Two thousand years ago, Israel, once a proud and free nation, was suffering under the rule
of the mighty Roman Empire.
Taxes had to be paid to the Roman Emperor, and the people of Israel hated the publicans
who collected these taxes for the Romans.
More than that, they strongly resented having to pay such heavy and unjust taxes.
But anyone who dared to rebel was doomed to bear the marks of the Roman whip or the scars
of the Roman sword.
Now and then there were some threats and uprisings, but the Romans ruled over the land with an
iron fist, and there was no way to escape the cruel power of the conquerors.
However, throughout the land, there were some devout people who studied the words of the
prophets, hoping that the day was near when the promised Messiah would come and save them
from their sins.
But there were also many others who hoped that the Messiah would unite them in overthrowing
the Romans.
How much longer must we suffer the crimes of these cheating, lying Romans?
How much longer must we pay taxes to their publicans?
Look at this.
How much longer must we suffer the Roman whips and swords?
Why must we submit to these barbarians?
Why must we pay taxes to them?
What can we do?
We must bear this oppression with patience, for we know that God has promised us a Messiah,
a Savior.
The prophet Isaiah has foretold, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given,
and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
As if voicing all the thoughts of everyone in Israel, the young man asked the question
that lay uppermost on their minds.
When will this Messiah come?
When?
No one knew the answer, not even a devout young woman of Nazareth, who would soon become
the wife of Joseph, the village carpenter.
No, Mary did not know the answer, but even now the angel of the Lord was to tell her
of the great blessing God had in store for her.
Hail thou that art highly favored.
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women.
She was startled and troubled by the angel's greeting, and did not understand its meaning.
Do not be afraid, Mary, for thou hast found favor with God, and behold, thou shalt bring
forth the Son, and shalt call his name Jesus.
He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give
him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
How can this be, since I have no husband?
The Holy Spirit will come upon thee, and the power of the Most High will overshadow thee.
Therefore, the child to be born will be called Holy, the Son of God, and behold, thy cousin
Elizabeth in her old age is also to become the mother of a son, for with God nothing
shall be impossible.
Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
Let it be to me according to your word.
To the south in the hill country of Judea, an elderly couple was patiently awaiting
the birth of their child.
They knew it was to be a boy.
They knew that his name was to be John, and that he would prepare the way for the coming
of the Lord.
This, they knew, because the angel had also appeared to Zacharias and told him of it,
and Zacharias had been stricken dumb for doubting the words of the angel.
His wife Elizabeth must have learned the mission of their son from Zacharias, and therefore
she knew that God in his mercy would soon send the promised Savior, but she could not
have known when or of whom the Savior would be born.
But they were to know soon, for their cousin Mary had hastened south.
Even now she was at their very door.
Mary!
Elizabeth!
At this very moment, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she suddenly knew
that the promise of the Messiah was soon to be fulfilled.
Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child, whose mother you are to be.
But why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, my heart was filled with
joy, and blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken
to her by the Lord.
My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has regarded
the lowest state of his handmaiden, for behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed,
for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
But when Joseph learned that Mary was soon to become a mother, he became deeply troubled.
He did not know what to do.
Being a just man, he did not want to bring any shame on the woman he had chosen to be
his wife.
Even his sleep was filled with his troubles.
Then there came to Joseph an angel of the Lord, bringing him the assurance that he sorely
needed.
Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is
created in her is of the Holy Spirit, and she shall bring forth the Son, and thou shalt
call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.
And so Mary became Joseph's wife.
Now the time was drawing near for Mary's child to be born, but in the meantime the Roman
Emperor Caesar Augustus had ordered a census of the people of Israel.
That meant that everyone must go to the birthplace of his parents to register for the purpose
of taxation.
And as Joseph and Mary were at the house of David, and the city of David was Bethlehem,
they made the tiring journey south to that city.
But when the weary travelers reached the little town of Bethlehem, they found it crowded with
those who had also come from near and distant places to be registered for the counting.
My good man, would you hold this animal for me?
It was necessary for Mary to rest, for the journey had been long and tiresome.
We seek shelter for the night.
I'm sorry, but all my rooms are full.
We must have shelter.
My wife is expecting her first child to be born soon, almost any time now.
