WEBVTT - Why The Nativity?

0:00:10.320 --> 0:00:13.960
<v Speaker 1>And we continue with our American stories and with some

0:00:14.080 --> 0:00:18.680
<v Speaker 1>of our Christmas season programming, and our next story comes

0:00:18.720 --> 0:00:22.400
<v Speaker 1>to us from the founder of Turning Point Radio and

0:00:22.520 --> 0:00:27.960
<v Speaker 1>television ministries and the senior pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church,

0:00:28.360 --> 0:00:31.920
<v Speaker 1>doctor David Jeremiah. And every morning at six am, he's

0:00:32.000 --> 0:00:36.000
<v Speaker 1>my teacher. I'm a Christian, and well sixty four percent

0:00:36.000 --> 0:00:39.959
<v Speaker 1>of Americans are Christians. And this story is for you

0:00:40.080 --> 0:00:44.040
<v Speaker 1>and for anybody else interested and why we celebrate Christmas

0:00:44.400 --> 0:00:48.400
<v Speaker 1>and Why the Nativity. It was a terrific book written

0:00:48.400 --> 0:00:51.280
<v Speaker 1>by David Jeremiah in two thousand and six, and it

0:00:51.320 --> 0:00:55.320
<v Speaker 1>has now been adapted into a terrific film that's available

0:00:55.400 --> 0:00:59.600
<v Speaker 1>for free to stream. Just type in Why the Nativity

0:00:59.640 --> 0:01:03.280
<v Speaker 1>on your browser or go to David Jeremiah dot org

0:01:03.720 --> 0:01:07.440
<v Speaker 1>and watch it with your family. And now here is

0:01:07.520 --> 0:01:11.919
<v Speaker 1>doctor David Jeremiah to tell the story of the Nativity

0:01:12.240 --> 0:01:16.640
<v Speaker 1>and to answer the question and many questions around the

0:01:16.800 --> 0:01:20.679
<v Speaker 1>birth of Jesus. You know, we celebrate Christmas now, but

0:01:20.800 --> 0:01:23.200
<v Speaker 1>most people don't know what Christmas is about. So I

0:01:23.240 --> 0:01:26.280
<v Speaker 1>decided to write a book and answer a lot of

0:01:26.360 --> 0:01:29.440
<v Speaker 1>questions that people had, and we started out was going

0:01:29.480 --> 0:01:32.200
<v Speaker 1>to be eleven questions, then it was going to be fifteen,

0:01:32.400 --> 0:01:36.160
<v Speaker 1>and then it became twenty five. And these are key

0:01:36.280 --> 0:01:39.040
<v Speaker 1>questions like why Mary and why Joseph and where do

0:01:39.120 --> 0:01:41.120
<v Speaker 1>they all fit into the story. So one of the

0:01:41.200 --> 0:01:43.440
<v Speaker 1>questions we talk about in the beginning of the book

0:01:43.520 --> 0:01:46.840
<v Speaker 1>is why did God become a man? And the answer

0:01:46.840 --> 0:01:49.400
<v Speaker 1>to that is really so much a part of the

0:01:49.400 --> 0:01:51.920
<v Speaker 1>heart of the story. He did that because of his

0:01:52.040 --> 0:01:54.680
<v Speaker 1>love he had to reach man, and the only way

0:01:54.720 --> 0:01:57.840
<v Speaker 1>he could reach man was to become a man himself.

0:01:58.200 --> 0:02:02.960
<v Speaker 1>So he and his own son, Jesus Christ to become

0:02:02.960 --> 0:02:06.200
<v Speaker 1>a person. The Bible says he tasted flesh, and at

0:02:06.280 --> 0:02:09.840
<v Speaker 1>Christmas time we celebrate that Jesus being born into humanity.

0:02:10.160 --> 0:02:12.440
<v Speaker 1>And I always like to say the people, because sometimes

0:02:12.480 --> 0:02:15.440
<v Speaker 1>people don't really understand it. He didn't become a man,

0:02:15.520 --> 0:02:20.000
<v Speaker 1>then he didn't become a person. Jesus has always been

0:02:20.000 --> 0:02:21.919
<v Speaker 1>and he always will be. There never was the time

0:02:21.919 --> 0:02:23.680
<v Speaker 1>when he was not, and there never will be a

0:02:23.720 --> 0:02:26.760
<v Speaker 1>time when he ceases to be. But in that moment,

0:02:26.800 --> 0:02:30.079
<v Speaker 1>he came, and he came through the birth canal of

0:02:30.160 --> 0:02:35.079
<v Speaker 1>his mother Mary and became a human being so that

0:02:35.240 --> 0:02:38.440
<v Speaker 1>in his humanity he could reach down to man, and

0:02:38.520 --> 0:02:41.200
<v Speaker 1>in his divinity he could reach up to God. And

0:02:41.360 --> 0:02:45.919
<v Speaker 1>one day, on a cross outside of the city of Jerusalem,

0:02:45.960 --> 0:02:50.560
<v Speaker 1>he hung there as the God Man and as the

0:02:50.600 --> 0:02:53.680
<v Speaker 1>man God and paid the penalty for the sin of

