The Story not told About the Birth of Christ

Alright, so anyway. The Apostles in the New Testament, they never celebrated Christmas Day. I mean, you can look for it in the Bible. You will not find it. In fact, what was happening during that time is that there was a celebration called the Saturnalia, which was in honor or respect to a pagan god called Saturn, they called the name Saturnalia, and to the Sun. Over the years, as more people became Christian, they brought with them their quote-unquote old baggage. It's so easy to come to the church, but you still kind of follow some of the old things. The older man keeps coming up. And so, over the years, two or three centuries later, the Christian church, Christianized, quote-unquote, put a label to those pagan holidays, of which today we have Christmas Day. You can go into various encyclopedias and look at that. Over time, Christmas itself became like today. It's an emotional pop vacation day. It really is pretty. Things look pretty. There are very catchy songs that you kind of, sometimes you hear yourself kind of saying those songs and say, you know, where's this coming from? There is lovely phrases that people say, like, peace on earth and good will, which come from the Bible, but they lose the real meaning of the purpose and intent of Christ's coming to earth. The real meaning and purpose of Christ's coming is lost. And so today, brethren, my purpose is to tell you a little bit about the story, which is not often told, about the period of Christ's birth.

And to show your Christ came to be our Savior and how it points to Him as our Messiah, in other words, our Christ, our Messiah. In other words, the soon coming King that will really bring peace to earth and good will to all mankind.

And so, for us to do that, we're going to follow the description that is in a very good logical order. And there is one of the three Gospels, which are called the Stenoptic Gospels that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John...

...are the three Gospels that were written around about the same time period. John was written many years later, a number of decades later.

But the Gospel, according to Luke, if you turn with me, we're going to look at Luke chapter 1.

And you might want to keep a marker in Luke because we're going to be quite a lot there.

But if we read in Luke chapter 1, starting from verse 3 and we're just going to read verse 3 and 4 from this moment, It seemed good to me, let us look also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account.

So Luke's account is specifically focused in being orderly, in a right sequence. Most excellent Theophilus.

Now, just because it's orderly does not mean that covers all the details.

Right, so it didn't write sequence, but there are some details that are not covered in Luke, but the book of Matthew adds them.

And so we're going to go through that sequence. And as they are applicable, we'll insert those details, which are not mentioned in the book of Luke, but in that order.

So that's what we're going to do today. We're going to look at that. And this is in verse 4, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.

So where does he start? So we're going to focus on events around the time of Christ. And so where does Luke start? Interesting enough, he starts in verse 5 by saying, there was, in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest.

So a priest means he was the of the, I was a Levite, for one, but was specifically of the tribe of Aaron, because the priests were of the tribe of Aaron. So it was a of the family of Aaron. So it was a tribe of Levi, but of the specific sub-family of that tribe was Aaron. So he was a priest called Zechariah. So there was this priest called Zechariah, after the division of Abba, Abba, Abba, Jah, Abba, Jah.

Abijah. There he is. Man, tongue twister today. Abijah. So what is that?

The division of Abijah, when you, and we're not going to look into there, but when you look at the time of David, David wanted to build a temple, as you may remember.

But God did not allow him to build a temple, because he was a man of blood, and a ward, and things like that. So God said, no, but your son will build a temple. But he made preparations for the building of the temple. So he started saving things, and he prepared the priesthood for that role.

And he then created twenty-four courses. It was of the families of Aaron. He divided them into twenty-four family groups, let's call it.

And each one of those groups would serve in the temple for one week. So group of the division of the first group would serve in week number one of the year.

And remember, the year started, run about springtime, right? The Nissan. So it's not January, but run about March, April, because the way God counts years is from that time of the year. So the first week would be group one. The second week would be group two. The third week would be group three, and so on. However, when there was a week in which there were the program holidays, all of them would serve.

All the groups would serve, because there was a lot of offerings and a lot of activities to do, and they all would be there. So, for instance, let's say, 11 bread was on week three. So group one would serve on group one. Group two would serve on week two.

On week three, because there's 11 bread, all served. And then on week four, group three would serve.

Right? And week five, group four would serve, because all of them had served during that holiday week. So they would serve, and if it was a holiday week, then the count would continue after that. So that's clear. That's what it was.

So, Abijah was there, and it says... And if you look in Chronicles, 1 Chronicles 24, we don't have to go there now, but there were 24 divisions. They all served twice in a year. So they went from one to 24, and then they went again from one to 24 again in a year. They did it twice.