Have you no friends in the city?
No.
We are from Nazareth.
We know of no other place to stay.
I hate to even suggest this, but the only shelter I could offer you for the night is the stable.
That's the only place I have.
You're very kind.
Come I'll show you the way.
I'm sorry there are no beds, but there is plenty of good clean hay.
At least you'll keep warm.
May God bless you for your kindness.
I'll bring you some bedding.
If there's anything you need, just ask for it.
Here, I'll leave you the light.
Thank you.
Joseph.
There's something you need.
In a place not far away, shepherds were watching over their flock, unaware that the Son of
God was being born in a humble stable in Bethlehem.
But they were soon to know, in a most glorious manner, of the fulfillment of God's promise
to send a Savior to the world.
Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you.
He shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing which has happened, which the Lord hath made
known to us.
The shepherds found the place where the Christ child was born, and Joseph brought them into
the stable.
And there, in the manger, they found Jesus, perhaps not as they expected, but surely as
they had been told.
With wonderment and great joy, these simple shepherds knelt down and worshiped the Savior
of the world, who had been born in a lowly manger.
And not only they, but the world was to know that on this night the prophecy of Isaiah
had been fulfilled.
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon
his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the
Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
In the small town of Bethlehem, not far from the city of Jerusalem, in the land of Israel,
Jesus, the promised Savior, had been born in a lowly stable.
Mary, his mother, knew that in order to fulfill the law of Moses, she and Joseph must soon
take the baby to the temple and make an offering as the child was presented to God.
And so Mary and Joseph brought him to the temple in Jerusalem, and Joseph offered a
pair of doves as a sacrifice of thanksgiving when Jesus was only a few weeks old.
But the priests did not realize who this child was.
They did not know that he was the promised Savior, whose birth had been prophesied throughout
the ages.
Thus it was that Jesus' name was written among the firstborn of Israel.
In Jerusalem was a good and holy man, whose name was Simeon.
The Holy Spirit had made it known to him that he would not die until he had seen the Savior.
Great was Simeon's faith.
Moved by the Spirit, he had come to the temple where he was waiting for the event.
And as Mary and Joseph and the baby came closer, Simeon's heart suddenly leaked.
This was the day.
The Savior had come at last.
And when Simeon looked down upon the child, he gave thanks to God, and he took the baby
in his arms.
Lord, now letest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word, for mine eyes
have seen thy salvation, but thou hast prepared in the face of all people a light to lighten
the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel.
Forhold, this child is set for fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign that
shall be spoken against.
Lo, a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts
may be revealed.
Nearby there stood an old prophetess named Anna.
She was a widow of many years, and she never left the temple, but stayed there night and
day, fasting and praying.
And Anna, too, came and gave thanks to God for the coming of the Savior.
And so in the city of Jerusalem, where Jesus was later to be crucified, these two faithful
old people knew and believed that this baby was the Savior of the world.
At the time when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, there were wise men in a far distant country
in the east who had studied the stars.
They, too, knew that the promised Savior had been born.
Now they were on the long journey to find him.
When they arrived in Jerusalem, the wise men asked some of the people, Where is he who
has been born King of the Jews, for we have seen his star in the east and have come to
worship him?
This announcement from the wise men instantly created much excitement among the people of
Jerusalem.
But since they could not tell anyone about a new king, the wise men decided that they
would have to search elsewhere.
In those days, Herod the Great, the ruler of Judea, was staying at his palace in Jerusalem.
He was a cruel man and had committed many crimes.
There were those who came to Herod and told him of the wise men who had come from the
east, of the star they had seen, and of the one who they said had been born King of the
Jews.
King of the Jews?
I, Herod, am King of the Jews.
Who is this new king that these wise men have come to worship?
Tell my counselors to come in at once.
Herod was greatly troubled by this news.
And when the chief priests and scribes were assembled, he asked of them where the Christ
was to be born, for he knew that a savior had been promised to the Jews in Bethlehem
of Judea, as it was written by the prophet.
And now Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah.
For out of thee shall come a governor that shall rule my people Israel.
But when Herod received this news, a plan began to form in his mind.
He never intended letting any newborn baby grow up to be King of the Jews.
And so he dismissed the priests and scribes.
