The Jewish Birth of Yeshua*

     We celebrate the birth of Jesus, or Christmas, on December 25th, but this date was chosen because the pagan feast of Saturnalia, which unfortunately began many of the traditions that we associate with Christmas now. We still mix pagan ideas and foreign fables into our observances of the birth of Christ, rather than the Jewish scriptures and fulfilled prophecies. Christianity is a Jewish faith based upon a Jewish Messiah and a Jewish church of believers. The first few chapters of the Book of Acts record thousands, multitudes, of Jewish people, including priests, coming to faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 2:39-41, Acts 4:4, Acts 5:14-16, Acts 6:7). They came by the thousands because of the Word of God preached that spoke in detail of the Messiah in prophecy, and because of the eyewitness testimony of the disciples/apostles who had seen the empty tomb and the resurrected Christ, and the confirming miracles done at the hands of the apostles (see also Luke 1:1-2). 

     Paul wrote to the church: "So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek (Gentile)." (Rom. 1:15-16). Not only is the news of the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus, or Yeshua in the Hebrew form, intrinsically Jewish, for the Jews, and of the Jews, but Paul also wrote as correction to the church that the Jews had not been cut off by God, and the gospel of salvation is for them first. The Gospel of salvation in Jesus, Yeshua, is by belief in the heart, and confession with the mouth by any who desire to come to Christ.

     The first glimpse that we are given that the birth of Christ was imminent, occurred while a Jewish priest named Zacharias is performing his assigned duties in the temple of God in Jerusalem. An angel of the Lord, who later identified himself as Gabriel, stood at the altar of incense where Zacharias was burning the prayer incense. Zacharias and his wife, Elizabeth, were old and childless because Elizabeth was barren. However, the angel promised Zacharias that he and his wife would have a son to be named John (Luke 1:5-13). The angel described the purpose of this miracle child who would be John the Baptist: "For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord...and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias (Elijah), to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." (v. 15-17, see also Mal. 4:5-6). Zacharias' wife did conceive (v. 24), and would give birth to her son, John. This ministry of John's would fulfill the prophecies of the Jewish scriptures.

     Six months after John's conception, the same angel, Gabriel, appeared to Mary, a virgin espoused to a man named Joseph in Nazareth of Galilee. The angel began to prophesy to her: "...thou hast found favor with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end." (v. 26-33). This prophecy to Mary confirmed prophecies from the Jewish scriptures regarding a virgin giving birth to a child to be named Immanuel, or "God with us" (see Isa. 7:14). We have beloved Christmas carols that refer to the promises within the Jewish scriptures that were brought to pass with the birth of Yeshua, Jesus, such as, "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel".

     Mary was espoused to Joseph, but not yet married. She didn't understand how she would have a child. The angel explained to her that this would be a work of power of the Most High by the Holy Spirit. The child would be holy, and called "the Son of God". The angel told Mary of the miraculous conception of a child by her cousin Elizabeth, who had been barren: "For with God nothing shall be impossible".  Mary consented to the bidding of God. (Lk. 1:34-38). Mary hastened to visit her cousin Elizabeth because of what the angel had told her, and when they greeted, the child in Elizabeth's womb leapt, Elizabeth also was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she began to prophesy to Mary calling her "the mother of my Lord". Mary also began to extol the Lord, her Savior (v. 39-55). Mary, as a not yet married woman, agreed to have this child at the risk of her life. Women found to be with child but without a husband, were subject to death under the law. However, Joseph, a just man, decided to deal mercifully with the pregnant Mary, whom he had never known intimately, by putting her away from him quietly in order to spare her life under the law. Then an angel appeared to him in a dream. The angel told Joseph: "...Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.' Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet saying, 'Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with us." (Mt. 1:18-23, Isa. 7:14 above). When he awoke, Joseph did as the angel had told him.

     When Elizabeth gave birth to her son, John, her husband, Zacharias, began to prophesy by the Holy Spirit. As he did so, Zacharias spoke of the fulfilment of the prophecies of the Jewish scriptures: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, and hath raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; (as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:) That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; The oath which he sware to our father Abraham, that he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life. And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." (v. 67-79). Zacharias, by the Holy Spirit, understood these events to be the fulfilment of the Jewish scriptures, and, specifically, of God's covenant with Abraham. The enemies that the Lord delivered us from were the Devil and sin.

     The fact that Joseph had to bring his pregnant wife Mary with him to Bethlehem from Nazareth (Luke 2:1-7), where the child Jesus, the King of Israel coming forth from everlasting, would be born. This is also a fulfilment of the Jewish prophetic scriptures (Mt. 2:3-6, see Micah 5:2). At the birth of the Savior, an angel, filling the night with the glory of God, revealed to nearby shepherds the birth of the Messiah/Christ: "...behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ (Messiah) the Lord." (Lk. 2:8-11). After seeing the child, the shepherds declared to all whom they knew what they had witnessed. Dealing with tradition, it is unlikely that this occurred during winter, as the cold rainy climate of winter would prevent the shepherds from being outside watching their sheep.

     The celebration of Christmas, as we can see above, was meant to be a Jewish observance of the amazing fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy. It is not about snow, or Santa, although Santa was based upon the Christian Bishop, St. Nicholas, who gave gifts to children. Despite our European images of Jesus, He was not European, but born of the Jewish people. Jesus, the Messiah, was born to go to the cross to set us free from darkness and sin, and He is coming back to rule and reign, again as a fulfilment of Jewish scripture. We, God's people who are called by His name, need to turn from our worldly ways, and turn back to the Lord, so He can heal our land (2 Chron. 7:14). Our traditions (including those that ignore the miraculous prophetic fulfilment of the Jewish scriptures surrounding the birth of the Jewish Christ), make the Word of God of no effect as Jesus said.

     Merry Birth of Christ to everyone.

      *Based upon Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson, Jr.'s 12/24/23 message to the church. If you would like to hear the complete message, you can find it on Dr. Stevenson's Facebook page. To contact or support this ministry, you can write to PO Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705.