Journey to BethlehemÀpẹrẹ

Day 3: Jesus Answers Everything

Sometimes when we have questions about God, we fill in the blanks with answers that make sense to us. As Jews in the Holy Land waited for God’s promised Messiah, no one really knew what He would be like. Most people expected a military king who would free them from Rome’s power and restore them to a place of prominence in the world. In God’s chosen time, He acted. But He acted in a way nobody expected.

Read Luke 2:1-7.

Verses:

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole empire should be registered. 2 This first registration took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. 3 So everyone went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David, 5 to be registered along with Mary, who was engaged to him and was pregnant. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 Then she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him tightly in cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

• What does Jesus’s birth reveal about who God is and what He is like?

The birth of Jesus, the Son of God—distinguishes Christianity from all other religions. In many pagan religions, you find stories of gods coming down to earth in some form but never taking the humble form of man in the way Jesus does. In some other religions, mankind is promised deity, but in Christianity, God puts on humanity.

Questions:

• What are some inaccurate ideas people have about who God is and what He is like?
• What is surprising to you about the way Jesus came to earth?
• Why do you think God chose to come in such an unexpected way?
• Long before Jesus came to earth, Isaiah prophesied that those who have walked in darkness have seen a great light (Isaiah 9:2). How is that true for you this Christmas season?

Thank Jesus for coming to earth as a baby, fully human like you, to experience and understand your struggles and questions. Thank Him that, at the very same time, He is your Savior and Lord. Ask Him to help you live in light of who He is.