- Why was He called Jesus?
- What was the significance of Bethlehem?
- Why did the angels appear to the shepherds before anyone else?
- How did the Wise Men know a King had been born?
If you're not sure about any of the above, then read on! The story of the nativity (the birth of Jesus) is fascinating. Unfortunately, we miss out on most of the interesting stuff because we don't understand the story in its historical, Jewish context.
And if we're really honest, we've heard it so many times (and seen the main characters emblazoned on so many Christmas cards!!) that the magic has worn a little thin. Let me try and help you to recapture that sense of wonder by giving you some fresh insights into God's precious Word.
The Name of Jesus
In Hebrew, the real name of Jesus is Yeshua. It was a common enough name in New Testament days (for example look at Acts 13:6). The name actually means SALVATION and is also a shortened form of the phrase "The Lord is salvation". This is much more meaningful than our modern English name "Jesus" which, although very precious to us, doesn't have any inherent meaning. In biblical times, names almost always had meaning.
Do you remember Simeon who met Jesus when His parents brought Him to the temple to present Him before the Lord? Here is the story as presented in Luke 2:
And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. (Luke 2:25-32)
Why Bethlehem? There are at least three reasons why Jesus was born in Bethlehem. First and foremost, it was a fulfillment of prophecy. Micah 5:2 says this: But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. The One referred to here cannot be a mere man since the passage clearly implies that His goings forth are from old - even from everlasting. Micah 5:2 is a Messianic prophecy relating to Yeshua. It was clearly understood as such in those days: when Herod asked the religious leaders of the day where the Messiah would be born, they unequivocally told him that the birthplace must be Bethlehem, quoting the prophecy from Micah. (Matt 2:4-6). Herod took this seriously; seriously enough to have all male children in Bethlehem and the surrounding area slaughtered. (Matt 2:16). Secondly, Bethlehem had a long-standing association with King David, and was even referred to as "the city of David". For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:11) David was a prophetic forerunner of Jesus and the Jews understood that the Messiah had to come from the line of David. "Son of David" was understood to be a title of the Messiah. Bethlehem was the birthplace of them both. Thirdly, there is the place name. As with the names of people (e.g. Yeshua as explained above) place names also have great significance. In Hebrew, Bethlehem is actually two words - Beit Lechem which literally means "House of Bread". (In Arabic, the House of Meat). In ancient times, Bethlehem was an agricultural centre for the production of wheat and barley on the one hand, and the raising of sheep on the other. We can see the first referred to in the story of Ruth (1:22 - 2:10) and the second in the story of David (1 Sam 17:15). Incidentally, in the story of Ruth, it's interesting to note that Boaz, a kinsman-redeemer and a type of Christ, is also closely associated with Bethlehem. Isn't it fitting that the One who called Himself "The Bread of Life" should be born in the House of Bread? Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. (John 6:32-35) The Angels and the Shepherds We all know the story. The shepherds were sitting there on the hillside minding their own business, looking after their sheep, when suddenly a single angel appeared to them and announced the birth of Jesus. This was then followed by the appearance of a multitude of angels praising God. Why did the angels appear first to the shepherds? To answer that question, we need to backtrack a little. Remember we said that Bethlehem was a centre for the production of wheat and barley but also a place where sheep were raised? But these weren't just ordinary sheep. They were lambs destined to be sacrificed in Jerusalem at the temple. The law required that every household had to sacrifice a lamb at Passover time - if they could afford to do so. This amounted to a very large number of lambs. Moreover, the regulations dictated that each lamb had to be without blemish. (Ex 12:5). The corrupt sacrificial system which was in operation during the time of Jesus ensured that the Temple always made a fat profit. If you brought your own lamb to sacrifice, it was inspected by one of the Temple priests and the chances were high that it would be rejected as having some blemish. You were therefore forced to buy a lamb from the Temple itself. These lambs, naturally, commanded a high price and you couldn't just buy one with ordinary money. You first had to change your money into Temple money - at a disadvantageous exchange rate! These are the moneychangers referred to in passages such as Matt 21:12 and it was these types of "sharp" practices which made Jesus so angry. The bottom line is that the Temple not only sacrificed lambs, but it supplied them too - in industrial quantities! Where did these lambs come from? The answer is that many of them were reared in fields near Bethlehem by shepherds who effectively worked for the Temple in Jerusalem. Now here's the important part: whenever a new lamb was born, it was the duty of the shepherds to immediately inspect the new born-lamb to determine whether or not it had any blemish. A lamb which had some deformity (no matter how slight) was of absolutely no use for Temple sacrifice. It was slaughtered immediately. This is the reason the angel appeared firstly to the shepherds: the most important sacrificial Lamb of all had just been born, and the angel therefore sent the shepherds hastening to see the One who, thirty-three years later, at Passover time, would be lifted high on a cruel cross as the one, perfect sacrifice for their sins.