0:02:53.720 --> 0:02:57.320
<v Speaker 1>all of us. A truly remarkable story that not duplicated

0:02:57.360 --> 0:03:00.760
<v Speaker 1>anywhere else. And it is so amazing. It had to

0:03:00.840 --> 0:03:03.360
<v Speaker 1>be God, because nobody else would ever have come up

0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:08.240
<v Speaker 1>with that. Nasareth was an interesting place. Actually, I've had

0:03:08.240 --> 0:03:12.119
<v Speaker 1>the privilege to talk about Nasareth before, and I've actually

0:03:12.280 --> 0:03:15.720
<v Speaker 1>bend in Nazareth on maybe five times. And that's the

0:03:15.760 --> 0:03:19.320
<v Speaker 1>place where Jesus grew up as a carpenter. It's a

0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:23.520
<v Speaker 1>when when we were building the set for our movie

0:03:23.560 --> 0:03:25.920
<v Speaker 1>that we did, we built the set so if you

0:03:26.000 --> 0:03:28.400
<v Speaker 1>walk into the set this way, it's Besally Him and

0:03:28.440 --> 0:03:30.680
<v Speaker 1>if you walk into it the other way, it's Nazareth.

0:03:31.400 --> 0:03:34.079
<v Speaker 1>And uh, it was. It was the place where Jesus

0:03:34.080 --> 0:03:36.480
<v Speaker 1>grew up. He was a carpenter's son there there, he

0:03:36.840 --> 0:03:40.280
<v Speaker 1>learned to work there, he learned to be a godly son.

0:03:40.840 --> 0:03:45.640
<v Speaker 1>And it's um. You know, the attitude was can anything

0:03:45.640 --> 0:03:48.040
<v Speaker 1>good come out in Nasareth? Well something did come out

0:03:48.040 --> 0:03:50.240
<v Speaker 1>and answer pretty good and that was the Lord God.

0:03:51.320 --> 0:03:53.720
<v Speaker 1>Why Mary is a really good question to ask, Why

0:03:53.760 --> 0:03:56.960
<v Speaker 1>would she be chosen? I'm sure she asked that question.

0:03:57.480 --> 0:03:59.640
<v Speaker 1>You know, I think about Mark Lowry's song Mary, did

0:03:59.680 --> 0:04:01.720
<v Speaker 1>you know? Did you know this was going to happen?

0:04:01.760 --> 0:04:05.080
<v Speaker 1>Obviously she didn't. And sometimes, you know, we think she's

0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:08.640
<v Speaker 1>she's thirty or thirty five. She was fifteen, maybe sixteen,

0:04:09.120 --> 0:04:14.080
<v Speaker 1>a very young child, and when the angels came and

0:04:14.120 --> 0:04:16.120
<v Speaker 1>told her that she was to be the mother of Jesus,

0:04:16.520 --> 0:04:20.240
<v Speaker 1>she was stunned. You know, in the Old Testament, they

0:04:20.480 --> 0:04:23.760
<v Speaker 1>looked for the Messiah, and the many young women thought

0:04:23.800 --> 0:04:25.800
<v Speaker 1>maybe they would be the mother of the Messiah because

0:04:25.800 --> 0:04:28.239
<v Speaker 1>they were looking for the Messiah. Well, Mary wasn't looking

0:04:28.279 --> 0:04:30.960
<v Speaker 1>for it, and it happened to her and the angels

0:04:31.000 --> 0:04:34.400
<v Speaker 1>said she would be the mother of Jesus. I always

0:04:34.400 --> 0:04:37.240
<v Speaker 1>have been struck by the fact that something that's dramatic

0:04:37.279 --> 0:04:40.800
<v Speaker 1>at that happened to her. And her response was, be

0:04:40.960 --> 0:04:44.320
<v Speaker 1>it unto me, according to your word? And I thought,

0:04:44.960 --> 0:04:47.080
<v Speaker 1>I wish I had that kind of that kind of

0:04:47.160 --> 0:04:50.200
<v Speaker 1>submission to the Lord. Her submission to the Lord is amazing,

0:04:50.839 --> 0:04:56.760
<v Speaker 1>and she she was God's choice, and she was the

0:04:56.800 --> 0:05:02.680
<v Speaker 1>perfect choice well, you know Joseph was he a whole

0:05:02.680 --> 0:05:05.839
<v Speaker 1>message about why Joseph, And the message is the Forgotten

0:05:05.880 --> 0:05:08.840
<v Speaker 1>Man of Christmas. That's the name of the message because

0:05:08.880 --> 0:05:11.080
<v Speaker 1>he comes on the scene for a period of time

0:05:11.120 --> 0:05:13.000
<v Speaker 1>and then he disappears and you never hear another word

0:05:13.040 --> 0:05:18.200
<v Speaker 1>about him. But he was the man that God chose

0:05:19.000 --> 0:05:23.479
<v Speaker 1>to be the earthly father of Jesus. As he was

0:05:23.520 --> 0:05:26.960
<v Speaker 1>growing up. He was. The Bible describes him as a

