Unto You is Born This Day

“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.’” (Luke 2:8-11)

If you grew up, as I did, with the King James Version of the Bible, you will recognize the title as coming from that version’s rendition of Luke 2:11. This was part of the angel’s message to the shepherds on the first Christmas day more than 2,000 years ago. 

But for at least some of those shepherds, this would not have been the first time they had heard that a Messiah would come to earth. Oh, there’s no doubt they didn’t fully understand what that would mean. Even the religious leaders who spent lifetimes studying the Scriptures didn’t catch what this birth would mean for them. We have the benefit of hindsight to be able to see the exquisite plan of God behind the incredible story of this baby whose first crib was a manger—an animal feeding trough! 

Look at these Old Testament prophecies with the benefit of hindsight and see what wonderful promises God gave to His people through Jesus’ birth.

• Genesis 3:15 – “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Here is our first written promise that our good God will ultimately defeat evil!
• Genesis 12:3 – “And I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”  What a promise! Here we see that it was not only the Jews, the descendants of Abraham, that would be blessed. Rather, God’s blessing would be graciously extended to all people on the earth through the Messiah. 
• Isaiah 7:14 – “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel.” We are told in Matthew 1:23 that Immanuel means “God with us.” This virgin birth, surely hard for everyone even today to truly understand, nevertheless ensured that the child born would be God. This is just one of many promises that the omnipresent God would be “with us!” 
• Micah 5:2 – “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” Astonishingly, this prophecy of the exact location of Jesus’ birth was given 800 years before He was born! Not in some place that was particularly important, like Jerusalem, but in a small quite insignificant town. Now, how could Micah have possibly known that so long before the event—unless God Himself had revealed it to him? 

But when we speak of prophecies about Jesus’ birth, we must also remember the prophecies that reveal why He came, and what the birth means for us.  Isaiah 53 tells us this about this one who was born in Bethlehem:

“Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

“He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:4-9) 

You see, His birth is only a small portion of His story. It is right and good that we celebrate it, but we must never forget why He came. He came to die in our place—to pay the penalty we deserve because of our sin. He came to bear that iniquity for us so that we could be reconciled to God. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

The cross must always be in our minds as we think about that first Christmas morning. By His life here on earth He has secured for us—those who accept His incredible gift—the eternal life He promised (see John 3:16). Jesus Himself told us, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).

Have you accepted that life? Have you chosen to place your faith, your trust in Him and in what He did for you on that cross? If you have not, then this Christmas would be a wonderful time to take that step. If you would like to know more about how to become a Christian, see How to Become a Christian at our website, jashow.org. 

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• Exploring the Hope of Jesus in the Book of Revelation Collection
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