What A Wonderful Story

I enjoy speaking about Christmas because the Christmas story says so much to people of all walks of life. Luke, the great physician, wrote primarily to the Gentile or unchurched mind set. He also talked to the common man. Just look at genealogy. Instead of going back to Abraham as does Matthew, he goes back to Adam, the first man. In the gospel of Luke's account of Christ's birth, we see how God intervenes and changes the lives of the rich and the poor; the Jew and the Gentile; the old and the young; the priest and the common laborer; the newly married and the widowed; those who are newly pregnant and those who have never been pregnant; the wise and the unwise; those who are with child and those who are childless.

But Let’s Look At It In A Different Light

If you hadn’t heard about the Christmas story when you were young or say you weren’t raised in the church or had a relative who was a Christian or any of a myriad of reasons that would allow you to see it from a Biblical perspective. What would the story of Jesus’ birth sound like? It could be a little weird. An ancient god wants to become involved with his creation after they turned their back on him for thousands of years. To do this he impregnates a virgin who will have a child that will be all human, but all alien at the same time. This child will have special powers once he grows up, but for now he will be a helpless baby.

And It Gets Weirder

When this star child is born, there are strange lights in the sky, that are seen by simple people as well as learned men in another country. The astrologers however had known about this phenomenon and followed a light that traveled directly to where the hybrid human was born. And all of these things were predicted from the beginning of man in an ancient text given to men by the higher power. It all begins to sound like a story worthy of Indiana Jones. In fact, two of the three movies actually were built around stories in that ancient text. So, if all of this were to happen today it would be all over social media with so many people vying for hits and likes. Popular conspiracy podcasts like the Why Files would be all over it. Strange lights in the skies, alien beings announcing the coming of a baby born with a human mother and alien DNA. World powers trying to kill the hybrid child to keep him from growing up to rule the world. Astrologers followed a star that exhibits strange motions, a star they knew about because of ancient prophecies. And then the human parents follow dreams given to them by the ancient god not once but twice, dreams that protect the star child. It has all the elements of a big budget movie, too. I might also add that sending a baby that will be special and will keep the world safe from itself also sounds a lot like the story of a comic book hero of Superman. So yes, it is fantastical and otherworldly. And on top of all this, it is all true.

Jesus Did Come In Human Form

While we may debate the manner by which Jesus came to earth, the fact that a Jewish man named Jesus did exist and walked the planet is easily proven. And it is also proven that he was crucified and was resurrected and seen by over 500 witnesses. As crazy as all that sounds, it all is the truth. An article from gotquestions.org gives us some of that support:

Typically, when this question is asked, the person asking qualifies the question by asking for evidence “outside of the Bible.” We do not grant this idea that the Bible cannot be considered a source of evidence for the existence of Jesus. The New Testament contains hundreds of references to Jesus Christ. There are those who date the writing of the Gospels to the second century A.D., more than 100 years after Jesus’ death. Even if this were the case (which we strongly dispute), in terms of ancient evidences, writings less than 200 years after events took place are considered very reliable evidences. Further, the vast majority of scholars (Christian and non-Christian) will grant that the Epistles of Paul (at least some of them) were in fact written by Paul in the middle of the first century A.D., less than 40 years after Jesus’ death. In terms of ancient manuscript evidence, this is extraordinarily strong proof of the existence of a man named Jesus in Israel in the early first century A.D.

Records from times very close to the life of Jesus mention Him:
The first-century Roman Tacitus, who is considered one of the more accurate historians of the ancient world, mentioned superstitious “Christians” (from Christus, which is Latin for Christ), who suffered under Pontius Pilate during the reign of Tiberius. Suetonius, chief secretary to Emperor Hadrian, wrote that there was a man named Chrestus (or Christ) who lived during the first century (Annals 15.44).
But Wait, There’s More

Much more. A respected historian weighed in as well:
Flavius Josephus is the most famous Jewish historian. In his Antiquities he refers to James, “the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ.” There is a controversial verse (18:3) that says, “Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man. For he was one who wrought surprising feats....He was [the] Christ...he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him.” One version reads, “At this time there was a wise man named Jesus. His conduct was good and [he] was known to be virtuous. And many people from among the Jews and the other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die. But those who became his disciples did not abandon his discipleship. They reported that he had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion, and that he was alive; accordingly he was perhaps the Messiah, concerning whom the prophets have recounted wonders.”
The article gives us even more documentation of Jesus:
Pliny the Younger, in Letters 10:96, recorded early Christian worship practices including the fact that Christians worshiped Jesus as God and were very ethical, and he includes a reference to the love feast and Lord’s Supper. The Babylonian Talmud (Sanhedrin 43a) confirms Jesus’ crucifixion on the eve of Passover and the accusations against Christ of practicing sorcery and encouraging Jewish apostasy. Lucian of Samosata was a second-century Greek writer who admits that Jesus was worshiped by Christians, introduced new teachings, and was crucified for them. He said that Jesus’ teachings included the brotherhood of believers, the importance of conversion, and the importance of denying other gods. Christians lived according to Jesus’ laws, believed themselves to be immortal, and were characterized by contempt for death, and renunciation of material goods.


Evidence That Demands A Verdict

For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.

17 For God did not send the Son into the world in order to judge (to reject, to condemn, to pass sentence on) the world, but that the world might find salvation and be made safe and sound through Him. (John 3:16-17, AMPC)

I started out making Jesus and His birth looking like a science fiction story. But now you can see that it wasn’t one. And if it all really happened then we need to deal with it. You see Jesus was born to die for our sins and give us eternal life. The blood He shed on the cross was to cover all sinners, past, present and future. It is the greatest prophecy of all time since it continues to be fulfilled even as I am talking now. Even better news is that if you haven’t given your life to the very real Jesus, you still can. All you need to do is accept with all your heart that Jesus died for your sins and make Him lord of your life. Yes, it’s that simple. I might add that His offer is the best Christmas present you could ever have. And I pray you do more than look at it, but receive it as your own.