christmas – Page 13

Thirty days of exalting Jesus though selected verses with pictures representing the prophecy, life, death, resurrection, and Second Coming of our Savior.

More information and background on this series, here

thirty days of jesus verse 2

Day 1: The Virgin Shall Conceive

Ligonier: A Shoot from Jesse’s Stump: Devotional

Matthew Henry’s Commentary on Isaiah 11:1

All the Named Men of the Bible: Jesse

encouragement, Uncategorized

Thirty Days of Jesus

Posted on November 26, 2017 by elizabethprata

Christmas is coming. It’s a blessed time of year.

We always think of the Savior, all the year, every day. (Philippians 4:8). But the Christmas season is a time when we think more pointedly about His incarnation, life, ascension, and return. Who is this Jesus? He was born, lived, died, rose again, and promised to return, to bring eternal life to those who believe and eternal death to those who reject. He tore the veil of human history, parted it into BC and AD, and changed everything.

My contributions to the faith and fellowship of the saints is tiny, but I do my best with the resources He has given me. One thing I do is I use my photographs of God’s beautiful creation and overlay a verse on them, and post to social media each day. I organize them into weekly themes, for the saints to read and perhaps be encouraged by. Some people email or tell me in real life that they enjoy the scripture photos I put up each day. I’m always surprised by this, but in the end, that’s the point of the endeavor- to keep Jesus and His aroma of life before people, to encourage, stimulate, or convict.

Last week the theme was Hospitality, in deference to Thanksgiving and the gatherings that were sure to be held. I decided instead of a weekly theme this week, that I’d do a monthly theme: Thirty Days of Jesus. Thirty verses, thirty photos that reflect His life and ministry.

The entire Bible is about Jesus of course, and it was very hard to select verses and not feel bad about the ones I was leaving out! I chose three mini-themes for this month’s scripture photos that I believe will flow.

PROPHECY, ARRIVAL, and EARLY LIFE, 15 verses.

In this section I chose verses that reflect the prophecies that predict His coming. Prophecy warns of coming judgment but it also comforts in that it foretells the holy and wonderful resolution of all things for the believer. That resolution will be in Christ and through Christ. Then since it’s Christmas, the beautiful verses that announce His arrival on the blessed morn. The third mini-section are verses that mention Jesus as a child and boy, before He began His ministry.

PREEMINENCE OF THE SON, HIS WORKS & MINISTRY, 10 verses

THE SON, 5 verses

Beginning with verses that declare the Son, I’ll share verses that focus Him as the Second Person of the Trinity. His sonship is integral to His ministry as the subordinate Person to God the Father. These verses reflect that reality.

Christ is preeminent. Always and forever. Let us exult in these verses which proclaim a truth that should enlarge our heart and shake our soul with wonder.

MINISTRY, 10 verses

This section will present verses that detail His attributes while He was on earth; Jesus as servant, teacher, shepherd, healer, and so on.

RESURRECTION, ASCENSION, & RETURN

Christ is unique in that He is the firstfruit of resurrection. He is unique in that He descended from heaven and ascended to heaven. As GotQuestions explains of the John 3:13 verse,

Jesus explains why He is uniquely qualified to teach of the kingdom of God—namely, because He alone came down from heaven and possesses the knowledge to teach people about heaven. Jesus alone has seen the Father, and He alone is qualified to declare God and make Him known.

Jesus was raised to life and brought back to heaven, and several verses in this section will illustrate what He is doing while we wait the long centuries for the fulfillment of the end of all things, His glorious return. The last verses will present Jesus in His glory, as He is.

The flow mirrors the Revelation 1:8 verse, where it is declared,

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

This is no great project, to be sure. But I wanted to organize my thoughts ahead of the season and selecting verses that detailed the flow of Jesus’ life seemed a good way to do it. The photos are free for anyone to use and by the end, perhaps someone would like to make a bundle for their own purposes, printed out or digital.

