Jesus’s Lowly Birth

Background Scripture: Luke 2
Lesson Scripture: Luke 2:7-16; Philippians 2:5-8

Introduction

Imagine walking along a dusty path in the hot summer sunshine. On the side of the trail, a tiny spot of radiant green catches your eye. Stooping down, you see a little sprout peeking out of a crack in the hard dirt. How can this tender plant survive in this barren, inhospitable environment?

This is the word picture in the prophecy of Isaiah 53:2. This little plant’s circumstances are perilous. Even its beauty is shadowed by its harsh surroundings, but this delicate sprout is being tended by God Himself. What began as a small sprout is now in full bloom. The message of the gospel has grown to cover the whole world; this is the story of Christmas.

Key Verse

For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him (Isa. 53:2).

Lesson Scripture

Studying the Lesson

When God sent his Son to the world, He did not choose for Him to be raised in a prestigious, luxurious home. Instead, He came into a simple home, likely one of necessity and frugality.

Jesus’s parents were an engaged couple named Joseph and Mary. Gabriel was sent to tell Mary that Jesus would be born to her. When Gabriel appeared to Mary with this wonderful message, Mary was confused because she was a virgin, and she was keeping herself for Joseph. Gabriel reassured her that the baby would be the Son of God. She replied that she was the servant of the Lord and that she was willing for God’s plan.

Evidently, Mary felt peace and joy in her heart after the heavenly visit. Was she excited to report it to others? When Joseph became aware of Mary’s strange story of being with child, it clouded his confidence in her. How could he marry this young lady whose fidelity was in question? Being a just man, he decided to break their engagement quietly instead of publicly shaming her. God understood Joseph’s plight, so an angel appeared to him, too, verifying Mary’s story. With Joseph’s trust restored, he took Mary as his wife and loved her and the Child.

The fact remained that Mary was indeed with child. If Joseph had difficulty believing Mary’s story, how would the rest of the town understand it? Joseph and Mary presumably did their best to keep away from public attention. In the months before her baby was born, God gave Mary a place of refuge. She had heard that her cousin Elizabeth had miraculously become expectant in her old age, so she went to see her. There God gave them both his divine affirmation that it was He who was at work in them. There, too, we see the deep joy in their hearts.

Three months later, Mary returned to Nazareth, but soon she and Joseph had to leave again. This time it was by the decree of the Roman emperor—they had to travel to Joseph’s ancestral home to participate in a Roman census. It was almost time for the birth of the baby, but they somehow made the ninety-mile journey to Bethlehem. It seems that Joseph may have had relatives there, yet they had to seek a room at an inn. However, nothing was available to them, so the Baby was born at night out among the livestock. Mary laid her newborn Baby in an empty manger.

How were Joseph and Mary feeling by this time? Did they feel alone and vulnerable in a big cruel world? Did they fully comprehend that their newborn was the Son of God? Would God acknowledge the Baby’s arrival and witness to his divinity? How would He care for his own Son? Suddenly they heard excited voices and hasty footsteps approaching in the night as a group of shepherds found them. The shepherds were ecstatic with joy and wonder. An angel had informed them that the Lord was born, and He was lying in a manger. An army of angels had serenaded them with a heavenly song of praise. What a confirmation! Surely these parents now knew they were safe under the watchful consideration of Heaven itself.

One wonders how the Pharisees and the local community leaders treated Joseph and Mary. Was it congenial and respectful? Years later, the people of the town still thought of Jesus only as the son of Joseph (Luke 4:22), despite the miracles that confirmed his divinity. They had made up their minds on the matter, and their conclusions were unaffected by the works of God. If they spontaneously tried to kill Him as an adult, had they treated Him and his parents differently when He was a child? Years later, perhaps Jesus remembered his own mother’s plight before his birth as He visited with the disgraced Samaritan woman at the well.

Practical Truths for Today

Should we sympathize with Mary and Joseph? As fellow humans, we can recognize their difficult situation, but considering Mary’s joy in Luke 1:46-55, she is clearly not dwelling upon the difficulties surrounding their situation. Outward circumstances are of little consequence when the Lord demonstrates his providential power.

Though Mary’s story was unbelievable at first, God gradually confirmed Jesus’s divinity. First Timothy 3:16 says that the Son of God appeared in fleshly form and was vindicated by the Spirit. This heavenly confirmation was done by miracles, which showed true seekers that Jesus was the Messiah, yet those miracles were unobtrusive enough that they could be ignored by those who were guarded, cynical, or skeptical. Jesus later said, “I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes” (Matt. 11:25). Jesus could have presented Himself in ways that would have elicited admiration from those in power, but instead He humbled Himself before humanity (Phil. 2:7-8). This is how He began the gospel age, and it is how He still works today.

Vindication by the Holy Spirit is also bestowed upon the people of God, yet He provides this confirmation in a way that will not override the will of the critic or the deceived. Just as the divinely confirmed Son of God was dragged out of his home synagogue by his acquaintances, so the divinely confirmed church of God will be despised by some also professing his Name (John 16:2).

Even in the darkest times, humble seekers still rejoice in God’s great gift of redemption. “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined” (Isa. 9:2). May our hearts again be rekindled as we consider the solid joys and eternal durability of Christ’s salvation.

Questions

1. What can be done for a person who is not affected by joy?
2. Why does God not confirm his will today in ways that none could ignore?
3. How do you think you would have treated Jesus had you grown up in the same town?
4. Jesus did not choose the admiration of men. Is it wrong to expect to be admired for doing right?

Source: COGICM Daily Bible Readings (Daily Bible Readings, PO Box 124, Glenn, CA 95943).