Tag: christmas

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. (Luke 1:26-38, NIV)

_{From the book “Jesus is Born“. Image © TFI.}

Zechariah went into the Temple of the Lord to offer the incense. Then, on the right side of the incense table, an angel of the Lord came and stood before Zechariah. When he saw the angel, Zechariah was upset and very afraid. But the angel said to him, “Zechariah, don’t be afraid. Your prayer has been heard by God. Your wife Elizabeth will give birth to a baby boy, and you will name him John. You will be very happy, and many others will share your joy over his birth. He will be a great man for the Lord. Even before he is born, he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. John will help many people of Israel return to the Lord their God. John himself will go ahead of the Lord and make people ready for his coming. He will be powerful like Elijah and will have the same spirit. He will make peace between fathers and their children. He will cause people who are not obeying God to change and start thinking the way they should.”

Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I know that what you say is true? I am an old man, and my wife is also old.”

The angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, the one who always stands ready before God. He sent me to talk to you and to tell you this good news. Now, listen! You will not be able to talk until the day when these things happen. You will lose your speech because you did not believe what I told you. But everything I said will really happen.” (Luke 1:9-20, ERV)

_{From the book “Jesus is Born“. Image © TFI.}

The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. …It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me”…

Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” … And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:1,4-5,9-10, NIV)

_{From the book “Jesus is Born“. Image designed using the Freepik AI image generator.}

But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises.

If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it. But when God found fault with the people, he said: “The day is coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant…I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already. And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.” (Hebrews 8:6-8,11-13, NLT)

_{From the book “Jesus is Born“. Image designed using the Freepik AI image generator.}

“As I was looking, thrones were put in their places, and the Ancient King sat on his throne. His clothes were as white as snow. His hair was as white as wool. His throne was made from fire, and its wheels were made from flames. A river of fire flowed out from in front of the Ancient King. Millions of people were serving him. Hundreds of millions of people stood in front of him. Court was ready to begin, and the books were opened.

“In my vision at night I looked, and there in front of me was someone who looked like a human being. He was coming on the clouds in the sky. He came up to the Ancient King, and the King’s servants brought him before the King. The one who looked like a human being was given authority, glory, and complete ruling power. People from every nation and language group will serve him. His rule will last forever. His kingdom will continue forever. It will never be destroyed.” (Daniel 7:9-10,13-14, ERV)

^{_{From the book “Jesus is Born“. Foreground image courtesy of pngimg.com. Used under Creative Commons 4.0 BY-NC license. Background image in public domain.}}

“Here is my servant, the one I support. He is the one I have chosen, and I am very pleased with him. I have filled him with my Spirit, and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not cry out or shout or try to make himself heard in the streets. He will not break even a crushed reed. He will not put out even the weakest flame. He will bring true justice. He will not grow weak or give up until he has brought justice to the world. And people in faraway places will hope to receive his teachings.”

The Lord, the true God, said these things. (He created the sky and spread it out over the earth. He formed the earth and everything it produced. He breathes life into all the people on earth. He gives a spirit to everyone who walks on the earth.)

“I, the Lord, was right to call you. I will hold your hand and protect you. You will be the sign of my agreement with the people. You will be a light for the other nations. You will make the blind able to see. You will free those who are held as captives. You will lead those who live in darkness out of their prison. (Isaiah 42:1-7, ERV)

From the book “Jesus is Born“. Image designed by Freepik.

And the Lord said … I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto [Moses], and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (Which means God with us)

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf. And he will stand to lead his flock with the Lord’s strength, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. Then his people will live there undisturbed, for he will be highly honored around the world. And he will be the source of peace. (Deuteronomy 18:17,18; Isaiah 7:14, Micah 5:2,4-5 [NLT]) 

From the book “Jesus is Born“. Image in public domain.