Lesson 51 - Junior

Memory Verse

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men" (Luke 2:14).

Notes

The Messiah Prophesied

Old Testament prophets had written at one time or another about the Messiah Who would come to deliver the people of God from sin and bondage. We remember that God had told Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that through their seed all the nations of the earth would be blessed; and that promise pointed to Jesus. Of course, they expected an earthly king to arise in their midst who would deliver them from the Roman captivity. They were a conquered people who could do very little without the consent of the emperor of Rome, or the people whom he had placed in authority. In Jerusalem Herod was the king who was ruling for the Roman government. Four hundred years had passed since the last of the prophets had died; and sometimes the people grew weary of waiting, and wondered if the day of deliverance ever would come.

Not everyone then could read as we do now, and it was mostly the scribes and the priests in the Temple who read the Scriptures; but because of the sin in their lives they could not discern the truth when they read it. During Jesus' ministry He told the scribes and Pharisees to search the Scriptures to learn how to get eternal life, for "they are they which testify of me" (John 5:39). If they had had honest hearts they would have recognised that the prophets in the Old Testament were talking about Jesus, but they did not want to believe in the lowly Nazarene.

To the Lowly

So it was that when the angels proclaimed their message, "On earth peace, good will toward men," they did not appear to the priests in the Temple -- the religious people -- but to the lowly shepherds on the hill-side who were watching their flocks by night. No doubt, in their hearts they were looking for something from God, and they were ready to receive the message of the angels.

When the shepherds saw the first angel they were afraid. It is not often that men have seen angels. And perhaps they thought they were going to die. But the angel told them not to be afraid; he had good news for them. That night, in the little town of Bethlehem, a Babe had been born Who was going to bring joy to all people. The Jews were a conquered people, and were unhappy; but there were also many other downtrodden people in the world. All people who are sinners need the joy of salvation, but Jesus offered His happiness especially to those who could do nothing for themselves. He loved the galley slaves who were chained to their posts, and who had no hope of living a normal life; He loved the little children who had to work too hard; He loved the women who were practically slaves in their own homes. Jesus came with His message of salvation to lead all men into the way of true happiness, and promised them eternal life in Heaven where everything will be beautiful and there will be no more sorrow, heartache, or crying.

Joy to All People

There are people today who would have us believe that Jesus came to save only an elect few and none else need try to make Heaven their home. But the angel said He would bring joy to all people. Later Jesus said, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:167).

The Hosts of Angels

After the first angel had made his announcements of where the Holy Child was born and how He was dressed, many other angels came to proclaim: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." It seemed the whole heavens were filled with the angelic host, praising God. God had given His only Son to come to earth and live with men and finally to die for their redemption; and the angels who had known Him in Heaven had attended His arrival on earth. The shepherds believed the report of the angels and immediately set out to find the Christ Child. They found Him just as the angels had said, and went away rejoicing, just as every person does who comes to Jesus and believes in Him. Jesus really brings to everyone who believes upon Him the joy that the angels talked about.

The Wise Men from the East

Other people had also heard about the coming of Jesus. There were wise men living in an eastern country who were looking for the Redeemer, and they watched the sky for a sign from Heaven when He should come. One night they saw an unusually bright star, one they had never seen before. How excited they must have been when they saw that sign! They believed it meant that Jesus had come to earth, and they started on the long journey to Jerusalem. We always see them pictured as three kings coming from the East on camels, although the Bible does not say that there were only three, nor that they came on camels.

The wise men thought that if a new king had come he must have been born in the king's palace; but when they talked to Herod about the wonder they had seen in the sky and what it meant to them, he was surprised. No heir apparent had been born in his house. He feared that someone might take his position from him, so he called together the scribes and Pharisees to inquire if they knew anything about a promised king. They had no trouble finding the information. Had not all the prophets written about the great Deliverer? The scribes and Pharisees came back with the message that the Christ was to be born in the little town of Bethlehem of Judæa -- a humble place; and they also said that He was to be of the tribe of Judah. They knew the Scriptures, but their hearts were so hard that they did not recognise Jesus when they saw Him.

Herod pretended to be interested in the new Babe and sent the wise men to Bethlehem to look for Him and to return to tell him what they had found. How the wise men rejoiced as they started on their way again and saw that the star was still leading them! They followed it, and came right to the place where the Holy Child lay.

Perhaps by this time Mary and Joseph had moved into a house, but they were still in Bethlehem. We know that Bethlehem was not their home, but they had gone there to be taxed; and while they were there Jesus was born, so that the Scripture was fulfilled, which prophesied of Bethlehem, "Out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel" (Micah 5:2). God's Word must come to pass just as it is written, even though a ruler must make a law that all the world be taxed in order to get His people where the Word says they will be.

The men from the East had brought many precious gifts for Jesus, to show their love for Him. When we truly love Jesus we bring Him our precious gifts, too. We are glad to give Him our very lives, and we continually sing praises to Him, and tell Him how much we love Him. We give Him our tithes and offerings of money, and also our willing service.

The wise men never returned to tell Herod that they had found the Child Jesus. God had warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod. The king was very angry when he found they had disregarded him. He believed that someone had been born who might try to usurp the throne. So he had all the babies under two years of age killed. He thought by doing that he would surely destroy the one who might grow up to be a king.

But God takes good care of His own. He knew what Herod was going to do. He told Joseph to take the young Child and His mother and flee into Egypt, and remain there until God would send for them. That also brought about a fulfilment of prophecy: "Out of Egypt have I called my son." That was fulfilled when God called Joseph to return to Nazareth.

Jesus' Presentation in the Temple

When Jesus was eight days old He was taken to the Temple to be presented unto the Lord, for the Law commanded that the eldest child must be especially dedicated unto God. A sacrifice accompanied this rite, according to the wealth of the family. Jesus' parents were very poor, so they had only two young pigeons to offer. But what a blessing came upon everyone in the Temple when the Holy Child was brought in.

Simeon, a holy man of God, was guided by the Spirit of God to be there for this ceremony. How thrilled he was when he picked up the Holy Child and recognised Him as the Son of God! For many years he had waited for this moment, and the Spirit had told him he should not die until he had seen Jesus. Simeon prophesied that Jesus would also be a light to lighten the Gentiles, which was a strange message to the Jews who thought they were the only people of God.

Anna, a prophetess, came in during the ceremony, and she also glorified God. She was so overjoyed that she told everyone who was looking for Christ to come that the long-prophesied Redeemer of Israel had finally been born. They glorified God that they had been counted worthy to see His salvation.

The Divine Redeemer of Mankind

Jesus, the Son of God, had come to bring redemption to all who believed on Him. The Prophet had said that He should be called Immanuel, meaning "God with us." He was more than a good man, a great teacher to show us how to live; He was God manifested in the flesh ([1TM:3:16]), the divine Son of the Father, Who came to die that our sins might be washed away by His shed Blood.

Questions

1. To whom did the angels give the message that Jesus was born?

2. Who else heard about it, and how did they know that Jesus was born?

3. Who was Jesus? Why did He come to earth?

4. Where did the shepherds find Jesus? Where did the kings of the East find Him?

5. Did the scribes and Pharisees know anything about the fact that Jesus should be born? How did they know?