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”
-Matthew 1:22-23
The Old Testament described the awaited Messiah’s birth in detail. In particular, the prophets foretold that the Savior would be born of a woman and would defeat evil to redeem humanity - essentially starting in Genesis with the fall of Adam. The Old Testament prophets went to great lengths to describe Jesus' life, death, and resurrection.
For us, the sign of the virgin birth makes sense by faith. Without faith, the virgin birth is confusing and strange, but with faith it fills your heart with comfort. When you hear Isaiah’s prophecy from seven hundred years before Jesus was born, and when you hear that the Holy Spirit allowed Mary to become pregnant, you like Joseph believe. You trust that this is how the Savior’s work to save us began.
The Christmas story is one of good news and great joy, but it is also quite a short one. There are 27 books in the New Testament part of the Bible, but the story is only told in the books written by Matthew and Luke, two of Jesus' followers and friends. In Matthew, the story is told in two out of the 28 chapters and in Luke, it is told in two chapters out of 24.
Both Matthew and Luke finish their telling of the story with Joseph, Mary and Jesus returning to Nazareth to live. But Christians believe that Christmas was only the beginning of the amazing life of Jesus.
Prayer:
Almighty God, your Son has shown us how to love one another.
May our love for you overflow into joyous service,
and be a healing witness to our neighbors through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
