It was written that the Holy One to come to earth would come out of Bethlehem, but Mary, to whom the angel had come to say she should be the mother of that child, lived in Nazareth, quite far north of there. An order was sent at that time by one of the Caesars who then ruled the entire world that every man must go to his family city to be taxed.
The husband of Mary, Joseph, belonged to the family of King David, so he must go to Bethlehem, where David had lived. So Joseph and Mary made the journey there. When they reached Bethlehem many others had also come, and there was “no room for them in the inn,” or lodging house; the only place they could find to sleep was in a place used for animals.
That night the son promised to Mary by the angel was born, and she wrapped Him in the cloth bands, then used for newborn babies, called “swaddling clothes” and laid Him in a manger. This may have been soft clean hay or straw, yet we could not call it a good bed for a little baby. He was the Holy Child, the Son of God, in a body like other little ones, but with a nature without sin.
What God Promised
In Isaiah 9:66For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6) this Child was written about as so sure to come, it was as though He was already with the people, “Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” All these titles show His greatness, although He came as a poor baby. “Thou, Bethlehem ... though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:22But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. (Micah 5:2)).
Those last words teach us that this Ruler to come, who was Christ, (or the Messiah, in that language) had always lived before, “from everlasting.” We do not fully grasp all these words, yet we can understand that they are God’s words and believe them.
What We Know Exactly
God has recorded the exact place of Christ’s birth that all may better realize that Jesus, the Holy One, was a child on earth; that it is not an uncertain story, but a great fact, and fully true.
Later, men in power believed the birth of Jesus to be so great an event, that they made the calendar to be calculated from the year they figured He was born. It was later found that the time was set four years later than it should have been, but the mistake was not changed, and we use that same calendar, with the birth of Jesus as the center of all events of the world, past and present.
Events before Christ, are said to be so many years B.C.; events since, A. D., which is for Latin words meaning, “Year of Our Lord.” So now it is over 2,000 years since Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
Further Meditation
1. Where had God told His people that the Messiah would be born?
2. We find it hard to even guess what the weather will be like in about a week with any consistent accuracy. How many prophecies can you find that describe in detail something about the Lord Jesus that were made centuries before He was born?
3. You may find the chart, Old Testament Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus the Messiah a fascinating accompaniment to your study of one of the themes in this chapter.