THE PHOTOS

I enjoy using my photographs because an important-to-me aspect of His deity is Creator. Paul constantly exhorted the pagans with sermons and entreaties that distinguished his like-nature with them as man and the holy perfection of the Christ-nature Creator of all things. Paul frequently used creation as a foundation to proclaim Christ’s gospel. I came partway to Christ that way, by viewing the creation and understanding there is a God, and Romans 1 has great meaning for me. I knew there was a God, but I suppressed the truth of Jesus, just as the verse at Romans 1:18-19 says the pagans do.

Now that I’ve received grace, I’m viewing His creation through spiritual eyes and give homage to the Creator. Therefore, I enjoy photographing it with a mind of thanks for all He has made. The photos are the backdrop to this thought.

I wanted to explain a little, so that perhaps someone, somewhere might be encouraged or inspired or begin thinking along these lines too, in fellowship and joy with me throughout the month.

I also plan to allow these scripture photos to be my blog postings for most of the month.

If I write, I write. I enjoy my daily Bible readings and fill legal pads with notes, that in my excitement on learning something new, usually turn into blog essays. But I want to take a slowdown of the season and reflect on Christ without pressure of turning it all into a daily writing, so if you don’t see many essays, that’s why. I’ll decrease the pace this month and await the refreshing of the New Year. In a few weeks it will be 9 years of daily blogging. I attribute that longevity to the Holy Spirit for His illumination of biblical truths to my mind and curating in my heart the zeal I have for Christ. Lord, don’t let me stray! Writing helps me stay the course. I always want to use lots of scripture, keep things Christ-centric, and exhort with kindness wrapped in truth.

Both the illumination and the zeal are precious to me, and I dearly want to continue them both for as long as the Spirit wants me to continue this aspect of a writing ministry and not burn out. The Bible says to fulfill our ministry, and persevere over the long haul. If I die or I am raptured tomorrow, or in ten more years, I want to be found still exhorting Christ with zeal and truth.

Let’s enjoy the season. I pray that it does not become a hectic, shopping slog, frantic with focus on gifts and cleaning houses and to-do lists, though given family obligations and work colleague expectations, some of that is always inevitable. But don’t let it encroach more than it has to. Jesus is the reason for this season. If you’re a believer, this season is a gateway to a new year filled with many reasons each day to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. (Psalm 86:9)

Your people shall all be righteous; they shall possess the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I might be glorified. (Isaiah 60:21).

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:36)

or you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:20).

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” (Revelation 4:11).

morning glory imprint radiance verse

prophecy, Uncategorized

Repost – From swaddling cloths to grave cloths to…

Posted on December 25, 2016December 25, 2016 by elizabethprata

First posted December 25, 2015.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From swaddling cloths to grave cloths…to…

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)

The Anunciation, Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1898

And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. (Luke 2:7)

Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. (John 20:6-7)

and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. (Revelation 1:13-16)

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. (1 John 5:11)

Merry Christmas!

Uncategorized

The Saddest Christmas Carol Ever

Posted on December 23, 2016November 17, 2018 by elizabethprata

I’ve been focusing on Jesus these past weeks. I’ve written a series on the names He has been given from the Isaiah 9:6 verse, and also a two part series on Christmas traditions. We looked at the Nativity in art. I wrote about the Peanuts Christmas moment when Linus speaks the Luke verse during the Christmas play rehearsal, after Charlie Brown had asked in frustration what is the true meaning of Christmas. I’ve been making scripture photos with snow and mangers and peaceful flocks by night.

We all have been. Most bloggers enjoy this time of year to promote the truth and beauty of the Christmas story. However, there is a part of the Christmas story that is dark, evil, and often overlooked. But it is part of the truth just as much as the pondering Mary and the babe in the feeding trough. It is the Massacre of the Innocents.

Peter Paul Rubens

Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:

“A voice was heard in Ramah,

weeping and loud lamentation,

Rachel weeping for her children;

she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”

(Matthew 2:16-18).