And during the holy days, they all served.

So there was, let's call, a structure or a schedule worked out during the time of David for them to serve at the temple, for the priests to serve at the temple.

And therefore, when it says, yeah, Zacharias of the division of Abijah, Abijah was of the eighth group, of the eighth division.

So if you go into 1 Chronicles 24, you will see all the divisions and all the names, and you can see Abijah was the eighth.

His wife was of the daughter of Aaron, so his wife was also of the priest of the lineage, as they should be, and her name, according to the Lord, they should be. And her name was Elizabeth. So there is the Zacharias and Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Eternal, of the Lord, blindness.

So here we have two people, very dedicated to their job, and they were blameless in the eyes of God.

Verse 7, but they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years. So they were not spring chickens, they were not young, they were advanced, but they had no children.

So it was, verse 8, that while he was serving as a priest before God, in the order of his division, that means when the vision number 8 had to serve, that's when it happened.

Now, this is interesting, because in the order of his division, we actually know more or less what time of the year that was.

Because the year starts around about March, April, and then there was one week, which was the week of 11 bread.

And so, in fact, you would be serving on the ninth week, because the week of 11 bread everybody would serve. So they actually would serve on the ninth week. And right about the ninth week or tenth week is Pentecost.

So Pentecost would have just been or would be after that. So he would serve on his turn, and then he couldn't go home because he had to serve for Pentecost, or he had just served in Pentecost and he would serve. So whichever way, all that we're really concerned at this moment is to know more or less the time of the year that he had this vision.

So if you do those calculations, about nine weeks or ten weeks from March, April, you end somewhere middle June.

That's basically what it is, middle June. So he had this vision, middle June.

So he says, reading in verse 9, According to the custom of the priesthood, his lot fell to burning sands when he went into the temple of the Lord.

And then we jump a little bit ahead, and you know he had a vision. The angel came to him, he had this vision.

Look at verse 13.

But the angel said to him, Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.

In other words, that's John the Baptist. Right, that's John the Baptist.

So now he is serving round about mid-June, and he gets this vision that he's going to have a child.

And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice to this.

And for you will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink.

He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb. So, whilst that baby was in the mother's womb, he would already receive God's Holy Spirit before birth.

So this is a very interesting point, because, as I've mentioned in previous sermons about the working of the spirit of man in man, that helps us to understand the things of man, and the spirit of God, that helps us to understand the things of God, and the two work together.

And so it just shows he has something very, very important to us.

And then he doesn't kind of believe, so he says, right, then you're going to be done until the baby is born.

Until, you know, he's given the name and that's so... And then we look at verse 23. Now he can't speak.

And everybody looked at it and said, well, he had a vision this way, realized that.

And so it was as soon as the days of his service.

So this was probably somewhere around about mid-June, as I said, either probably just after Pentecost or somewhere around there.

As soon as the days of his service were completed, there he departed to his own house, and he couldn't speak.

So I don't think he wasted any time.

So he says, now, after those days, his wife Elizabeth conceived.

So we could reasonably conclude, not surely, but conclude, that she conceived probably towards the latter part of June, late June.

You couldn't speak. He went there, got and made a promise, and that's it. And she conceived.

And she hid herself five months, saying, thus the Lord has dealt with me in the days when he looked on me to take away my reproach among people.

So she was very grateful for that. And for five months, she just kept it quiet. So once again, she conceived right about to the end of June.

This would have been on the year 5, before the current year, or as we call it today, B.C.

Run about June. You and I can make the calculations. Add nine months to that. Typically it's nine months, if I'm correct.

I'm just joking. Of course it is nine months. Add nine months to that. And that means John the Baptist was born round about March, the following year.

Right? Round about March, the following year.

March is round about also the beginning of the year, the way God looks at the year, which is spring time.

So it could have well been at the beginning of that first month, somewhere there, of Nisan.

Then we move on to verse 26.

Now in the sixth month, what do you mean the sixth month? The sixth month of her pregnancy.

In the sixth month of her pregnancy. She was pregnant now for six months.

So she became pregnant towards the end of June. So six months later, puts us to the end of December.

Now in the sixth month, 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.

And the virgin's name was Mary. So here we have six months later. And we see Yaa as a woman that was betrothed.

Betrothed is like an engagement period, but kind of a very serious engagement period that they would treat them like it was a marriage.

