CHAPTER 3 THE APPEARANCE ON EARTH OF JESUS THE
MESSIAH
THE MAN FROM HEAVEN

Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God
Christ with God, Eternal Life
The ancestors of Jesus Christ
The angel Gabriel, Mary and the Baby Jesus
Mary and Elizabeth
Mary’s response
The Birth of Jesus Christ
Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem
Joseph named him Jesus
Purification at the Temple with Simeon and Anna
Bethlehem, astrologers, Herod and Egypt
Herod’s fury
From Egypt to Nazareth in Galilee
To Jerusalem for the Passover

Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God
Mark 1:1
Here begins the wonderful story of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.
Luke 1:1-4
Dear friend who loves God.
Several biographies of Christ have already been written using as their source material the reports circulating among us from the early disciples and other eyewitnesses. However, it occurred to me that it would be well to recheck all these accounts from first to last and after thorough investigation to pass this summary on to you, to reassure you of the truth of all you were taught.

Christ with God, Eternal Life
John 1:1-18
Before anything else existed, there was Christ with God. He has always been alive and is himself God. He created everything there is – nothing exists that he didn’t make. Eternal life is in him, and this life gives light to all mankind. His life is the light that shines through the darkness – and the darkness can never extinguish it.
God sent John the Baptist as a witness to the fact that Jesus Christ is the true Light. John himself was not the Light; he was only a witness to identify it. Later on, the one who is the true Light arrived to shine on everyone coming into the world.
But although he made the world, the world didn’t recognize him when he came. Even in his own land and among his own people, the Jews, he was not accepted. Only a few would welcome and receive him. But to all who received him, he gave the right to become children of God. All they needed to do was to trust him to save them. All those who believe this are reborn – not a physical rebirth resulting from human passion or plan, but from the will of God.

And Christ took our human nature and lived here on earth among us and was full of loving forgiveness and truth. And some of us have seen his glory – the glory of the only Son of the heavenly Father.
John pointed him out to the people, telling the crowds, “This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘Someone is coming who is greater by far than I am – for he existed long before I did.’”
We have all benefited from the rich blessings he brought to us – blessing upon blessing heaped upon us. For Moses gave us only the Law with its rigid demands and merciless justice, while Jesus Christ brought us loving forgiveness as well. No one has ever actually seen God, but, of course, his only Son has, for he is the companion of the Father and has told us all about him.

The ancestors of Jesus Christ
Matthew 1:1-17
These are the ancestors of Jesus Christ, a descendant of King David and of Abraham:
(Please read the details in the Gospel of Matthew, in the New Testament of the Bible in Chapter 1 and verses 1 to 17 and the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 3 and verses 23 to 38)
Luke 3:23
Jesus was about thirty years old when he began his public ministry. Jesus was known as the son of Joseph…

The angel Gabriel, Mary and baby Jesus
Luke 1:26-38
The following month God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin, Mary, engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David.
Gabriel appeared to her and said, “I salute you favored lady! The Lord is with you.”
Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean.
“Don’t be frightened, Mary,” the angel told her, “for God has decided to bless you wonderfully!
Very soon now, you will become pregnant and have a baby boy, and you are to name him ‘Jesus.’ He will be very great and will be called the Son of God. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his kingdom will never end!”
Mary asked the angel, “But how can I have a baby? I am a virgin.”
The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of God will overshadow you; so the baby born to you will be utterly holy – the Son of God. Furthermore, six months ago your cousin Elizabeth – ‘the barren one’ they called her – became pregnant in her old age. For every promise from God will surely come true.”
Mary said, “I am the Lord’s servant, and I am willing to do whatever he wants. May everything you have said come true.” And then the angel disappeared.

Mary and Elizabeth
Luke 1:39-45
A few days later Mary hurried to the highlands of Judea to the town where Zacharias lived, to visit Elizabeth. At the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leaped within her and she was filled with the Holy Spirit.
She gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, “You are favored by God above all other women and your child is destined for God’s mightiest praise. What an honor this is, that the mother of my Lord should visit me! When you came in and greeted me, the instant I heard your voice, my baby moved in me for joy! You believed that God would do what he said; that is why he has given you this wonderful blessing.”

