The Promised Messiah: Part 3 of 3

For thousands of years, God’s children looked forward to the coming Messiah. They longed for a permanent sacrifice of their sins. Sure, they appreciated the law that God had given to them, but were ready for the one who could fulfill what Adam could not.

You know sometimes we dream of how something should be carried out, and it ends up looking completely different than what we had swimming through our head. The children of God had dreamed of a brawny soldier type of person, the King of all kings and the Lord of all lords, riding in with a giant war horse in pomp and circumstance. Many thought he would come to help them annihilate their enemies, not realizing that sin was the enemy.

God had different plans. Around 700 years before the Messiah’s arrival, Micah 5:2 gives a little prophecy. “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.” Bethlehem is a tiny village that was so insignificant. Why would God choose this “irrelevant” location? We will get to this in a moment.

So, we have the location of the coming Messiah, but there was a big problem. Since all humans are infected with the inherited sin nature from conception, they naturally passed down the infectious disease to their offspring. There had to be another way in order for there to be a perfect sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin. The promised Messiah was to come through a path that protected the Lamb of God from sin.

An angel came to Mary, and told her “You will conceive and have a baby.” Mary was confused, because she was a virgin. How could a virgin become pregnant? Mary was in a very dangerous position. She knew that Joseph, according to human law, had every legal right to have Mary stoned to death. Another angel appeared to Joseph, and explained everything to Him. Joseph, in obedience to God, took Mary as His wife. God, supernaturally, caused Mary to become pregnant. Due to this miraculous pregnancy, this separated the coming Messiah from all of the other human babies. This solved the problem of Romans 5:12. This preserved God’s holiness from sin.

There was a census this particular year. The way the census was counted is that everyone had to return to the city of their fathers. For Joseph that was Bethlehem. Luke 2:4 “And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David.” The exact place that Micah had prophesied about hundreds of years before. I am not a mathematician, but the chances of Joseph being from Bethlehem is crazy. On top of that, the census forcing Joseph to go to Bethlehem is statistically staggering. This is why the city means so much!

As soon as they got to Bethlehem, Mary was going into labor. They tried to find a place at every house, hotel, motel, inn, etc. The only available shelter for a mother, who needed a sterile comfortable place to have a baby, was a barn-like structure. At some point during this night, a choir of angels lit up the night sky to declare to a group of shepherds that the awaited Messiah, God in the flesh, had been born. Luke 2:14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Let’s take a step back just for a moment, and think about the shepherds. Being a shepherd was one of the lowliest jobs at that time. You sometimes lived away from the everyday person for weeks at a time. You were always dirty and smelly. You always had to risk your life to protect the flock from predators. Why would God even consider these people to be honored guests in the stinky manger? He did not come to bring salvation to the rich. He didn’t come for just a certain skin color or language. He came to draw His children to Himself.

The Creator, the Messiah, the King of all kings, and the Lord of all lords came down in humility to show His children how much He cares for them. He loves His children so much that He was willing to subject Himself to a dirty barn as His sterile hospital. He loves His children so much that the only visitors that were there that night were the poorest of the poor, the stinkiest of the stinky, and it demonstrates that He came for all nations, tribes and tongues. No country withheld. No status requirement needed. Salvation is not based on us, but on the righteous, holy, and perfect gift of God: Jesus Christ.