Advent: Thirty Days of Jesus; Day 5- The Babe has arrived!
By Elizabeth Prata
Answers in Genesis: Separating myth from biblical fact, No Room For an Inn
You probably recognize this scene:
Bethlehem (around 2,000 years ago): Joseph and Mary arrive at the sleepy town in the middle of the night. Mary, already in labor, remains on the donkey while Joseph frantically searches for a room at the local inns. Desperate, he begs one reluctant innkeeper for any place at all to have this baby. The innkeeper finally relents and makes room for them in a tumbledown stable with the cows. There’s just one problem. This isn’t what the Bible teaches.
Read more from Answers in Genesis at the link above.
Why Spurgeon Loved the Incarnation
First, Spurgeon cherished the incarnation because its purpose was to save men from sin and death. He said, “Incarnation prophesies salvation” (MTP 22:713). Since God entered into union with man through the incarnation, its end must be for blessing and not curse. For, “God cannot intend to destroy that race which He thus weds unto Himself.”[4] God had visited men many times before in redemptive history, but the incarnation was “the most wonderful visit of all…when He came to tarry here…to work out our salvation.”[5]
More at the link
The Nativity by American artist Gari Melchers 1891. “Melchers, a painter of German descent, took the scene from the point of view of immediately after the birth of the Savior. In looking at Mary’s pose, one can almost feel her exhaustion, both emotional and physical. Joseph’s expression is one of concern and reflection of the incredible responsibility. All among a dirty alley…and yet the Babe’s head is aglow with the promise of God having sent the Light into the world. What were Mary and Joseph thinking and feeling then? We can ask them when we get there, but meanwhile, please enjoy this representation of the glorious moment when all was quiet, before heaven shouted with joy and all hell broke loose…of the coming of Jesus Christ the Lamb. ~By Elizabeth Prata
John MacArthur: “The Truth of the Nativity“
Luke 2:7 sets the scene: “[Mary] gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”
That verse is explicitly concerned with a lonely birth. There were no midwives, no assistance to Mary at all. The Bible doesn’t even mention that Joseph was present. Perhaps he was, but if he was typical of first-time fathers, he would have been of little help to Mary. She was basically on her own.
Mary brought forth the child; she wrapped Him in swaddling cloths; and she laid Him in a manger. Where usually a midwife would clean the baby and wrap Him, there was no one. Mary did it herself. And where usually there would have been a cradle or basket for the baby, there was none. Mary had to put Him in an animal’s feeding trough.
When Christ entered the world, He came to a place that had some of the smelliest, filthiest, and most uncomfortable conditions. But that is part of the wonder of divine grace, isn’t it? When the Son of God came down from heaven, He came all the way down. He did not hang on to His equality with God; rather, He set it aside for a time and completely humbled Himself (Philippians 2:5-8).
