Christmas Eve is here!

What is Christmas?

Over the years, Christmas has been celebrated as a season of Joy and Happiness all around the World. I am going to highlight, the actual meaning of Christmas, and provide an account of how the Birth of Jesus took place. 

Christmas is celebrated to remember the birth of Jesus Christ. For those of you new to the religion, Jesus is the son of God, making him 100% God and 100% human. Thus said, it is birth of a God, why choose this planet full of sin? It is because he came here as a sacrifice for your and my transgressions. Yes, God sent his son to die, for you and me. We can discuss the life of Jesus in any later post, however this is the gist, Bible does not provide any account that December 25 is the exact date Jesus was born, thus making Christmas an occasion to remember God's eternal sacrifice for you and me. Here are clarifications to two very common misconceptions regarding Christmas:

1. Christmas is for all of us, there is no line that Christ came for his followers, the grace of God is so abundant that he sent his Son for all of us.
2. December 25th might not be the exact day of birth of Christ, thus Christmas is to remind us that our loving Father in heaven left his only Son, who was sinless to die for your and my sins.

Now, we shall look briefly at a string of events leading to the birth of Jesus Christ, according to the written scriptures. This is what you would usually see at a Christmas play in any school. If you have a slight inclination on learning History, you would find this portion interesting, else feel free to scroll ahead and enjoy the Carols, towards the end of this post.

N.B : Timeline in the Bible has been divided similar to how the History divides it, i.e. the years before the time of Jesus is a section named as "Old Testament" and the part after and during the birth of Jesus is known as "New Testament".

Timeline of Books in Bible

That being said, we can now delve into the actual events leading to birth of Jesus:

The book of Isaiah (written around 600 BC) has accounts of prophesy of the birth of Christ, "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 (God is with us).” Isaiah 7:14 and "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.” Isaiah 53:3-7. Thus we can say that well before the birth of Jesus it was predicted about its arrival.

Now, moving ahead to the time of Jesus, I would like to tell about their biological parents. Mary was betrothed (engaged)  to Joseph who came from the lineage of King David. Under this circumstance, Mary is told she will have a baby. Here is an account of the same, which can be found in Luke 1:26-38.

"God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, ²⁷ to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” ²⁹ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰ But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. ³¹ You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
³⁴ “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
³⁵ The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called^[a] the Son of God. ³⁶ Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. ³⁷ For no word from God will ever fail.”
³⁸ “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her."

Mary is told she will bear a child

Having said, that a woman who was engaged would conceive a child, next step would be to convince the father Joseph to stay with Mary, as he would be in his most sanest state considering to divorce Mary at that time. Here is an account from Matthew 1:18-25 of the same.

¹⁸ This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about^[a]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet^[b] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

²⁰ But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,^[c] because he will save his people from their sins.”

²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³ “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”^[d] (which means “God with us”).

²⁴ When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. ²⁵ But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

 

Joseph sees a dream about what is happening

A prophecy written down some seven centuries earlier foretold that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Now, it so happened that there was a town named Bethlehem a mere seven miles (11 km) from Nazareth. However, the prophecy specified that it was “Bethlehem Ephrathah” that would produce the Messiah. (Read Micah 5:2.) To reach that little village from Nazareth, travelers covered some 80 hilly miles (130 km) via Samaria. That was the Bethlehem to which Joseph was summoned, for it was the ancestral home of the family of King David​—the family to which both Joseph and his bride belonged. As the word had said, Caesar had made a rule for registration of people, and Joseph thus had to go back to his place in Bethlehem thus fulfilling the prophecy. Luke 2:4-5 confirms the account.

 Of course, Joseph also went up from Galʹi·lee, from the city of Nazʹa·reth, into Ju·deʹa, to David’s city, which is called Bethʹle·hem, because of his being a member of the house and family of David. ⁵  He went to get registered with Mary, who had been given him in marriage as promised and who was soon to give birth.

Joseph and Mary traveling to Bethlehem

 In Bethlehem Joseph needed a place to stay and it appears due to heavy commotion due to the Caesar's registration process, there was no place in any inn, and the time for the delivery of the baby was near, so Joseph settled for a manger when innkeeper offered that as the only available. Luke 2:6-7 confirm the same.

6While they were there, the time came for her Child to be born. 7And she gave birth to her firstborn, a Son. She wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.  

Jesus is born in a manger

Now, the birth of no king goes without pomp and joy, and hence Christmas, but the first of all celebrations and Carols can be accounted in book of Luke 2:8-20.

8And there were shepherds residing in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks by night. 9Just then, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: 11Today in the City of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord! 12And this will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

13And suddenly there appeared with the angel a great multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying:

14“Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace to men

on whom His favor rests!”

15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”

16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the Baby, who was lying in the manger. 17After they had seen the Child, they spread the message they had received about Him. 18And all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, which was just as the angel had told them. 

 

Angels appear and sing to shepherds

The biblical Magi, also referred to as the three wise men, were – in the Gospel of Matthew and Christian tradition – distinguished foreigners who visited Jesus after his birth, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They are regular figures in traditional accounts of the nativity celebrations of Christmas and are an important part of Christian tradition. The same has been accounted in Matthew 2:1-12.

8And there were shepherds residing in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks by night. 9Just then, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: 11Today in the City of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord! 12And this will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

13And suddenly there appeared with the angel a great multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying:

14“Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace to men

on whom His favor rests!”

15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”

16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the Baby, who was lying in the manger. 17After they had seen the Child, they spread the message they had received about Him. 18And all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, which was just as the angel had told them.

 

3 wise men from East follow the star

That is all regarding the birth of Jesus. Below is a compilation of songs commemorating the occasion, classically known as Carols. Have Fun.

On this wonderful weekend, we celebrate God's greatest gift, his only Son Jesus Christ through whom we all are entitled to an eternal Life. Here is a collection of Carols for this festive season!

Here are the best picks of the Carols, come get blessed! Enjoy the season as it is! Silent Night is my personal favorite.

 With every season comes its own tunes, and to fill your evening with the Joy, of Earth receiving its saviour, here is a carol playlist for Christmas Eve 2018.