Observations
On The Events Leading To Jesus Birth
By Russ
Kujawski 12/17/2017
Who doesn’t know the event Of Jesus’s birth? Almost everyone
knows some portion or variation of the events leading up to Jesus’s birth. This
study isn’t going to go thru all the events of Jesus’s birth. I’m going to
point out some interesting observations and correct some I believe to be miss-conceptions .
The date of Jesu’s birth was not Dec 25th. Luke 2:8 And in the same region there were shepherds
out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. This is kind
of important in that it was probably to cold to keep the sheep out at night
during this time of year. There are many observations made on this a simple
study will give a wide range of reasons Dec isn’t the birth date of Jesus. Most
put the date from late summer to early winter. If it was truly important God
would have given us more detail on it.
In Luke 1:5 and following we are told of a priest named
Zechariah of the priestly order of Abijah, He had a wife named Elizabeth. They
are both righteous and walk blameless in Gods commands and statutes. His
wife hadn’t had any children, when
Zachariah entered the temple and angel appeared to him and said your prayers
have been heard and Elizabeth will have
a child. Old Zac questioned it because they were both old. And he was
made mute until the birth of the child. Now time to get into some things not
normally taught.
Angel Gabriel speaks to Mary
·
Luke 1:26 In
the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee
named Nazareth, Some may wonder in the sixth month of what?
·
This is the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy
keeping in Context Luke 1:36 And behold,
your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is
the sixth month with her who was called barren.
·
The angel Gabriel told Mary she would conceive a
child Luke 1:31 And behold, you will
conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. Mary say’s how can it be for she is a virgin?
The angel tells her the power of the
Most High will overshadow you. You will have a son and he will be called holy
the Son of God.
·
Luke 1:39-40 In
those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a
town in Judah and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.
What’s interesting here is Mary arose probably the next day and went to see her
relative Elizabeth. Mary was engaged to Joseph. Did she tell him about the
encounter with the angel? or that she was pregnant with the Gods child? I’m going to say no she didn’t. Why because
of the verbiage of Matt 1:18. I’ll get to that later on down.
·
Luke 1:44 For
behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb
leaped for joy. When Mary and Elizabeth greeted one another John leaped
for joy while still in the womb of Elizabeth for John had been filled with the
Holy Spirit from birth{ Luke 1:15b “and
he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.”
·
Luke 1:56 And
Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home. Here
is what is interesting with this verse. There is a good chance Mary was there
for the birth of John. Verse 36 tells us Elizabeth is in here sixth month and
this verse tells us Mary stayed about 3 months. This would also make John 6
month older than Jesus if Mary conceived right after the angel spoke. Verse 42
would suggest Mary is indeed with child. “and
she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is
the fruit of your womb!”
·
As mentioned above I don’t think Mary told Joseph
about the encounter with the angel or that she was carrying Gods child. Lets
look at the verbiage of Matt 1:18Now the
birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been
betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with
child from the Holy Spirit. Let me explain something here the narrative
in Matthew and Luke about the birth of Jesus is not in chronological order.
Each was inspired to write what God wanted us to know. This maybe intentional
so we have to study to get the right chain of events. I think she was found to
be with child after she returned home. 3 months have passed there would be a
baby bump. If she had told Joseph prior to her departure then there probably
wouldn’t be a need to say she was found to be with child, there would not have
been the thoughts of putting her away quietly, If Joseph had known prior to
Mary going to see Elizabeth.
Sign for the shepherds
·
Luke 2:7 And
she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and
laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
Two key factors in understanding my next observations, wrapped in swaddling
cloths and lying in a manger.
·
Luke 2: 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is
Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby
wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” Notice two common
things in these verses? Swaddling cloths and manger or most likely a feeding
trough. What does verse 12 tell us about the swaddling cloths and the manger?
It’s the sign for the shepherds to know when they have found Jesus. Not the
star as many plays portray. No doubt the shepherds new where all the stabiles are located so no need
for the star.
Here come the Wise men or Magi
·
Matthew2:1-2 1 Now
after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king,
behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he
who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and
have come to worship him.” These men came from the east the actual
location I don’t think we really know. The word for wise men or Magi in the
Greek is magos it means wise men 4x or sorcerer2x in the KJV
·
The name
given by the Babylonians (Chaldeans), Medes, Persians, and others, to the wise
men, teachers, priests, physicians, astrologers, seers, interpreters of dreams,
augers, soothsayers, sorcerers etc.
·
The oriental wise men (astrologers) who, having
discovered by the rising of a remarkable star that the Messiah had just been
born, came to Jerusalem to worship him
·
A false prophet and sorcerer
Notice the second definition: astrologers
those who studied the stars, and they new what the star meant.
·
Matthew2:3-6 3 When
Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4
and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of
them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of
Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: 6 “‘And you, O Bethlehem, in
the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from
you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
The priest and scribes new where he{Jesus}
was to be born, they just didn’t know the sign of his birth.
·
Matthew 2:9-10 9 After listening to the king,
they went on their way. And behold, the star
that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over
the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced
exceedingly with great joy.
I think this was night travel but
what is interesting is the star went before them and came to rest. The star
guided them it was moving it stop over the place Jesus was at. Like when God
guided the Hebrews in the desert a cloud by day and fire by night.{Exodus
13:22}
·
Matthew 2:11 11 And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his
mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures,
they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
The went into a house not the stable, they
were not at the birth. All the plays movies and nativity those are all creative liberty’s combing 2
different event 1 the shepherds and 2 the wise men into one event. We can
surmise Jesus was about 2 years old because of the next set of verse’s. Tradition
has it at 3 wise men because of three gifts, the bible doesn’t say how many and
in other traditions they are named but again the bible doesn’t say. The wise men being warned in a dream not to
return to Herod they went home their own way. Joseph was also warned in a dream
that Herod wanted to kill Jesus, so he and Mary, and Jesus fled to Egypt.
Enter Herod and Death
·
Matthew 2:16 Then
Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious,
and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that
region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had
ascertained from the wise men.
This is where we get that Jesus was around 2
when the wise men came to see him. Herod all the male children from the age of
2 and below killed. From the information he got from the wise men.
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