The Birth of Christ

John Hoole December 22, 2002

It is that time of the year again. All around us are the sights and sounds of Christmas. The Christmas Post program a week ago, the holiday decorations, the crowded stores and shopping centers and even the traffic congestion all remind us that Christmas is near.
When Pope Julius I authorized December 25 to be celebrated as the birthday of Jesus in A.D. 353, who would have ever thought that it would become what it is today. When Professor Charles Follen lit candles on the first Christmas tree in America in 1832, who would have ever thought that the decorations would become as elaborate as they are today.
It's a long time since 1832 - longer still from 353. It is longer still from that dark night brightened by a special star in which Jesus the king was born. Yet, as we approach December 25th again, it gives us yet another opportunity to pause, and in the midst of all the excitement and elaborate decorations and the commercialization that surround Christmas today, to consider again the event of Christ and the person whose birth we celebrate.
A little boy and girl were singing their favorite Christmas carol in church the Sunday before Christmas. The boy concluded "Silent Night" with the words, "Sleep in heavenly beans." "No," his sister corrected, "not beans, peas."
I hope by the end of this lesson, the Christmas story will be a little more clear than that.
John 5:39 (KJV)
39 You diligently search the scriptures because you think you have eternal life: these Scriptures are they which testify of me.
"Search the Scriptures." What Scriptures?
WHAT DOES THE WORD "SCRIPTURE" REFER TO IN THIS VERSE?
They refer to what we today call the Old Testament. That is the only Scripture they had in New Testament times. Christ is saying that in the Old Testament we will find prophecies referring to Himself. It is in these prophecies, and their fulfillment, that we can find evidence that Christ is the Messiah. In them we will see evidence that He is truly the Son of God, the Savior of mankind.
Actually, there are over 300 verses in the Old Testament that speak of Christ, the Messiah, coming to earth the first time.
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE O.T. PROPHECIES ABOUT THE COMING OF CHRIST THE FIRST TIME?
o not about his later life - death, resurrection, etc., but those that speak about His birth.

1. Born in Bethlehem Micah 5:2 (NAS)
2 But as for you, Bethlehem Ephratah, so little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.
Matthew 2:1 (KJV)
1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,

2. He would have a Virgin Birth Isaiah 7:14 (KJV)
14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Matt 1:18-25 (KJV)
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privately.
20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary as thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:
25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.

So, we have learned that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem, and that He would be born of a virgin. The next thing we can find in the Old Testament is:
3. He would be from the Tribe of Judah Genesis 49:10 (NIV)
10 The scepter (ruler's staff) will not depart from Judah,ЕЕ until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his.
Here we are told that the scepter - the person holding the king's staff will come from the tribe of Judah.

Also see Micah 5:2 above. (Christ would come Bethlehem, the littlest of the families of Judah).
Luke 3:23 with 33 (KJV)
23 And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,

Following this verse there are an additional 10 verses giving the complete human lineage of Christ.

In verse 33 we pick up the long list of the lineage again.
33 Which was the son of Aminadab, which was the son of Aram, which was the son of Esrom, which was the son of Phares, which was the son of Judah,
The lineage of Jesus can be traced through each generation back to Judah.

4. Christ would come from David's family Isaiah 11:1 (NKJ)
1 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.
WHO WAS JESSE? He was the father of David.
This verse is saying that out of the family tree of Jesse, and thus, in the lineage of David, the Messiah will come to the earth. Not only will Jesus be able to trace his family tree to Judah, as was shown a moment ago but his lineage will also lead to Jesse and David.

Matthew 1:1 (KJV)
1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Revelation 5:5 (KJV), speaking about Jesus, says:
5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

5. He would have someone preparing His way Malachi 3:1 (KJV)
1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.

Isaiah 40:3 (NKJV) adds:
3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the LORD.
In these two verses, we are told that God would send someone to prepare the way for the coming of Christ, the Messiah.

WHO WAS THE PERSON WHO PREPARED THE WAY OF THE LORD?
Mathew 3:1-3 (KJV)
1 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
3 For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias (Isaiah), saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
John the Baptist was sent by God to prepare the way of the Lord.

