Christmas 2020 will be the strangest one you’ll ever experience, I would imagine. Memories of Christmas pasts with family, friends, parties, and traditions may be very different this year. Living in a pandemic has taken a toll on our normal way of life and may continue to do so for a while.
Christmas for many is the “most wonderful time of the year,” and for others, it’s the saddest time, because of the loss of a loved one, or the lack of resources to pay bills and buy gifts. Yesterday, I lost my Uncle who one week ago went into the hospital. It’s a sad time for my family and me because we didn’t get to say goodbye and we will miss him. However, my Uncle knew Jesus and I know that physical death is not the end, because of the true meaning of Christmas. I can have joy knowing that He is healed, is in the presence of God, and I will see him again.
The Christmas story is about God's love for you and me. God loved you (the world) so much that He sent His only Son Jesus to pay the price for our sins (death on the cross) so that we could have the free gift of eternal life and have a personal relationship with Him if we believe and receive Him as our Savior. (John 3:16)
Some Bible scholars believe that there are over 300 prophesies about Jesus in the old testament. I have not personally gone through the old testament to count and verify that number, but you can read a couple of them in Isaiah. The birth of a savior was written about 700 years before Jesus' birth.
Read Isaiah 7:14 and see the fulfillment in Matthew 1:23 ( a virgin will conceive and have a son and call His name Immanuel - God with us); Isaiah 9:6 and Isaiah 61:1 and fulfilled in Luke 2:11 (Jesus' birth as son and Messiah).
You can read the Christmas story in both the gospel of Matthew and the gospel of Luke. Matthew proves that Jesus was the fulfillment of the old testament prophecies of a coming savior. Luke gives an accurate historical account of the life of Jesus Christ.
Read the accounts yourself in your own Bible or online. Here is my summary combining both.
The Christmas Story
The Virgin Mary Conceives a Baby
Mary, a young virgin, was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph. The Angel Gabriel appeared to her and told her that she was highly favored of God and that she would conceive and have a baby by the Holy Spirit. This baby, a son, would save His people from their sins. She asked how this could happen since she had not had any sexual relations with any man, she was a virgin. The Angel said she would conceive by the Holy Spirit. She agreed and said “let it be as you have said.” She conceived.
When Joseph found out Mary was pregnant, he did not want to publicly shame her so he thought he would secretly divorce her. The angel of the Lord, appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife, because the baby within her was of the Holy Spirit and He would save his people from their sins. Joseph listened to the angel, took Mary as his wife, and did not have physical relations with her until after the baby Jesus was born.
Mary and Joseph travel to Bethlehem
During this time in history, the Roman empire was in control of the land of Israel. There was a census and the citizens were to return to their family’s place of birth to be counted in the census. Joseph was from the house of David so he and Mary had to travel to Bethlehem from their town of Nazareth. When they got to Bethlehem they could not find a room at the inn (hotel). The inn keeper allowed them to stay in a stable.
Jesus is Born
While staying in the stable, Mary gives birth to Jesus and wraps him in swaddling clothes, and puts him in a manger (box or trough used to hold hay/food for livestock).
Shepherds and Angels
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