We all love this wonderful story the birth of Jesus. In the Old Testament there are 333 prophecies concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. Of these 109 were fulfilled in His first coming, leaving 224 prophecies to be fulfilled concerning His future coming(s). 333 reasons to show we can trust Him! Of the 46 Old Testament prophets, less than ten of them write of events concerning His first coming, while over 36 write of His second coming. Micah 5:2 prophesied that He would be born in Bethlehem, Isaiah 7:14 tells that He would be born to a virgin, and Daniel 9:25 foretells us when he would be born — about 450 years later. Yet unbelievers today pay no attention to these three facts.
V.1-6 The Roman Emperor, Caesar Augustus orders that everyone has to go to their own home town to “register.” And so it comes to pass that Joseph and Mary are in Bethlehem when Jesus is born. Was that something that came by chance into the mind of Caesar at that time? We know Who caused him to decide to do this just at that date!
V.7, 13 There was no room for Jesus to be born at the inn, but all heaven rejoices at His birth.
V.14 A grand summary of the work of Christ. The first Adam, through disobedience, caused the whole human race to fall into sin, suffering and death.
Through sin, all the violence, misery and death has come to this poor world. God lost His satisfaction in man in the garden of Eden. But now He announces that He is glorified in heaven, peace shall come on this earth and His good pleasure in men is re-established through this One who has just been born, Jesus, His beloved Son. Glorious verse.
V.15-18 The shepherds, seeing the angels disappear into the sky, decide on action. Immediately, they go to the very stable where the infant Jesus lay. The wise men had been guided, so were the shepherds. So will we, if we want to see Jesus!
V.19 The others may wonder what all these great events meant, but Mary had the secret in her heart.
V.20-24 It is hard to go quickly over these wonderful verses. The shepherds understood and gave God the glory. Jesus is named. Take time to read Leviticus 12:1-4 to see how carefully the Old Testament order was obeyed in this family. See if you can find the 40 days there.