The Birth of Jesus

Luke 2:1–14
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While God was preparing the world for the coming of the Savior He moved the heart of the Roman emperor to send out an order saying that everyone had to go back to the city from which his people had come in order to be registered (vv. 1-5). There they’d be told how much tax they had to pay. Mary and Joseph made the trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem This fulfilled Micah 5:2. After a long journey of some seventy-five miles undertaken by Mary, heavily pregnant, she and Joseph arrived at Bethlehem. When they arrived they found no place to stay except a stable in which to sleep. That night God’s own dear Son was born in the stable and Mary and Joseph wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him on the hay in the manger (vv. 6-7). God made sure that Mary and her baby were kept safe, despite unhygienic conditions around them in the stable.

Bethlehem was a small city surrounded by hillsides with grazing lands where shepherds led their sheep. That night the angel of the Lord appeared to some of the shepherds who were watching their flocks and a great light shone around them. They were afraid as they saw the angel and the glory of the Lord (vv. 8-9). The angel told them not to be afraid because this was to bring great joy to all people. “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior which is Christ the Lord.” The angel told them the way they’d know Christ the Lord was that he would be a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger (vv. 10-12). Then it seemed the entire Heaven was filled with angels saying,"Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men (vv. 13-14).”

Application

God appeared to Zacharias, to Mary and now to the shepherds when they were just doing their jobs and being themselves. How has God spoken to me in the past and how have I answered Him?