Jesus’ Birth

Jesus Birth Right mouse click to save this Podcast as a MP3. Matthew 1v1-17 - The Genealogy of Jesus Christ 1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham: 2 Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. 3 Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram. 4 Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon. 5 Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, 6 and Jesse begot David the king. David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah. 7 Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa.  Asa begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah. 9 Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah. 10 Hezekiah begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot Amon, and Amon begot Josiah. 11 Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon. 12 And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel. 13 Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor. 14 Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud. 15 Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob. 16 And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ. 17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations. Christ's Birth Announced to Mary Luke 1v26-38 Luke 1v26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28 And having come in, the angel said to her, "Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!" 29 But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. 30 Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end." 34 Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?" 35 And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. 37 For with God nothing will be impossible." 38 Then Mary said, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her. Christ Born of Mary - Luke 2v1-7 1 And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. 3 So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. 4 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, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. 6 So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. That Jesus was a man is not really disputed.  The birth of Jesus is extraordinary at every level.  The primary documents about Him, found in the Bible, says that he was born of a woman, which in itself tells us that at least in a prenatal state he was nurtured and formed as any other male baby was and is.  On the physical level, Jesus was born as any person is, but as regards his conception, He was conceived like no other person - conceived by the Holy Spirit (Luke 1v35).  This was so that Jesus would not be given the sinful nature that all humans have.  Jesus was fully human and fully divine.  Other documents, outside of the Bible from that time period also attest to Jesus and his existence. Throughout the Old Testament, there is a witness to the birth of the Messiah, the Saviour.  From the time of the first sin done by Adam, through the creation of Israel, the life of the Patriarchs and Kings and the oracles of the Prophets - all looking forward to the Messiah coming.  The 5 Covenants that God made with people all look forward to this Messiah, this King.  This King was to be their hope, their Saviour.  His genealogy takes his physical line back to Abraham via David.  Abraham the father of Israel and David the first King. He grew into maturity as any young Jewish boy did. When Jesus was born, his name imbued the very reason he was born. His conception and birth were extraordinary at every level.  So important is our understanding of the birth of Jesus that no fewer than 4 angels come to give us a full picture of the event.  Do you think that his parents, Joseph & Mary, or God, ever gazed upon him, and thought "How misnamed He is"! They did not, because they knew the very purpose for which He was born. Did Jesus ever think of how misnamed he was? Certainly not! His name means one who saves or a rescuer.  The entirety of His birth, life and death were centred on this very role.  His role was to save all those who would follow Him. He is the most talked about person in history.  Almost everyone has an opinion about Him.  He was born to confirm God's promises, to reveal God as a Father, and to be our representative before Him.  He gave us an example of how to live a holy life to the full.  He was not merely a man who received some special power.  He was not some strange creation that was half man and half God, with his human nature somehow absorbed into the divine.  He was, as we shall see in this series, much more than those ideas! One of the church father's, Anselm, wrote that God's salvation plan for humans' involved triumphant victory over sin, death and the grave.  However no person could be found that was eligible or capable to do this.  Because of this, God stepped into the human history, so that this victory could be achieved.  This God-man would be fully human, so as to live every feature of humanity, including suffering and death.  This God-man would also need to remain fully God, so as to defeat sin, death and the grave.  Jesus, being sinless, was this God-man, consisting as he did of two complete natures, the God nature and the human nature.  That is why Jesus being both fully God and fully human is all important - without either, He could not be the long awaited for Messiah and Saviour. That Jesus is both human and divine is what makes Christianity unique amongst the world's religions.  It is why Jesus' claims to be the only way to God are true and make sense, and it is why millions of people today worship Him and acknowledge Him as their Lord and their God. From what we know of his childhood and early life, we know that he grew in stature and wisdom (Luke 2v52) For more to think about please do read Matthew 1v18-2v23. Ask yourself the following questions, writing them down if you can, and see how you respond or react to them. Then why not share your answers with your spouse or a close 1.    How important to me is every aspect of the conception and birth of Jesus Christ? 2.    What lessons can I learn from other characters in these early chapters of the Gospels - Joseph, Mary, Shepherds, Wise Men, Simeon and Anna. 3.    What aspects of the whole story of Jesus physical conception and birth am I not familiar with? Right mouse click to save this Podcast as a MP3. 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