The final week of Advent revolves around the birth of Jesus. The recommended passage for week 5 is Luke 2:1-20.
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
As I have been meditating my way through advent, the part of this story that affects me this year is the amazement of the shepherds and those who heard the story. The cause for amazement, in general, is to learn or observe something out of the ordinary that surprises us. A birth is ordinary. An announcement of a birth is ordinary. What is not ordinary is to have the announcement given by celestial beings, with great fanfare. On top of that, the announcement is for the birth of the Messiah. The Jewish people have been looking forward to having the Messiah come for centuries. Another point, somewhat subtle: the angels told the shepherds how to find Jesus. This actually helps to confirm their heavenly origin, since only these messengers could give exact directions. An ordinary human could not have given these directions and forecast the birth, concurrent to the event. That is amazing.
The fact of Jesus’ birth is beyond doubt, even among the skeptics. On the other hand, skeptics doubt on the basis of other contested facts. I am skeptical of the skeptics’ arguments. One of the early factors that convinced me to have faith in Jesus Christ was the discovery of all the fulfilled prophecies in Jesus Christ. The fulfillment of one prophecy at his birth certainly exceeds the odds of winning a lottery. I doubt that I could ever win a lottery. The odds are just too high. I once read that the odds of winning the Powerball lottery exceeded 185,000 to 1. If tickets are 1/8th inch thick, winning the lottery with these odds would be like pulling the winner from a stack that stretches nearly half a mile! I am not a mathematician, but I know enough statistical probability to know that the likelihood of Jesus fulfilling not just one, but ALL the prophecies in the Biblical period amazes me too.
