Jesu pen Pasian leh avanglian mahmah, na khempeuh anei ahihna telhuai
three hundred years after the ascension of Jesus to heaven
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a
decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. a
decree that all shall be taxed (This was the first census that took
place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to
his own town to register.
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth
in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David,
because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register
with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.
This also meant that Joseph and the very pregnant Mary would
have had to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem, as this was town
that Joseph's family (the royal family of David) originally came from - a
journey of about 70 miles (112 kilometres).
Mary had up to this time been living at the wrong place for
Messiah’s birth. A little longer stay at Nazareth, and the prophecy would have
failed. But lo! The prophecy had to be fulfilled.
This massive registration plan was simply God’s way to get
Mary in the correct place for Jesus to be born. Scripture prophesied 700 years
earlier the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.
Micah 5:2 says, “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,
Caesar Augustus, the adopted son of Julius Caesar, was the
first Caesar to be called Augustus. His real name was Octavanius. The Roman
Senate voted to give him that title, Augustus, which means “holy or revered.”
It was a title reserved for gods. They wanted to make the Roman emperor like
God.
The Bible teaches that when Jesus comes again, there will be
the shout of the archangel and the trumpet of God will sound—very different
from His first coming. In the silence of a starlit night, Mary gave birth to a
little baby, and his infant cry was the first time the voice of God was heard
speaking through human lips. The journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem was 80
miles.
2 Corinthians 8:9: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so you
through His poverty might become rich.”
The reason Jesus was born in such a poor humble circumstance
was for our sake. Less than a mile from Bethlehem, sitting on top of the
tallest hill, was the massive palace Herod the Great had built for himself.
Called the Herodium, it had 200 polished marble steps leading to a series
of towers and arches. It contained a swimming pool twice as large as an Olympic
pool. It would have been clearly in sight that night, blazing away with its
torches and candles.
Ray Stedman writes: “Now you would think that if God so
rules the world as to use an empire-wide census to bring Mary and Joseph to
Bethlehem, He surely could have seen to it that a room was available in the
inn. Yes, He could have. Jesus could have been born into a wealthy family. He
could have turned stone into bread in the wilderness. He could have called
10,000 angels to His aid in Gethsemane. He could have come down from the cross
and saved Himself.
“The question is not what God could do but
what He willed to do. God’s will was that though
Christ was rich, yet for your sake He became poor. The ‘No Vacancy’ signs in
Bethlehem were for your sake. “For your sake He became poor.” God rules all
things—even motel capacities—for the sake of His children. The Calvary road
begins with a “No Vacancy” sign in Bethlehem and ends with the spitting and
scoffing and the cross in Jerusalem.”
Charles Wesley wrote 6,000 hymns. One of his best: “Hark the
Herald Angels Sing.
3. The Surprise Arrival of Shepherds
Now, picture little Mary for a moment. She is exhausted from the difficult trip from Nazareth, weary from the physical ordeal of giving birth to her firstborn; but she is too excited to go to sleep. So she and Joseph are taking turns holding the baby Jesus. Sometime that evening, a group of shepherds arrive and say, “Yes, here He is, just like the angel said. What do you know, a baby in a manger. I’ve never seen that before.”
Now, picture little Mary for a moment. She is exhausted from the difficult trip from Nazareth, weary from the physical ordeal of giving birth to her firstborn; but she is too excited to go to sleep. So she and Joseph are taking turns holding the baby Jesus. Sometime that evening, a group of shepherds arrive and say, “Yes, here He is, just like the angel said. What do you know, a baby in a manger. I’ve never seen that before.”
I wonder if Mary had begun to entertain some doubts about
the visit of the angel nine months earlier. After all, if her child was the
Messiah, would she have been out in a cave, putting her child in a feed box?
Then these unexpected visitors show up—and they’re excited! One of the
shepherds proceeds to tell Mary about the angel and the whole army of angels
who appeared in the sky. This had to be a pleasant surprise as, once again Mary
receives confirmation that this little baby was to be the Savior of the world.
The fact that God chose shepherds to hear the first gospel
message is not an accident. Shepherds were the lowest people in the
socio-economic order of that day; they were a despised class with a bad
reputation. Shepherds were known as thieves because they were nomadic; as they
moved their sheep around the country, sometimes they got confused about what
was mine and what was thine.
They were not allowed to give testimony in a Jewish court of
law. Their work made it impossible for them to observe the Jewish ceremonial
laws and temple rituals, so they were considered religiously unclean and unacceptable.
