Birth of Christ 2: Saving the World through Humans

LHIM Weekly Bible Teaching

When we read the birth narratives of Jesus, we see that God chooses to work through human beings to bring about His plan of salvation. Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, and Joseph are the stars of the show. When the child comes, he is a human being too. Strikingly absent from Scripture is any indication that the baby had dual natures or was a hybrid “God-man.” Instead, God ordained that a man would be born to save mankind—an exciting truth worth celebrating!

Luke 1:5-10 Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous and blameless according to the Law. Zechariah encountered the angel Gabriel who told him that he would have a child and to name him John.

Luke 1:26-33 While Elizabeth was pregnant, Gabriel made a visit to Mary and prophesied that she would give birth to the Messiah.

Luke 1:34-36 Although we would prefer a more specific explanation of precisely how Mary became pregnant by divine intervention, the angel just says God’s power would overshadow her.

Luke 1:37-45 Mary visited Elizabeth who greatly encouraged her right from the start. Elizabeth recognized that Mary was carrying her lord, a term used of many other humans throughout the Bible (Gen 18:12; 33:8; 42:10; Num 11:28; 1 Sam 24:8; 1 Kgs 1:31; 18:7; Ruth 2:13).

Luke 1:46-57 This poetic statement of praise was Mary’s response to Elizabeth. In it she focused on how God had humbled the powerful and exalted the weak. She would bear the Messiah—the most important human who had ever lived.

Matthew 1:18-22 Joseph, Mary’s fiancé, first decided to divorce her, but after a nocturnal angelic visit, he came to believe that “the child conceived in her is from the holy spirit.” This child, just like the boy born in Isaiah’s time, signified that God had not abandoned His people, instead the child’s birth meant “God is with us.”

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