DAY SEVEN
Mary had left Nazareth in a hurry. Three months later she returned, obviously pregnant.
Joseph didn’t want to marry this woman who was pregnant by another man. He decided to annul his betrothal. He didn’t want Mary to be killed for being pregnant outside of marriage, so he decided to do it privately.
But then something amazing happened. An angel came to Joseph in a dream. The angel told him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife. She had not been with another man. The baby conceived in her was of the Holy Spirit.
The angel also said, “She will give birth to a Son, and you will call His name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”
Read all the details in Matthew 1:18-25.
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DAY EIGHT
According to prophecy, the Savior would be born in Bethlehem. Micah 5:2
Mary and Joseph lived in Nazareth. Why were they in Bethlehem when Jesus was born?
Luke explains.
Caesar Augustus decided all the world would be taxed.
Everyone was required to go to the city of his family to be taxed. Joseph was a descendant of David, so he and Mary went to Bethlehem (the city of David) to be taxed.
Mary was VERY pregnant. The journey was probably very uncomfortable for her. It took 4-7days to make the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem.
While they were in Bethlehem, Mary delivered the baby Jesus.
Read Luke 2:1-6 for all of the details.
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DAY NINE
The King of Kings and Lord of Lords was born in a stable in Bethlehem.
Why? Because so many people had come to Bethlehem for Caesar Augustus’ tax. The small town was overflowing with people, and there was no room in the inn.
Who should be told of His birth?
God chose to reveal it to the lowly. He sent an angel with the message to shepherds, who were in the fields watching their sheep that night.
"...A Savior, who is Christ the Lord, has been born today in Bethlehem...You will know him by this sign: you will find him wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”
Then there were many angels, praising God and saying:
"Glory to God in the highest,
and peace on earth,
goodwill to men!”
When the angels had gone away, the shepherds said to one another, “Let's go to Bethlehem now and see this thing that has happened, that the Lord has made known to us.”
They hurried and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger.
Read Luke 2:8-16 for all the details.
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DAY TEN
What did the shepherds do after they left Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus?
They began to tell about the child and the things the angels told them.
Remember the town was overflowing with people for the shepherds to tell.
And everyone who heard was amazed by the things the shepherds told them.
Remember these were people who had traveled from various areas to be taxed. When they went back home, they took the news of the Savior’s birth with them.
If God wanted to spread the news of the birth of His Son, this was the perfect way to do it.
Then what did the shepherds do? They returned to their sheep.
What else did they do? They glorified and praised God for all the things that they had heard and seen.
Luke 2:17-18,20
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The Christmas Story
DAY ELEVEN
The shepherds had told the news of the birth of our Savior, Christ the Lord.
But “Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.”
Luke is speaking specifically of the events of the night of the birth of Jesus,
but I think it may have been true of many events.
Mary is the only person who experienced the story of Christ from conception to ascension.
— She experienced the miracle within her body.
— She saw the way God brought His plan together for Jesus to be born in Bethlehem.
— She heard the story of the shepherds firsthand.
— She heard the blessings of the two witnesses, Simeon and Anna.
— She held Jesus and nursed him as an infant.
— She received the gifts the wise men brought for the child.
— She saw him grow from a child to a man.
— Through him, she knew the character of God like no other person in history.
— She was there for Jesus’ ministry.
— She stood by the cross during the crucifixion.
— She would have heard the news of the events at the tomb firsthand from Mary Magdalene, John (since she lived with him as his “mother” after the crucifixion), and also from the other disciples.
— She was surely one of the over 500 who saw Jesus after the resurrection.
— She would have heard firsthand about the ascension.
— She was part of the early church.
I think Mary took ALL of these events and revelations and pondered them in her heart.
Luke 2:19
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DAY TWELVE
When the holy child was eight days old, he was circumcised, according to the law, and named.
In the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Leviticus 12:3
His name was called Jesus, as the angel Gabriel said to Mary before he was conceived in her womb (Luke 1:31) and as the angel said to Joseph in a dream when Mary was three months pregnant. (Matthew 1:21)
When a woman gave birth to a male child, she had a 40-day period of purification. Leviticus 12:2-4
After this period, she would bring the baby boy to the temple to present him to the Lord, and she would make an offering. Leviticus 12:6-7
Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem and offered a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons.
By this we know that Mary and Joseph were poor. The law said that a lamb and a young pigeon would be offered for the mother's cleansing, but if she is "not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtle doves or two young pigeons." Leviticus 12:8
Mary and Joseph were not able to bring a lamb.
Read Luke 2:21-24 for the details.
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DAY THIRTEEN
After Mary’s 40-day purification, Mary and Joseph took Jesus into the temple to present him to the Lord and to offer Mary’s sacrifice.
Before they offered the sacrifice, Simeon came to the temple, led by the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Ghost had revealed to him that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
Simeon took Jesus in his arms and blessed God and said, "Let me die in peace, according to what you have told me, because my eyes have seen your salvation...” He went on to speak of salvation to Israel and to the Gentiles.
Joseph and Mary marveled at the things Simeon said of Jesus.
Then Simeon blessed them, and revealed more about the child and about Mary, including the familiar prophecy that a sword would pierce through her own soul, speaking of the sorrow she would experience in seeing her son suffer the brutal death of crucifixion.
At that moment, Anna came in.
Anna was a prophetess, a widow who stayed in the temple, serving God with fastings and prayers night and day.
She also gave thanks to the Lord, and she spoke of the child to all in Jerusalem who were looking for redemption, looking for the Redeemer and Savior.
God provided two witnesses who stated that Jesus is the Christ.
At the mouth of two witnesses...the matter shall be established. (Deuteronomy 19:15)
When Joseph and Mary had offered their sacrifice, they returned to Nazareth.
Read Luke 2:25-39 for more details about Simeon and Anna and what they revealed about the Son of God.