It’s pretty amazing to think this heavenly invasion came to such
social outcasts!
The weather was mild at this time of year, so the shepherds
of the region kept watch over their flocks in the hills rather then driving
them to the shelter of pens. There is some evidence these flocks were being
raised to use in the sacrifices at the temple in Jerusalem 5 miles away.
The fact that God delivered the first gospel message to
shepherds instead of a king tells us the good news is for all people, not just
the wealthy or the educated. Let’s notice four things God said to those
shepherds 2,000 years ago, because He is saying the same things to us today. He
is saying here’s some good news that will give you great joy:
Did you know that 20 years ago, the most popular dog in the
United States was the poodle? At that time, there were less than 1,000 Rottweilers
(guard dogs). By 1994, the number of registered poodles had fallen by more than
half, but Rottweilers had multiplied a hundredfold to more than 100,000; so now
there are more Rottweilers than poodles. What does that tell you about how
afraid people are today?
After the angels left, the shepherds said, “Let’s go into
Bethlehem to see this thing the Lord has told us about” (John 1:15).
They heard God’s invitation, and by their own choice they
accepted His invitation and traveled into the town to find the baby. I can just
imagine what must have happened.
And I am here to tell somebody today that it
may seem that you are in the wrong job. It may seem that you are not in the
place where God wants you to be spiritually
(Ps 118:23). "This is the LORD’S doing; it is marvelous
in our eyes. This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be
glad."
You might don’t get everything you want for this Christmas
but as long as you got King Jesus you don’t need nothing else. The
song writer said if he never do anything else for me he’s done
enough. He woke me up this morning started me on my way He’s done enough, He
cloth me in my right mind he has done enough.
I have to go straight. We was bought
with a price. We was bought with something you cannot find in the
malls. We was bought with something you can’t order on the internet.
We was bought with something that money can’t buy.
Reasons
If people will focus more on what God has done for them
besides
He was born in a manger and that is why some people don’t
serve our God. Because they figure that if he was a King that he should have
been born a temple .
And as I look around America today I have found
out hat there is still no room for Jesus.
Isaiah 9:6
“For
unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government
shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor,
The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Jesu
pen Pasian leh avanglian mahmah, na khempeuh anei ahihna telhuai
three hundred years
after the ascension of Jesus to heaven
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a
decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. a decree that all shall be taxed (This was
the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And
everyone went to his own town to register.
So Joseph
also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of
David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to
register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a
child.
This also meant that Joseph and the
very pregnant Mary would have had to travel from Nazareth to
Bethlehem, as this was town that Joseph's family (the royal
family of David) originally came from - a journey of about 70 miles (112 kilometres).
Mary had up to this time
been living at the wrong place for Messiah’s birth. A little longer stay at
Nazareth, and the prophecy would have failed. But lo! The prophecy had to be
fulfilled.
This massive registration
plan was simply God’s way to get Mary in the correct place for Jesus to be
born. Scripture prophesied 700 years earlier the Messiah would be born in
Bethlehem.
Micah 5:2 says, “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,
Caesar Augustus, the
adopted son of Julius Caesar, was the first Caesar to be called Augustus. His
real name was Octavanius. The Roman Senate voted to give him that title,
Augustus, which means “holy or revered.” It was a title reserved for gods. They
wanted to make the Roman emperor like God.
The Bible teaches that when
Jesus comes again, there will be the shout of the archangel and the trumpet of
God will sound—very different from His first coming. In the silence of a
starlit night, Mary gave birth to a little baby, and his infant cry was the
first time the voice of God was heard speaking through human lips. The journey
from Nazareth to Bethlehem was 80 miles.
2 Corinthians 8:9: “For you
know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your
sakes He became poor, so you through His poverty might become rich.”
The reason Jesus was born
in such a poor humble circumstance was for our sake. Less than a mile from
Bethlehem, sitting on top of the tallest hill, was the massive palace Herod the
Great had built for himself. Called the Herodium, it had 200 polished
marble steps leading to a series of towers and arches. It contained a swimming
pool twice as large as an Olympic pool. It would have been clearly in sight
that night, blazing away with its torches and candles.
Ray Stedman writes: “Now
you would think that if God so rules the world as to use an empire-wide census
to bring Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, He surely could have seen to it that a
room was available in the inn. Yes, He could have. Jesus could have been born
into a wealthy family. He could have turned stone into bread in the wilderness.
