understanding. Why that is important is because if Mary was not a virgin then it would not have been a miracle. Someone who is not a virgin has been promiscuous in the past, and though they may have repented and turned of their ways, their could always be question as to whether Jesus was truly God’s child or not. Joseph is important in this story because he would not touch Mary. He was honorable. whether it was prior to marriage or after, he remained celibate to preserve Mary’s righteousness and fulfill God’s plan.

Bringing It All Together

Micah 5:2-5 “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel. And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. And he shall be their peace...” This prophecy foretells of Christ being born in Bethlehem, but Joseph is from Nazareth which is about 70 miles north of Bethlehem. Caius Octavious, August Caesar, was the grand-nephew of Julius Caesar, and was a pretty good ruler. Every fourteen years there was a census taken of the empire to obtain a head count of young men that could be enlisted into the army. The Jews were excluded to the previous census’s because they were not eligible for the army, but this census was for population purposes. If you have a population you can have an estimate as to how much you should make off of taxes.

They were required to return to their families tribal land and register. Both Joseph and Mary came from the line of David, who was from the tribe of Judah, and Bethlehem was the main city of the tribal land of Judah. So Joseph and Mary had to trek back to their homeland and register themselves in the census. Mind you Mary is heavily pregnant with Jesus at this point.

When they got to Bethlehem, they arrived with thousands upon thousands of others. The vacancy of the city was at max. Jesus was born in a stable, and laid in a feed trough (a manger). We think of wooden stalls with doors and a roof and hay like a barn. A stable was likely a cave cut into the hillside where they kept their animals outside the city.

The Shepard's

What do shepard’s do? They take care of sheep. What do they do with the sheep? They sell their wool and they sell the sheep themselves. Who do they sell them to? Well whoever will buy their product. What did the world have a lot of right now? Gentiles. Shepard’s dealt with Gentiles on a regular basis. This made them to be considered ceremonially unclean. They were not even allowed to worship in the temples along with the other Jews. They do you think God chose to reveal His glory and His Son to such lowly citizens of society?

Jesus came to save those who were in desperate need of Him. He came for the broken. He came for the outcast. He came for those who were rejected by society. He came to those who needed something more. We have already discussed that you must understand your need for a Savior before you can ever be saved. These people were some of the lowest of the low. What better people to start a ministry than to let the low know that their Savior has come into the picture.

The Angels and Their Directions

How would you feel if you were wandering around outside at night and a mighty angel appeared before you? I think I might relieve myself a little. Then what if a huge choir of angels suddenly appeared and they started singing praises to God and telling of peace on earth? I would be shaking. Just as quickly as they appeared, they ascended back into Heaven. What would you do after receiving such information? Would you keep it to yourself? Would you say “eh” and return back to work? I certainly would not. Neither did they. They ran back to the city and

The Wise Men

These guys were wise men from the east, likely the area of Persia which took over Babylon. If you are familiar with the story of Daniel then you might remember there there were plenty of Wise Men in Babylon which carried on after Persia took control. What a Wise Man is is an educated individual. In this story a Wise Man was someone who was an astrologer, which meant that he could read and pattern the stars. But all of them were trained in many and various things. One thing that they could do was read other languages including Hebrew. Daniel back in the say when he was a captive in Babylon had the opportunity to stand up and prove himself more wise in God’s power than the kings Wise Men were in their own power. Daniel quickly rose to the highest place a person could reach outside of being the king. With the power and influence Daniel was able to share the knowledge of God and His scriptures with the Wise Men, and for centuries these scriptures and stories would have been handed down to the next generation of Wise Men. This is why they knew to look in Bethlehem as we have already read the scriptures.

Numbers 24:17 “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth.”

Star represented the Messiah, and the scepter represented a king. This is why the Wise Men showed up looking for the king of the Jews. The Wise Men knew where to go because of the scriptures, but where would you think a future king would be born? In the palace to the current king and queen. This is where the Wise Men went first, the palace. They enquired about the child, but the palace was confused and afraid. They sent the Wise Men off to find the little king themselves for various reasons. So the Wise Men went off still following the star until it came to rest over the house that Jesus was staying at. They brought with them gifts worthy of a king; Gold, Frankincense, and myrrh. Very expensive gifts, but you do not show up to present yourself before royalty without a gift.

Think like a Wise Man for a second. These old scriptures tell you of a king who will be born in a certain town and this king will have a reign that never ends, and he will set all of his people free forever and establish a kingdom that will never be over thrown. Now that is a man worth meeting. Then when you have done all of your research, and your planning, and your figuring, then you look to the sky and wait for a sign. The sign finally comes and it leads you to a little Podunk place like Bethlehem. Not near as kingly as Jerusalem. It leads you to a common house, with a common family inside, who have what appears to be a common ole baby. How would you respond? Would you question your intelligence in that moment? Would we say “well maybe we got something wrong.” Of course not! You’re Wise Men! You do not make these kinds of mistakes after years, decades of studying.

They did exactly what they knew they should have done. They worshipped and exalted the king. They did not know when, or how, but this little baby was about to rule the world. Forever.

God took Gentile men and He glorified His Son through them.

The Star

We will not take much time to dwell on the star. It is beautiful, and it is nice to think of and sing about, but the truth of the matter is that we have no idea what it was. Some say it was an alignment of planets and stars. Some say that it was a Super Nova. Many believe that it was a supernatural occurrence that God displayed to guide the Men precisely where they needed to be.

The story of Jesus’s birth is a very interesting one. We could spend plenty of more time discussing prophecy’s and details of Jesus’s birth. The greatest fact of it all though is that the Son of God, the Savior of humanity, the Lord our God has come to live with us, to live among us. Not to be over us, not to oppress us, but to do life alongside of us and lead us as we go.

I hope that you are saved, and I hope that you are following the Lord in your life. If you have nay questions about what it means to be saved, how to be saved, or how to live a life that will fulfill your Christian walk, come see me sometime.