Changed by a Baby

It was a typical logging camp, hard-working, hard-living men, rough hands and even rougher lives, crude living and cruder language, untidy cabins, heavy drinking and sometimes fierce fighting.
One morning the men awoke to find a baby—all wrapped up, but crying—in camp. Where it came from no-one knew; what to do for a baby, they knew even less. But they decided to keep the baby and care for it in the camp. They fed and nursed it, sang it lullabies and rocked it to sleep.
The baby became the focal point of the camp and an amazing thing happened: those crude, untidy, hard-drinking, brawling men began to be careful about their language and appearance; the drinking and fighting stopped, and they cleaned up the place. The presence of a baby transformed the camp.
What a paradox: hardened men changed by a helpless babe! A reminder of another babe—Jesus—who transformed the world.

facts about the Saviour
1 What promise was made about the coming Saviour?
(Matthew 1:22, 23) “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son” (v 23).

2 Why was Mary’s child to be called Jesus?
(Matthew 1:20, 21) “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.”

3 In what town was Jesus born?
(Luke 2:3, 4) “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.”

4 Because there was no room in the inn, where was Jesus born?
(Luke 2:7) “She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger.”

5 Who announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds?
(Luke 2:9-11) “An angel of the Lord appeared . . . and . . . said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people’” (vv 9,10).

6 Who were the first to visit the baby Jesus?
(Luke 2:15, 16) “The shepherds . . . hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.”

7 Who came from the East to pay homage to Baby Jesus?
(Matthew 2:1, 11, 12) “Magi [wise men] . . . came to Jerusalem . . . to the house . . . and
. . . worshipped him . . . and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.”
While December 25 is celebrated as the birthday of Jesus, we really don’t know what date he was born.

rejected by His own
8 What does the Bible say about how Jesus was received?
(John 1:11) “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.”

9 Who tried to kill Jesus when He was born?
(Matthew 2:16) “When Herod realised 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.”

10 Who sought to kill Jesus during his ministry on earth, and why?
(John 11:47, 48, 53) “Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. . . . ‘Here is this man performing many miraculous signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.’. . . So from that day on they plotted to take his life.”

11 What finally happened to Jesus?
(Mark 15:22-24) “They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull). . . . And they crucified him.”

why Jesus came
12 Who was Jesus before He came to this world?
(John 1:1, 14) “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . . The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”

The Bible says Jesus “created [all] things in heaven and on earth” (Colossians 1:16). The Creator of heaven and earth, the God of the universe, became a helpless little baby, born in a manger.

13 Why did Jesus come?
(Romans 5:8; John 3:16) “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

No wonder the Time cover story for the end of the millennium said, “The single most powerful figure—not merely in these two millenniums but in all human history—has been Jesus of Nazareth.”
As you think about the birth of Jesus at this time of the year, has His coming changed your life? Has it made a difference in the way you live?

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