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The Birth of Jesus

“The people of Israel believed firmly that they were God’s people. After all, God had made a promise to Abraham. Moses and Samuel had helped them to live as God’s people God’s laws helped them understand right from wrong. Great David had won battles and, he became the people’s king, he started building the great city of Jerusalem and left it in ruins for many years. The people of Israel began to belivethat one day God would send a new leader . . . someone who would help them live as God’s people: someone as great as King David.

“In the little town of Nazareth lived a young woman named Mary. She was looking forward to getting married. That was exciting enough, but then something happened that was amazaing and alarming all at once: an angel appeared to her.

“‘Don’t be afraid,’ saod the angel–as if Mary could stop being afraid! ‘God has chosen you for something very special. You are going to have a baby: God’s own son. You are to call him ‘Jesus.’

“Mary was astonished. But she was uttterly and completely sure that what the angel said wasn’t true.

“‘I can’t be going to have a baby,’ she said. ‘I’m not married yet and I know I can’t possibly be pregnant.’

“‘It is God’s power that will make all this happen,’ said the angel. ‘Everything is possible for God.’

“‘Oh,’ said Mary. ‘Then let ot be so. I am willing to do what God wants.’

“What the angel said reall was true. Mary soon found out she was pregnant. Her husband-to-be, Joseph, was very unhappy.

“She can’t have been faithful to her promise to marry me,’ he worried. ‘I’ll have to call off the wedding.

“He fell asleep fretting about what was the right thing to do. Then, in a dream, an angel appeared to him. “You are part of God’s plan, too, the angel told him. ‘God wants you to take care of Mary and her baby.’ Joseph was a good man, and he agreed.

“About this time, the emperor in Rome gave an order. He wanted a list of everyone in his empire. Joseph and Mary had to go to Joseph’s hometown of Bethlehem to put their names on the list.

“They arrived to find the town was crowded. ‘We must find a place to stay,’ said Mary anxiously. ‘The baby is goig to be born soon.’

“The best they could o was to share a shelter with some farm animals. In the low, dark stable, Mary had her baby. There was a manger for the animals’ food, and it made a cozy cradle for little baby Jesus.

“Out on the hillsides nearby, some shepherds wee looking after their sheep through the long, dark night. Suddenly, an angel appeared. ‘Don’t be afraid,’ said the angel. ‘Tonight, in Bethlehem, a baby has been born: a king sent by God to rescue you and all people. Go and see: you will find the baby lying in a manger.’

“Then, for one moment,the sky was full of angels. They were all singing for joy. It was like heaven had come to earth!

“When the angel vanished back to heaven, the shepherds knew what they must do. They hurried to Bethlehem and found the baby, just as the angel had said.

“Around the same time, some wise men saw a bright star in the nightime sky. ‘It is a special sign,’ they agreed, ‘that a new king has been born.’

“They followed the star many miles to the beautiful city of Jerusalem. ‘We are looking fora new king,’ they said. ‘Do ou know where he is?’

“The king in Jerusalem was a cruel man named Herod. He did’t want a rival! He’d bumped off his enemies in the past and he was ready to do so again. But first he summoned his advisers.

“Our prophets have foretold that God will send us a king,’ he said. ‘Do they also say where that king will. be born?’

“‘In Bethlehem,’ they replied.

“So Herod sent the wise men to Bethlehem, insisting that they return to tell him where they had found the baby.

“As the wise men came near the town, they saw the star hanging over one of the houses. Inside they found Mary and the baby Jesus. The star had guided them truly. Here was the king! They gave their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

“But the men were too wise to go back to Herod. In a dream, an agel warned them to return home another way.

“An angel also spoke to Joseph: ‘Take Mary and the child,’ said the angel. ‘Herod plans to harm him. Escape now, in the night.’

“Joseph led his little family to faraway Egypt. There they were safe until the time was right for them to go home to Nazareth.” Rock, Lois. Five-Minute Bible Stories, pgs. 62-66.