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A history of the birth of Lord Jesus
Preparation for the Birth of
Lord Jesus
Prophecy about the birth of Lord Jesus
Throughout the Old
Testament of The
Holy Bible, God had made known through His prophets and
messengers that a Messiah
would come. The Messiah was to be the One Who would guide people
back to God. The scriptures termed this reason for Lord Jesus'
birth as the 'saving of mankind'. All the events of Lord Jesus'
birth took place as prophesized.
"The virgin will be with child and
will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel."
(Isaiah 7:14) 'Immanuel' means 'God with us'; thus, Lord Jesus
would be the God-sent Messiah that the prophecy referred to.
Message to Mary
Archangel Gabriel appeared to Mary,
who was engaged to be married to Joseph.
Angel Gabriel informed Mary that she was the chosen one to be
the mother of the Son of God (Incarnation)
- Jesus. He also told Mary that she would conceive Jesus by the
Holy Spirit (God), that is, by divine resolve instead of human,
physical union.
The angel also informed Mary of the conception
of John the
Baptist in Elizabeth (Mary's relative). When Mary went to
visit Elizabeth, the unborn baby John the Baptist leaped in Elizabeth's
womb out of joy.
At that moment Elizabeth said to Mary: "Blessed
are you among women and blessed is the child you will bear!
But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord
should come to me." Luke 1: 42-43.
The birth of Lord Jesus
Lord Jesus is born in a manger (stable)
Augustus, the ruling emperor at that
time, sent out an order for all the citizens of his empire to
register
for the census. Joseph along with his wife Mary, who was pregnant
with Jesus, went from the city of Nazareth to register his family.
And while they were in the city of Bethlehem on the way from
Nazareth, the time came for Mary to give birth. Since there
was no room
for them in any inns nearby, Mary had to give birth in the only
available shelter - a stable with ox and sheep.
Lord Jesus' birth is announced
In nearby fields, as shepherds were keeping
watch over their flock by night, an angel
appeared to them. They were very afraid (not having seen an angel
before), but the angel told them not to be afraid. The angel gave
them the good news of Lord Jesus' birth in a manger (stable) in
Bethlehem and referred to Him as "The Savior,
which is Christ
the Lord."
The shepherds then decided to go to Bethlehem
to worship The Savior that the angel had spoken about.
When they reached the stable they found
Mother Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus in the manger. When they told
everyone present what the angel had said about baby Jesus, all
were filled with awe.
Visit of the Wise Men (Magi)
The Wise Men, Who were kings from the
east, had set out to pay homage to baby
Jesus.
Here
'king'
refers
to 'king in a spiritual sense', that is, spiritually
evolved people.
Herod, the local ruler, heard about Lord
Jesus' birth. However, he felt threatened, as it had been prophesized
that Lord Jesus would be 'The King'. Herod, not being spiritually
progressed enough to understand the implied (or actual) meaning
of the Scriptures, did not understand that the word 'The King'
was used in a spiritual sense. Hence, he tried to get more information
about baby Jesus' whereabouts from the Wise Men, Who had
traveled to pay homage to baby Jesus.
The Wise Men followed a bright star,
which led Them to the stable in Bethlehem. There They knelt down
and worshipped baby Jesus and offered him gifts of gold, myrrh
and frankincense. (See the section on gift-giving
for signficance of these gifts.) The Wise Men were warned by
God in a dream not to go back to Herod with the whereabouts
of
baby Jesus, so They went back to their country by another road.
When Herod realized that he had been
outwitted by the Wise Men, he was furious and gave orders
for the slaying of all boys in Bethlehem under two years of age,
to make sure that baby Jesus would be slain. Before this
an angel
appeared to Joseph and told him of Herod's plan, instructing
them to escape to Egypt.
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