Random Thoughts About the Birth of Jesus

Yesterday was Sunday and our SS Lesson was taken from Luke 2 that dealt with Jesus' birth and the Shepherds. I was asked to teach the adult Sisters...In my years of teaching, I considered this story the most difficult one to teach. We are all familiar with the story, so what other inspiration is there to get from it? However, in recent years the LORD has shown me some very interesting points that are edifying.

I would like to share some random insights that have blessed me and perhaps it will bless others as well. If you have something to share, go ahead - it could be very inspiring to hear others' insights to this event. I will like share these points in multiple posts - do not have time to write a long post - one that will not be read, anyways...

Mat 1:18 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.
Mat 1:19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.

Joseph was [likely] a young man, engaged to get married, full of expectations of what that all entailed. He [likely] had plans for his life, his work, having a family with a wife by his side: full of expectations and anticipation. Just like the normal male looking forward to getting married!

Then one day, while in the midst of all this planning, he heard something that took the wind out of his sails - about like being kicked in the stomach: he heard Mary was pregnant! Mary, of ALL people! It can't be, not her!!! I thought she was a godly lady! she would never go out and defile herself with a man...yet how else can a female conceive! Loving her as much as he did, he resolved to just put her away quietly and not hold her up to public ridicule, a very kind act IF this is what he was going to do...

More later...

Ginnyrose "Loving her as much as he did, he resolved to just put her away quietly and not hold her up to public ridicule, a very kind act IF this is what he was going to do..."

___________

I always thought Joseph must have been a very forgiving man to not want to openly seek revenge on Mary. Before he knew the truth of the origins of Jesus conception he must have felt very betrayed by Mary.

Look forward to reading what the Lord has placed on your heart to share with us....

God Bless
mj

If Jesus was given a body by the incorruptable Seed of the Father in Mary by the Holy Spirit and given birth on Christmas day, How is the believer given rebirth of the incorruptable Seed of the Father, which Jesus Christ says is,"Ye must be born again"? By the Holy Spirit also I would presume?

This is one of the primary faiths we must have, a virgin givien birth to the Son of God by Our Father through the Holy Spirit. It is also primary to the believers born again expierence, by the Holy Spirit, us sealed into Christ.

I cannot get my mind around what Paul calls the "mystery", Jesus calls the Born Again and Peter calls also "being born again by the incorruptable Seed the Word, which is Jesus Christ, John 1.

Any revelation to any of the saints would be appreciated.

If this is derailing Ginnyrose's thread I will start it in a new thread.

In Christ: Phillip

I would think Mary explained the whole thing to Joseph and Putting some truth into his mind would give him great wonder. Maybe this had something to do with Joseph giving Mary the benifit of the doubt, that being the reason he did not put her away publicly. Just my speculation. I am sure when Joseph received conformation of what Mary had said, he believed Mary and the Angel.

In Christ: Phillip

it is interesting to me that Mary was visited by the angel, probably in full daylight view. But Joseph apparently never saw the angel, he got his words each time from his dreams at night. God keeps us from figuring out patterns, we have to trust Him to speak in the way He chooses.

I don't buy the notion that Jesus couldn't be born of an earthly father or He would have been born with a sinful nature. If that were true, He could not be my savior because he would not be truly the son of man as He claimed to be. He was born of Mary and by the Holy Spirit because He was wholly God and wholly man.

Isaiah had prophesied by the Spirit of God, "Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given."

Good poetry of course, but perfect theology as well. The child began at birth and grew up to be Jesus of Nazareth, son of Mary and Joseph- but also Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God who has existed eternally and as such has no beginning. He could only be "given."

"Before Abraham was, I am!"

No wonder the world cannot accept Him, and who He really is is only revealed to those who bow down in repentance and faith for salvation.

You can expect the world to come up with its cults and weird belief systems as they try to dictate to God who His Christ has to be!

Only in the safety of His Word can a repentant sinner come to know the real Jesus born the King of the Jews and the only Savior of all mankind. (On His terms, of course!)

While Joseph was mulling this new twist in his plans, the Angel of the LORD appeared to him, giving him directions on how to handle this troubling dilemma.

By this time, I feel certain, he really was up the creek without a paddle: "how am I going to steer through these troubling waters?" He came up with a tentative plan, but it was not God's but seemed to be the best he could think of.

