Christmas, the birth of our Savior.  Our Savior! How sweet that sound.  

God Almighty came down from heaven and placed Himself in a mere mortal for birth, to live among us.  

To feel what we feel, to see what we see, to know what it’s like to be human.  Then after all that, He sacrifices Himself for our sins so we can someday go to heaven and live with Him; to feel what He feels, to see what He sees, to know what it’s like to be with Him.  

Amazing that He would do all that, but it proves how much He wants to know us, how much He cares for us, how much He wants to spend time with us.  

The two most celebrated religious holidays are Easter and Christmas.  

This is the core of our very existence.  Christ being born, and then dying on the cross for our sins.  

We all have stories in our lives that we tell our family, friends, etc. about the details of what happened.  Some family members believe the story, and some don’t. It could be a fishing story, or a childhood story, or a work story.  It doesn’t matter what the story is, we know the story is true because we have lived the story. It’s our story or our family’s story.  

The Bible is the story of people that lived in 6 B.C. to 4 B.C to tell about the birth of Jesus.  

The story was passed down from generation to generation just as we would tell our children that our great, great, great grandfather was a 5-star General in the war.  How he fought bravely and was granted great plots of land for his service to his country.  

The Old Testament story of Jesus’s birth started around the time when Elizabeth and Zechariah, (John the Baptist parents) told their story.  

And when Joseph and Mary told their story.  

It was their story.  They told it, the shepherds told it, the wise men told the story, the history of Herrod killing babies under two, attested to the Messiah was born.  

And Herrod was scared he would lose his throne, so history tells the story.  

You might be able to refute one or two people telling a story like this if it was not true, but there are so many that lived it and told it.  And then in later years, the Disciples’ stories all attested that Jesus was Lord, the Messiah.  

Matthew 1:20-23 – “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 in Isaiah 7:14: “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).”  

All the Disciples knew Jesus’s Mother Mary, and Jesus’s half-brothers.  I’m sure the Disciples talked to her about Jesus. I’m sure she told them the story of how He was conceived.  

It was her story and I’m sure she sang it from the rooftops!  And surely, they spoke to Joseph, if they did not speak to Mary about such things.  

Joseph had to have told them about his dream and how he had not slept with Mary, yet she was with child and the angel of the Lord told him it was ok.  It was Joseph’s story. He had to tell it.  

If I find a great sale at Dillard’s, I’m texting all my friends to let them know.  

You know the Disciples heard the story.  They had been waiting all those years for the Messiah and there He was.  Right in front of them. Oh, they told the story alright, and so should you and I.  

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

 

Karen Y. Stevens is the founder of the Orange County Christian Writers Guild