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Christ's Birth and Christmas (Part I)
1. Luke
1:26-38: The announcement of the conception
To start this survey of
the things that the Bible says about the birth of Jesus Christ, we will
go to the first chapter of Luke. There, verses 5-25 tell us about the
announcement of the birth of John the Baptist to Zachariah his father,
and that Elizabeth, John's mother, hide herself five months after the
conception. Then, the verses that follow proceed to tell us what
happened in the sixth month from John's conception:
Luke 1:26-33
"And in the sixth month [sixth month from John's conception] the
angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a
virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David.
The virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in to her and
said: "Greetings, you who are highly favoured. The Lord is with
you, blessed are you among women." And when she saw him,
she was troubled at his saying, and wondered what manner of greetings
this was. Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid Mary, for
you have found favour with God. And behold, you will conceive in your
womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call his name Jesus. He will be
great, and will be called the Son of the Highest [i.e. Son of God]; and
the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. And he will
reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be
no end"
According
to the above passage, Gabriel, one of the two archangels of God (the
other one is Michael) was sent to Nazareth to announce to Mary that she
was going to be mother of Jesus. Apart from this, the angel also said
some interesting things about Jesus. So, he said that Jesus was going to
be great and that he would be called "Son of the Highest" i.e.
Son of God. He also said that God would give him the throne of his
father David. This later statement obviously means two things: first
that Jesus was of David's lineage and second that he had legal rights
over David's throne i.e. he was a legal successor of king David. The
reality of all these statements is made clear by the two genealogies of
Jesus that are given in Matthew 1:1-17 and in Luke 3:23-38. The first of
these genealogies refers to the supposed father of Jesus, Joseph and it
shows that he came directly from the regal line of the king David.
Therefore, from a legal point of view1
Jesus had legal rights over the throne of David. Apart from this legal
standing, and since Jesus was not actually a son of Joseph, he also
needed to have a physical standing in David's house. This he had through
Mary his mother. Indeed, her genealogy that is given in Luke 3:23-38
shows that she was from the house of David. Therefore, both legally and
physically, Jesus was of the house of David with direct rights over David's
throne2.
All these things were not of course
accidental. In contrast, they were prerequisites for the Messiah, since
according to the Old Testament prophecies the promised Messiah would
come from the lineage of Abraham (see Genesis 21:12 and Galatians 3:16)
and from the lineage of David (see Psalms 132:11 and Acts 2:29-30).
Therefore, since Jesus was the Messiah, he couldn't be but of the
lineage of Abraham and David. And he was. Matthew 1:1 expresses this
truth very directly:
Matthew 1:1
".......Jesus Christ, THE SON OF DAVID, THE SON OF ABRAHAM"
The
genealogies therefore of Jesus Christ are not a historical enumeration
but they consist A PROOF THAT JESUS IS THE MESSIAH, THE CHRIST, THE
PROMISED ONE. In him God fulfilled not only His promise to Abraham and
to David (Genesis 21:12, Psalm 132:11) but also His promise to all the
human race (Genesis 3:15) that after the fall waited for the one that
would rectify the situation: for the Christ.
Returning to the announcement of the
angel, Mary had a question:
Luke 1:34
"Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not
know a man?"
The
phrase "I do not know a man" shows that Mary didn't have
sexual relationships yet. The reason is because at that time she was no
more than betrothed to Joseph, while, in order to have sexual
relationships with him, it was needed to be married. However, in
contrast to all other cases, the conception of this child wouldn't need
the contribution of another human apart from Mary. Instead, as the below
explanation of the angel shows, it would be God that would take care of
the rest.
Luke 1:35-37
"And the angel answered and said to her, "The holy
spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow
you: therefore, the holy one to be born will be called Son of God. And
behold Elisabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age;
and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with
God nothing will be impossible [but the Greek reads: "for with God
not anything spoken shall become void of power" (oti ouk adunatesei
para tou theou pan rema)]"
According
to the explanations of the angel, this child would be conceived as a
result of the miraculous activity of the Highest i.e. of God. That's why
he would be called Son of God or Son of the Highest.