For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us. (1 Cor. 5:7)
The Wise Men According to tradition, there were three wise men, although Scripture nowhere states their number - we infer that there were three because of the three gifts but there may have been two or twenty! Tradition also tell us that they visited Jesus at the time of His birth. Down through the centuries, many artists, including Rubens and Da Vinci have attempted to paint this scene. In almost all these paintings, Jesus is represented as a newborn baby. Does this agree with Scripture? Well... not quite... If you read Matthew 2 carefully, you'll see several clues which suggest Jesus was at least a couple of months old (and perhaps as much as two years) when He was visited by the wise men. Matthew 2:1 tells us that wise men came from the East when He was born, but this could be taken as stating that they began their journey when He was born -- which would be when they first saw the star. In those days, it could have taken some time to reach Israel. This would explain why Herod was so keen (Matt 2:7) to find out the exact time the star had appeared. If he knew that it had appeared perhaps a year or so before, he also knew that any male child who was two years old (or less) was potentially a rival for his throne. Hence the terrible slaughter which took place. There are a couple of other things which likewise indicate Jesus was no longer a newborn. In verse 11, the wise men visited Jesus, Mary and Joseph in a house. A house? This suggests that things have moved on somewhat since the classical nativity scene in the stable. But wait a minute: if some months have elapsed since the birth, then Jesus and his family would no longer be living in Bethlehem. They would have moved back to Nazareth where Joseph and Mary first came from. This is clearly indicated in Luke 2:39. And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth. (Note: According to Leviticus 12, it would have been 40 days from the birth of Jesus until Mary was ritually "clean", so Jesus must have been over a month old before they moved down to Nazareth.) This might all sound a bit complicated, so let's summarize:
We believe that this account is the best fit with the Bible narrative, although it does leave one question unanswered. Why was Joseph warned to take the family to Egypt if they were already safe in Nazareth? The short answer is that they probably weren't safe anywhere in Israel! Scripture only tells us of the slaughter of the little boys in the vicinity of Bethlehem. For all we know, similar atrocities took place in other parts of the country as Herod became increasingly paranoid.
Many believers feel a little uncomfortable when confronted with the (three?) wise men. After all, doesn't this sound a bit like ... uhh ... astrology? Our view is that these wise men had nothing to do with astrology. Astrology is the belief that the position of the stars and planets affect what is happening on Earth. Rather, the Bible tells us that the stars and planets reflect what is happening on Earth. That's an important difference! In a sense, the wise men were the spiritual descendants of Daniel who had left Israel some six hundred years before. We know that Daniel had a profound influence amongst the wise men of ancient Persia and Babylon. Isn't it possible that Daniel, who was greatly favored by God with so many amazing messianic visions, (e.g. Daniel 7:13-14) should establish a tradition amongst the wise men and prophets where he lived? A tradition such that - after he died - men would continue for centuries to comb the skies for a sign that the Son of God had been born, amongst His own people, in the land of Israel? After all, we're told that the wise men came from the East... If you're interested in the star which heralded the Messiah's birth, check out the following site: