Bible Study with Merrill Mow

The Birth of Jesus

Luke 2:1-40, Matthew 1:18-25

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The Birth of Jesus

Bible Study with Merrill Mow
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus. Augustus reigned from 27 BC to 14 AD so he ruled right through the time of Jesus. It was he who appointed Herod to be king in Judea. The word, Caesar, means an emperor or someone who rules vast areas. The month of August is also named after him. This order went out from Caesar Augustus that the entire world should be enrolled, that everybodys name should be written down - who they were and where they lived. This was called a census. In America a census is taken every ten years. The United States government counts everybody in the whole country and writes down their names and various things about them. One of the reasons they do that is for voting purposes. The main reason Augustus ordered a census was because his whole empire was supported by taxes that came in from all over the empire and he had to know how many people they could collect taxes from. It was a burden he laid on the people he had conquered. This is the first time that one of these world enrollments ever took place. It says: This was the first enrollment when Quirinius was Governor of Syria. Now these names are means by which we know the date, because the Bible doesnt give the dates even in Hebrew years here. So all went to be enrolled, each to his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem ( that's where David grew up) because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered. And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. People try to imagine what else happened, but here is the story as it was really told, in just these simple words. And then there are a couple of sentences about the angels and the shepherds. 3

In that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. When there are angels around people are terrified! And the angel said unto them, "Be not afraid; behold I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." Christ is a Greek word that is equivalent to the Hebrew word Messiah and they both mean the anointed one. That is clear to all Hebrews. The word Messiah or the anointed one refers to the coming king who will bring deliverance to the people of Israel. So the shepherds knew right away, although they were just plain shepherds, what the angel was talking about. "And this shall be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. The part about the Messiah made sense to them, but why in a manger? Where would you expect to find a newborn baby lying? In a manger? In a barn? But suddenly there was with the angel a multitude (thousands, millions, tremendous quantities) of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased. Often it reads just peace and goodwill among men. But God sees and knows those who obey him so He is not necessarily pleased with all men. We believe in the future Kingdom of God when all evil will be overcome, and there will be only peace. Then God will be pleased with all men. When the angels went away from them into Heaven the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us." And they went with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in 4

a manger. And when they saw it they made known the saying which had been told them concerning this child, and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. Incredible! What an amazing story! Imagine a bunch of simple shepherds having an experience like that! They saw the glory of Heaven and ran as fast as they could to be the first ones at the manger. The rest of the people of Bethlehem had no idea about what had happened. The shepherds then went around the town to tell everyone. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. She wondered about them, and thought about them. She must have pondered in her heart for years and years, not really understanding many of the things that happened that night, until finally when Jesus died on the Cross and then rose again. Then she understood why Jesus was born in such a way. His whole life was one of poverty and suffering and yet He is the Messiah, the Savior of the world. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. Verse 21 tells about Mary and Joseph taking Jesus at the end of eight days to be circumcised, the ceremony that all Jews did when a baby boy was born. Part of the ceremony was giving the child a name. They called him Jesus, which, of course was the name given him by the angel long before He was born. This is probably what the word christen comes from. Your Christian name is the name that you received at your christening. The first part of the word is Christ and that actually means baptizing and in some Christian traditions baptism is the equivalent of the Jewish circumcision. Then there was another custom which followed the circumcision called the purification ceremony: When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord, and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord. 5

So every first-born son had to give this offering referring way back to the law, told in Leviticus. The requirement is a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons, which they had to buy in the temple and give over to be sacrificed. Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel. Do you know what the consolation of Israel means? Israel had been in mourning for hundreds of years because they had lost their land and they had been exiled. Then they came back and had a brief period of independence, but then after the independence they were conquered, first by the Greeks, and then by the Romans. During this time Israel was an occupied country full of Gentiles, idol worshipers who marched down the roads with their swords and their shields. They had built a high tower, the tower of Antonia, where the Roman soldiers could walk out on a balcony. They could look right down into the courts of the temple and oversee the whole temple. They knew the center of Judaism was in the temple so they wanted to keep an eye on it. You can imagine how the Jews felt about that! This was their temple built for God and dedicated to the worship of God. They only had to look up at any time to see armed Roman soldiers pacing up and down and looking down on them. The Jews didn't like this at all. It was a sad situation and they couldnt do anything about it. Consolation means to give comfort, in some way to make up for a great loss. Simeon was looking for the consolation of Israel, simply means he was eagerly expecting the coming of the Christ to Zion when there would be hope and comfort for Israel once again. We should expect the second coming of Christ in the same way. And the Holy Spirit was upon him. A very important word; God was with him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. He was told that he was going to see the Messiah before he died and he was a very old man. And inspired by the Spirit he came into the temple and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law, Simeon saw this child with his parents and he went right to them and he took Jesus up in his arms and blessed God, and said, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to Thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation which Thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples; a light for revelation to the Gentiles. He had to have been inspired by God in order to say that, because most people thought that the Messiah was going to come just for the sake of the Jews, to be their king, to lead them, and to 6

make them number one in the world. But Simeon proclaimed that Jesus is a light to be shown to all the Gentiles and for glory to thy people Israel. This is of course what happened since Jesus came for all people. Joseph and Mary, when they heard this and saw it take place were really amazed. And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him, and Simeon blessed them and he said to Mary his mother, Behold, this Child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against, and a sword will pierce through your own soul also, that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed. When he said a sword will pierce through your own heart also, he is not talking about steel blades and knives. He is speaking about what Mary is going to suffer when she sees her beloved son hanging on the Cross. We just can't imagine what pain, anguish and sorrow she would have to experience. Here it is foretold by this man Simeon, who told her also how important Jesus would be. Simeon was not the only one waiting. And there was a prophetess - A prophetess is a woman who is inspired by God and has words from God to say that are very important to listen to. Her name was Anna. It tells who her father was, and her tribe, and she was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years from her virginity, (that is to say she had been married, living together with her husband for only seven years, and then her husband died) and as a widow till she was eighty-four. That makes ninety-one years since she was married, so she must have been very old, probably more than one hundred. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer, night and day. She spent her whole time there, because she wanted to be near God. And coming up at that very hour she gave thanks to God, and spoke of him to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. So she also was given this knowledge of who Jesus was and spoke about it right there. 7

And when they (that is the parents) had performed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. Little is known about Jesus earliest years and youth and so we conclude with a short sentence that covers many years. And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.