Scripture Passages

At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”
And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord
    and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful
    of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
    for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
    holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him,
    from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
    he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
    but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
    but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
    remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever,
    just as he promised our ancestors.”
Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.
When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.
On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”
They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”
Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God. All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.
His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:
“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
    because he has come to his people and redeemed them.
He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
    in the house of his servant David
(as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
salvation from our enemies
    and from the hand of all who hate us—
to show mercy to our ancestors
    and to remember his holy covenant,
    the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
    and to enable us to serve him without fear
    in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
    for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
to give his people the knowledge of salvation
    through the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
    by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
to shine on those living in darkness
    and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.

• Luke 1:39-80

This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:
Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
Perez the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
Ram the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,
and Jesse the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,
Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asa,
Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,
Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
Uzziah the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amon,
Amon the father of Josiah,
and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
After the exile to Babylon:
Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,
Abihud the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
Azor the father of Zadok,
Zadok the father of Akim,
Akim the father of Elihud,
Elihud the father of Eleazar,
Eleazar the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob,
and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.
Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.
This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

• Matthew 1:1-25

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, 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.

• Luke 2:1-20

Chronological Study Bible Notes

The Birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1:5-36)

Luke gives an extraordinary glimpse of ordinary, pious Jews at the time. We should not imagine that everyone was as spiritually bankrupt as the Jewish leaders who later opposed Jesus. The lives of the barren, old Elizabeth and the young, virgin Mary intersect at the point of God’s unexpected favor to His humble servants. Elizabeth was from the tribe of Levi (Luke 1:5) and was also related to Mary (1:36). Because Elizabeth was barren and elderly, the birth of John the Baptist is presented by Luke as a special work of God.
“Luke implies that John was born 6 months before Jesus (Luke 1:26) and that the two were relatives (1:36). No other Gospel mentions their kinship, and John’s Gospel raises a question: If Jesus and John the Baptist were related, why did John not recognize Jesus at the time of His baptism (John 1:31)? Some think that the Baptist knew Jesus, but did not recognize Him as the Messiah. Geography allows for another possibility: Luke indicates that John was raised in the wilderness of Judea (Luke 1:80), whereas Jesus was raised in Nazareth of Galilee (2:39). During their early years they were separated by quite a distance by ancient standards, possibly distant enough to be unfamiliar with each other as adults.”

• Timothy B. Cargal, et al., The Chronological Study Bible

The Birth of Jesus (Matthew 1:18-25, Luke 2:1-20)

“No one knows precisely when Jesus was born. Even His year of birth is only an educated guess based on the information available. The intention of the medieval creators of our calendar was to set the date of Jesus’ birth at A.D. 1. They simply miscalculated. The Jewish historian Josephus places the death of Herod the Great in 4 B.C., and both Matthew (Matt. 2:1) and Luke (Luke 1:5) presume that Herod was king at the time of Jesus’ birth. But it is not clear how much before Herod’s death Jesus was born.
We know that Herod became king of the Jews in 37 B.C. Outside of Matthew (Matt. 2:16), no historical record mentions Herod’s slaughter of the infants in Bethlehem. Josephus does write that Herod ordered the murders of members of his own family to protect his throne. So it is not surprising that a few peasant children in Bethlehem went unnoticed among Herod’s many atrocities, leaving us no help with dating. Since Herod’s calculations led him to target children under two years old, Jesus’ birth likely occurred one or two years before Herod’s death–in either 6 or 5 B.C.
“A date of about 5 B.C. could fit with Luke’s note that Augustus, who reigned from 27 B.C. to A.D. 14, was the Roman emperor when Jesus was born (Luke 2:1). Luke’s mention of Quirinius (2:2), however, creates a problem. After Herod died, Rome divided his territory among his surviving sons. Archelaus ruled in Judea (see Matt. 2:22) until he was deposed by the Romans in A.D. 6. Only then was Quirinius appointed governor, after serving for more than a decade as commander of the Roman troops in the area. Perhaps Luke simply identified him by his later office.
“Some have tried to specify Jesus’ birth date by appeal to astronomical phenomena that might explain the star of Bethlehem (Matt. 2:2, 8, 9, 10). Halley’s comet appeared in 12 or 11 B.C. and another comet in 5 B.C. But in antiquity comets were thought to forecast evil, not blessed, events. In 7 B.C. rare (once every 794 years) conjunction of the planets Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn occurred in the constellation Pisces. Whether Matthew’s star was any of these is pure speculation. For ancient people the star confirmed again that Jesus was the Messiah who fulfilled Balaam’s star prophecy (Num. 24:17).

Other Commentary

Shepherds (Luke 2:8-17)

Shepherds of that day were often viewed as outcasts and as dishonest and unclean according to the law. They were usually in the fields with their sheep from March to November.

• Dorothy Kelley Patterson, General Editor, NIV Woman’s Study Bible (Ann W. Bowman, Gospels and Acts contributor)

Quirinius was governing Syria (Luke 2:2)

