A Saviour Is Born
The King of the universe gave up all of His power and honour to become a human. He left the glory of heaven to live in wood-and-stone houses and walk on dirt roads. His supernatural splendour was buried deep, so that no-one would follow Him because of it. He wanted nothing to do with looking good or being popular. He wanted only the appeal of truth—real, heavenly truth—to grab people’s interest. He wanted people to accept Him because they recognised Him from the words of Scripture.
The angels were amazed at His plan to save humankind. They watched to see how those who claimed to follow God would accept God’s Son, when He looked just like one of them.
An angel had already appeared to Zachariah as he ministered in the Holy Place of the temple to announce that the Messiah was coming soon. Zachariahs’ son had been born, just as the angel had promised. And everyone had been told that this special son was going to announce the coming Messiah and prepare people to meet Him. Yet the priests and people of Jerusalem were not preparing to welcome their Saviour.
The angels couldn’t believe it! How could these people—the ones God had chosen to tell the world about Him—not even care about the arrival of Jesus? God had spared the Jewish nation so they could witness that Jesus would indeed be born from the family of Abraham and King David. It was almost time for Jesus’ birth, but God’s people didn’t know.
At the temple, the priests sacrificed a lamb every morning and evening. These services pointed to the day when Jesus, the Lamb of God, would come to save His people. Yet none of the priests in the temple were preparing to meet Him.
Not even the priests and teachers knew that the most amazing event of history was about to take place. They said prayers they didn’t mean; they went through the motions of worship only to impress others. Since they cared only about riches and honour, they weren’t ready for the coming of Jesus.
Across the whole land, people seemed to care only about getting more of what they wanted. None of the joy of heaven reached them. Only a few people waited and hoped that the Messiah would come soon. To those people, God sent angels with a message.
Some of the angels travelled with Joseph and Mary from their home in Nazareth to Bethlehem. The Roman emperor was forcing everyone to make a trip to their home city, to the place where their ancestors had lived. That way, the Romans could count every family and charge them taxes.
God had a plan. He used Caesar Augustus’ decree to bring Mary to Bethlehem at just the right time. Because Mary was a descendant of King David, she had to travel to David’s city, Bethlehem, to be counted. Many years before, the prophet Micah had foretold that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. And now, thanks to the Romans, He was going to be.
In the city of their royal ancestor, Joseph and Mary were lost in the crowds. No-one noticed them or cared about them. Tired and homeless, they wandered down the long narrow street from one end of the city to the other searching for a place to rest that night. There was no room for them at the crowded inn. Finally, in a shelter full of animals, they found a spot to rest. And there, the Saviour of the world was born.
Humans didn’t know it, but the news filled heaven with joy. Angels gathered in the sky over the hills around Bethlehem, waiting for the signal to announce the happy news to the world. If the leaders of God’s people had been waiting and watching for the Messiah, they could have joined in announcing Jesus’ birth. But they were passed by. Instead, God searched for those who were faithfully waiting and watching. Only the shepherds were ready.
In the same fields where King David as a boy had watched over his sheep, shepherds were keeping watch over their flocks. Through the long hours, they talked about the promise that a Saviour was coming. They prayed that the Heir to King David’s throne would come soon.
Then it happened. "An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord’" (Luke 2:9-11).
When they heard these words, the shepherds began to imagine what this would mean. Finally, their country would have its long-awaited king! He would bring power and glory! He would free them from the Romans!
But the angel knew that Jesus was a different kind of king. He helped the shepherds begin to understand by telling them where to find Him. "You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger" (Luke 2:12).
With great kindness, the angel had quietly explained how to find Jesus. He had given the shepherds time to get used to their glory. But now the angels couldn’t hold back their joy and glory any longer. It flashed out and lit up the hills and plains for miles around. Earth was silent, and heaven leaned down to listen to their song: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests" (Luke 2:14). The music and message of their song would carry to the whole earth and linger to the end of time.
Then the angels disappeared, the light faded away, and the shadows of night fell once more on the hills of Bethlehem. But the shepherds couldn’t forget what they’d seen and heard. No humans had ever seen a more astounding sight.
The shepherds said to each other, "Let’s go and see this amazing thing that God has told us about." They hurried to town and found Mary and Joseph, and the Baby in the manger just as the angel had said. When they left, they were too happy to be quiet. They told everyone they met about the angels and the baby and everything they had seen and heard.
The story of that night in Bethlehem will never grow old. By coming to this earth to be our Savour, Jesus traded His throne and all the angels in heaven for a manger and a barn full of animals. And this was only a small part of what He gave up.
For the Son of God to become a human like Adam and Even—perfect, before sin entered the world—would have meant giving up more than we can imagine. But what Jesus did was even more amazing. He became one of us after thousands of years of sin had made humans weak. Like all the children of Adam and Eve, Jesus had to live with the weaknesses He inherited from His ancestors. But He came anyway to share our pain and our problems. He came to give us an example of a life fully dedicated to God, a life without sin.
Even before he was thrown out of heaven, Satan hated Jesus. He hated Jesus all the more because Jesus had promised to save the lost humans of earth. Yet into this world where Satan claims ownership, God allowed His Son to come as a helpless infant to meet life’s dangers just like every other human. He allowed His Son to fight the battles that every person must fight, at the risk of failing and losing His eternal life.
Every father worries over his children. Looking into their faces, he can’t help but tremble at the danger of life. There is nothing he would like more than to protect those children from Satan, to keep them safe from harm and temptation. Yet God sent His only Son into this world to meet even greater dangers to take even greater risks so that our children could be forever safe some day.
Only love could do such a thing, a love beyond the understanding of humans, a love that amazes even the angels of heaven.
Reprinted, with permission, from Messiah, a contemporary adaptation of the The Desire of Ages.
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This is an extract from December 2004
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