The Magi from the East had come to Jerusalem, inquiring of Herod as to the location of the child born, King of the Jews. King Herod was extremely troubled at this news and assembled all his own wise men to search the scriptures and confirm to him the facts of the matter. (Matthew 2:3-4).

Herod set up a wily plot to trap the babe and the Wise Men, but the Magi were warned in a dream not to return near Herod so they left the area by another way. When Herod realized this, he became enraged. Some translations say furious. Even those two strong words do not cover the depth of his violent frenzy. Herod was enraged to the point he was not even thinking straight. He was totally consumed with violent, uncontrollable anger.

Herod set a command to kill all the boys under the age of two in and around Bethlehem. Jesus was probably a few months old by this time, perhaps one year old. Can you imagine the evil depravity in a man so thoroughly deep that he would kill innocent babies just to protect his position? Can you imagine being a Roman soldier, waking up one day and being told by your legion commander to go kill babies? And you do?! Can you imagine a mother in her home, cooking the flatbread for the day and a soldier bursts in and spears your baby in front of you? For no reason?

The cries of the mothers must have been piercing and loud, rising to heaven as an unendurable shroud of grief.

When Jesus entered the world, there was joy! There was also sorrow. His incarnation was the beginning of sorrows.

Jesus is THE dividing line between good and bad, holiness and evil, humility and pride, grace and disfavor. He has always sparked joy, worship, gratitude in those who love Him. He has always sparked hatred, evil, and disgust in those who hate Him. He came to bring life (John 14:6, John 14:19). Jesus divides. Because He is life, the opposite is death. This is the first point.

Herod’s evil was no surprise to Jesus. He knew what was in man. (John 2:25). We are all sinners. Though we may not all be murderous tyrants like Herod, the capability is in us due to our sin nature. Here is the second point. Jesus lived the perfectly holy life to become the sacrifice for sin, absorbing for His elect the wrath which would punish those sins. Though Herod was not forgiven, many other murderers have been. Tyrants, evil kings, killers, prideful holders of lofty positions…forgiven. Jesus came to forgive sins like Herod’s. This is the second point.

The scene above by Peter Paul Rubens is hard to look at. He captured the fear and horror and frenzy of the most evil of situations, killing babies. Jesus knew what was in a man. Yet He came, incarnated as a Man(God) and lived among our evil for over 30 years. He prayed for sinners, He loved sinners, even Judas. He saves sinners. This kind of sin does not surprise Jesus. His mercy abounds.

We sing Christmas Carols such as O Come All Ye Faithful, or We Three Kings. We sing Joy to the World, Away in a Manger. Those are joyous and uplifting. But did you know there was a Carol commemorating the Massacre of the Innocents? It is the Coventry Carol.

Below is the US Army Band Chorus singing it in the traditional form, which dates back at least to 1534, the earliest date it was written down. Here is the song, and the lyrics in modern spelling. I like their version because it is sung properly, like the dirge it is.

Lully, lullay, thou little tiny child,
Bye bye, lully, lullay.
Lully, lullay, thou little tiny child,
Bye bye, lully, lullay.

O sisters too, how may we do
For to preserve this day
This poor youngling for whom we sing,
“Bye bye, lully, lullay”?

Herod the king, in his raging,
Chargèd he hath this day
His men of might in his own sight
All young children to slay.

That woe is me, poor child, for thee
And ever mourn and may
For thy parting neither say nor sing,
“Bye bye, lully, lullay.”

The mystery and wonder of Christmas… in all its aspects, both joy and grief. Thank You Jesus for Your life, death, and resurrection.

prophecy, Uncategorized

“When are they coming in?”

Posted on December 22, 2016December 22, 2016 by elizabethprata

I work in an elementary school. We are on vacation for two weeks during Christmas until after New Year’s. As the excitement among the children builds through the month of December, so does the anticipation of the staff. This is because many folks are hosting their family for the holidays.

