“Bearing Witness to the Birth of Christ” Author and Writer Ronald Nelson

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6;

ENCOURAGING WORD:

It seems that every religion in the world tries to deny the deity of Jesus Christ from His birth all the way to His death. There are 109 verses throughout the Old Testament that clearly lay out specific prophecies about the first coming of Jesus Christ. They have all been fulfilled to 100% accuracy. The probability of this happening is off the charts to the point it is absolutely impossible for one man to fulfill over one hundred prophetic messages about His first coming. If you read and study the Bible in its entirety, you have to conclude without a doubt that Jesus Christ is exactly who He said He was. “The Son of God” Emmanuel (which means ‘God is with us’"

The fulfillment of the Prophesized Birth Place

The birth place of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of just one of the many prophesies concerning the birth of the Messiah. We find the prophecy concerning the birth place of Jesus in;

Micah 5:2. “But you Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me, The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.” 

This alone is incredible when you understand why Mary and Joseph had to be in Bethlehem at that precise time. The fulfillment of this prophecy is found in the gospel of;

Luke 2:1-7; “And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” 

It is not a coincidence that Jesus was born the exact time that the decree was made for Mary and Joseph to return to Bethlehem, it was orchestrated by God Himself to fulfill the prophecy in Micah 5:2. The name of the birth place of Jesus is Bethlehem just as prophesized. The word means "house of bread." Bethlehem is also known as the "City of David." Mary and Joseph were both of the royal linage of David and that is why they had to journey to Bethlehem to be counted. Is it not proof of the wonderful sovereignty and the completeness of the plan and purpose of God that the One who was born to occupy the throne of David, the Lord Jesus Christ, was born of the line of David in the very same city that is referred to as “The City of David.” 

Bearing Witness from the Angel Gabriel

We read a very interesting event in; Luke 1:26-33; where we read, “And in the sixth month (This is referring to the pregnancy of Elizabeth who was carrying John the Baptist in her womb) the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, “Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.” And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” 

There are people that try to say, that Jesus was just a man who purposely tried to fulfill as many prophecies as he could so he could claim to be the Messiah. How ridiculous it is to believe a man could arrange his own birthday and then to top it off, be born of a virgin. There is only one deity in the universe that could pull that off, and that is our God. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Also, every time we look at a calendar, it should be a reminder of the birth of Jesus Christ. No other man in history has had the impact on our world like that of Jesus Christ. His birth was foretold thousands of years before it came to fruition, and it is still a major debate to this day. Jesus Christ is Lord!

Bearing Witness from the Shepherds

Luke 2: 8-14, “Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” 

Luke 2:15-16; also shares with us the experience of what the Shepherds had witnessed, “So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.”

The Shepherds were looked down at as the least respected citizens of their day, yet God reached out to them to share the joyous news of the birth of their Messiah. This is another example of how God uses the most unlikely people to fulfill His plan of salvation. The hired keeper, being different from the Shepherd would run away in the face of danger, but the owner of the herd (The Shepherd) would not run from any danger. The shepherd who owned and herded the flock would stay and defend them against any danger that might arise. He had a genuine loving concern for what belonged to him. In the book of John, chapter 10, Jesus illustrates how the shepherd cares for his flock, protecting them from weather, thieves, and predatory animals. He loved and shielded them and if necessary, he would lay down his life for them. That is exactly what Jesus Christ did for us, Our Good Shepherd laid down His life for us, His sheep. When we read throughout the scriptures, Jesus is often referred to as our Good Shepherd. It is interesting how the shepherds that were the first to see Jesus in the manger, were looking down at the One that would eventually be The Good Shepard that would watch over them.  

Bearing Witness from the Wisemen

Matthew 2:2; we read “saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” 

A lot of people read this verse and take it out of context. The wise men could not have shown up when Jesus was in the stable, we read in Matthew 2: 11; where it clearly states the following; “And when they had come into the house, (Not a stable) they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” 

At this time Mary and Joseph are now living in a house and Jesus is referred to as a young child, not a babe in a manger. The logical time frame before the Wiseman reached Jesus was within two years. There is another clue as to how old Jesus was when the Wiseman showed up and we read this in;

Matthew 2:16; where it reads, “Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.” 

If Jesus was still a new born, King Herod would most likely not have had all the babies two years old and younger murdered. Also, the trip that the Wiseman took to reach Jesus covered many miles and there would be no way for them to get there that soon on the backs of camels. It may be irrelevant as to when the Wiseman showed up, but I thought it would be interesting to share my thoughts.

King Herod bore witness of the Birth of Jesus Christ

We read in; Matthew 2:3-6; “When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet: ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, Are not the least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel. ” 

Here is the King of Judea fearing the birth of a young infant. King Herod referred to the babe in the manger as the Christ, even he knew that Jesus was the one that was foretold about to the point he had to kill all the first born males two years old and younger. His kingship was threatened by a new born baby that was prophesized to rule the world.

As I was gathering information for this blog, a thought came to me that got me thinking! If the star showed so bright that the shepherds and the wisemen could see it, why couldn’t Herod the King see it. I believe the answer is quite obvious if you apply it to today’s principles. The only ones that could see the star was those that believed that the Messiah would show up around that time because of what the prophets of old predicted. In today’s realm of things, it is the same reason that most people can’t see the signs of His second coming because of their unbelief. Which brings me to a quote that often applies to the Word of God, “Seeing is not believing, believing is seeing.” When you understand and believe the Word of God as it is written, you will see everything in a new light. When you become a believer, the truth will jump out at you like never before.

In John 20:29; we read this interesting verse that applies to what I am saying, “Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” 

When you believe, you will see the Word of God as it was meant to understand and as it says above, blessed are those that believe but yet have not seen! It is called faith!

Today in our world, most people are blind to the prophecies of the second coming of Jesus Christ just as they were blind to the birth of their Messiah. They did not believe then and they don’t believe today. Those that are born-again into the Holy Spirit and believe in what the Bible says are very aware of where we are on Gods prophetic calendar. If there is one thing that history teaches us, it is that we learn nothing from history. History is repeating itself and it is going to have the same results. Just as in the days of Noah. You need to have faith in the Word of God and start believing that what is written is true, and then the blindness will be removed, and you will see things like you have never seen before. Jesus Christ was born a King and His Kingship will soon rule the world just as it says in the scriptures. “Thy Kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” Do these words ring a bell?

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Amen!