Not a marriage yet, but it's a very serious committed engagement period.

And Joseph was of the house of David. So was the line of David.

Right, let's continue with verse 26. Yaa, and the virgin's name was Mary.

And they were in the city of Nazareth.

Now you know from Genesis 49, when it's got the blessings to the different sons of Jacob, it's given to the blessing to Judah, saying that the line of kings will always be of Judah until Silo comes.

Look at that. Keep your fingers there in Luke. Let's look at that in Genesis 49. Genesis 49.

Verse 10 and 11.

So, Jacob is about to die, and he's going to give the blessings onto his children.

And in 10 and 11, because to each tribe, which one he says, this will happen to you, this to Reuben, he says that in verse 3, in verse 5, sermon and divide, and in verse 8 is to Judah.

That's the Jewish nation. And in verse 10 of Judah, talking to Judah, says, You know, it was the line of kings, until Silo comes. And Silo points to Christ.

It's the only time that is used, to my understanding, in the Bible, that word.

But it points, means to whom it is to be. It's kind of the meaning of that.

Oh, he whose it is. So, and we believe that to be until Christ comes.

So, the line of kings will be in Judah.

Also, in 2 Samuel 7, so if you turn with me to 2 Samuel 7, 2 Samuel 7, 2 Samuel 7, 2 Samuel 7, and Yah, in 2 Samuel 7, there's God talking to David, and in verse 12 says, When your days are fulfilled, so this is God talking to David through the prophet, through the prophet Nathan, of course, alright, says, When your days are fulfilled, and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. And he shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

So he says, When the days are fulfilled, and you rest with your fathers, in other words, after you're dead, I will set up your seed after you, so it will be a descendant of David. So some people say, well, it points to Solomon, yes, so prophecy is jewel, right?

So it points to Solomon. Solomon would follow him as the king, but it points more than to Solomon, because let's look at it, yeah. You seed after you first, is that after you're dead, I will then set up. Solomon was set up still while David was living. David said he's going to be the king. So it points beyond that. So it's duality there. And look at verse 13.

No, at the end of verse 12. And I will establish his kingdom. Now, the kingdom of Solomon was not established, because it was broken down at the end of his life. But pointing to Christ, because of duality, Christ's kingdom, which is the kingdom of God that he's going to establish on earth, it will run forever and ever.

It will be established forever and ever. Verse 13, He shall build a house for my name. Yes, Solomon did build a house for God's name. But when Christ comes, there will be the third temple built, which points, therefore, prophetically to a temple being built. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. The throne of Solomon's kingdom did not run forever. Yes, David's was, but Solomon's failed. But that lineage went through, and the one that will be forever is when Christ comes to establish the kingdom of God on earth, and that will run forever.

So it's a duality. So going back to Luke, chapter 1, verse 27, it says, To a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, is already pointing to that lineage of kings, that Christ has to be of that lineage of kings, and that he will have his throne forever. All right. Let's look at verse 31. Verse 31. That's Luke, chapter 1, verse 31. And the old, and this is the angel talking to Mary, That's interesting, yeah. It does not say, you have already conceived.

You will conceive. And he will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. And he will reign over the house of Jacob, for the Lord of the Lord. And he will reign over the house of Jacob, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.

It was the kingdom of God that Jesus Christ can establish, and he will be no end. Then Mary said to the angel, How can this be, since I do not know a man? And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will come. It does not say, has come. It will come. So at that moment, it was still future, maybe a day, or two, or three, or whatever one did it. We don't know. But it says it will come to you. And the power of the Highest will overshadow you. Therefore also the Holy One, who is to be born, will be called the Son of God.

Now, indeed, Elizabeth, your relative, who has conceived a son in an old age, this is now the sixth month of her, who was called Baron, and she was now pregnant for six months. For God, for with God, nothing will be impossible. Then Mary, look at what Mary said, then Mary be old, the might servant of the Lord, let it be to me, according to your word. This is important, because last week or the week before I heard somebody in this country said, well, she never consented, and therefore this was an invasion by God in her body, making a pregnant without a consent.

Now we have that she consented. And then she became pregnant. This is important. There was no invasion of her body through the power of God's Holy Spirit. God, even they got her consent first. This is important. So, it's just amazing how things get political today, but it's good to understand this, because people are going to say that, and we need to be able to defend. She did consent, and she said, let it be so. She agreed to it. And therefore she served her. I'm a servant of God, and I'll do it with pleasure. Now, the book of Matthew adds a few extra points. And so we're going to go to Matthew, and then we're going to come back here to Luke.