After secretly sending for the wise men, Herod asked them at what time they had seen the
star.
Then he instructed them to find the child.
Go search for this child.
When you have found him, bring word to me, that I too may come and worship him.
Then the wise men, having heard the king, went their way.
And lo, the star which they had seen in the east went before them, till it came to rest
over where the young child was.
When coming into the house, they saw the child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down
and worshiped him, and they offered him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.
However the wise men, being warned by God in a dream that they should not return to
Herod, went back to their own country another way.
When they had gone, one night as Joseph lay asleep, an angel of the Lord came to him in
a dream and warned him, Arise, and take the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt,
and be thou there until I bring thee word, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy
him.
Then the wise men went back to their own country another way, and when they had gone,
one night as Joseph lay asleep, an angel of the Lord came to him in a dream, and they
went back to their own country another way, and when they had gone, one night as Joseph
woke Mary and told her of the angel's message, there was no time to lose, they must make
hasty preparations for their journey.
And so that very night, Joseph took the child and his mother and departed into Egypt.
Meanwhile Herod had waited in vain for the wise men to come back.
Now he was curious, realizing that he had been mocked, Herod decided to put an evil
plan into action at once.
Go to Bethlehem, all places near there.
Take every boy, maybe two years or less, and put them all to death.
Yes, Herod thought that his order would surely do away with any new born king who might someday
take his place.
He did not know that Jesus was already on the way to Egypt.
There the little family stayed for a while.
Mary and Joseph gave Jesus their loving care.
They were happy, for God had protected them from the cruel Herod.
Then one night, the angel of the Lord came again to Joseph in a dream, Arise and take
the young child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for they are death which sought
the young child's life.
For once more Joseph obeyed the angel and took the child and his mother back to the
land of Israel.
The journey from Egypt was long and tiring.
As they had nowhere to rest at night except by the roadside, Joseph prepared a fire to
keep them warm while they slept.
But when Joseph heard that Archelaus, the son of Herod, was now king of Judea in his
father's place, he was afraid to go back to Bethlehem, for he knew that Herod's son was
also a cruel man and might bring harm to the child.
And so, having been warned again in a dream, Joseph turned and took Mary and the child
into the province called Galilee, where the new king's power did not reach.
In Galilee, they went to live in the town of Nazareth, which had been their home before
Jesus was born.
Joseph worked hard and Mary cared for the boy.
Here they were happy, living in the love of God among familiar surroundings and old friends.
The Galilee and land lay quiet under the changing seasons.
The men worked in the fields and groves.
Sometimes there was no rain and the land lay dry under the hot sun.
Sometimes the streams and springs were full and the harvest was plentiful.
And so the years passed.
When Jesus was twelve years old, he went with Mary and Joseph and a group of travelers to
Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover.
As the travelers were resting on the return journey to Nazareth, his parents missed Jesus
and went among the people looking for him.
Have you seen Jesus anywhere?
No, I haven't.
I thought he was with you.
We miss him coming out of Jerusalem, but we thought he might have been with friends.
We've asked everybody we've met, but no one has seen him.
We'd best go back and look for him.
So they went back to Jerusalem.
They could not understand how Jesus could have been left behind, and they were worried
about him.
It was a big city.
Perhaps something had happened to him.
After searching the streets of Jerusalem for three days, they finally came to the temple.
Perhaps someone there had seen Jesus.
And there they finally found him, in the study room of the temple, talking with the teachers
who were all surprised at his understanding and his answers on many things.
And why have you treated him so?
Your father and I have been looking for you anxiously.
How is it that you sought me?
Did you not know I must be about my father's business?
And so, in the temple where he had been presented as a baby, and where Simeon and Anna had recognized
him as the Savior, Jesus was already becoming aware of the great mission for which his father
had sent him into the world.
Nazareth was to be his home for many years, and Jesus was obedient to Mary and Joseph
while he grew up in mind and body, and in favor with God and man.
And so, in the temple where he had been presented as a baby, and where Simeon and Anna had
been presented as a baby, and in favor with God and man, and in favor with God and man,
and in favor with God and man, and in favor with God and man, and in favor with God and
man, and in favor with God and man, and in favor with God and man, and in favor with