Forgive me for being so long in posting, but I'm back now, and I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas! (I know; it's not PC, but I don't care.)
I thought I'd talk a bit about Christ's birth, so if you don't want to read further, it's time to stop--fair warning. (I've been reading a lot of English (literally) literature lately, so if I slip into UK spelling,forgive me.)
Some of you will know that December 25 is an arbitrary date picked by early Church fathers to soothe those disgruntled new Christians whose winter soltice celebrations had been curtailed. Many of the practices and symbols from that earlier time remain, adapted to fit the Christian festivities.
(It would appear that actual facts were exchanged for expediency much earlier than many think, and not only those pertaining to Christianity. I believe this practice began shortly after Adam and Eve's Fall and expulsion from Eden, but there are those who believe lying to please various groups is a relatively new wrinkle.)
One fact has not changed: Mary gave birth to Jesus, the Christ, in a manger in Bethlehem (as prophesied) during the reign of Caesar Augustus.
The Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus, had decreed that a census be taken "on all the inhabited earth"--that Caesar Augustus was emperor of said inhabited earth remains in dispute, but have you ever known a politician who did not exaggerate or seek as much power as possible during his tenure?
Mary was engaged to Joseph before she found out she was pregnant. (Oops!)
No, they did not "know" each other in the biblical sense, and Joseph had had a problem at first with Mary's obvious pregnancy--who wouldn't? But "an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for that which has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit." Matt: 1:20
(This must have been some kind of dream! I can't imagine any male, who actually believed his fiance was carrying another man's child, changing his mind about marrying her, because of some fuzzy "dream" or the girl's story that she was still a vergin! Can you? By-the-way,the actual procedure Joseph had contemplated to rid himself of Mary was "divorce," because engagement entailed contractual obligations back then.) But, because of what he'd learned in the dream,Joseph married Mary, but didn't touch her until after Jesus was born. ( Matt. 1:25). After that they had several more children together. (John 7: 3-5, etc.)
Anyway, during this time Herod was king in Jerusalem and Quirinius was governor of Syria--more facts that you can check. Since Joseph was of the line and city of the renowned King David, the newly married couple had to travel to Bethlehem, AKA "the City of David", because to register for this census, people (meaning males) had to travel to the city of their forebears, thus encurring the first Christmas travel bottle-neck. We know it was crowded, because when Joseph and Mary finally reached their destination, there was no room for them in the inn--presumably the only one--,and they were forced to take refuge in a stable.
So take note of their predicaments when you complain about inferior accommodations during the holidays and the discomfort of traveling home by air, car, or other mass transportation. I tell you, it could be much worse! You could be nine months pregnant, traveling on a donkey, from Nazereth to Judea to Bethlehem, all because of the government, just to find that you 1) have no room, 2) are in labor with your first child while still a virgin, 3)have to give birth without hospital, doctor or midwife, 4) in a stable--a smelly stable filled with animals at that!--and 5) only the guy you're "married" to for help!
Then, of course, they had to entertain. Oh, yes.
That night an angel appeared to shepherds in the region, who were watching their flocks of sheep. After scaring them nearly out of their wits, the angel told them: "Do not be afraid"--a bit late, don't you think?--"for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths, and lying in a manger." (Luke 2: 10-12.)
So, these shepherds, armed with directions but no GPS, said, "'Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.' And they came in haste"--of course they did!--"and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger."
Now all this happened within the span of a week! (Jesus was circumsized on the eighth day without...well, you can imagine.) Shortly afterwards, they're up and traveling to Jerusalem to present Jesus to the Lord in the temple. I'd like to see any newly married couple, with a new baby--even their own--deal with these kinds of things now!
With such a tough beginning, anyone might have second thoughts about Jesus being the Savior of the world. It just doesn't seem right, does it? That someone so kind and giving--literally laying down his life for us!--should have had such a rough life. But it seems that was the original plan, and many at the time recognized Him.
There was an old man named Simeon, who had been told by the Holy Spirit that he wouldn't die until he had seen the Messiah. When Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem that day, Simeon took the baby into his arms, "...blessed God, and said: 'Now Lord, Thou dost let Thy bond-servant depart in peace, according to Thy word; for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou has prepared in the presence of all peoples, '"A light of revelation to the Gentiles,"' and the glory of Thy people Israel.'" (Luke 2: 28-32). (I'm not at all certain that Simeon spoke these words in King James' English, but since that translation was published,it seems that quite a few people who really shouldn't,do.)
Then there were the magi who traveled a very long way--by camel no less...talk about uncomfortable! Even the evil King Herod of Judea knew that the time was close for the Messiah to be born, and so he thought he'd learn more from these wise men from the East.
Milking them for all the information he could get, he found out that they had been following a strange star--astrology was big back then, even more than it is today--which they believed to be the star signifying the King of the Jews.
Another king seemed problematic to Herod. When the magi didn't return--an angel of the Lord had warned them--he got everyone to work on the timing and place and killed all the male children, two years old and younger, who were in Bethlehem and the surrounding area.
In the meantime, the magi had found Jesus, worshipped Him, left gifts, and traveled back home by another route. When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him to take Jesus and Mary and flee to Egypt, which they did. When Herod died,an angel of the Lord appeared again to Joseph and told him to return to Israel, then another angel came and told Joseph to move to Galilee. Then another angel told him to move again to Nazareth, all of which he did. (Angels are busy! They don't sit around on fluffy clouds all day, playing harps!)
And so the controversy began: Who is this Jesus?
There are many who will say that he is simply another prophet or worse--nothing new there! Many will say that since the dates are wrong, the events described did not happen, or because of myriad translations from the original Hebrew and Greek, the account is flawed. (Some, obviously Hebrew pre-King James characters, even seem to spout perfect King James English!)
I say: Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, our Savior, our Lord, Who now sits at the right hand of God the Father, and is no longer a baby! Jesus is God the Son, who came "for the salvation of the whole world, and not for ours only." (John 3:16 ff)
Since I believe this, I can wish you and yours a VERY MERRY AND BLESSED CHRISTMAS! (And it doesn't matter one whit when you celebrate His birth, only that you celebrate it.)
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