December 15, 2002

THE BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST

Matthew 1:18

   "The birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost." But Joseph was disturbed about Mary's pregnancy and would have put her away except for angelic intervention. The angel said, "that which is begotten...is of the Holy Ghost" and "He shall save His people from their sins." His name would be "Emmanuel...God with us" (Mt. 1:18-23). Matthew does not tell more about Christ's birth but skips to the journey of the wise men who found a young child in a house. We conclude the Lord's age at that time to have been about two years old based on the age of those slaughtered by Herod. Only Matthew tells about the Lord's flight to Egypt and His later return to Nazareth after the death of Herod.

   Only Luke tells of the birth of John the Baptist 6 months before Christ and the interaction of their mothers, Elisabeth and Mary. He alone tells of His birth in the manger, the visit of shepherds, and the herald angels' acclaim. Following the eighth day circumcision and subsequent purifications, the Lord's entire youth is passed without notice except for one visit to Jerusalem at the age of 12. We are given the barest record of His thirty years before beginning His ministry. To suppose that any event during this time would be a cause for annual remembrance and celebration is entirely fanciful and only imagined!

   The four Gospels conclude with His death, burial, and resurrection, yet the meaning of it all awaits the epistles of Paul. Having no record-ed meeting with the Lord during His earthly sojourn, Paul knew Christ only by His revelation from glory. Little wonder he wrote, " Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Cor. 5:16-17). The theme of all Paul's ministry is the preaching of the cross, the death, burial, resurrection, and coming again of the Lord of glory. To Timothy he wrote, "Remember Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, risen from the dead according to my gospel," and to the Galatians, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." Dare we glory in anything else?

Ivan L. Burgener