Many of us have heard the Christmas Story of Jesus, born to a virgin named Mary, two thousand years ago. That first Christmas night, while shepherds were watching over their flocks, they had an angelic visitation announcing the birth of the Messiah, the Christ. Born in the little town of Bethlehem, they would find him in a manger and off they ran to see this wondrous birth. In Matthew's gospel, we discover, sometime later, that magi [we call them wise men] from the east, who saw the star announcing the birth of the King of the Jews, travelled to pay homage to him. Mark doesn't go into these early details of the birth of Jesus, but begins his gospel with the preparation that we needed for people to receive their Messiah.