An extract from His Story (Volume Two) a simple look through The Gospels

The Word becomes a human being

Before all time, Jesus existed. God ‘spoke’ all creation into being through His ‘Eternal Word’ (Jesus, His Son). Jesus is God’s ‘Everlasting Light’ who shines for all mankind. His Light came into the world in the form of a human being: God Himself visited mankind upon the earth in the Person of His Son. God’s Light appeared to a nation who had a history of men and women that had put their trust in God, even though they had not seen Him; they heard about Him and believed.

The Light was born as a human being (into a human family) from the historical line of a man named Abraham. The descendants of Abraham had grown into a small but resilient nation, whom God had spoken to across the ages.  God wanted to speak through this nation (called ‘Israel’) to speak to all nations; therefore He sent His Son into this genetic line to make Himself known to all people.

The Birth of John The Baptist

A man named Zacharias (who was one of the nation’s priests) and his wife Elizabeth, had long wanted to have a child but Elizabeth was not able to have children. In their old age, an angel appeared to Zacharias with a message from God, promising that his wife would have a child despite the odds against them Initially the priest was filled with unbelief and could not speak. Elizabeth became pregnant, and when the child was born, Zacharias’ speech returned, and he named the child ‘John’ (which means ‘God is gracious’) ~ the child John later became known as ‘John The Baptist.

Mary and Joseph

During the time Elizabeth was pregnant with her child John, an angel also appeared to her cousin Mary, to tell her that God’s Spirit would bring about the supernatural conception of a child in her womb and that she was to name Him ‘Jesus’ (which means ‘Saviour’). Mary believed God’s Word, then went to visit her cousin with the good news. The moment Elisabeth and Mary met, ‘John’ (while still in his mother’s womb) jumped for joy, and the two women rejoiced together and praised God.

An angel also spoke to the man that Mary was engaged to marry, Joseph, to reassure him to take Mary as his wife and to bring up the child she carried, and be a family. Joseph was a man of honour and integrity, so he obeyed God and took care of Mary and her child. The Roman Emperor of the time ordered that a census be taken in Israel, which required all citizens to return to their home town to register. Therefore, while Mary was still pregnant, Mary and Joseph travelled to Bethlehem to register for this census. After several days of travel, Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem, searching for a place to stay.

The Birth of Jesus

At Bethlehem, all the Inns were full, but one Innkeeper (on seeing that Mary was due to give birth soon) told Joseph that they could stay in his stable instead. So, they settled down for the night alongside the animals.  Mary went into labour and gave birth to Jesus in the stable. They made a bed for him in an animal’s feeding trough (known as a manger). About this time, an angel appeared to some shepherds who were keeping watch over some sheep in the fields near Bethlehem.

The angel told the shepherds that the Saviour had been born and told them where to find Him, to go and honour Him. Then a chorus of angels appeared and sang praises to God. So, the shepherds went to find the baby laying in the manger (just as the angel had said) and worshipped Him. After some time, some wise men (also known as ‘The Magi’) saw a magnificent star that had rested over the place where Jesus lay. These ‘wise men’ (also known as ‘Stargazers’ or ‘Astronomers’) travelled from a far eastern country to find the new born king.

On their way, the wise men met with Herod (the King of Judah at that time). Herod told the men to come back and tell him where the baby was. But Herod’s intention was not as he said (to ‘worship the child’) but to kill the child. The Wise Men followed the Great Star and found the child. They worshipped Him and gave gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. But they travelled back to their home country by a different route to avoid Herod, recognizing his real intentions.

Dedication at the Temple

The religious practice of the land was to take the first boy child of a family to The Temple at Jerusalem, where the parents would make an offering of thanks to God.  So, when Jesus was 40 days old, Mary and Joseph took Him to The Temple and brought a pair of young pigeons to be their offering.There was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon (a man who had dedicated his life to God). He was now very old but was resting on the promise that God gave him from years before that he would not die before seeing The Saviour.

One day, Simeon felt The Holy Spirit’s prompting to go to The Temple. So, he went and was there when Joseph and Mary came in with Jesus to present their offering. When Simeon saw the child, God spoke to him to tell him that this was (is) the promised Saviour. With great rejoicing, Simeon took Jesus in his arms and blessed Him, gave thanks for Him, and thanked God for letting Simeon see ‘The Christ’ as He had promised. Simeon also blessed Mary and Joseph, and prophesied of things to come.

Simeon told Mary of great things that her child would do but also warned her that ‘sorrow would pierce her heart like a sword’ (this was a reference to The Cross). At the same time, a woman named Anna was also in The Temple (she too had dedicated her life to God, and spent much of her time praying). The Holy Spirit revealed to her too that the child was The Saviour, so she gave thanks to God and she told others in The Temple that The Redeemer had come.