6. He would come as a child (a son) Isaiah 9:6 (KJV)
6 For 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, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom...Е
Luke 1:26-33 (KJV)
26 And in the sixth month [the 6th month of Elizabeth's pregnancy] the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.
28 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.
29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
32 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:
33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

Let's review what we have learned.
1. Jesus the Messiah would be born in the city of Bethlehem.
2. His birth would be miraculous - He would be born of a virgin.
3. His lineage would be of the tribe of Judah.
4. His lineage could be traced back to Jesse, the father of David.
5. He would have another person who is preparing the arrival of Jesus the Messiah.
6. He would come as a son - a child.

Just from looking at these 6 Old Testament prophesies and their fulfillment, we have been given a very good look at the Scriptures that surround the Christmas story.
Again, in John 5:39 Christ said:
39 Search the scriptures (O.T. Scriptures); for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

Have you ever systematically read through the Bible? If so, what did you do when you came to the chapters like Genesis 5, Genesis 10, 1 Chron., chapters 1 through 9, Matthew 1, and Luke 3? Do you know what these chapters are? Each of them are a list of almost endless genealogies. If you are anything like I was when I was much younger, you either skipped them or quickly glossed over them, and went on to more interesting passages.
Those of you who have been in our class for some time will probably remember me teaching on the genealogies of Genesis 5. I don't skip over lists of genealogies anymore. Today, I would like us to take a look at one in the New Testament. In the gospels we find a genealogy that gives us great hope and encouragement. Why? Because the grand climax of this genealogy is God's Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. This leads to the Savior of the world and the King of nations.
As we open the Book of Matthew, the very first verse reads: "The genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." I want us to consider the genealogy that is found in the verses that follow in Matthew. These verses trace Christ's genealogy in a descending order from Abraham to Jesus.
Before moving off this very first verse of Matthew, let us quickly notice a couple of items. Notice that Matthew uses the name Jesus. This is a shortened form of the name Jehoshua or Jeshua. The emphasis in the name of Jesus is on the action he performs, which is salvation. Twenty verses later - 1:21 - we are told He has that name "because he will save his people from their sins." Jesus is also called Christ here, which means the Messiah, the Spirit-anointed one.
As we work our way through the genealogy in the next 15 verse, I want you to observe some seemingly paradoxical people on the list.
In Verse 3, Judah is place in the lineage. Why Judah? Why not Reuben? It is usual that the oldest receive the blessings and promises.
If you look back in Genesis, Judah was not an honorable character. He routinely committed adultery and engaged in prostitution. Why would God choose him? The first thing I want you to take from this lesson is God can use anyone, no matter their background. That should give us hope that He can use you and me.
There are a number of other anomalies in Matthew genealogical list. The next thing I want you to notice is that there are five women mentioned. In our culture today, we cannot even fathom how huge this anomaly is. Jewish genealogical lists did not contain the names of women. Mary, of course, is one of the women.
WHO ARE THE OTHER FOUR?
Tamar (vs. 3)
Tamar was a Gentile, a Canaanite, and a prostitute. I mentioned earlier that Judah frequented prostitutes. He had two sons - Perez and Zerah - born to this prostitute. And yet, Tamar and her son Perez is in the Lineage leading to Jesus.

Rahab (vs. 5)
Rahab is another Gentile. She was probably the leading prostitute in the city of Jericho at the time. Yet she is also listed in this genealogy. From Hebrews 11:31, we are told of her faith in Jehovah God. Rahab believed God, was saved, and became the mother of Boaz who is an ancestor of David and Jesus.

Ruth (vs. 5)
The third woman is Ruth, who also was not a Jew. She was a Moabitess. In Deuteronomy 23:3, God prohibited any Moabite or his descendant to enter the assembly of the Lord, even to the tenth generation. And yet we find Ruth, a true believer, in the genealogy of Jesus. Ruth, the wife of Boaz and the mother of Obed.

Bathsheba (vs. 6)
The fourth woman besides Mary in this list is not named here, and yet, we do know her name from elsewhere in the Bible.
Verse 6 (NIV) reads:
6 and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife. Uriah's wife - who was that? We know her as Bathsheba, and she also may have been a Gentile, according to some scholars. One thing we do know is that Bathsheba was an adulteress, who married David, a murderer, adulterer, and thief. And yet, in the Diving plan, Bathsheba is included in the genealogy of the Holy One, Jesus Christ.

