Part I: A Surprise Visit
‘I’m coming, Love,’ Mary said to her fiancé, Joseph. They were engaged to be married.
‘I’ll just wash the floors, and I’ll be right there to serve dinner, my darling.’ Mary appreciated a clean house. She washed her floors three times to make sure everything was neat and tidy. She was a good woman and loved her good man.
She heard something in the other room. ‘Is it, you, Love? I said I was c…’ Mary lost her words as suddenly an angel stood in the room. She froze, yet a felt a warm atmosphere.
‘Greetings, favoured one!’ the angel said with a kind voice. ‘The Lord is with you.’
The young woman, caught in the middle of her house duties, was perplexed. ‘What could this mean?’ she pondered in her heart.
‘Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favour with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a Son, and you shall name Him “Jesus”.’
Mary was still speechless at this surprise visit.
The angel continued, ‘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 His kingdom will have no end.’
‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ Mary asked respectfully.
‘The Holy Spirit will overshadow you; therefore, the holy Child will be called the Son of God,’ the angel explained.
‘Nothing is impossible for God, Mary. Your cousin, Elizabeth, is pregnant despite her old-age. Blessed is the one who believes and does not doubt.’
Mary was overwhelmed; excited, yet trembling in reverence at the Lord’s choice of her carrying a special baby.
Her response displayed her humility and love for God, ‘Behold, the maidservant of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.’
Mary accepted the words of the angel and pondered them in her heart. She didn’t know how to tell Joseph, so she didn’t. Soon her tummy began to grow and Joseph assumed the worst…
Part II: A Heartbreak
‘How could she?!’ Joseph thought with a broken heart, crying alone in his room. ‘What shall I do now?’
The wife he loved so dearly was pregnant—but not by him! They hadn’t been married and intimate yet. Joseph was heartbroken. All of his plans of a happy marriage and a beautiful family life were shattered into a thousand pieces. Despair gripped him; hope seemed lost.
But Joseph loved Mary—he loved her so much that he sought a way to spare her from public shame and the legal consequences.
‘Let me send her away secretly in order to protect her and the unborn child,’ Joseph concluded in his heart. It was the noble thing to do; Joseph was a good man.
‘Joseph!’ called the angel that appeared to him in a dream. ‘Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife! For that Child,’ the angel reassured him, ‘is not another man’s.’
Joseph was perplexed and slowly his broken heart began to feel different.
‘For the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit,’ the angel explained.
He went on, ‘She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name “Jesus,” for He will save His people from their sins.’
‘Jesus—what a beautiful name, what a significant name,’ Joseph thought. ‘God has not forsaken us! God is still with us. God will save us!’ His heartbreak turned into something beautiful.
He remembered the ancient prophecy that a virgin will bear a child and His symbolic name would be ‘Immanuel,’ which meant ‘God with us.’ God had not given up on His people, and soon everyone would hear about it…
Part III: The Star of Bethlehem
‘You saw what?!’ the guard cried out.
‘We saw His Star in the East and have come to worship the King,’ replied the travellers from far away.
‘The king?’ he responded in astonishment. ‘We already have a king; his name is Herod the Great. He won’t like talk of another king.’
‘What are you talking about,’ came a strong, confident voice from the other room. Herod stepped out into the hall, turned to the guests and welcomed them.
‘What brings you here, gentlemen?’
‘We have come to worship the King of the Jews, your majesty. We saw His Star in the East.’
Herod was perplexed, not sure what to answer. ‘Are you sure of this?’
‘Yes, sir. Can you help us? Can you direct us to the Child? We brought gifts worthy of the King.’
Still in shock, and worried, Herod called his council together and had them figure out where exactly this ‘king’ was to be born.
‘According to Scriptures, your majesty, it’s in Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, as Micah the prophet foretold. He said that a Ruler would come from there who would shepherd God’s people, Israel.’
‘Is that so?’ the king wondered. What was he to do? Herod was worried about his position of power and privilege. He knew he wasn’t a legitimate king, but more of a puppet for Rome, the overlords of Judea.
Herod wondered, ‘If this child was, indeed, the King of the Jews, the Messiah of God and Ruler of Israel, what is supposed to become of me?’ Herod started his evil scheming, thinking only of himself, not the people around him.