The teacher’s lounge talk, the chat in the hallways, the conversation in classrooms among staff usually revolve around the question “When are they coming?” Older staff look forward to the arrival of their adult children for an extended visit during the holidays. Of those staff whose children who have grandchildren, the visit is all the more anticipated. “When are they coming in?” is the question of the hour, and travel plans, family plans, and Christmas plans are eagerly and happily shared. The person’s eyes light up, the tiredness suddenly seems to leave their slumped shoulders, and their walk becomes downright sprightly.

I remember as a kid the extreme excitement at the thought of extended family arriving later on during Christmas day. For the most part, they lived close by and we got to see them a lot throughout the year. But it was something special on Christmas when we traveled to the grandparents’ house, or they came to our house, and we got to visit on the most special day of all. We’d be dressed in our finest, usually toting one favorite gift to show off to the cousins and share and of course play with. There was something precious about being with family on Christmas Day. We looked forward to it with anticipatory shivers of delight.

Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, (2 Thessalonians 2:1)

Believers have a family that is closer than blood. Our spiritual family is united by virtue of the fact that God Himself in the form of the Holy Spirit resides in us. We are scattered across the globe, rarely if ever seeing or hearing from each other at times. But we are united and on one special day, Christmas, we celebrate the Father of this family, God, Jesus Christ, by His Spirit in truth unique to only us. Paul wrote often of wanting to see his earthly spiritual family, as in this example from 1 Thessalonians 2:17,

But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face,

Do our eyes light up, our step become more springy, our hearts expand with love at the thought of seeing our spiritual family? Whether we will be seeing them weekly at church or will meet them during the great reunion of the church triumphant in heaven? Are we as highly anticipatory at the thought of being gathered with the brothers and sisters?

Remember even as Christmas comes if you are estranged from your blood family, you have a hundred-fold in heaven. What a reunion that will be!

And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. (Matthew 19:29).

Our most eagerly anticipated reunion should be the thought of seeing Jesus as He returns for His saints in the rapture. Paul described what is prophesied to occur and then said these words should be used AS an encouragement.

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18).

Do we speak in the hallways or water coolers of His return? Are we excited to see Him? Do we relate details of the upcoming eternal reunion with the same anticipatory enthusiasm as we describe the travel plans of our adult children’s arrival home for a Christmas weekend?

As we gather in pleasure and contentment with families this Christmas, let’s remember there is an even greater reunion coming. Just as the parents have been laboring to prepare the house for the reunion of their family for the holidays, Jesus has been preparing a place for us and our arrival. It will be clean (of sin), adorned (not with Christmas gifts but as a bride for her husband), shining and bright (not with Christmas lights but with the glory of God).

As a spiritual family we will celebrate the glory of the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Christ, forever. The love and adoration we experience at Christmas around the tree on the morning, will be translated, magnified, and permanently eternal. We will gather not around a Christmas tree but around the Tree of Life, Jesus Himself, who IS Life. (John 14:6).

As we await the arrival of our family this weekend, let’s actively anticipate and encourage one another with the happy prospect of the great and final family reunion.

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. (Philippians 3:20-21).

Christina Cerda, Unsplash. Text added by author

prophecy, Uncategorized

The Nativity

Posted on December 20, 2016December 17, 2017 by elizabethprata

Isaiah 7:10-16
“The Life of Christ: The Virgin Birth”
S. Lewis Johnson

I liked how Pastor S. Lewis Johnson emphasized the virgin conception rather than the virgin birth. He preached, as you will read below in part, that the birth was typical, human, bloody, and messy. It was the conception that was immaculate. The art by American painter Gari Melchers depicts a scene more reflective of a birth than most nativity scenes usually do. Here, we see a deeply concentrating Joseph gazing at his newborn son, perhaps pondering the spiritual implications of this new life that promised to bring new life. Mary, exhausted, drooping, leans against her husband sleepily, recently used washbowl and cloth by her side. Is the glow from the Babe’s head, or the lantern that has been set by Him? The scene depicts exhaustion, wonder, light, and hope.

