Birth of a King

Birth of a King


By Shirley Mitchell

"In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”

Luke 2:1-7
Joseph and Mary barely knew each other months ago. Now they were quickly learning about each other. The 90-mile journey through the hills and over the mountains aided that process - nothing like a road trip to get to know someone. I imagine Joseph was patient and gentle with Mary as she was full with child. Since they were both trusted by God with an unprecedented, huge responsibility, they had to trust each other.
From this Scripture, we see that Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of the city of His birth. In order to fulfill prophecy, the Messiah must be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2.) God who holds the future willed for the Roman ruler Caesar Augustus to call a census that required each man to return to the town of his ancestors. Joseph was from the line of David. David’s hometown was Bethlehem, which means “house of bread.” The Bread of Life was born in the city of bread.

Also in this Scripture, we see the glory of heaven enter the world through a lowly stable. His birthplace was not a palace…No designer clothes for a King here…No bassinet from the best store in the village…He was born into the rough, calloused hands of a Jewish carpenter. His first smells were animal manure. Nothing looked to human eyes to be divine here.

It makes me wonder how many times I have experienced the majesty of God’s hand in my life in the mundane days of my life. I have experienced God in the commonness of my life - not with angels proclaiming the way or a holy glow to settle in the room that is visible to my eyes. God has never worked in the grand way of a Hollywood movie in my life. I’ve had to train my spiritual eyes to see Him. The little bit that I have seen makes me long for more of His presence in the ordinariness of my life. I pray that you and I are willing to worship Him in our daily lives. I pray that we grab hold of all the time available to spend with God – while we vacuum, drive, wash the dishes, apply our make-up, bathe the children, or mow the yard. May we have the spiritual eyes to recognize when the divine wants to pervade our lives. May we recognize that this baby who came as the lowest of servants came to bring hope to every man of every economic and social status. May we also recognize that He is coming back in all of His splendor as the King of Kings! One day everyone will see Him in all of His glory.

Pray with me: Dear Heavenly Lord, what a wonderful story of Your Son’s birth. As we prepare to celebrate Christmas, help us to remember why we celebrate - because 2,000 years ago, You so loved the world that You sent Your one and only Son. He came as a human to be just like us. The human eye could not detect all that You had divinely arranged. He was born into poverty. His first smells were the stench of the stable. He was a lowly servant. He experienced everything that we experience so He would be acquainted with our sufferings and our temptations. You know what it is like to hurt, to be hungry, to be wronged, to be treated unfairly, and to fight our flesh nature that leads us to sin. You overcame all of these things and redeemed us! Hallelujah! Thank You so much, Jesus, for all that You have done! It’s in Your Name that we pray, Yeshua’s Name. Amen.

Excerpt from the Jesus Lives Bible study

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