Mary’s response
Luke 1:46-56
Mary responded, “Oh, how I praise the Lord. How I rejoice in God my Saviour! For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and now generation after generation forever shall call me blest of God. For he, the mighty Holy One, has done great things to me. His mercy goes on from generation to generation, to all who reverence him.”
“How powerful is his mighty arm! How he scatters the proud and the haughty ones (the arrogant ones)! He has torn princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly (and gentle). He has satisfied the hungry hearts and sent the rich away with empty hands. And how he has helped his servant Israel! He has not forgotten his promise to be merciful. For he promised our fathers – Abraham and his children – to be merciful to them for ever.”
Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back to her own home.

The birth of Jesus Christ.
Matthew 1:18-25
These are the facts concerning the birth of Jesus Christ: His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But while she was still a virgin she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her fiancé, being a man of stern principle, decided to break the engagement but to do it quietly, as he didn’t want to disgrace her publicly.
As he lay awake considering this, he fell into a dream, and saw an angel standing beside him.
“Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “don’t hesitate to take Mary as your wife! For the child within her has been conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you shall name him Jesus (meaning ‘Saviour’), for he will save his people from their sins. This will fulfil God’s message through his prophets, ‘Listen. The virgin shall conceive a child! She shall give birth to a son, and he shall be called “Emmanuel” (meaning “God is with us”).’” When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel commanded, and brought Mary home to be his wife, but she remained a virgin until her son was born; and Joseph named him “Jesus.”

Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem
Luke 2:1-20
About this time Caesar Augustus, the Roman Emperor, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the nation. (This census was taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.)
Everyone was required to return to his ancestral home for this registration. And because Joseph was a member of the royal line, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, King David’s ancient home – journeying there from the
Galilean province of Nazareth. He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was obviously pregnant by this time.
While they were there, the time came for her baby to be born; and she gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in a manger (an eating trough; a long container for feeding horses or cattle in a stable), because there was no room for them in the inn.
That night some shepherds were in the fields outside the village, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly an angel appeared among them, and the landscape was lit up with the glory of the Lord. They were badly frightened, but the angel reassured them.
“Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you the most joyful news ever announced, and it is for everyone! The Saviour – yes, the Messiah, the Lord – has been born tonight in Bethlehem. How will you recognize him? You will find a baby wrapped in a blanket, lying in a manger.”
Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others – the armies of heaven – praising God:
“Glory to God in the highest heaven,” they sang, and peace on earth for all those pleasing him.”
When this great army of angels had returned again to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Come on! Let’s go to Bethlehem. Let’s see this wonderful thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
They ran to the village and found their way to Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. The shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story expressed astonishment, but Mary quietly treasured these things in her heart and often thought about them.
Then the shepherds went back again to their fields and flocks, praising God for the visit of the angels, and because they had seen the child, just as the angel had told them.

Joseph named him Jesus
Matthew 1:25
…and Joseph named him Jesus.

Purification at the Temple with Simeon and Anna
Luke 2:21-39
Eight days later at the baby’s circumcision ceremony, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel before he was even conceived.
When the time came for Mary’s purification offering at the Temple, as required by the laws of Moses after the birth of a child, his parents took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, for in these laws God had said, “If a woman’s first child is a boy, he shall be dedicated to the Lord.”
At that time Jesus’ parents also offered their sacrifice for purification – “either a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons” was the legal requirement. That day a man named Simeon, a Jerusalem resident, was in the Temple. He was a good man, very devout, filled with the Holy Spirit and constantly expecting the Messiah to come soon. For the Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen him – God’s anointed King. The Holy Spirit had impelled him to go to the Temple that day; and so, when Mary and Joseph arrived to present the baby Jesus to the Lord in obedience to the law, Simeon was there and took the child in his arms, praising God.
“Lord” he said, “now I can die content! For I have seen him as you promised me I would. I have seen the Saviour you have given to the world. He is the Light that will shine upon the nations, and he will be the glory of your people Israel!”
Joseph and Mary just stood there, marvelling at what was being said about Jesus.
Simeon blessed them but then said to Mary, “A sword shall pierce your soul, for this child shall be rejected by many in Israel, and this to their undoing. But he will be the greatest joy of many others. And the deepest thoughts of many hearts shall be revealed.”
Anna, a prophetess, was also there in the Temple that day. She was the daughter of Phanuel, of the Jewish tribe of Asher, and was very old, for she had been a widow for eighty-four years following seven years of marriage. She never left the Temple but stayed there night and day, worshipping God and praying and often going without food.
She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she also began thanking God and publicly proclaiming the Messiah’s arrival to everyone in Jerusalem who had been awaiting the coming of the Saviour.
When Jesus’ parents had fulfilled all the requirements of the Law of God they returned home to Nazareth in Galilee.

