December 14th - The Birth of Jesus

 

Passages: The Birth of Jesus

2 ^1–2 During those days, the Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus, ordered that the first census be taken throughout his empire. (Quirinius was the governor of Syria at that time.) ³ Everyone had to travel to his or her hometown to complete the mandatory census. ^4–5 So Joseph and his fiancé, Mary, left Nazareth, a village in Galilee, and journeyed to their hometown in Judea, to the village of Bethlehem, King David’s ancient home. They were required to register there, since they were both direct descendants of David. Mary was pregnant and nearly ready to give birth.

^6–7 When they arrived in Bethlehem, Mary went into labour, and there she gave birth to her firstborn son. After wrapping the new-born baby in strips of cloth, they laid him in a feeding trough since there was no available space in any upper room in the village (Luke 2:1-7)

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times” (Micah 5:2).

 

Ponder:

The distance from Nazareth to Bethlehem is about sixty-five miles and would have taken a number of days for them to arrive. Bethlehem, means “house of bread,” the prophesied birthplace of Messiah by Micah.  God controls all events, proven by the prophecy that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem, even though his parents were living in Nazareth.

Bethlehem speaks that “Importance is not a matter of one’s environment or the supposed status that things bring. Rather, importance is a function of one’s role in God’s work…for a moment the centre of God’s activity resides in an animal trough. The dignity of this event comes from the person lying at the centre. Sometimes God’s work goes on quietly in hidden locales”**

09.03.05BC-05.06.05BC

Prayer:

Lord, reveal to me the part I have to play in your work. It may not be glamourous, or in the limelight. All I would ask is that you’d help me to be led by your Spirit day by day, to serve you. Help me to be like the lad who gave his lunch to you, when you multiplied it to feed the crowd. Take as it were the availability of my “lunch” and multiply it by your presence. In Jesus name. Amen.

*(The Jesus Diary – The Most Comprehensive Chronology of the Life of Jesus Christ, the Son of God)

** Luke: The NIV Application commentary from Biblical Text to Contemporary Life: Darrell L. Brock – Quotations (moving forward) will be from this source and The Matthew Commentary Collection by Wilkins, Osborne and McKnight.