Because there's a few extra points that are not mentioned in the book of Luke. So, we'll go to Matthew chapter 1. Matthew chapter 1 verse 1. Matthew 1, 1. And it says, The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Now, what we have here is Christ's genealogy to Abraham, but through the Father. Through the Father. In other words, that is the legal genealogy, not through Mary. Not through Mary, but through Joseph, through the Father. So, now we have the genealogy there. And look at a couple of interesting points. In verse 3, it talks about Judah begot Perez and Zera by Tamar.

Do you know that Tamar was a Canaanite? Not Jew, not Israelite, a Canaanite. Then you go a little bit more in verse 5. And Solomon begot Boaz by Rahab. Do you know that Rahab was that prostitute? And then Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, and she was a Moabite. So, now we have three ladies that are in the direct line of the saint of Christ, which were non-Israelites, which were Gentiles. That's just an interesting point there. And then, continuing a little bit further, in verse 18. Now, the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. After his mother Mary was betrothed by Joseph. Before they came together, in other words, before they had any sexual relationship, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit, just as we saw in Luke.

Now, betrothed, again, as I mentioned, is a very strong commitment of marriage, before the actual marriage. And this commitment was protected by law, by God's law. I want to show you something. In Deuteronomy 22, verse 23 and 24. So, we're going to come back to Matthew in a moment. But let's just look at Deuteronomy 22, verse 23 and 24.

Deuteronomy 22, verse 23 and 24.

If a young woman, verse 23, who is a virgin, is betrothed to a husband. Betrothed to a husband. So, yeah, he's betrothed but not married yet. But he's already deemed the groom to be a husband. So, you can see he's a very, very committed type of engagement period, more than what we see it today. Betrothed is like a pre-commitment of that. Because the man was already called a husband. And a man finds her in the city and lies with her. Another man. Then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city. And you shall stun them to death with stumps. And the young woman, because he did not cry out in the city.

When my children were small, I told them, if anything happens to you, your job is to shout and scream and cry out. And in today's world, you have situations where women don't cry out and then cry foul, foul, foul. The Bible says they should have cried out. They should have called out. But anyway, it says because he did not cry out in the city, she should have cried. And so, he has the point. And the man, because he humbled his neighbor's wife. They were not married yet, but it was his neighbor's wife. She was betrothed. So, the betrothal is a very special commitment of engagement, protected by law, and treated as if they were already married. So, going back to Matthew 18, chapter 1, verse 18. And she was married, was betrothed to Joseph. Before they came together, in other words, before they actually got married.

And she was found with child.

In today's world, people would just say, oh well, just abort the child. You know, what people would do. And that's what the Satan would have laughed to have done, destroy the Satan. So, but anyway, let's go on. And then in verse 20. But Oali thought about these things. So, he said, what am I going to do? And he was an honorable man. He didn't want to create a scene. So, he wanted to do it quietly. Behold, the angel of the Eternal of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. Saint Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

Now, he has another interesting point. If the Holy Spirit was a person, then the Holy Spirit would have been the Father. Right? If the Holy Spirit was a person, the Holy Spirit would have been the Father. Anyway, the Holy Spirit is God's power. That's the Father, the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father, and therefore was conceived by that power of God. Continue, verse 21. And she will bring forth her son, and he shall call his name Jesus, which means Saviour. That's why Christ came, first coming to save, for he will save his people from their servants. That is the purpose of Christ's first coming to save us. So, all this was done, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the Lord through the prophets, and it may be all, the virgin shall be of child and be the son. And they shall call his name Emmanuel, which is translated God with us. His name is God, he is with us. Another very powerful statement. God with us, that's Christ's, God with us, that's what it is, imagine. So, continuing verse 24.

One firstborn son, therefore, when she gave birth, she was still a virgin. Firstborn, which means they were other born children. They were other born children. How many children did Mary have? That's one of these questions that, you know, sometimes you have these Bible questions, you know. But many children, maybe, if you are Catholic, she only had one, right? That's part of the Catholic faith, she was a virgin and now you have one child.

Let's look at Matthew 13. Matthew 13. Matthew 13, verse 55 and 56. Well, we'll start in verse 53. Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, that he departed from there. And then he came to his own country and then people asked in verse 55, Is this not a coppertance son and not his mother called Mary and his brothers?