Fixing a precise date for this census is problematic. Publius Sulpicius Quirinius is known to have governed Syria during A.D. 6–9. A well-known census was taken in Palestine in A.D. 6. Josephus records that it sparked a violent Jewish revolt (mentioned by Luke, quoting Gamaliel, in Acts 5:37). Quirinius was responsible for administering that census, and he also played a major role in quelling the subsequent rebellion. However, that cannot be the census Luke has in mind here, because it occurred about a decade after the death of Herod (see … Matt. 2:1)—much too late to fit Luke’s chronology (cf. 1:5). In light of Luke’s meticulous care as a historian, it would be unreasonable to charge him with such an obvious anachronism. Indeed, archeology has vindicated Luke. A fragment of stone discovered at Tivoli (near Rome) in A.D. 1764 contains an inscription in honor of a Roman official who, it states, was twice governor of Syria and Phoenicia during the reign of Augustus. The name of the official is not on the fragment, but among his accomplishments are listed details that, as far as is known, can fit no one other than Quirinius. Thus, he must have served as governor in Syria twice. He was probably military governor at the same time that history records Varus was civil governor there. With regard to the dating of the census, some ancient records found in Egypt mention a worldwide census ordered in 8 B.C. That date is not without problems, either. It is generally thought by scholars that 6 B.C. is the earliest possible date for Christ’s birth. Evidently, the census was ordered by Caesar Augustus in 8 B.C. but was not actually carried out in Palestine until 2–4 years later, perhaps because of political difficulties between Rome and Herod. Therefore, the precise year of Christ’s birth cannot be known with certainty, but it was probably no earlier than 6 B.C. and certainly no later than 4 B.C. Luke’s readers, familiar with the political history of that era, would no doubt have been able to discern a very precise date from the information he gave.

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

My Thoughts

John the Baptist was Born (Luke 1:39-80)

Gabriel, the archangel, spoke to Zechariah.  Zechariah voiced his doubts and Gabriel made him mute, until after the baby was born.

Mary hears that Elizabeth, Zechariah’s wife, is pregnant.  Elizabeth is six months into her pregnancy.  Mary travels to Judea to be with her relative.  She stays there three months.

When they met, Elizabeth exclaims that the baby in her womb leapt with joy.  John did so because in a spiritual sense, John recognized the baby Jesus growing in Mary’s womb.  Mary could not be more than a couple of weeks into her pregnancy at the time.  Thus, this gives biblical evidence of life in the womb.

Mary says, possibly sings the Magnificat.  Mary quoted mostly psalms, but some prophecies.

The song is beautiful, as is the song of Zechariah.  Both praise God, but Zechariah digs deeper into the prophecies.

I have heard and read biblical scholars and pastors argue that Mary was not there at the birth of John the Baptist.  But all that can be said for sure is that the Bible does not say.  If Mary was not there for the birth of John, who was still alive to tell Luke what happened?  It makes no sense for Mary to stay for the entire final trimester and leave just before the baby is born.  Then Mary could be the holder of the evidence of what happened.

Elizabeth said the baby was to be called John.  Zechariah asked for a tablet and wrote that the baby’s name would be John.  And with that proclamation via a tablet, John’s voice was restored.

Joseph sees an angel in a dream (Matthew 2:18-25)

Matthew’s Gospel starts with a kingly genealogy.  Since sons of kings became kings, this genealogy is thought to be that of Joseph, while the other genealogy in Luke 3 is thought to be that of Mary.  Both date back to King David.  Actually, both date back to Bathsheba since Solomon and Nathan were her sons.

I think the people organizing the Chronology got this part right.  The angel (not named) came to Joseph after Joseph realized that his bride was pregnant, and he had not slept with her.  When Mary returned to Nazareth, she would be showing a small baby bump at three months plus travel time.  Definitely the bump was showing at four months.  No matter how much the Bible talks against gossip, Joseph knew that all Nazareth knew she was pregnant.  Only Mary knew that she was still a virgin.

A betrothal in those days was the binding oath.  When a couple agreed to marry, the father of the groom goes to prepare a place for the betrothed couple.  Until then, the bride remains a virgin, and the groom helps his father prepare the place.  Note: Jesus promised us that He goes ahead to prepare a place.  Some parables go into the marriage ceremony even deeper.

So, Mary was his bride, but not his wife until they had a house, essentially.

Thus, Joseph prepared a plan to quietly divorce her.  The punishment for adultery was death.

Thus, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream.  Mary showed her faith by accepting her role.  Joseph did the same.  Regardless of the gossip, he went through with the wedding plans.  He had still not slept with her when they travelled to Bethlehem for the census.

Jesus was born (Luke 2:1-20)

The Chronological Bible does not give as much clarification as the quote from the MacArthur Commentary regarding when Quirinius was governor and when the census was taken.  Could it be that the widespread riots that Josephus talked about were due to there having been a census just ten years before?  And could Quirinius have been reassigned as governor the second time because he did such a good job with the previous census?  Historians rarely say much about the quiet years, but they make all efforts to speak of the times of trouble.

I am taking this next part from Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes by Kenneth E. Bailey.  I have watched a video and read Ben Witherington III speak of the same thing.  Jesus was born in a house that was overcrowded by descendants of King David.  We might say Jesse’s home that was passed down from one generation to the next. Rev. Bailey was a missionary.  He argues that Joseph was not inept.  He was going to stay with family as the decree stipulated, but travelling with a woman who was about to give birth is slow, and his cousins filled the upper room before he got there.

The Greek word used, the room that was full, is only used twice: here and for the upper room where the Last Supper was held in Jerusalem.  It could be translated as guest room, and some could translate using modern concepts as a hotel room or even an inn with many rooms.  But families lived under the same roof as their animals, just on a different level.  Thus, the main living quarters had dished out holes along the floor next to the animal area, used as mangers – feeding troughs.  I can imagine Jesus in a trough that fed a donkey.  The donkey looks in, wanting food.  Instead, the donkey sees Jesus.  A spiritual communication would keep the donkey from going further, but it might have been comical.

And when the shepherds heard that the baby was wrapped in swaddling cloth and lying in a manger, they had to go see.  That is what they did to protect the lambs that were prepared as Passover Lambs.  The shepherds were the lowest of the low.  As more than one theologian has said, they smelled like their sheep.  But the shepherds must have made that connection.  The angel was one thing.  The chorus of angels was something else, but the vision of a human being dressed like a Passover Lamb must mean this was the Messiah.

And what did the shepherds do once they saw Jesus.  They told everyone.  The shepherds were the first evangelists.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.