After Mary heard the explanations,
she accepted what the angel said to her:
Luke 1:38-39
"Then Mary said, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it
be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from
her"
With
the approval of the plan by Mary, the angel departed from
her3.
2. Matthew
1:18-25: Joseph's reaction
Being betrothed with
Joseph and having a child that was not Joseph's made the situation for
Mary very difficult, and the reactions of Joseph of critical importance.
These reactions are given in Matthew 1:18-25 and they will be the topic
of this section. Starting from verse 18 we read:
Matthew 1:18
"Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After his mother
Mary was betrothed to Joseph, BEFORE THEY CAME TOGETHER, she was found
with child of the Holy Spirit."
The
word "now" in the beginning of the passage is the Greek
conjunction "de" that is used i) to denote movement from one
topic to another. In this case it should be translated as
"and" or "now" and ii) to make a contrast between
what precedes it and what follows it. In this latter case, it should be
translated as "but". From the 2,870 times that this
conjunction occurs, the KJV translates it 1,237 times as
"but", 934 as "and", 166 as "now", while
300 times it doesn't translate it at all. Whether it should be
translated as "but" or as "and", "now", it
is something that has to be seen from the context of the corresponding
passage. In our case, it should be translated as "but" and the
reason is that it contrasts the way that Jesus Christ was conceived with
the way that those referred in the genealogy given in the verses that
preceded (Matthew 1:1-17) were conceived. Indeed, though in this
genealogy we read that: "Abraham BEGOT Isaac, Isaac BEGOT
Jacob.........." Jesus Christ was not begotten by a human father.
In contrast to all the other people, father of Jesus was God, and this
conjunction wants to make that clear by making this contrast.
Having clarified this, we continue
in the same passage where we learn that before Joseph and Mary
"came together" i.e. before they had sexual relationships,
Mary was found pregnant. Under such circumstances, the position of Mary
was really very difficult and much was dependant on Joseph's reaction.
Really, if because of this, Joseph decided through his words "to
bring a bad name on her" (Deutoronomy 22:14) then, according to the
law, the penalty for Mary would be death (Deutoronomy 22:13-21). On the
other hand, if he decided not to speak publicly, but to treat the whole
thing privately then he could write a bill of divorcement and send Mary
away (Deutoronomy 24:1). Nevertheless, even in this later case, the
position of Mary and the child would also be very difficult since the
society wouldn't welcome her to have a child without having a husband.
Verse 19 tells us which of these two choices Joseph was thinking to
make:
Matthew 1:19
"Then Joseph her husband, being a just man and not wanting
to make her a public example was minded to put her away secretly."
Joseph
is described as a just man i.e. as one desirous to keep the law. From
the two choices that he had according to the law, he was minded to
follow the second one i.e. to put Mary away secretly through a bill of
divorcement. However, God interfered at this crucial point to protect
Mary and at the same time to protect Jesus:
Matthew 1:20-21
"But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the
Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do
not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived
in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you
shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their
sins."
God
in his interference informed Joseph that Mary's child was of Him and
encouraged him not to do what he was planning to do. Also He told him
the name that he should give to the child. This is the second time where
the name of the baby is referred4.
However, this time the Word tells us also that the reason that this
child would be called Jesus was because he would save his people from
their sins. Regarding this name, it has to be said that what is unique
is not the name itself for this name was not employed for first time.
Indeed, Joshua the son of Nun (Joshua 1:1) had exactly the same name
with Jesus though the English translation makes them to look
different5.
