MY PERSPECTIVE, Gary Damron
A few months ago, we started exploring what the New Testament gospels reveal about Jesus. It just so happened that a live message on Thanksgiving night coincided with this passage on His birth. Though I considered deviating from the chronology, I realized that everything I'm thankful for exists because Jesus came. His presence gives meaning and makes everything else precious - my wife, children, family, friends, our nation, and life itself.
The passage in Luke 2:1-7 begins, "It came about in those days...". The author Luke set forth an historical framework to support the accuracy of his narrative. He told of a census, and mentioned a governor of the province of Syria, of which Judea was a part. While modern scholars may debate the timeline, there's no record that any critics contemporary to Luke challenged the account. The details corroborate for us that "in the fulness of time" (Galatians 4:4), God chose that moment when Jewish, Roman, and Greek cultures converged, in order to "speak through His Son" (Hebrews 1:2). God orchestrated events to bring salvation at the perfect moment, and He continues to speak today, words of hope, encouragement, and purpose.
The location of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem fulfilled prophecies. Micah 5:2 reads, "Bethlehem...from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel." The town's history held precious connections to Israel's history: Jacob's wife Rachel died there while giving birth to Benjamin (Genesis 35:19, 48:7). It was the town of Ruth and Boaz (Ruth 4:11-12). Most notably, David, the shepherd king, was born and anointed there (1 Samuel 16:1-13). Joseph traveled from Nazareth to the City of David, because of he was of the house and lineage of David. So, Joseph and Mary's journey there placed Jesus' birth in this humble town of royal heritage.
Mary was not required by Roman or Jewish law to go with her husband, but she accompanied him by choice. This seems to indicate the strength of their relationship, and of course her desire to have Joseph near at the time of birth. Bethlehem would have held an attraction for both since she too was a descendent of David according to Luke 1:32, 69. And God was directing events through the Holy Spirit. "While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn" (Luke 2:6-7).
We can picture the tender, motherly care as Mary swaddled her baby in soft cloths, and the humility of the setting as she laid Him in a manger meant to hold hay. The fact there had been "no room in the inn" serves as a personal reminder to make room for Jesus in our own lives.
"To those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God - children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God" (John 1:12-13). Though He came with flesh and blood, it was the will of God that brought about His birth. Jesus was not conceived through human parents, but by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit upon Mary, who became pregnant while still a virgin.
Luke 2:7 reads that Mary "gave birth to her firstborn son", not theirs. This seems to also indicate that she had at least one other son; and Jesus' brothers are mentioned in Matthew 13:55 and Mark 3:31-35. Matthew 1:25 reads that Joseph “kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a son.” The fact that she bore other children verifies Mary's humanity and her contribution to His human nature.
The angel had told Mary in Luke 1:35, "'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God.'" This is the truth - the incarnation - that is carried in the birth of Jesus. John Lawson explains, “The Divine Son, who from all eternity is God in the same full sense that the Creator Father and the Holy Spirit are divine, completely and permanently joined himself to our genuine human nature, so as to form one real person who was at once both fully divine and fully human. In this way God joined himself to the human race, his handiwork, and lived a real human life in this world.”
Imagine divinity wrapped in a baby, crying out to us. Jesus bridged heaven and earth to show how God could live in a person. Jesus’ birth fulfilled prophecy, revealed God, and shows us how we can live as godly people. God came into our world to offer new life. His coming is salvation - the instrument of God's saving action revealed to humans in our weakness. God chose to work not through the rich, nor the greats of the world. He came from heaven to the edge of a small, conquered land and meets us even now in the midst of our need.
