Christians Celebrate Christmas in 2024: ‘For to Us a Child Is Born’

Christians around the globe celebrate Christmas this week, what they believe to be the miracle of the Incarnation—that God came into this world by being born as a baby, and living a human life on this earth, believing this to be the fulfillment of centuries of prophecy.

Jesus of Nazareth was born around 4 B.C. in Bethlehem, a small town in Israel about five miles south of Jerusalem. Christians believe that he was born to a virgin named Mary. She would likely have been around 13 to 14 years old, and was formally engaged to Joseph, who would have been around age 15 or 17.

Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus had decreed a census of the Roman Empire, and Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem to register as descendants of King David, who hailed from that town. And so Jesus was born in a stable, because there were no rooms available at the inn in which they sought to stay.

But followers of Jesus believe that far more happened that night. There are dozens of prophesies recorded over the centuries in the Old Testament of the Bible that speak of a Messiah (or “Christ” in Greek), meaning an “Anointed One” chosen by God to deliver his people and rule over them.

The Christian faith teaches that Jesus’s birth fulfilled several of those prophesies. Among those is the one written by Isaiah seven hundred years before Jesus. In Isaiah 9:6–7, the prophet wrote:

“6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

(Read more from “Christians Celebrate Christmas in 2024: ‘For to Us a Child Is Born’” HERE)

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