Gari Melchers “The Nativity” 1891. Click to enlarge

Here is Pastor Johnson on The Virgin Birth. from is series on the Life of Christ-

Now out of this marriage there was to come the man who was really God, the God-man, our Lord Jesus. But I think you can see the kind of arrangements that would be made between Jacob and Eli concerning the young carpenter and the pious maiden whose name was Mary. Now, of course, the moment that this marriage was arranged by the parents, it was legal. That is, they were married. So Matthew says,

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, (That is, when the arrangements had been made) before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband…”

Now apparently from the account, this is not stated directly, but apparently from the account, Joseph had learned of the pregnancy of Mary, whether he had been told this by Mary herself, whether he had discovered it and she had kept quiet about it the text does not say. I am inclined to think because of the statement that is made in just a moment, that Joseph was very much in love with Mary and that as a result of his love for her, the fact that she was pregnant caused a great deal of consternation to him. And I think, if I judge these characters correctly, that Mary had told him of the experience.

But Joseph, like so many of us, when confronted with such a miracle and after all, there never had been anything like this before; the closest thing to it was the supernatural birth of Isaac in the Old Testament, but that was by natural means, and yet supernatural, I’m quite sure I can understand something of the wrestling that took place in the heart of Joseph. I can imagine that after he was told this that he spent many a sleepless night. He wondered perhaps, “Should I really marry this young girl?” That is, “Should our marriage be consummated and should be begin to live together?” If it’s not true, perhaps I should put her away according to the Old Testament law. If it is true, I hesitate to take her to be my wife for the simple reason that if this is of God and the Messiah is to be born of her, it seems almost unholy to begin to live with her.

Now Joseph apparently was about to reach a decision, which meant that he was going to put her away. I gather that is the force of the text when he says, “And not willing to make her a public example was minded to put her away privily.” That is, he wasn’t going to do it publicly, but he was just going to take the minimum of two witnesses and carry out the divorce according to the Old Testament. So Joseph apparently had made up his mind.

Now I would say that this is true because in the 20th verse, the tense of the word “while he thought on these things” is a tense that suggests that the action had been reached. That is, that the conclusion had been reached. And so having made up his mind and about ready to carry out something that was contrary to the will of God, the angel spoke to Joseph and said to him in a dream, “Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.”

Now this, of course, is something that we can never really fathom. We can only adore. Who could ever understand what it means to be born of the Holy Ghost? G. Campbell Morgan used to say, “This is the holy mystery, the touch of God upon the simple life that made it forever sublime.” She was found with child of the Holy Ghost. That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. So in a restless night amid fitful sleep, Joseph had a visitor and the visitor told him in supernatural terms and direct language that this in Mary was of the Holy Ghost. Now what he meant by this was that the Spirit was the source of the vitalizing energy which gave to the embryo in her womb.

Now I want to say something about the doctrine of the virgin birth at this point that I hope will help to clarify your mind some of the theology of it. Who would ever expect a simple New Testament professor and preacher of the word to transform the doctrine of the virgin birth so that everybody now understands it in a new light? So I’m not having any kind of sense of transforming all of theological thought concerning the virgin birth.

But I do want to say this that the New Testament does not teach the doctrine of a virgin birth, the New Testament teaches the doctrine of a virgin conception, a virgin conception. In other words, our Lord Jesus was conceived by the Holy Ghost, but he was born naturally, born naturally.

Now I want you to notice that I’m not denying the so called doctrine of the virgin birth. That would make nonsense of everything that I’ve said up to this point. I just want you to think clearly that it was the operation of the Holy Spirit in the conception that is referred to here, not in the birth. Jesus was born as an ordinary person was born.

