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Visitation from the Angel Gabriel
In the sixth month, the Angel Gabriel was sent from God to a Galilean town, Nazareth by name, to a young woman named Mary who was engaged to a man called Joseph (a descendant of King David). The angel entered her room and said, "Greeting to you, Mary. O favored one! - the Lord be with you!"

Mary was deeply perturbed at these words and wondered what such a greeting could possibly mean. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid Mary; God loves you dearly. You are going to be the mother of a son, and you will call him Jesus. He will be great and will be known as the Son of the most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his forefather David, and he will be king over the people of Jacob for ever. His reign shall never end."

Then Mary spoke to the angel, "How can this be?" she said, "I am not married!" But the angel said to her "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, the power of the most high will overshadow you. Your child will therefore be called holy, the Son of God."

"I belong to the Lord, body and soul," replied Mary. "Let it happen to me as you say." And at this, the angel left her. Afterwards, Mary went to visit her cousin Elizabeth who was also pregnant. She stayed with her three months and then went back to her own home.

The Marriage of Mary and Joseph
Upon her return, just before their marriage, Joseph discovered she was pregnant. It was by the Holy Spirit, but he did not know that. Joseph did not believe her story about the visit of the angel Gabriel and thought she had given herself to another man while she was visiting her cousin.

Now Joseph, her future husband, was a good man and did not want to see her disgraced (by embarrassing her publicly and refusing the marriage.) So, he planned to break off the engagement quietly. But while he was turning the matter over in his mind, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not hesitate to take Mary as your wife. God’s Holy Spirit has made her pregnant and she will give birth to a son, whom you will call Jesus (the Saviour) for it is he Who will save his people from their sins". All this happened to fulfill what the Lord said through the prophet Isaiah (7:14):

"Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son and they shall call his name Immanuel."

When Joseph woke up he did what the angel told him. He married Mary, but did not have relations with her as a husband until after she gave birth to her son.

At that time a proclamation was made by Caesar Augustus that all the inhabited world should be registered. This was the first census while Cyrenius was governor of Syria; and everybody went to the town of his birth to be registered. Joseph went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to David’s town, Bethlehem, in Judea, because he was a direct descendant of David, to be registered with his wife Mary, now in the later stages of her pregnancy.

The Annunciation of His Birth by Angels
So it happened that while they were there in Bethlehem the time came for her to give birth. She gave birth to her first child, a son. And, as there was no place for them inside the inn, she wrapped him up in a blanket and laid him in a manger (a feeding trough for animals). Then Joseph gave him the name Jesus, just like the Angel of the Lord told him to do.

And there were some shepherds living in the same part of the country, keeping guard throughout the night over their flock in the open fields. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord stood by their side, and the splendour of the Lord blazed around them and they were terror-stricken.

But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid! Listen, I am here to announce a great and joyful event which is for all the people around the world. This very day, in David’s town (Bethlehem), a Saviour has been born for you. He is Christ, the Messiah and Lord. Let this prove it to you; you will find a baby, wrapped up and lying in a manger. And, in a flash, there appeared with the angel a vast host of the armies of Heaven, praising God, saying "Glory to God in the Highest Heaven! Peace upon earth among men of goodwill!"

When the angels left them and went back into Heaven, the shepherds said to each other, " now let us go straight to Bethlehem and see this thing which the Lord has made known to us." So they came running and they found Mary and Joseph and the baby laying in the manger. And when they had seen this sight, they told everybody what the angels said to them about this little child. And those who heard them were amazed and impressed by their words.

The shepherds went back to their work, glorifying and praising God for everything that they had heard and seen, which happened just as they had been told. But Mary treasured all of these things and thought about them constantly in her heart.

The Arrival of the Magi or, The Three Wise Men
Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days when Herod was king of the province. Not long after His birth there arrived from the east a party of wise men (scholars) traveling to Jerusalem and inquiring as they went, "Where is the child born to be King of the Jews? For we observed a star that signaled His birth and we have come here to pay homage (and worship) Him."

When King Herod heard about this he was terrified and deeply perturbed, as indeed were many of the other people living in Jerusalem. So, he summoned all the Jewish scribes (religion scholars) and chief priests together and asked them where Christ the Messiah should be born. Their reply was: "In Bethlehem, Judea territory, for this is what the prophet Micah (5:2) wrote:

"And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Judah
art in no wise least among the princes of Judah;
for out of thee shall come forth a Governor,
Who shall be shepherd (and ruler) of my people Israel."

Then Herod, sly fox that he was, pretended to be as spiritual as the wise men and invited them to meet with him privately. He found out from them the exact time when the star appeared. Then, he sent them off to Bethlehem saying, "when you get there, search for this little child with the utmost care. And, when you have found him, come back and tell me so that I may go and worship him too."

The wise men listened to the instructions of the king and went on their way to Bethlehem. Miraculously, the star, which they had seen in the eastern sky, appeared again. The sight of the star filled them with indescribable joy. They knew they were in the right place! And, they had arrived at the right time! It led them on as they traveled until at last it shone right above the place where the young child lay. They went into the house and saw the little child in the arms of Mary his mother. Overcome, they fell on their knees and worshipped Him. Then, they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts: gold, incense (frankincense) and myrrh.

They were warned by God (in a dream) not to report back to Herod. So, they worked out another route, left without being seen and returned to their own country.

The Flight to Egypt from Bethlehem
After the wise men left, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up now, and take the little child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you. For Herod is hunting for this child, and wants to kill him." So Joseph obeyed.

He got up in the middle of the night, took the child and his mother and set off for Egypt. They were well on the way by day. And, they lived in Egypt until Herod died. This is another Fulfilled of the Lord’s word spoken through the prophet Hosea ( 11:1):

“Out of Egypt did I call my son.”

When Herod saw that he had been fooled by the wise men, he was furious. He issued orders to kill all the male children of two years and under in Bethlehem and the surrounding district - basing his calculation upon his careful questioning of the wise men. Then Jeremiah’s prophecy (31:15) was fulfilled:

"A voice was heard in Ramah,
Weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children;
And she would not be comforted,
because they are dead and buried."

After Herod’s death an angel of the Lord again appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Now get up and take the infant and his mother with you and go back to the land of Israel. For those who sought the child’s life are dead."

So Joseph got up and took the little child and his mother and re-entered Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus had succeeded his father Herod as king, he was afraid to go to Judea. Directed in a dream to go to the hills of Galilee, he settled in the village of Nazareth thus, fulfilling another prophecy. (Isaiah 11:1-10)

Christmas Blaire

Dec 25 2011, 07:19 AM

Merry Christmas to all!