How many brothers did he have? James, Joseph, Simon and Judas. He has poor brothers. So Mary, just speaking about men, children, children that are where males, had five, at least. Because, well, five is Jesus and then James, Joseph, Simon and Judas. Five. But look at verse 56. Hand his sisters. Now to me that means that it's more than one. Right? Well, at least two. Otherwise it would be a hand his sister. But it says, hand his sisters. Are they not all with us?

So, at least five male children and at least two female children. So at least seven children. Maybe she has more. But at least seven we can count here. Anyway, continuing look. Continuing look, we're in look at verse, let's go now, continuing with verse 39.

Look at chapter 1, verse 39. Now Mary arose in those days and went into the old country with eyes to seek the city of Judah, and entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. That's the cousin. If I get correct, it's family relationship. And it happened when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the Bible leaped in Elizabeth's womb.

That, in other words, John the Baptist. Elizabeth was maybe six, seven months pregnant, or some way there. And John the Baptist leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. So Yahreeh is another proof that a baby in a womb is alive and recognized that it was Christ, and he leaped it.

The law protects the baby in the womb. Did you know that? Look at Exodus chapter 21. Exodus chapter 21, verse 22 through 24. If men fight, now you're two strong, young, virile men having a big argument and fighting. And there's a woman in the middle, and they hurt this woman with chop. Here was this lady, which is expecting her baby. So that she gives birth prematurely. Yet no harm follows. He shall surely be punished according to the woman's husband imposes on him, and he shall pay as the judge is determined.

There'll be a punishment, and the husband will have a right to determine what is that punishment. However, verse 23, here we have the woman is expecting the two men fight, and in the fight they cause the harm to this lady's baby. Verse 23, but if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life. Which means if the baby in the womb dies, that man will die. So, if that baby dies, it's treated as murder. Right? And that man will be life for life.

Therefore, what is the choice here? The choice is, do you have the right to choose whether you can murder or not? That's the choice. We don't have that choice. Because that baby, it says, yanavada, life for life, or eye for eye, or tooth for tooth, or hand for hand, or foot for foot. In other words, the punishment will be in proportion to the crime. Not greater, not smaller. It will be just. Justice will be served. Not a bigger punishment for a smaller crime.

A just punishment. So, let's continue. We were reading in Luke. So, let's go to chapter 2 of Luke. And it says, it shall come to pass in those days. And it came to pass in those days. And the decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. The stanzas first took place while Quirinhas was governing Syria. So, now we're moving the story. We've seen the story that John the Baptist was conceived. We've seen the story that Mary conceived Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.

And now the story moves a bit further in time to the actual time of Christ's birth. So, we continue now in chapter 2. There was a census. So, all went to be registered everyone to his own city.

Now, there was some sort of a text, a Roman text that had to be done. And the Romans being very pragmatically, it makes sense to them to actually do it at the time when all the people would be going back to their cities because it was the time of the pogrom feasts. So, this pogrom feast now would be towards September, October, which is a period of trumpets, a tournament, feasts, and the last great day.

So, what are we looking at is around that time there is also, as it calls, a census being done. And people would be all in their cities to do the census. And by the time they were going there for the feast anyway, so it made sense to do it all together at the same time frame. So, Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth in Judea to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem. And because he was of the house and lineage of David, so he had to go to that town, to be registered and he went with Mary. Why? She was expecting, and the festivals were coming up, and she was about due at any time.

Remember, John the Baptist was born around about March, and six months later brings us to September-October. Because Jesus Christ was six months younger, so six months later in time will be around about September-October. So, he went there because, well, it would be the year to go there, and he needed to go keep the feast, and, well, she might as well just come and be there. To be registered for Mary, he's betrothed the wife, who was of child. And so it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. So while they were there, she gave birth. And she brought forth her firstborn son, as we saw, she had other sons. But this was her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Now, there was no room where? In the inn, or what? The word that is translated in is the same word that is used in Luke 22 verse 11. Luke 22 verse 11. It's the same word, kataluma. So let's look at Luke 22 verse 11.

Luke 22 verse 11. Yah is talking about Jesus and disciples are preparing for the Passover, and they say, Where shall we prepare to have this Passover meal? And then it looks at it in verse 10, Behold, when you, that's Luke 22 verse 10, Behold, when you've entered the city, a man will meet you carrying a picture of water, following him into the house which he enters, and then you shall say to the master of the house, The teacher says to you, Where is kataluma? That Greek word. Where is the guest room? Where I may eat the Passover?