But he then hid his worried demeanour and put on a happy face as he again turned to the guests from the East. ‘Please, dear friends, go and search carefully for the child and report back to me, as I, too, wish to worship him.’ The wise men didn’t discern that Herod was being hypocritical with them and had already made plans to kill the child-king…
The astonishing news spread like wild fire in Jerusalem and troubled many. Yet others were excited! ‘Who was that king? Was this the promised Messiah of God? Was he the one we all waited for?’
In the meantime, the wise men from the East found the Child—His Star stood over the place where His parents had found shelter. They had travelled from the north of the country, where they lived, to the place where Joseph originally came from, Bethlehem. This they did in order to be registered in the census the Romans decreed to all their subjects.
Although King, that special Child the wise men came to worship, was wrapped in cloths and laid in a manger as there was no place in the inn. The Child was born in humble circumstances, yet the gifts the wise men brought were royal: gold, frankincense and myrrh.
The Star had guided the wise men to find the Messiah. When the people heard that a Star guided the wise men to Bethlehem, they started circulating another prophecy from ancient times:
‘A star shall come forth from Jacob, a sceptre shall rise from Israel…’
The wise men worshiped the Child. Salvation had come to earth—peace to humankind. Just as divine guidance led these wise men to worship the King, an angel from God visited shepherds on the field in order to guide them, too, to the Messiah.
Part IV: The Angel’s Announcement
‘What time is it?’
‘Probably past midnight,’ replied the older shepherd. They were tending the sheep at night out in the fields.
‘I’m a little tired,’ admitted the younger one.
‘No problem, son, just rest a little. It’s a quiet night and a clear sky.’
‘I love watching the stars. The stars always remind me how powerful and beautiful God is,’ he said, before laying his head on the shepherd’s bag for a nap.
‘Yes, creation reveals His power and beauty.’
Suddenly a great light shone on them. It wasn’t a bright star; it was an angel! The glory of God shone around him. It was an awesome experience for the shepherds, but they were afraid.
‘Do not be afraid,’ said the angel calmly. ‘I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people.’
‘What could this be,’ thought the shepherd. ‘Why tell us? We are people of no importance.’
The angel went on and proclaimed, ‘for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.’ This news was overwhelming for the shepherds.
‘This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’
The shepherds were still perplexed. And suddenly, a whole host of angels became visible to them, praising God together:
‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.’
‘Peace on earth?’ Thought the older shepherd. ‘How can this be? Our land is occupied and we are ruled by foreign overlords. Life is tough and most of us are poor.’ Many thoughts turned in his head, but in his heart he believed.
The angel had disappeared and the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.’ They hurried, filled with expectation and excitement! What would they find? Was it really true?
‘It’s true! There is the baby in the manger, just as the angel had told us.’
‘Welcome, dear friends,’ said Joseph with a kind voice. ‘What brings you here?’
‘Sir, believe it or not, but an angel of God appeared to us on the field, telling us that this Child is Saviour, Messiah and Lord! It seemed unreal, but it is true!’
The shepherds worshipped that special Child and returned rejoicing—the Saviour is born, peace on earth and glory to God!
Part V: Salvation at Last
‘Tomorrow is the eighth day, Love,’ Mary said to Joseph.
‘Yes, I have planned our trip to the Temple to have Jesus dedicated to God,’ Joseph reassured her. ‘Let’s leave in the morning.’
Meanwhile, an old man was praying to God.
‘How long, oh Lord?’ he cried out. ‘How long until You redeem Your people, Oh Most High? We have suffered long enough… where is Your salvation for Israel?’
Simeon was a faithful believer. He was a devout and righteous man. He didn’t become corrupt in the midst of the injustice and hardships his people faced. He was looking for the consolation of Israel.
God’s Spirit had given him a special promise: he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah! But he was old already and time was running out—when would Messiah come?
Simeon went to the Temple, and there He was: he saw the Messiah-Child carried by his parents. He walked straight up to them, took their Child into his arms and said:
‘Now Lord, You are releasing Your servant to depart in peace—as You have promised! My eyes has seen Your salvation—a Light of revelation to all nations!
The Child’s parents were amazed at what they heard—but this was only the beginning of an incredible life that would impact millions of people for millennia to come...
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