The inclusion of Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba tells us that Jesus Christ breaks down all barriers.
o all barriers of race - Jew and Gentile
o all distinctions of sex - male and female
o and any other distinction - righteous and unrighteous, saint and sinner
.
Truly, in Jesus Christ, the seed of Abraham, will all the peoples of the earth be blessed. The inclusion of some of the men in this genealogy should give us great hope too. These men were sinners also - like you and me.
Look at Abraham - he lied again and again to save himself and his own skin. He was not very chivalrous to his own wife. No, Abraham was often timid and self-protective.
Look at Isaac. - He lied for his own benefit and put his wife's life in jeopardy.
Look at Jacob - He was a cheat and a schemer.
Look at Judah - He was at times a very immoral person.
Look at David - He was lustful, a scheming murderer and an adulterer.
God chose all of these and included them in this genealogy as well as in His book of life.

There is another abnormality I want you to notice in this genealogy. In the King James Version of the text, we see the word "begat" repeated 39 times. "Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob," and so on. The NIV translates it, "Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob," and so on.
The Greek word is GENNAO. It appears forty times in the first 16 verses of Matthew 1. And in 39 of those 40 times, this verb is used in the "active voice." When using the active voice, it expresses the begetting or fathering activity of the male parent. Every person in this genealogy was born due to the begetting activity of a male parent. That is, except for Jesus.
In verse 16, : (NIV) we read
16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

If the pattern were used in this verse, as it was in all the list up to this time, we would have expected the words to read, "Joseph begat Jesus through Mary." But here the pattern breaks down. The text simply says, "Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ." In breaking the pattern, Matthew is telling us, in no uncertain terms, that Joseph did not father, or beget Jesus.
So, we see that in the 40th use of the word gennao, Matthew does not use the active voice, but rather, a passive voice. And just to make sure there is no question about this issue, Matthew makes the phrase, "of whom," - the relative pronoun - is in the feminine form. That fixes the meaning and leaves no room for doubt. Jesus was born of Mary, but not of Joseph. This anomaly, or breaking of the pattern, speaks very loudly. Jesus was born of Mary by a supernatural action.
We have looked at part of what Matthew says concerning the lineage and birth of Jesus Christ.
WHERE ELSE WOULD WE FIND THE STORY OF THE BIRTH OF CHRIST.
In the Book of Luke.

Mark does not mention the birth of Christ at all. He does not even the childhood of Jesus. John, in his Gospel, also does not mention the childhood of Jesus. But he does make one statement about Jesus coming to earth.
John 1:14 (KJV)
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Now let's look at one more Scripture - from the New Testament - and see where it leads us. It's not a verse that is often read when reading about the Birth of Christ. Maybe because it is found among the writings of Paul.
1 Timothy 3:16 (KJV)
16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

Every time the clock ticks, another baby is born. There have been billions of births in the long course of human history, but none like the one that move this Apostle to write: "Е..without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the fleshЕ." GOD manifest in the flesh!!!
This birth was unique, for it was the birth of the Man who is fully God.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU THAT GOD BECAME FLESH?
HOW COULD THAT HAPPEN?
HOW DID IT HAPPEN?

God becoming flesh is an amazing thing. It boggles my mind to even try to fully comprehend. As we read earlier, Matthew 1:20 says it all started with an act of the Holy Spirit.
Luke 1:35 (KJV)
35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

This, we are told, is how God took on Flesh. In a single moment, the Holy Spirit did His work, and Mary was pregnant. Her Creator was now within her. God became Flesh!! It all happened in a moment, a most remarkable moment. As moments go, to most people at that time, this moment appeared no different than any other. Like all moments of time, it came and went. It was preceded and succeeded by others just like it. It was one of the countless moments that have marked time since this part of eternity became measurable.
But in reality, that particular moment was NOT like any other. For in that minute segment of time a spectacular thing occurred. God became a man.
While the creatures of earth (both humanly and beastly) walked about unaware, Divinity arrived!! Heaven opened herself and placed her most precious One inside a human womb. In that one short instant, He who is omnipotent made himself breakable. He who had been a spirit became pierceable. He who was larger than the universe became a minute embryo. And He who sustains the whole world by his word, chose to be dependent fully upon the nourishment of a young girl.
The birth of Christ was indeed unique among all the births that have ever occurred. In 1 Timothy 3:16, Paul calls it a mystery - "the mystery of godliness, God come in the flesh."
Just how could the same person be both God and man at the same time. It is almost an enigma - a paradox. In the moments following conception by the Holy Spirit, God the Son was a fetus. His Holiness was sleeping in a womb. God was given eyebrows, elbows, two kidneys and a spleen. He was all God, and yet He was all man too.
Adrian Doll gave me a tape to listen to. He wanted me to listen to one song on it. The title of the song is "On My Father's side."
Just a young boy in the temple one day,
Sharing with the doctors; they were so amazed.
Never had they seen one so young speak so sweet,
They asked him many questions. The conversation went like this.
What's your names Son?
On my mother's side, my name is Jesus,
But on my Father's side, the call me Emmannuel.
How old are you?
On my mother's side, now I'm twelve years,
But on my Father's side, I've just always been.
Where are you from?
On my mother's side, I'm from Bethlehem,
But on my Father's side, it's New Jerusalem.
What is your plan?
On my mother's side, I'll be crucified,
But on my Father's side, in 3 days I'll arise, and I'll sit at my Father's side.
He was the Son of God , and yet the son of man.
And I can't help but wonder how Joseph must have felt,
When through an open door that day, he heard his son reply;
He said, You see, "I'm the King of King; that's on my Father's side.