So, Joseph went to Bethlehem. It was a city in the mountains out of the normal main road, Farafé. So it's a city on a little corner in the mountains. And he went to his family's house. And because a lot of people were there, there was no space in the guest room in that house. And therefore, they put in another room, which we could call today like a room where you could call like a family room, which in winter would be converted, which would be on the ground floor. And in winter, the sheep could come in and be protected from the winter, and they would have a manger there, made of stone, in this room. It's also interesting that this word that is used, yā, in luk, called in, that's translated as in, is kataluma. But if it would have been in, luk uses another word for in. In other words, a little hotel or something like that, an in, a little hotel. Use a different word. I want to show you where that word is used in luk chapter 10, in the same book, the same author, luk chapter 10 verse 34. In luk chapter 10 verse 34, there's the story of the Good Samaritan. And you know the story of the Good Samaritan. There was this man that was robbed, and he was on the floor, and then the invite goes by, and lets him go, the priest goes by, and then the Samaritan comes there, and he has compassion on him, and takes him to where? To a little hotel, an in. And you look here in verse 34, 10 verse 34. So you went to him, and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine, and set him on his own animal, brought him to an in, and took care of him. This word in is the word bandokayion. I'm sorry, my Greek is bad. But anyway, something like that. So bandokayion. That's in.

So in Luke chapter 1, I beg your pardon, in Luke chapter 2, where we're reading in verse 6 and 7, and it says, and particularly at the end of verse 7, because there was no room for them in the in, it should better be translated, there was no room for them in the guest room in the house of his relatives. So they put in, in another room, which was bigger, more appropriate because it was on the ground floor, and it had a stone manger there, which they could now put it with a straw and cut down things. So it would be a very nice, comfortable area for the baby. And also because it was a bigger room down in, like a bigger, we'll call it a family room, it'll be more appropriate for the childbirth situation because it was downstairs and it was more practical.

And so also because Bethlehem was not in the main road, typically there probably would not be those sort of hotels or whatever it is, because hotels are typically on the main road near an exit or something like that so that people would stop there and go.

So it was outside of the normal way of everybody travelling.

Furthermore, when the shepherds went there, they did not take offense about him being there.

They didn't say, oh well, how can he be there? Move into my house!

No, it was not a place which was, you know, not proper. It was surely clean, hygienic and proper for the birth.

Although, yes, it was a little manger where he was born. So that little bit of detail is important. But now, continuing in chapter 2 verse 16, we see, and this is about the shepherds. Now they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger.

Now, when they had seen him, they had made widely known the saying which was told them concerning the shout.

And all those who heard it marvelled all those things which were told them by the shepherds.

And so the shepherds were the ones then that, it says, and look at verse 20, And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen and was told them.

There is another little interesting spiritual analogy.

Was the shepherds that look after the sheep that went out and preached the gospel, the good news.

Spiritually speaking, is the shepherds that have the responsibility to look after the sheep to preach the good news of Christ and Christ. So it's just an interesting analogy there.

And then we see now in verse 22, you see now when, or verse 21 says, after eight days, on the eighth day he was circumcised.

And then verse 22, And when the days of the purification, according to the law of Moses, was completed, they brought him Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.

That is 40 days at the end. So he was now 40 days and they brought him to Jerusalem to be presented to the Lord.

So we, and then we have a little further situation here in verse 25.

And there was a man in Jerusalem when he was presented to the Lord on that 40th day whose name was Simeon.

And this man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Spirit was upon him.

And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.

So he came by the Spirit into the temple and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him according to the custom of the Lord, in other words, for that ceremony of purification, he told him, He took him in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all peoples. I like to bring revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel.

So Yah is this man, a faithful man, Simeon, and saying, Yes, Christ, points to salvation, points to a light to the Gentiles, so not just and glory to Israel.

So Yah, we have a nice description in sequence. But there are a few additional points now that the Book of Matthew brings in.

And I want to turn there briefly, please. That's Matthew 2.

In verse 1.

But I'm bringing it into the right sequence, Yah.

And saying, Now, this wise man came from areas like what today you'd call Iran, Babylon, and you read in the times of Esther, and not Esther, Ezra, and that they came and took them as much as four or five months to actually travel those 900 miles or whatever. So it took a while for those wise men to come with a caravan, with different goods. It doesn't say how many people were there, but it says they brought three types of gifts.