Lesson: How we deal with a gross change in circumstances is a reflection on our dependence on the LORD. Too many times we will resort to do what the logical would suggest to be the wisest course of action.

Lesson: When God calls he knows it will inconvenience people's plans for the present and future. God is fully aware of it and will give the necessary directions to walk through this maze.

More to come...

(Sorry, I got distracted in posting on this thread - my company came earlier then I was expecting - all have left now and we are back to us two and....silence. :-))

QUOTE:
"I am sure when Joseph received conformation of what Mary had said, he believed Mary and the Angel."

I find this beautiful. The LORD took responsibility to affirm to Joseph that what indeed happened to Mary was from Him...

Imagine you being Joseph and how well would you have responded to this news? would you have been so believing? believing this wild tale that your fiancee is pregnant via of the Holy Spirit?

I find this beautiful also; "I find this beautiful. The LORD took responsibility to affirm to Joseph that what indeed happened to Mary was from Him..."

Is not God absoultly perfection in His revelation to His children?

Amen, In Christ: Phillip

Matthew 1:24-25

24And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife,

25but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.

COMMENT:

I find Joseph's prompt obedience inspiring. After being told by the angel to take Mary, he acted promptly. There was no debate about whether the angel meant what he said or its implications to his future plans: he just did it! WOW!

I studied Jewish wedding traditions and according to it, their celebrations lasted several days. There was food, fellowship and privately a consummation of their relationship. Scripture does not say they had a wedding in the traditional sense that was inherent in their culture. One could believe they didn't but maybe they did. In any case, Joseph kept his wife a virgin until she had given birth.

We see in Joseph a very disciplined man: His desire to please God was greater then his own personal pleasures; his prompt obedience to the message from the angel is commendable. It is no wonder Scripture calls him a righteous man.

How well do we stack up in comparison to him?

More to come...

I love this !

Heb 1:5 To which of the angels said He at any time, Thou art my son. This day have I begotten thee?

John 1:1-2 ...14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God....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.

Heb 10:5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not but a body thou hast prepared me;.........to vs 9 (also Ps 40)

We see a conversation within the Godhead in Heb 10 before the Word came to earth. We see the tenderness of the surrender to the will of the Father. We see the Father boasting of His Son in Heb chapter 1. We should protest new versions that omit the word BEGOTTEN!! If the Father boasts of His ONLY begotten Son, then we should also relish in the glorious revelation that the Word became the only begotten Son of God on THIS DAY as the Father has said.

edit; He became the Son but never ceased being the Word!

This is water to swim in!

Russell

Matthew 2:13,14

13 Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.”

14 So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt.

COMMENT:

I find this so remarkable: when Joseph was told in a dream to flee he got up while still dark and fled with his wife and child.

Hey! It was dark! the time the bogymen are out to get ya! Seriously, it is my understanding that it was not safe to travel at night back in those days because of banditry. But Joseph did not hesitate. Immediate obedience was of paramount importance.

How often do we procrastinate or rationalize a command from the WORD?

More to come...

Russel, I love the book of Hebrews! :-)

QUOTE:
"We see a conversation within the Godhead in Heb 10 before the Word came to earth."

We also see this in the first chapter of Genesis when they said "Let US make man in OUR image." Notice the plural pronouns: us, our. The text concludes with, "an in the image of God made he him, male and female created he them." Again, plural pronouns.

To me this is such a clear evidence of the plurality of the Godhead I do wonder why people will refuse to acknowledge it.

Indeed, Jesus made a body in Mary's womb for him to live and grow in...now wrap your mind around that, if you can!!

ginnyrose

I find it awesome how God provided for the financial well-being of this young family. A few days before Joseph got the order to vacate Bethlehem, magi from the east visited them, giving them some luxurious gifts. I wonder what Joseph and Mary felt like after they left and had time to allow reality to sink into their minds? All this wealth! But they did not have to wonder long.

Now God told them to run for their lives and this requires money - and He so generously provided for them!

In addition to being out in the night when it was dangerous to do so, carrying all this wealth with them would have paid some bandit handsomely! But God was in control and I suspect he had his angels guarding them the entire way.

