The Christmas Story 

Matthew Ch 1, v18:

Here is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place. When his mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, before they were married, she was found to be pregnant from the Holy Spirit.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Luke Ch 1, v 26-38:

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth,  to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David; the virgin’s name was Mary. Approaching her, the angel said, “Peace, favored lady! The Lord is with you!” She was deeply troubled by his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.  The angel said to her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.  Look! You will become pregnant, you will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus. He will be great, he will be called Son of God Most High.  The Lord, God, will give him the throne of his forefather David; and he will rule the House of Israel forever — there will be no end to his Kingdom.” “How can this be,” asked Mary of the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered her,

“The Holy Sprit will come over you, the power of God Most High will cover you. Therefore the holy child born to you
will be called the Son of God.  “You have a relative, Elizabeth, who is an old woman; and everyone says she is barren. But she has conceived a son and is six months pregnant! For with God, nothing is impossible.” Mary said, “I am the servant of the Lord; may it happen to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

​

Matt Ch 1, v19-25:

Her husband-to-be, Joseph, was a man who did what was right; so he made plans to break the engagement quietly, rather than put her to public shame.  But while he was thinking about this, an angel of God appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home with you as your wife; for what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, [which means ‘The Lord Saves,’] because he will save his people from their sins.” All this happened in order to fulfill what God had said through the prophet, “The virgin will conceive and bear a son and they will call him ‘Immanu El.” (The name means, “God is with us.”)  When Joseph awoke he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do — he took Mary home to be his wife, but he did not have sexual relations with her until she had given birth to a son, and he named him Jesus.

​

 

 

 

 

 

 

Luke Ch 2, v 2-20:
Around this time, Emperor Augustus issued an order for a census to be taken throughout the Empire.  This registration, the first of its kind, took place when Quirinius was governing in Syria.  Everyone went to be registered, each to his own town.  So Joseph, because he was a descendant of David, went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to the town of David, called Bethlehem in Judea to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged, and who was pregnant.  While they were there, the time came for her to give birth and she gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him in cloth and laid him down in a feeding trough, because there was no space for them in the living-quarters.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

In the countryside nearby were some shepherds spending the night in the fields, guarding their flocks when an angel of God appeared to them, and the glorious manifest presence of God shone around them. They were terrified but the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, because I am here announcing to you Good News that will bring great joy to all the people. This very day, in the town of David, there was born for you a Deliverer who is the Messiah, the Lord. Here is how you will know: you will find a baby wrapped in cloth and lying in a feeding trough.” Suddenly, along with the angel was a vast army from heaven praising God:

“In the highest heaven, glory to God! And on earth, peace among people of good will!”

​

​

​

​

​

​

No sooner had the angels left them and gone back into heaven than the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, that the Lord has told us about.” Hurrying off, they came and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in the feeding trough.  Upon seeing this, they made known what they had been told about this child and all who heard were amazed by what the shepherds said to them. Mary treasured all these things and kept mulling them over in her heart.  Meanwhile, the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen; it had been just as they had been told.

​

Matt Ch 2, v2-21: 

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the land of Judea during the time when Herod was king, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the newborn King of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” When King Herod heard of this he became very agitated, and so did everyone else in Jerusalem. He called together all the head priests and Torah-teachers of the people and asked them, “Where will the Messiah be born?” “In Bethlehem of Judea,” they replied, “because the prophet wrote,  ‘And you, Bethlehem in the land of Judea,
are by no means the least among the rulers of Judea; for from you will come a Ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” Herod summoned the Magi to meet with him privately and asked them exactly when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem with these instructions: “Search carefully for the child; and when you find him, let me know, so that I too may go and worship him.” After they had listened to the king, they went away; and the star which they had seen in the east went in front of them until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. Upon entering the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary and they prostrated themselves and worshipped him. Then they opened their bags and presented him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

​

​

​

​

 

 

 

 

 

But they had been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, so they took another route back to their own country.

After they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and escape to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you to leave. For Herod is going to look for the child in order to kill him.” So he got up, took the child and his mother, and left during the night for Egypt, where he stayed until Herod died. This happened in order to fulfill what God had said through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

Meanwhile, when Herod realized that the Magi had tricked him, he was furious and gave orders to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or less, calculating from the time the Magi had told him. In this way were fulfilled the words spoken through the prophet Jeremiah, “A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and lamenting loudly. It was Rachel sobbing for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no longer alive.” After Herod’s death, an angel of God appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the Land of Israel, for those who wanted to kill the child are dead.” So he got up, took the child and his mother, and went back to the Land of Israel.