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The Birth of
Jesus
Matthew 1-2, Luke 1-2
The angel Gabriel
appeared to Mary and said, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have
found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son,
and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be
called the Son of the Most High." (TNIV)
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An Angel Visits
Mary
One day
about 2,000 years ago an angel named Gabriel appeared to a young
Jewish woman named Mary. Gabriel told Mary she would have a son,
Jesus, who would be the Son of God! Mary was confused and worried
about this sudden news, but she had faith in God and said, "I am the
Lord's servant; let it be as you say."
Journey to
Bethlehem
Mary and
her husband-to-be, Joseph, lived in a town called Nazareth. But they
had to travel to the city of Bethlehem to register for a census
ordered by the Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus. Both Nazareth and
Bethlehem are in the country now called Israel. It is about 65 miles
(105 km) from Nazareth to Bethlehem, and the trip probably took them
several days.
When Joseph
and Mary got to Bethlehem, there was no place for them to stay
because the inn was already full. They ended up spending the night
in a stable, a place where animals were kept. There was probably
fresh hay on the floor that they used for beds.
That night,
Jesus was born. There was no crib, so they laid baby Jesus in a
manger, a feeding trough for animals. The manger probably had fresh
hay in it and made a nice bed for the baby.
Shepherds
Visit Jesus
Jesus was born in a
stable and laid to sleep in a manger. The shepherds came to see
firsthand the things the angel had told them.
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That night, some
shepherds were in the fields near Bethlehem, keeping watch over
their flocks of sheep. An angel appeared to them and gave them the
good news that a Savior, the Messiah, had been born. The angel told
the shepherds they could find Jesus lying in a manger. Suddenly a
whole group of angels appeared saying, "Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"
The
shepherds hurried into Bethlehem and found Jesus in the manger, just
as the angel had told them. After they had seen Jesus, they spread
the news, and everyone who heard was in awe.
Wise Men Visit
Jesus
Wise men from the
East came to worship Jesus, bringing gifts of gold,
frankincense, and myrrh.
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Some
time later, wise men, or magi,
from eastern countries saw a star in the sky that signaled the birth
of a new king. They came to Judea, the region around Jerusalem and
Bethlehem, to worship Jesus, the new king.
A man named
Herod was the king of Judea. He called the wise men to a meeting and
told them to find the new king so he could go and worship him, too.
The wise
men continued on to Bethlehem and followed the star until it was
directly above the house where Jesus was. They found Mary and Jesus
in the house and knelt down to worship Him. They brought Jesus gifts
of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, some of the finest things in the
ancient world. Frankincense was burned to make a sweet smell, and
myrrh was an expensive perfume.
After
visiting Jesus, the wise men had a dream that warned them not to go
back to King Herod, so they took a different route home.
Journey to
Egypt
King Herod
lied when he told the wise men he wanted to worship Jesus. He was
afraid this new "king" would replace him as king of Judea. He did
not understand that Jesus would grow up to be king of God's
spiritual kingdom, not king of Judea.
What Herod
really wanted was to find Jesus and kill Him! Herod was furious when
he realized the wise men had not come back to tell him where to find
Jesus. He sent his soldiers to Bethlehem to kill all the children
under two years old, thinking Jesus would certainly be one of the
ones killed.
But God had
told Joseph in a dream to flee to Egypt. Joseph took Mary and Jesus
to live in Egypt where they would be safe from Herod. Joseph, Mary
and Jesus stayed in Egypt until Herod had died, and then they
returned to Nazareth.
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