It is like someone has said, "when God calls, He also enables".

Before I go on, I must say I find Joseph's response to this entire thing so amazing. We never read that he complained or bemoaned the usurping of his career plans. He went. He did as told. Obedience was his lifestyle. Is mine?

I do wonder about Joseph's family and Mary's as well. What did they think of this couple? The one that held so much promise: she being a godly lady and he a righteous man? Now here they go off on a tangent - they went to Bethlehem and later disappear out of sight..Did they communicate their whereabouts to their families? I suspect they did not.

Obedience to God will inconvenience someone somewhere and will create lots of misunderstandings between the called and their family's and friends.

More to come...

Dear Ginnyrose,

Thank you for this thought provoking thread. There is comfort in knowing others think along the same lines.

A post or two back it was said (paraphrasing) 'when God calls he also enables.'

Along the same line, I can testify that God always provides. My husband and I have long since stopped questioning when we are offered an opportunity to carry home something someone offers for free, even if we see no current need for the thing. We have found, be patient God will show you why, in His time.

Years ago, Nathan (I don't recall his new screen name), posted about "Only Believe." I took his advice to heart, it was as if it came from the Lord.

Mark 5:36 As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.

Only believe. Keep up a confidence in Christ, and a dependence upon him, and he will do what is for the best. Believe the resurrection, and then be not afraid.

Also, I never heard anyone mention Joseph and Mary's families. Certainly makes it come alive to consider that aspect.

Great thread!
white stone

This is a wonderful thread! Thanks for the posts!

:-)

White Stone and Chris:

Thank-you for your kind words of encouragement. It is wonderful to see others who take their calling to serve the LORD seriously. Having said this, I am not taking any credit for the insights I gleaned - it comes from a careful observation on the life of Joseph and Mary, knowing full well they were human just like us - I keep wondering how my husband and I would have fared had we been in their shoes. Now that gets very insightful, reveals your own shortcomings. It is so interesting how the Holy Spirit will use stories to teach us about our own walk with the LORD. (BTW, I have never seen a movie on the Nativity.)

I must go - I have a delivery to make this morning.

In my next post I hope to share insights from: Luke 2:19 "But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart." Anyone want to share theirs?

Luke 2:19: But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

Mary had a lot to think about. No other mother had as much drama in her life as she had in hers - drama that she did not look for, nor pursued. Yet, it says she kept these things in her heart - I would understand she did not discuss it with others.

Mothers love to discuss mothering with other mothers: comparing our children's growth and development, sharing remedies for whatever ails your child. We learn from each other and thereby encourage each other. Woe on any mom who does not have this support system working for her!

But Mary, did she have it? What would happen if she told her friends about all the visitors they had, their tales of how they were informed of Jesus' birth, and the gifts shared? Because of disbelief, envy, a body sometimes just has to shut up and not say all you know. I suspect this is where Mary was: she understood the dynamics of people's feelings and respected them, sparing them of potential conflict by being keeping these things in her heart.

We see in Mary, as she pondered these things, a growing awareness of the possible ministry of her son because when they attended the wedding at Cana she told the young men to inform Jesus of their dilemma...it was at her urging Jesus performed his first miracle. We see her speak out for the first time about her son, urging him on.

Amazing lady - one who knew when to keep quiet and when to speak. WOW! How many of us could stay quiet about something as profound as having the son of God living under your roof! and it was YOUR child who was so different - how could we handle that?

More to come...

This is a question for those who like to do some detective work.

As I was looking at the birth of Jesus and the events prior and following it, I noticed something I never saw before - there appears to be a conflict in the events as written in Matthew and Luke.

In Matthew 2 it sounds as though the family was living in Bethlehem when the order came for them to flee. After Joseph was told they can return it appears he had a mind to return to Bethlehem but once again an angel tells him to go to Nazareth.

Ok. Now look at Lukes' account in chapter 2:21-39. The law was for Mary to be set aside as unclean (days of purification) for one month after which they went to the temple to offer a sacrifice as per the law. After doing so, they went to Galilee.

Is it possible that Joseph and Mary did not go to the temple to make this offering until they had returned from Egypt? Casual perusing of this account would suggest a serious conflict, but now after studying this more, I am not so sure.

What say?