This is the very reason that we celebrate Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, born in the city of Bethlehem. As I have seen on bumper stickers, Jesus is the reason for the season. In this study you will see that Jesus’ birth was prophesized about long before it happened. You will see that Jesus is God as it says in Isaiah chapter 7 & 9. You will see that His mother Mary was a virgin at the time of conception and that she conceived from the Holy Spirit itself. That no man touched her. You will also see a lot of the typical Christmas seen that is not biblical. Like for an example, in Scripture it does not say that there were three wise men, just that there were wise men who came seeking the Messiah. On that note, the wise men were not there at the birth, it was not until a few years later that they appeared to Mary and Joseph about Jesus. The ones that Scripture does teach that were there were the shepherds and the angels of heaven that announced the birth to the shepherds. According to Scripture this was the sign that the Lord Himself would choose, the virgin birth. I hope that through this study that you will understand how much the LORD loves you, to send His only begotten Son to die on the cross for mine and your sins and that Jesus is alive and sitting at the right hand of the Father in heaven. He came to this earth to fulfill prophecy and to bring good tidings to men as it is told. I hope that you study this carefully and prayerfully and that the Lord Himself reveals truths to you that you did not know about Christmas, remember it is not about giving gifts it is about receiving the most important gift ever given in history, the Messiah, Jesus Himself as your Lord and Savior, it is a time of celebration and to reflect on ourselves and our relationship to the one who died for us. To celebrate the fact that He came to die for us in our place for the sins that we have committed. May the LORD bless you and keep you and enjoy the Christmas season when it is here, now that you have the Scriptures of what it is really about!!!!!
Isaiah 7:14-15 Side note: Isaiah was a prophet 680 years before the birth of Christ.
All right then, the Lord himself will choose the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel- God is with us. By the time this child is old enough to eat curds and honey, he will know enough to choose what is right and reject what is wrong.
Isaiah 9:6-7 Side note: Isaiah was a prophet 680 years before the birth of Christ.
For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. And the government will rest on his shoulders. These will be his royal titles: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His ever expanding, peaceful government will never end. He will rule forever with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David. The passionate commitment of the Lord Almighty will guarantee this!
Matthew 1:18-2:12
Now this is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Joseph, her fiancé, being a just man, decided to break the engagement quietly, so as not to disgrace her publicly.
As he considered this, he fell asleep, and an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to go ahead with your marriage to Mary. For the child within her has been conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All of this happened to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:
“Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
She will give birth to a son, and he will be called Immanuel
(meaning, God is with us).”
When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord commanded. He brought Mary home to be his wife, but she remained a virgin until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.
Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We have seen his star as it arose, and we have come to worship him.”
Herod was deeply disturbed by their question, as was all of Jerusalem. He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law. “Where did the prophets say the Messiah would be born?” he asked them.
“In Bethlehem,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote:
‘O Bethlehem of Judah, you are not just a lowly village in Judah,
for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people of Israel.’
Then Herod sent a private message to the wise men, asking them to come see him. At this meeting he learned the exact time when they first saw the star. Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!”
After this interview the wise men went their way. Once again the star appeared to them, guiding them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! They entered the house where the child and his mother, Mary, were, and they fell down before him and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. But when it was time to leave, they went home another way, because God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.
Luke 1:26-56
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!”
Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. “Don’t be frightened, Mary,” the angel told her, “for God has decided to bless you! You will become pregnant and have a son, and you are to name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”
Mary asked the angel, “But how can I have a baby? I am a virgin.”
The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overwhelm you. So the baby born to you will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she’s already in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.”
Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant, and I am willing to accept whatever he wants. May everything you have said come true.” And then the angel left.
A few days later Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea, to the town where Zechariah lived. She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth. At the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, “You are blessed by God above all other women, and your child is blessed. What an honor this is, that the mother of my Lord should visit me! When you came in and greeted me, my baby jumped for joy the instant I heard your voice! You are blessed, because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.”
Mary responded,
“Oh, how I praise the Lord.
How I rejoice in God my Savior!
For he took notice of his lowly servant girl,
And now generation after generation
Will call me blessed.
For he, the Mighty One, is holy,
And he has done great things for me.
His mercy goes on from generation to generation,
To all who fear him.
His mighty arm does tremendous things!
How he scatters the proud and haughty ones!
He has taken princes from their thrones
And exalted the lowly.
He has satisfied the hungry with good things
And sent the rich away with empty hands.
And how he has helped his servant Israel!
He has not forgotten his promise to be merciful.
For he promised our ancestors – Abraham and his children-
To be merciful to them forever.”
Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back to her own home.
Luke 2:1-35
At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) All returned to their own towns to register for this census. And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was obviously pregnant by this time.
And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the village inn.
That night some shepherds were in the fields outside the village, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terribly frightened, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news of great joy for everyone! The Savior – yes, the Messiah, the Lord – has been born tonight in Bethlehem, the city of David! And this is how you will recognize him: You will find a baby lying in a manger, wrapped snugly in strips of cloth!”
Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others – the armies of heaven – praising God;
“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to all whom God favors.”
When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Come on, let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this wonderful thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
They ran to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. Then the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherd’s story were astonished, but Mary quietly treasured these things in her heart and thought about them often. The shepherds went back to their fields and flocks, glorifying and praising God for what the angels had told them, and because they had seen the child, just as the angel had said.
Eight days later, when the baby was circumcised, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel even before he was conceived.
Then it was time for the purification offering, as required by the law of Moses after the birth of the child; so his parents took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. The law of the Lord says, “If a woman’s first child is a boy, he must be dedicated to the Lord.” So they offered a sacrifice according to what was required in the law of the Lord – “either a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”
Now there was a man named Simeon who lived in Jerusalem. He was a righteous man and very devout. He was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he eagerly expected the Messiah to come and rescue Israel. The Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. That day the Spirit led him to the Temple. So when Mary and Joseph came to present the baby Jesus to the Lord as the law required, Simeon was there. He took the child in his arms and praised God, saying,
“Lord, now I can die in peace!
As you promised me,
I have seen the Savior
You have given to all people.
He is a light to reveal God to the nations,
And he is the glory of your people Israel!”
Joseph and Mary were amazed at what was being said about Jesus. Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, “This child will be rejected by many in Israel, and it will be their undoing. But he will be the greatest joy to many others. Thus, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul.”
John 3:16-21
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. “For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. “But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
This is the real reason for the season. While others celebrate the Holiday season, Christians celebrate the birth of the Messiah that took away the sins of the world. As you can tell, the world has taken the blessing of God and twisted it around to really mean nothing by taking Christ out of Christmas. By changing Christmas into the Holiday Season and making it burdensome by loading people down with financial debt for the next year out of obligation to exchange gifts that nobody even needs. I hope that by reading this, that you will acknowledge what the real reason for the season is, and that you truly worship the Lord with your family and loved ones this Christmas, give all the glory in your life to him and ask that he will always be your Lord and Savior in Jesus name. Amen!
Have a very Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!