They brought three types of gifts. So it is possible it could have been as long as a year before they came.

And then they said, well, where is the king of the Jews? He immediately erred. God, yeah, well, I'm the king. My throne is being threatened. He inquired very carefully who it was, and then they called in the chief scribes and the priests, and they said, what does the prophecy say? And they said, well, it's in Bethlehem. So they went to Bethlehem, and then the spaw followed them to Bethlehem, and then they came into the house looking Matthew 2, verse 11. They said, yeah, Matthew 2, verse 11. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary, his mother. The young child was no more the babe. So it was a little bit of time. We don't know how long, but it was a bit of time.

Maybe a year. And they brought three types of gifts, which was gold, frankenstien, and myrrh. Very, very valuable things. Very valuable things for them. Now, as you know, and I'm not going to go through this whole section here, immediately, when they left, they were warned not to go back to the king. And so they went directly without going back to the king. And when the king realized that the had been tricked, he then did inquire carefully. Right? Carefully. When was this?

And then he then decided to kill all babies who were two years old and younger. He feared quite carefully, and if he was only a month old or two months old, why not kill babies who were six months old or younger? Why two years old? Because it was already. Maybe a year old or so, and that's why. And then they fled to Egypt. And they were in Egypt for a while, because it says, until Herod and those that wanted to kill him died. So they were there for a while. Now, how did they survive in Egypt? They had money. Because the wise men broke them gold and myrrh and frankincense. So they had money to live in Egypt. And we're now in Matthew 2, verse 23. Verse 23, when he came back and he says, He then moved to Nazareth. They didn't go back to Bethlehem. They went to Nazareth. So when he returned, he went to Nazareth, not back to Bethlehem. As you can see there in verse 23. And then we're going back to Luke, chapter 2. Luke, chapter 2, verse 39. Luke, chapter 2, verse 39. And it says, When they had performed all these things according to the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth. So there is a few events that Luke does not include. It's in the right order, in the right sequence. There are a few events like about the wise men that are going to Egypt, that are not included in the story of Luke. But then they went to Nazareth, and the child grew and became strong in spirit, full of wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him, as we heard in our sermon, what the grace of God is. And then Luke, in verse 52, and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and favor with God and men. And this is a lesson for all of us, that we have. Now we have the story of Christ, around that period of his birth, in a little bit of a sequence, giving us, pointing us to something very important, which is that he came to save us. And he came to be king. He came to fulfill a prophecy, as we read earlier on. Prophecy, which was in Isaiah 9. I want to read that prophecy now, in Isaiah 9, as we conclude. Isaiah 9, verse 6. Isaiah 9, verse 6.

Isaiah 9, verse 6. For unto us a child is born. Yes, let's refer it to Christ. For unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder. The government of the kingdom of God will be upon his shoulder to bring the kingdom of God to earth, and to bring peace to mankind. His name shall be called. Wonderful counselor, in a number of versions and in fact in Portuguese, that comma is not between the wonderful and counselor. It's just one word, wonderful counselor. So it is somebody that knows, as wonderful counselor, knows exactly how to resolve problems. I mean, today, when people come to me with different issues and things like that, I just say sometimes, I don't know, I don't have the wisdom. But Christ will have the wonderful wisdom and counsel to provide the right solution at the right time. Mighty God, in submission to the highest, to the Father, Jesus Christ will be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He'll be a mighty God ruling on earth, and they're obviously the Father. He'll be God the Son.

Then it says, everlasting Father. This is a little bit, maybe, of a mistranslation in English. In other, some versions, it says, Father of Eternity. Father of Eternity. And indeed, by His actions of being our Savior, of giving us reconciliation with the Father, with God the Father, He has given us the possibility of having eternal life. And therefore, He is the author, the Father of Eternity, for us. And He's the Prince of Peace. He's the one who's going to bring His peace. He's going to bring peace to this earth. Of the increase of His government, of the Kingdom of God governing on earth, and of peace, there'll be no end. Upon the throne of David and over His Kingdom, He'll order it and establish it with judgment and justice, from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of Oz will perform this. So, brethren, here is the big hope of Christ's coming. He came to open the door for us to save us, and He'll come again, probably around about the same time of the year, He'll come again to establish His Kingdom, to bring peace on earth, because He is our Savior, and He's opened the way for us to have eternal life.