Birth of Jesus, the Christ

At God's appointed time, He sent His Son to Earth, born of a virgin named Mary, as the special King and Savior He had promised for centuries.

Isaiah the prophet declared, “Take note and be watching: A virgin will become pregnant and have a son. He will be called Emmanuel (Hebrew: God with us).” When the time was finally right in God’s plan (more than 700 years later), He sent His messenger, Gabriel, to a village in Galilee. There, he spoke with a young virgin who was promised in marriage to a man named Joseph. They were both descendants of King David.

“Hello, Special One!” Gabriel greeted her. “God be with you.”

Mary was shocked and shaken.

“Don’t be afraid, Mary. God is blessing you with a special baby! Call him Jesus.

He will be great; there is no other One
Who comes from the Most High is truly God’s Son.
To Him, the Lord God will give David’s throne
On it He will sit and rule; he alone
He’ll rule Jacob’s house, forever defend
His nation, His kingdom will never end.”

Amazed and confused, Mary asked, “How will I have a baby? I’ve not had relations with a man.”

“The Holy Spirit will come on you, blanketing you with the power of the Most High. So the One to whom you give birth will be called the holy Son of God . . . Nothing is impossible with God.”

Joseph loved Mary. So when Mary started to show evidence of being pregnant before they were married, he wanted to cancel the wedding quietly so she wouldn’t be open to ridicule.

But God sent an angel to him in a dream. “Joseph, descendant of David, go ahead and get married. It’s true Mary is pregnant, but the child was conceived by God’s Holy Spirit. I want you to name the son that will be born Jesus (Yahweh saves) because he will save his people from their sins.”

When Joseph woke up, he did as he was told in the dream. He went ahead with his marriage to Mary and determined to name the baby Jesus.

About that time, Caesar Augustus decreed: “Everyone must register in your hometown.” So Joseph and Mary, being from David’s line, left Nazareth in Galilee and went to Bethlehem (known as “The City of David”) in Judea. They had trouble finding a place to stay and ended up making do with a feeding trough for a crib. While they were there, the baby came! Mary wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a feeding trough.

That night, shepherds were looking after their sheep in the field close by. Without warning, an angel from God showed up in blazing glory. The shepherds were paralyzed with fear!

“Don’t be afraid,” the angel told them. “I came to tell you of a great, joyous event everyone should know about: A Savior who will be Messiah and Master of all was born today in David’s city. Look for a baby wrapped in cloths lying in a feeding trough.”

Amazed, the shepherds said, “God has revealed something special to us. Let’s get to Bethlehem now to see it.” They ran to the town and found the baby in the feeding trough, Mary and Joseph at his side. Then they told everyone they met what the angel had told them about Jesus.