From: Francis Harper
wbfrmsup@iowatelecom.net
Francis Harper Message for 12/13/2019
The Two Miraculous Births
The Christmas Story as it is recorded in the Scriptures is not fiction. It is not a story created in the mind of man. The story of the birth of Jesus recorded by Luke and Matthew is based upon historical facts and happenings not on cunningly devised fables. They did not invent the story of the birth of Jesus and the events surrounding it. Luke interviewed eye-witnesses and recorded their testimonies that you might know the “certainty” of the angel visitations and the miraculous events that followed.
Although I was not an eye-witness of the events that transpired at the time of the birth of our Lord, I can say with Paul, “as one born out of due time” that the events described by Luke actually happened as they are described.
In January of 1990, Randy Killpack, our daughter Terri, Iris and I visited Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth and Ein Karem; the places at which the angels appeared and these miracles happened.
The story of Christmas is really about the birth of two baby boys; John and Jesus. They were cousins. John, who became known as John, the Baptist, was born 6 months before Jesus. Both of their births were miraculous. John’s parents, Elizabeth and Zacharias, lived in Ein Karem, a suburb of Jerusalem. They were, as Luke put it, “well stricken in years.” Zacharias was a priest who took his turn in serving at the temple in Jerusalem. He and his wife had prayed for many years for a child but their prayers had not been answered. Then one day as Zacharias was burning the incense, the angel Gabriel appeared to him and told him his prayer had been heard and his wife would conceive and give birth to a son and they should call him John. Gabriel added “And he shall go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elias . . . to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:17). Elizabeth conceived as the angel had promised.
Six months later the angel Gabriel was sent from God to the city of Nazareth (80-90 miles north of Jerusalem) to visit a virgin who was engaged to be married to a man whose name was Joseph. Her name was Mary. She was told she would conceive by the Holy Spirit and bear a son, and his name should be called Jesus. And Mary said, “. . . be it unto me, according to thy word” (Luke 1:38).
How could Mary explain her pregnancy to her parents and especially to Joseph? Mary had been told by the angel Gabriel that her cousin Elizabeth was going to have a baby. She would surely understand Mary’s concerns. Luke simply states that Mary went with haste to the house of Zacharias and Elizabeth. As Mary approached her cousin, the baby in Elizabeth’s womb leaped, and she told Mary that “. . . those things which were told thee by the angel of the Lord, shall be fulfilled” (Luke 1:44 IV; 1:45 KJV). Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months, which would have been near the time of the delivery of Elizabeth’s son. It seems reasonable to believe that Mary would have stayed with Elizabeth until her baby was born. Then Mary returned to her home.
It was probably during Mary’s absence that Joseph was given a vision in which he was told not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife “. . . for that which is conceived in her, is of the Holy Ghost” and that she would bring forth a son and “thou shalt call his name Jesus; for he shall save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 2:1-4).
As the time of the birth of Mary’s son drew near, Joseph and Mary had to go to Bethlehem to be taxed as subjects of Caesar Augustus and the Roman Empire. How many days do you suppose it took for Joseph and Mary to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem, nearly 100 miles? Could they average more than 10 miles per day? Could they complete the journey in a week? The Lord’s timing was precise. They arrived just in time to fulfill the prophecy of Micah. “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:2).
“And so it was, that while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger because there was none to give room for them in the inns. And there were in the same country, shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And lo, an angel of the Lord appeared unto them, and the glory of the Lord shone around about them; and they were sore afraid. But the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this is the way you shall find the babe, he is wrapped in swaddling clothes, and is lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest; and on earth, peace; good will to men. [Can you imagine the singing?] And it came to pass, when the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go, unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which has come to pass, which the Lord has made known unto us. And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. All they who heard it, wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds: But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all the things which they had heard and seen, as they were manifested unto them” (Luke 2:6-20).
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Dear Ones,
During my daily walk recently I met a young man with whom I sensed I needed to communicate. I have known him since he was a child. He was attracted to the baby chicks we displayed in the window of our store during the week we celebrate the Resurrection each year. He liked to help me feed and water the chicks. I asked Mike to stop by for a visit. He came the next day. He was in more trouble than I had expected.
The following Monday, he would be going to court on two drug charges. When I suggested he consider enlisting in one of the military services, he said he had dropped out of school and had not completed the requirements for a GED. Without meeting this requirement he could not enlist. He would also need to satisfy the demands of the court. When I said he needed some spiritual help, he seemed to delight in saying, “I’m an atheist.” In spite of this remark I assured him that there is a God that loves him and that I love him. After I offered a prayer for him he went on his way. I wondered how many others there are like Mike, who are living lives of quiet desperation. How can we help them? What would Jesus say?
I thought of the words of Peter: “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of his majesty” (2 Peter 1:16). How can we convince people how much they need the Lord? I love the song, “People need the Lord.” “Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is” (Jeremiah 17:7). In reality, without the Lord, there is very little hope. Ether reminds us: “Whoso believeth in God, might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God” (Ether 5:4).
“Atheists and other unbelievers, seeking a way to circumvent the fact of the 333 fulfilled prophecies of Jesus [given centuries before his birth] in the Old Testament, have argued that the fulfillments were accidental, chance or coincidental. But when such complete details are given, the chance fulfillment of these prophecies is ruled out. The probability of chance fulfillment as calculated by mathematicians, according to the theory of probabilities, is less than one in 1,125,000,000,000,000. This is enough, one would think, to silence forever all pleas for chance as furnishing an unbeliever the least opportunity of escape from the evidence of prophecy” (The Prophets Still Speak, Fred John Meldau. Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, PO Box 908, Bellmawr, NJ 08099). (Gregory’s Letters) [Alexander Keith, Evidences of Prophecy, p. 8].
Dr. A.T. Pierson says: “There would be no honest infidel [or atheist] in the world if the messianic prophecies [of the Old Testament; fulfilled in the New Testament] were studied . . . nor would there be any doubting disciples if this fact of prediction and fulfillment were fully understood. But the sad fact is, we have yet to meet the first honest skeptic or critic who has carefully studied the prophecies which center in Christ” (Many Infallible Proofs).
Many today are “willingly ignorant” of the truth. See 2 Peter 3:5. They seem to prefer to walk in darkness. “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light . . .” (John 3:19).
My Love to All,
High Priest Francis Harper
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