In thinking about the human side of Jesus, I have a lot of questions.
o Could Jesus carry a tune?
o Did the girl down the street have a crush on Him?
o Did he have bony knees?
o Did He ever burp?

To think of Jesus in such a light is, well, it seems almost irreverent, doesn't it? Talking that way is not something we like to do. It's uncomfortable.
It is so much easier to keep the humanity out of the incarnation. In our minds, we clean the manure from around the manger. We wipe the seat out of his eyes. We pretend Jesus never snoredc or blew his nose, or hit his thumb with his earthly father's hammer.
There is something about keeping him divine that keeps him distant, neatly packaged and predictable. He is easier to stomach that way. But, for heaven's sake - and for the benefit of mankind - don't remove his humanity. Let Him be as human as he intended to be. Let him into the mire and muck of our world. For only if we let Him in can He pull us out.
Yes, He was fully divine, but unless He is also fully human, we are lost because we cannot help ourselves out. We need to listen to Him. See who He really is. Hear what He is saying. We need to be reminded that the words "Love your neighbor" was spoken by a MAN whose neighbors tried to kill Him. "Pray for those who persecute you" came from the lips of a MAN who would soon be praying to the Father, begging Him to forgive his murderers. *** READ "JOSEPH'S LETTER HOME" ***
Earlier, I mentioned that the Living Word became flesh in a very remarkable, but very short, moment of time. There is coming another remarkable moment. God, through the apostle Paul, calls this moment "a twinkling of an eye." The world will see yet another instantaneous transformation. You see in becoming a man, God made it possible for man to see God. When Jesus left here and went back home, He left the backdoor open. As a result, we are told "we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye."
The first moment, when God was manifest in the flesh, went virtually unnoticed by the world. You can bet that the second one won't.
Are you ready for that moment? If you are, this second moment is not far off. Let me end our lesson with two illustrations - the first, somewhat funny, the second more serious.
It's Christmastime and Lucy comes to where Charlie Brown is standing and says, "Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown. 'Tis the season of peace on earth and good will toward men. Therefore, I suggest we forget all our differences and love one another." Charlie Brown, whose face lights up at this, says, "That's wonderful, Lucy, I'm so glad you said that. But tell me, do we have to love each other only at this season of the year? Why can't we love each other all year long?" Lucy retorts, "What are you, a fanatic or something?"
If we are really serious about Christmas, we may be branded by the world as fanatics. Yet, Christmas is supposed to be a time of "peace on earth, good will toward men." How wonderful our homes could be, how wonderful our lives could be, how wonderful our world could be, if we really did put into practice the blessing of "peace on earth, good will toward men."
The second illustration is about a man who lost his wife, leaving him to be both mother and father to a six-year-old son. After her funeral father and son came home, both feeling so along and grieved by their loss. That night as they prepared for bed, the boy asked, "Daddy, may I sleep in your room tonight, too?"
But neither one could seem to go to sleep. They both tossed and turned until late in the night. Finally, the little boy asked, "Daddy, are you looking at me? Because if you are, I think I can go to sleep." The father answered, "Yes son, I am looking at you." The little boy started at last to rest and finally fell asleep.
After he was asleep the father got out of bed, walked over to the window and pulled back the curtain. He looked up at the starry sky and said, "Father, are you looking at me? Because if you are, I think I can rest and be at peace."
Christmas has come to remind us that God loves you so much that He can't get his eyes off you. The "peace and goodwill" he brought was for you too.

Questions, comments & suggestions to John Hoole