Praise the Lord Jesus was conceived directly of the Holy Spirit, absent the sin-nature that taints all of us. What mysteries the LORD had prepared in His mind since eternity began! What tremendous love He has for His people! O, Mary, what favor you had and what strength you showed in submitting to the will of God so graciously-

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.”
(Luke 1:46-48).

Praise the LORD for all His ways.

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Examining Christmas Traditions #2: Wise Men at the manger?

Posted on December 18, 2016December 20, 2016 by elizabethprata

There are traditions regarding the Christmas story within the faith. We have Christmas carols with lyrics that say that angels sing, we set up nativity scenes with Wise Men, we erect Christmas trees, and more.

Do these traditions have any bearing from scripture? If not should we care? If not, should we abandon them? Accept them? Are we disrespecting Christ by perpetuating them? Or not?

Friday I wrote about the hymns we sing at Christmas time where lyrics portray angels singing. I looked at whether scripture shows angels singing or not. Scripture shows angels saying, proclaiming, and shouting, but not singing. Today let’s look at nativity scenes with Wise Men crowded around the babe in a manger. Is that scriptural?

Yes, and no.

Wise men did come from the east upon learning of the birth of the Messiah. They did not arrive at the night of his birth though. They arrived up to two years later. The verse says,

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” (Matthew 2:2).

The ‘after this’ is after His birth, where Matthew 1 ends. How do we know it wasn’t the day after, and that it was up to two years after? Because of this-

After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. (Matthew 2:9).

The verse says where the child was, not ‘where the baby was’. In the Greek the word used for child means,

(“a little child in training”) implies a younger child (perhaps seven years old or younger). Strong’s.

The Magi went to Bethlehem and fell down and worshiped Jesus at his house. He was not in a barn, or stable, or any sort of animal enclosure, and He was not laying in a manger.

And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. (Matthew 2:11)

Herod died in 4BC so the men must have visited between the birth and up to when Jesus was around two years old. Later, Herod made a declaration to kill all the children under two years of age.

It is clear that in actual time, the Magi from the East did not arrive in time to worship Jesus in his birth location, which was temporary. So is it unscriptural to set up a nativity scene with the Wise Men? I don’t believe so.

The Wise Men did in fact arrive to worship. It happened. It would be unscriptural for example, if a nativity scene had figures such as Moose or beavers, not indigenous to the location. Or if the scene had added figures such as Herod or Jezebel, who were evil and certainly not depicted anywhere in proximity (and of course Jezebel was long dead).

I believe that collapsing time is an acceptable literary license. The Apostles did so when they wrote inspired scripture. They said things like, ‘Then Jesus went…” where the actual time might have been months later from the evetnt written of in the previous sentence. “Jesus was born, then the Wise Men came…”

What I like about the birth chronology is that everyone involved with it, from announcement to just before the Family had to flee to Egypt, is that everyone worshiped. Elizabeth and Mary, Joseph, the Shepherds, Anna and Simeon, the angels, and the Wise Men. Worship is the proper response to meeting Jesus, both intellectually and emotionally. Our Savior is born, and hallelujah that He came into the world. Though not exactly perfectly historic, the crowd around the manger of animals, shepherds, parents, and wise men do depict an accurate response to the birth of the Savior. However, I understand if some people decide to remove or not install figures of the Wise Men in their nativity, or decline to have Wise Men circulating at a live nativity scene, due to historical inaccuracy.

Jesus lived the perfect life under God’s standards for holiness that we could not. Enduring agonizing separation from His Holy Father, He cried out and absorbed all God’s wrath for our sin. Accused unjustly, He was nailed to the cross and executed, thus becoming the sacrificial lamb. Pleased with His Son, God resurrected Jesus on the third day and Jesus ascended into heaven. Now, His blood atones for our sin and forgiveness awaits those elected to ask for it. Praise God He made a way for us to be reconciled to Him! Mercy abounds.

Further Reading: Answers In Genesis Three Wise Men?

Grace To You 2 min podcast- Where Are the Wise Men?

christmas-wise-men-verse