He could have called 10,000 angels to His aid in Gethsemane. He could have come
down from the cross and saved Himself.
“The question is not what
God could do but what He willed to do.
God’s will was that though Christ was rich, yet for your sake He became
poor. The ‘No Vacancy’ signs in Bethlehem were for your sake. “For your sake He
became poor.” God rules all things—even motel capacities—for the sake of His
children. The Calvary road begins with a “No Vacancy” sign in Bethlehem and
ends with the spitting and scoffing and the cross in Jerusalem.”
Charles Wesley wrote 6,000
hymns. One of his best: “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.
3. The Surprise Arrival of
Shepherds
Now, picture little Mary for a moment. She is exhausted from the difficult trip from Nazareth, weary from the physical ordeal of giving birth to her firstborn; but she is too excited to go to sleep. So she and Joseph are taking turns holding the baby Jesus. Sometime that evening, a group of shepherds arrive and say, “Yes, here He is, just like the angel said. What do you know, a baby in a manger. I’ve never seen that before.”
Now, picture little Mary for a moment. She is exhausted from the difficult trip from Nazareth, weary from the physical ordeal of giving birth to her firstborn; but she is too excited to go to sleep. So she and Joseph are taking turns holding the baby Jesus. Sometime that evening, a group of shepherds arrive and say, “Yes, here He is, just like the angel said. What do you know, a baby in a manger. I’ve never seen that before.”
I wonder if Mary had begun
to entertain some doubts about the visit of the angel nine months earlier.
After all, if her child was the Messiah, would she have been out in a cave,
putting her child in a feed box? Then these unexpected visitors show up—and
they’re excited! One of the shepherds proceeds to tell Mary about the angel and
the whole army of angels who appeared in the sky. This had to be a pleasant
surprise as, once again Mary receives confirmation that this little baby was to
be the Savior of the world.
The fact that God chose
shepherds to hear the first gospel message is not an accident. Shepherds were
the lowest people in the socio-economic order of that day; they were a despised
class with a bad reputation. Shepherds were known as thieves because they were
nomadic; as they moved their sheep around the country, sometimes they got
confused about what was mine and what was thine.
They were not allowed to
give testimony in a Jewish court of law. Their work made it impossible for them
to observe the Jewish ceremonial laws and temple rituals, so they were
considered religiously unclean and unacceptable. It’s pretty amazing to
think this heavenly invasion came to such social outcasts!
The weather was mild at
this time of year, so the shepherds of the region kept watch over their flocks
in the hills rather then driving them to the shelter of pens. There is some evidence
these flocks were being raised to use in the sacrifices at the temple in
Jerusalem 5 miles away.
The fact that God delivered
the first gospel message to shepherds instead of a king tells us the good news
is for all people, not just the wealthy or the educated. Let’s notice four
things God said to those shepherds 2,000 years ago, because He is saying the
same things to us today. He is saying here’s some good news that will give you
great joy:
Did you know that 20 years
ago, the most popular dog in the United States was the poodle? At that time,
there were less than 1,000 Rottweilers (guard dogs). By 1994, the number of
registered poodles had fallen by more than half, but Rottweilers had multiplied
a hundredfold to more than 100,000; so now there are more Rottweilers than
poodles. What does that tell you about how afraid people are today?
After the angels left, the
shepherds said, “Let’s go into Bethlehem to see this thing the Lord has told us
about” (John 1:15).
They heard God’s
invitation, and by their own choice they accepted His invitation and traveled
into the town to find the baby. I can just imagine what must have happened.
And I am here to tell somebody today
that it may seem that you are in the wrong job. It may seem that you are not in
the place where God wants you to be spiritually
(Ps 118:23). "This
is the LORD’S doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the
LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad."
You might don’t get
everything you want for this Christmas but as long as you got King Jesus
you don’t need nothing else. The song writer said if he never do anything else for me he’s done enough. He woke me up this
morning started me on my way He’s done enough, He cloth me in my right mind he
has done enough.
I have to go straight. We was bought with a price. We was bought with something you cannot find in the malls. We was bought with something you can’t order on the internet. We was bought with something that money can’t buy.
Reasons
If people will focus
more on what God has done for them besides
He was born in a manger
and that is why some people don’t serve our God. Because they figure that if he
was a King that he should have been born a temple .
And as I look around
America today I have found out hat there is still no room for Jesus.
Isaiah 9:6
“For unto us a child is
born, unto us a son is given: and
the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called
Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of
Peace.”