Following Jesus to the Manger

An article examining the prophesied Messiah and his humble birth.

Our world has been tainted in sin as long as we have known it. The fall was detrimental to our way of life and now affects our past, present, and future actions. We know, that we have been conceived and born in sin, and we cannot fix this problem on our own. We are powerless, in our flesh, against sin and cannot flee from it. No one is good and no person can do good. For this reason, God formed a plan of rescue - to save us from our sins and to reconcile us back to himself. Throughout Scripture, He reminds us of the promise that he kept, which was put into action when a humble child was born in Bethlehem.

Genesis 3:15 - I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will crush his heel.

We can only imagine the type of place the Garden of Eden was. Ever since you and I were born, we have known sin because we were born with it. This is the curse of the fall, not only that the world came under the curse, but that now, we lost access to God. Adam and Eve took the door out of the garden by eating the forbidden fruit, and by doing so, the human race became separated from God. However, amidst the first act of rebellion, God gave our first parents a promise. Genesis 3:15 is referred to as the "first Gospel promise" because it simply states God's plan of action to rescue the human race. He tells us that the Messiah, "the seed of the women" will crush the head of the serpent, even though the serpent will crush his heel. This points ahead to the coming Messiah who would suffer (his heel would be crushed), but by doing so he would our enemies: sin, death, and the devil and destroy the power of the serpent.

Genesis 22:18 - In your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.

Isaiah 11:1 - A shoot will spring up from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.

Up until the time that the Messiah was born, God continued to promise his chosen people, Israel, of the Savior's coming. In Genesis 22, we read of God's promise to Abraham of the same seed promised to Adam and Eve, through whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed. The descendants of Abraham became the nation of Israel, as Abraham's son would become the father of Jacob. After wrestling with God, Jacob became known as Israel, and thus his descendants, the people of Israel. These were God's chosen people, to whom he gave the promised land. Even when the people of Israel strayed from God, he did not give up on them and his promise.

In Isaiah, we are given even more information about the coming Messiah, that he would be a descendant of Jesse, who was the father of King David. In addition to these prophecies and promises, God's people were constantly reminded of the promised Messiah through their worship practices. Old Testament sacrifices and practices often pointed ahead to and foreshadowed what the Messiah would do to reconcile humankind.

Luke 1:30-31 - The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, because you have found favor with God. Listen, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus."

After 400 years of inactivity, in which no canonical books of Scripture were written, God broke the silence. He did this through his messenger angel, Gabriel, who announced to the Virgin Mary that she would give birth to the Messiah, who would save the human race. The child that she would give birth to would be conceived by the Holy Spirit, and be the Son of God. The Lord told Joseph (Mary's "to-be" husband) in a dream that this child would save his people from their sins.

Luke 2:6-7 - And so it was that while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son, wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.

Isaiah 9:6 - For to us a child is born. To us a son is given.

We know well the story of our Savior's birth, how Mary and Josep

h went to Bethlehem - the city of David. This fulfilled the prophecy of Micah, which foretold that the Christ-child would be born in the city of Bethlehem. Mary and Joseph searched for a place to stay where she could have the child, but there was no room in the inn, and thus our Savior, was laid in a humble manger. For now, the newly born child would look at the stars that he made and grow up in stature and in favor with God in man. He would go out to begin his ministry of calling sinners to be forgiven and saved by his grace and would complete his work of salvation victoriously on the cross, to save both you and me.