What's All the fuss?

Hello and Merry Christmas! As Christmas day gets closer, we need to start thinking about why Christmas is such an important time of the year. Is it because we get to spend time with family? Maybe it's because we get to give gifts and see the looks on our friend's faces when they open them? Is It that we get to see all the beautiful lights and decorations? Christmas (although we seem to associate it with all those things) Our question can be answered in the Bible! Matthew 1 and 2:1-20 tells us this: "This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus. After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’[i]” Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” The Return to Nazareth After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt  and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.” To summarize God sent his son to be born of a virgin, work miracles, and die for us! Let's break this down. an angel came to Mary and told her that she would have the baby Jesus. Now the fact that Mary was pregnant made Joseph scared (as Mary was a virgin) and he didn't believe what Mary told him until an angel came to him in a dream and told him Mary was not lying and told them to name the baby Jesus! Now there was a Roman census forcing every man to return to his hometown. Joseph's just happened to be Bethlehem! After traveling, there were no inns with rooms so they had to stay in a stable. Now, there were shepherds in the fields nearby and an angel of the Lord told them that "Jesus would be born in Bethlehem" and they went to see the baby, Jesus. Now normally the story ends right there, but sometimes we forget about Harrod. Harrod was the ruler of the land at the time, he told the Magi (who wouldn't come until two years later,) to go to Bethlehem and report back to him so he could "Worship him too". But the magi never came back to Harrod and he was furious! So he sent out a law to have all the babies 2 years old and younger to be killed. Now that is one jealous ruler! Meanwhile, an angel of the Lord came to Joseph in a dream and told him what Harrod was going to do a told Mary and Joseph to go to Egypt as fast as they could! Despite all the ways Satan tried to stop it, Jesus fulfilled his promise! Jesus is our hope, our God, and the Messiah! There is no one like Him. Jesus is the hope for the hopeless, and as we come closer to Christmas we need to remember this: Jesus didn't just come to be a baby or to do miracles, He came to die in our place! That is what all the fuss is about, make sure that's at the center of all your celebrations, and have a Merry Christmas!