The same happens with the man called Jose (KJV, NKJV) or Joshua (NIV) in
Luke 3:29. The name of this man in the Greek text is "Iesous"
exactly as the name of Jesus. The significance therefore of this name
was not in that it was first time employed, for it wasn't. Instead, its
significance was in its meaning that in Hebrew is: "the Lord
(Jehovah) our salvation". Really, it was Jesus Christ the one
through whom the Lord, the Jehovah, would bring salvation to the people
and who would save his people from their sins. That's the really great
importance of this name. Returning
to Joseph and his reaction, verses 24 and 25 tells us whether the
interference of God changed his mind or not:
Matthew 1:24
"Then Joseph, being aroused from the sleep, did as the angel of
the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife"
After
the interference of God, Joseph decided not to send Mary away. That's
how wonderfully God protected Mary and her child in this very critical
situation. That's also how wonderfully He arranged things so that Mary
could have a child that was not her husband's, within a society where
something like this would be completely unacceptable. Of course great in
all this was the role of Mary and Joseph. Their willingness to believe
what God had told them is really an example. Though from a genealogical
point of view they were the perfect couple to be the family of the
Messiah, this wouldn't happen if one or both of them were unwilling to
believe God and cooperate with Him. Having
seen all these, let's go to verse 25:
Matthew 1:25
"and [Joseph] did not know her [Mary] TILL she had brought
forth her FIRSTBORN Son. And he called his name Jesus"
Though
this verse does not say many new things about Jesus himself, it says a
lot about Mary. Thus, though for millions of people Mary stayed a virgin
for all her life, the Word of God tells us here that Joseph "did
not know her" i.e. didn't have sex with her, TILL she gave birth to
Jesus. From this statement, it is clear that he "knew" her, he
had sex with her, AFTER the birth of Jesus. Of course there is nothing
not normal in this: Joseph and Mary were a married couple and according
to the Word of God, sex is a part of a marriage (I Corinthians 7:1-5).
Apart from this statement, another
proof against a supposed perpetual virginity of Mary is that Jesus is
referred as her FIRSTBORN son. If Jesus was the only child of Mary could
he be referred as her firstborn? Of course not, since this designation
assumes the existence of more than one children among whom a specific
child is the FIRSTBORN. Mary therefore had, after the birth of Jesus,
other children, as a product of her marriage with Joseph. In fact, the
Bible not only tells us that but it also tells us the names of those
children. The relative record is in Matthew 13 where we read:
Matthew 13:54-55
"When he [Jesus] had come to his own country, he taught them in
their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, "Where did
this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the
carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And his brothers
James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with
us?...."
The
Word of God names 4 half-brothers of Jesus and it also tells us that he
had a plural number of half-sisters. From all the above it is evident
that the tradition according to which Mary stayed virgin all her life is
unbiblical and therefore it has to be rejected.
3. Luke
2:1-20: The night of the birth
Having seen the
announcement of the conception of Jesus to Mary and the reaction of her
husband Joseph, the next thing that we are going to see is what happened
in the night of the birth. To start, we will go to the second chapter of
Luke where verses 1-3 tells us:
Luke 2:1-3
"And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out
from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This
census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went
to be registered, everyone to his own city."
A
lot of historical information is given in this passage that can help us
to pinpoint the year and the period of the year that Jesus was born. The
first piece of information is about a registration of "all the
world" i.e. of the world that was under the Roman occupation.
According to historical sources, this registration happened around 3
B.C. The reason that the Word of God refers to this census as
"FIRST" is to help us not to confuse it with another census
that happened later, around 6/7 A.D. That Jesus Christ was born earlier
than the year that it is supposed that he was born is also indicated by
the fact that Matthew 2:1 tells us that when Jesus was born, king of
Judea was Herod. Again, according to historical sources this king died
sometime between 5 B.C. and 1 B.C. It is therefore clear that, if this
source is correct, Jesus was born certainly before 1 B.C. and if the
supposed year of the registration is also correct then he was born
around 3 B.C. Regarding now the
period of the year that Jesus was born it is quite improbable that he
was born on the 25th of December. This is obvious by the fact that a
census would have never been done in the heart of the winter since the
weather conditions would make the transportation of the people to the
city of their family6
very difficult. In fact, even in our modern age of fast speed means of
transportation, the censuses are always done in periods where the
weather will not be an obstacle. Obviously, if this is true today it
should have been true in those days as well. Therefore, a supposed
Christ's birth on the 25th of December and a census of the whole world
at this date are not things that can go together. Also, the fact that
verse 8 speaks about shepherds that were with their flock in the field
is one more indication that Christ wasn't born on the 25th of December,
since because of the weather, the flock is never in the field at that
time. As Adam Clark characteristically says:
"As these shepherds had not yet
brought home their flocks, it is a presumptive argument that October had
not yet commenced, and that, consequently, our Lord was not born on the
25th of December, when no flocks were out in the fields.....On this very
ground the nativity in December should be given up"
(The quotation is taken from R. E.
