The Birth of a King...

As we are preparing our hearts for Christmas we have looked at who this "Baby" in the manger is...He is Emmanuel "God with us". He is God...The Eternal one.... John tells us "He was with God in the beginning", John 1:2. Yesterday we read in Philippians how He took the form of a Bond-servant, how He descended from Heaven. He is fully God and fully man. Christ the Child lay in the manger.
Mostly we have looked at His Deity...His power and humility to lay aside His heavenly rights and step down to earth in human form. I thought today, I needed to look at His human birth. I imagine most of us know the story of Jesus' birth. Some of it, I am sure is glamorized at times, even romanticized as almost a legend is. But we must remember this is the true story of a family.
Luke 2:1-7 tells us the birth story:
"In those days, Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world...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 the line of David. He went there to register with Mary who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped Him in cloths and placed Him in a manger because there was no room for Him in the Inn."
Having a baby today is much different than it was back then. Today we enter a room, that has all the conveniences of home. We have nurses who tend to our needs. Pain medication should we need it and doctors who are nearby to "bring the baby into the world". But to appreciate the the birth of Christ, we have to go back to that time.
Even as Luke begins chapter 2, He is going even further back in time and showing us that even before His birth Jesus was fulfilling prophecy. 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, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times." The Jewish nation had heard of the coming of a ruler...He would be one who would destroy their enemies and establish the kingdom of Israel. They had heard about it for hundreds of years. And on the day that the Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus made the decree, they never realized God was beginning to bring to fulfillment the right time and place for His coming.

But Mary must have known. She must have known in her heart and body that the time was coming for the baby to be born. And as they searched for a room where the baby could be born, there was no room. She probably wanted a clean room, with access to clean water. She had never had a baby before and she was probably just 12 or13. There was no midwife or assistance for Mary. No bed to lay the child. No soft sheets to clean and wrap him up. She had to do it all by herself...clean the baby and clean herself.

MacArthur in his book "God's Gift of Christmas " says "Mary did it herself. And where usually would have been a cradle or basket for the baby, there was none. Mary had to put Him in an animal's feeding trough. When Christ entered the world, He came to a place that had some of the smelliest, filthiest and most uncomfortable conditions. But that is part of the wonder of divine grace, isn't it? When the Son of God came down from heaven, He came all the way down."
Yes from the very beginning, Christ humbled himself...even as a baby. He could have come with a triumphant announcement letting the world know the King has been born. I remember when Princess Diana had her first son...it was televised on TV! Masses of people where on the street waiting for the announcement that the "Princess has had a son!"
The angels could have heralded it from every mountain top to the world "Hail, your King has been born". But not our Lord...He came quietly, unsuspecting and in the most "down to earth way" that would not become a King. But that is His humility..."I came to serve not to be served" He would say later to His disciples.
Even today, people go about their business...making plans, running here and there. They have no idea that Jesus was born and a Saviour has been given. This Saviour, was foretold a long time ago...and today, His coming is heralded and announced by many Christians...yet the world has no clue He has come. They see Christmas as a wonderful holiday...time off...time to get gifts and time to enjoy all the festivities. They have no room for Christ. Just as there was no room at His birth...today there is no room for Him in hearts and days. How sad...How tragic!
The question we all need to ask...do we marvel at the Birth of Christ. Do we stand in amazement at His wonderful arrival? Do we see Christmas as His!
But who did know and hear and respond to His arrival?...Next week we will see the most unlikely of people welcome Christ!

Any thoughts? Can you share this event with someone today? Your kids? Friends?