Bethlehem, astrologers, Herod and Egypt
Matthew 2:1-15
Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem, in Judea, during the reign of King Herod.
At about that time some astrologers from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in far-off eastern lands, and have come to worship him.”
King Herod was deeply disturbed by their question, and all Jerusalem was filled with rumours. He called a meeting of the Jewish religious leaders.
“Did the prophets tell us where the Messiah would be born?” he asked.
“Yes, in Bethlehem,” they said, “for this is what the prophet Micah wrote: ‘O little town of Bethlehem, you are not just an unimportant Judean village, for a Governor shall rise from you to rule my people Israel.’”
Then Herod sent a private message to the astrologers, asking them to come to see him; at this meeting he found out from them the exact time when they first saw the star. Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him too!”
After this interview the astrologers started out again. And look! The star appeared to them again, standing over Bethlehem. Their joy knew no bounds!
Entering the house where the baby and Mary his mother were, they threw themselves down before him, worshipping. Then they opened their presents and gave him gold, frankincense and myrrh (frank-incense, an aroma-tic gum resin burnt as incense; myrrh, a fragrant gum resin used in perfumery, medicines and incense). But when they returned to their own land, they didn’t go through Jerusalem to report to Herod, for God had warned them in a dream to go home another way.
After they were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, “Get up and flee to Egypt with the baby and his mother,” the angel said, “and stay there until I tell you to return, for King Herod is going to try to kill the child.” That same night he left for Egypt with Mary and the baby, and stayed there until King Herod’s death. This fulfilled the prophet’s prediction, “I have called my son from Egypt.”

Herod’s fury
Matthew 2:16-18
Herod was furious when he learned that the astrologers had disobeyed him. Sending soldiers to Bethlehem, he ordered them to kill every baby boy two years old and under, both in the town and on the nearby farms, for the astrologers had told him the star first appeared to them two years before. This brutal action of Herod’s fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah, “Screams of anguish come from Ramah, weeping unrestrained; Rachel weeping for her children, uncomforted – for they are dead.”

From Egypt to Nazareth in Galilee
Matthew 2:19-23
When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, and told him, “Get up and take the baby and his mother back to Israel, for those who were trying to kill the child are dead.”
So he returned immediately to Israel with Jesus and his mother. But on the way he was frightened to learn that the new king was Herod’s son, Archelaus. Then, in another dream, he was warned not to go to Judea, so they went to Galilee instead, and lived in Nazareth. This fulfilled the predication of the prophets concerning the Messiah, “He shall be called a Nazarene.”
Luke 2:39
They returned home to Nazareth in Galilee.
Luke 2:40
There the child became a strong, robust lad, and was known for wisdom beyond his years; and God poured out his blessings upon him.

To Jerusalem for the Passover
Luke 2:41-50
When Jesus was twelve years old he accompanied his parents to Jerusalem for the annual Passover Festival, which they attended each year. After the celebration was over they started home to Nazareth, but Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem.
His parents didn’t miss him the first day, for they assumed he was with friends among the other travellers. But when he didn’t turn up that evening, they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. And when they couldn’t find him, they went back to Jerusalem to search for him there.
Three days later they finally discovered him. He was in the Temple, sitting among the teachers of Law, discussing deep questions with them and amazing everyone with his understanding and answers.
His parents didn’t know what to think when they saw him sitting there so calmly. “Son!” his mother said to him, “Why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been frantic, searching for you everywhere.”
“But why did you need to search?” he asked. “Didn’t you realize that I would be here at the Temple, in my Father’s House?” But they didn’t understand what he meant.
Luke 2:51
Then he returned to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them; and his mother stored away all these things in her heart.
Luke 2:52
So Jesus grew both tall and wise, and was loved by God and man.