Woodrow: "Babylon Mystery Religion", Ralph Woodrow
Evangelistic Association Inc., 1966, this printing 1992 p.141)
From
all the above, it is clear that it is very improbable that Jesus was
born on the 25th of December. Why then is his birth celebrated at this
date? The reason is no other than pagan costumes that converted pagans
introduced to Christianity. As J. Frazer says:
"The largest pagan religious cult
which fostered the celebration of December 25 as a holiday throughout
the Roman and Greek worlds was the pagan sun worship-Mithraism....This
winter festival was called "the Nativity" - the "Nativity
of the of the sun" (See J. Frazer: "The Golden Bough",
New York, Macmillan Co., 1935 p.471. The quotation is taken from R.
Woodrow op.cit. p. 143)
Even
such a conservative source as "The Catholic Encyclopaedia"
admits that it was this heathen festival that produced the celebration
of Christ's birth on the 25th of December:
"The well-known solar feast of
Natalis Invicti [the Nativity of the Unconquered Sun] celebrated on 25
December, has a strong claim on the responsibility for our December
date" (See: "The Catholic Encyclopaedia", New York,
Robert Appleton Co., 1911, p.725. This quotation was taken from R.
Woodrow, op. cit. p.143)
From
all the above7,
it is clear that the 25th of December is not the day of Christ's birth
but the day that pagans celebrated the nativity of the sun. When these
pagans were converted to Christianity, they brought with them their
heathen practices. The church instead of taking a bold standing and
fight those practices, it preferred to "christianise" them. So
"the nativity of the sun-god" was changed to "the
nativity of the Son of God". Unfortunately, that's just one of the
many heathen practices and traditions that are still followed by a
considerable number of Christians.
All this of course does not mean
that we should take action against the celebration of the birth of Jesus
on the 25th of December or start fighting with our families for this.
The date that Jesus was born is not more important than that HE WAS
BORN!!! However, we should keep in our minds the truth about all the
things that we may see going around this period and not be carried away
by believing various man made traditions.
After this digression regarding the
date of Christ's birth, it is time to continue in Luke 2. So after
verses 1-3 gave us some historical information about the registration,
verses 4-7 tell us what Joseph and Mary did:
Luke 2:4-7
"Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth,
into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he
was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his
betrothed wife, who was with a child. So it was, that while they were
there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought
forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in shaddling cloths, and laid
him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn."
Jesus
Christ's birth in Bethlehem was again not accidental. According to the
Old Testament (Micah 5:2) the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. It is
really, amazing the way that God arranged things to make possible the
fulfilment of this prophecy. Joseph and Mary didn't live in Bethlehem.
In fact, Bethlehem was very far from Nazareth8
and probably only the compulsion of a registration could make them to go
there under such conditions (Mary was pregnant). But when the right time
came, this reason was brought forth and Joseph and Mary had to go there.
And there Jesus was born and the promise of God was fulfilled. To fulfil
His promise God didn't possess them and took them to Bethlehem.
Possession is a way that God never goes. Instead, when something is His
will, He arranges the situations so that it can be performed. But let's
carry on:
Luke 2:8-14
"Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the
fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold an angel of
the Lord stood before them9
[Greek: "ephistemi" meaning: "stand by"], and the
glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then
the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid , for behold, I bring you
good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born
to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.
