Christmas Heralds

“. . . His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: Great is thy faithfulness.” “For this God is our God forever and ever.”

Hi, this is Cynthia Dowling, and if you had to plan the arrival of your son on the first Christmas would you have done it the way God did? Jesus’ birth was not haphazard; it was not last minute; it was not careless. Galatians 4:4 tells us that “when the fullness of time was come God sent forth his son made of a woman.” So that means that God planned for Caesar Augustus to tax the whole world exactly when He did. He planned for Mary, great with child, to have to go to Bethlehem with Joseph to pay those taxes, exactly when she did. Really? Mary, who was highly favored and blessed by God, who even heard God’s angel speak directly to her? Yes.

Even before she went to Bethlehem, her friends and family associated ignominy with her person. And, yes, God planned a long, hard trip from Nazareth for her to go to Bethlehem with Joseph. On top of those things and probably many more, they couldn't find a room in the inn for the birth of the Son of God, the Messiah. How shocking! You mean that God planned from eternity past for His Son to come into the world in one of the most humble ways possible? Yes. Then He sent angels to give His message to shepherds out in the fields with their sheep in one of the long watches of the night. To whom? To shepherds--the first human heralds of the Mighty God's son. Is that possible? But these people were all just ordinary, simple people. Yes, they were. Yet God enabled simple people, like us, to partner with Him here and then give His good news first to the whole world. “Christ the Savior is born!”

Interestingly, God singled out two cities to start spreading His message, a message that would eventually reach the whole world. The first one was Bethlehem and the second one was Jerusalem. A few months after Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph made the short trip to the temple in Jerusalem to dedicate Jesus and offer sacrifices in obedience to the law. The law says that “every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord.” Again, other simple yet special people were singled out by God to see and even hold their Messiah, Jesus.

The first one was Simeon. God says that he was just and devout and waiting for the consolation of Israel. Although he was outwardly ordinary, he was very godly. He was so close to God that God's own Spirit told him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord's Christ. Can you imagine how excited old Simeon was to hold his own Messiah, the Son of God. God also gave Simeon prophetic words that astonished Jesus’ parents, and ones that prepared Mary for more earthly hardship in the future.

And there was sweet little Anna. Anna was probably at least 100 years old, but this precious woman did not depart from the temple but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. Dear little Anna saw Simeon’s face with the baby, and she knew. God has Luke record that when she recognized her Messiah, Jesus, she gave instant thanks to the Lord and spoke to all them that looked for the Messiah’s redemption in Jerusalem. Think of it! A whole group of prayerful watchers waited to hear that their Messiah, the baby Jesus, had been born. How excited they must have been to share with their friends and neighbors that their Messiah was here!

Meantime, back in Bethlehem, the crowded little town was full of people paying their taxes and getting ready to head home. Wow! Who needs a newspaper or even the internet! All these people were all going home to all different places in Israel, and what do you think they were all talking about on the way home and when they got home? Amazing how fast that news must have traveled.

But God wasn't finished with His heralds yet. God has Matthew record that there was another group of people that needed to hear that the Messiah had been born. Amazingly, this time He sent foreign kings as His ambassadors to tell the heads of government that the Jewish Messiah was here! These Gentile travelers knew their Scriptures and the celestial heavens, so they traveled from afar, guided by God’s magnificent star to Jerusalem. Of course, these foreign royals must have assumed that everyone in Jerusalem would have seen the star and known about the Messiah's birth. However, King Herod did not. The buzzing about a Messiah did not die down. It increased until he had to do something about it. Gathering all the Jewish religious leaders together, he demanded of them where the scriptures said that their Christ should be born.

Obviously, these leaders were not in Simeon or Anna’s group, or they would have had more up-to-date information. But these pompous men did know right where to look for the answer. They unrolled the Micah scroll and read to Herod from God's prophet that Bethlehem of Judea was the place. Then, privately, King Herod talked to the travelers, inquiring of them diligently what time the star appeared, and cleverly requesting that they let him know when they found the Christ. So, these wisemen packed up and headed to Bethlehem. But let's think a minute . . . not only had the temple folks told of the birth of the Messiah, but now foreign dignitaries also knew of His birth and wanted to see Him! God's good news is getting around!

God is so amazing! The star reappears, the men go directly to the house where Mary and Jesus are staying, they fall down and worship the young child, and they give Him gifts worthy of a king. That night, God gives these wisemen a dream not to return to Herod, and they depart into their own country another way. Again, great kings coming to little Bethlehem could not have escaped much notice, reinforcing the earlier good news of the shepherds. Mary and Joseph also had confirmation after confirmation that this little baby they held in their arms was truly the Messiah. God in His great foreknowledge gave rich gifts to Jesus, so Mary and Joseph could make the long trip to Egypt and live there quietly while escaping the wrath of Herod.

Just as He started doing way back in Bethlehem, God has unique heralds to give each of us His good news! Usually simple, unassuming messengers and sometimes even a prominent one--all sent from God to bring His good news to you. God wants you to know that He sent His Son to be the Savior of the world just as He wanted everybody to know then that Christ the Savior had been born. For those of you who don’t yet personally know and obey Jesus as Savior, listen to those heralds He has sent and believe on Him just as the shepherds did so long ago! For those of you who do, just as Anna and Simeon did, you'll continue to receive confirmation after confirmation that Jesus is God. You'll also share in God’s joy as heralds bearing His great, good news. Isn’t God’s plan incredible? No wonder we read that everyone in heaven at the end of time falls on their knees to worship Jesus the Christ, just as the wisemen of old! “O, come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord!”

Until next time, praying for us to have strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. Great is His faithfulness!