And this will be the sign to you: You will find a babe wrapped in
swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the
angel a multitude of heavenly host praising God and saying: "Glory
to God in the highest. And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"
The
first to whom God announced the birth of His Son were those humble
shepherds. And do you know why God announced the news to them and not to
Herod or to the Pharisees or to the other authorities of the time?
Because the shepherds BELIEVED Him. They believed that this baby was the
Messiah, the Christ as the angel told them. Verse twenty tells us that
they "returned [from the manger] glorifying and praising God for
all the things that they had heard and seen". They believed what
God told them via His angel about this child and it was this believing
that produced their gladness. Herod, as well as the religious men of
that age, didn't believe that. They persecuted this child and his coming
only problems created to them. That's why God didn't make the
announcement of Jesus' birth to them. Even today: God is ready to reveal
His Son to everyone that has a heart to BELIEVE Him and really every
single soul that is hungry for God's Word will be filled. On the other
hand, those that are enemies of the Word, those that despise the Word,
they are not going to have it; the wonderful announcements of the Word
are not going to be made to them or if they are made they are not going
to produce any profit, as it happened with the Pharisees. That's why we
have to have our ears open to see what God wants from us instead of
making up our mind to speak the Word randomly to "Pharisees"
and to "shepherds" alike. If we have our ears open, God will
send us to "shepherds", to people that are hungry for the Word
so that may be filled. If we don't have our ears open but we do the
things of God based on our five senses then we will probably end up
wasting our very valuable for God and for us time with
"Pharisees" that despise the food of the Word, while the
"shepherds" will be seeking for someone to feed them. But
let's continue:
Luke 2:15-20
"So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven,
that the shepherds said to one another, "Let us now go to Bethlehem
and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known
to us. And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby
lying in a manger. And when they had seen him, they made widely known
the saying which was told to them concerning this child. And all those
who heard it marvelled at those things which were told them by the
shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her
heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all
the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them."
The
shepherds believed the angel and went there and they found Jesus wrapped
in shaddling clothes and lying in a manger exactly as the angel told
them. It is at this point where tradition assumes that "the wise
men", that it also assumes that they were three, came. Whether
these traditions are right or wrong we will see it in the next issue.
Tassos Kioulachoglou
Footnotes
1.
According to the costumes of the land, the standing of Jesus in the
society was dependant on the credentials of the man that the people
supposed to be his father i.e. Joseph (press
here to return where you stopped).
2.
For a more extensive discussion of some things pertaining to the
genealogies of Jesus Christ the reader is referred to our article "The
geneologies of Jesus Christ" (press
here to return where you stopped).
3.
It is interesting to note that the Word of God nowhere says that the
angel gave to Mary a .....lily or that the angel had wings or that he or
Mary or someone else had a circle around their heads. Obviously, all
these are no more than pure human imagination (press
here to return where you stopped).
4.
The first one was in the announcement of the conception to Mary
(Luke 1:31) (press here to return where you stopped).
5
Joshua is the Hebrew counterpart of the Greek "Iesous". The English
translators transliterate the same name in the Old Testament from the
Hebrew text and in the New Testament from the Greek text. That's why the
difference. In the ancient Greek text of the Bible (LXX and New
Testament) Joshua and Jesus is the same name: Iesous, Jesus (press
here to return where you stopped).
6.
The weather in Palestine is not much different from the weather in
my country, Greece. Thus though the warm part of the year is much larger
than in North Europe, the period from November to March is not less
colder with temperatures that are very frequently negative (press
here to return where you stopped).
7.
For more evidence the reader is referred to the excellent work of
Ralph Woodrow op. cit (press here to return where
you stopped).
8.
According to the map it is 108 Km away (press
here to return where you stopped).
9.
The angel of the Lord was not hovering around the shepherds but he
stood by them. Also in verse 13 since the multitude of the heavenly host
was WITH this angel this means that they also stood BY the shepherds. If
from this you detract the human imaginations according to which angels
have wings, or music instruments or circles around their heads, you will
really have a breathtaking scene (press here to return
where you stopped).
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