0:05:27.000 --> 0:05:31.760
<v Speaker 1>good man and a godly man, certainly surprised as Mary

0:05:31.880 --> 0:05:35.040
<v Speaker 1>was when he got the message from But I think

0:05:35.080 --> 0:05:37.640
<v Speaker 1>the thing that to me is most critical about him

0:05:37.760 --> 0:05:41.400
<v Speaker 1>was his faith endured a great challenge, and that was

0:05:41.440 --> 0:05:45.040
<v Speaker 1>the challenge of Mary's pregnancy. And in our film we

0:05:45.360 --> 0:05:50.440
<v Speaker 1>showed the disappointment that that he had when he found

0:05:50.440 --> 0:05:52.240
<v Speaker 1>out that she was with child. She came back from

0:05:52.279 --> 0:05:55.400
<v Speaker 1>Elizabeth's house and she was pregnant, and he couldn't figure

0:05:55.440 --> 0:05:57.919
<v Speaker 1>that out. He did, he did, Nobody had told him that.

0:05:58.720 --> 0:06:00.360
<v Speaker 1>I think in the film we have him go away

0:06:00.360 --> 0:06:01.960
<v Speaker 1>for a little bit, but he comes back and he

0:06:03.160 --> 0:06:05.640
<v Speaker 1>settles into being the person God asked him to be,

0:06:05.720 --> 0:06:09.440
<v Speaker 1>and that was the human human father, the surrogate father,

0:06:09.480 --> 0:06:13.799
<v Speaker 1>if you will, of Jesus Christ. Well, you know, there's

0:06:14.279 --> 0:06:17.640
<v Speaker 1>probably why did Jesus come when he came? You know,

0:06:17.920 --> 0:06:20.080
<v Speaker 1>the Bible says he came in the fullness of time.

0:06:20.080 --> 0:06:21.520
<v Speaker 1>I don't know if you've ever seen that verse. And

0:06:21.520 --> 0:06:23.640
<v Speaker 1>the fullness of time he came, What does that mean? Well,

0:06:23.920 --> 0:06:27.000
<v Speaker 1>I think it means exactly the right time. First of all,

0:06:27.120 --> 0:06:30.520
<v Speaker 1>it's interesting if you study history. The Romans had just

0:06:31.600 --> 0:06:35.000
<v Speaker 1>paved the way with their roads to all of the

0:06:35.120 --> 0:06:38.840
<v Speaker 1>various regions of that particular part of the world. A

0:06:39.000 --> 0:06:41.920
<v Speaker 1>Greek had become more and more common as a language,

0:06:43.120 --> 0:06:48.640
<v Speaker 1>So now you have transportation and communication coming together, and

0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:51.760
<v Speaker 1>the message of the Gospel could travel quickly to all

0:06:51.839 --> 0:06:54.599
<v Speaker 1>points of the world, just at the right time. And

0:06:54.880 --> 0:06:57.920
<v Speaker 1>it was also I think about that as we as

0:06:57.920 --> 0:07:00.080
<v Speaker 1>we have gone through what we've gone through here in

0:07:00.120 --> 0:07:02.440
<v Speaker 1>our own country, and all the stuff that goes on,

0:07:02.520 --> 0:07:05.480
<v Speaker 1>and how awful things have been in some cases with

0:07:05.560 --> 0:07:08.000
<v Speaker 1>crime and all of that, that was sort of like

0:07:08.040 --> 0:07:10.520
<v Speaker 1>what it was when Jesus came. It wasn't a good time.

0:07:10.560 --> 0:07:13.600
<v Speaker 1>It was a time they needed a redeemer, they needed

0:07:13.600 --> 0:07:16.600
<v Speaker 1>a Christ, They needed Jesus at that time. But it

0:07:16.640 --> 0:07:20.640
<v Speaker 1>was perfect because he came into the world at the

0:07:20.720 --> 0:07:27.120
<v Speaker 1>right time. Well, Bethlehem is a really interesting story. Why Bethlehem.

0:07:27.160 --> 0:07:31.120
<v Speaker 1>The word Bethlehem means house of bread, and it was

0:07:31.160 --> 0:07:34.160
<v Speaker 1>the place where the bread of life was born. It's

0:07:34.200 --> 0:07:36.640
<v Speaker 1>a very special place because there are some other famous

0:07:36.800 --> 0:07:42.120
<v Speaker 1>Rachel's buried there, and it's about a few miles from Jerusalem.

0:07:42.200 --> 0:07:47.040
<v Speaker 1>I ben in Bethlehem. But this was the prophecy out

0:07:47.040 --> 0:07:49.559
<v Speaker 1>of you shall come he who was to come forth

0:07:50.000 --> 0:07:54.560
<v Speaker 1>Bethlehem of effort. It was the prophecy that made Bethlehem

0:07:54.640 --> 0:07:59.640
<v Speaker 1>so special. Interestingly enough, when the prophet was making that prophecy,

0:07:59.720 --> 0:08:02.760
<v Speaker 1>beth Him was not really in existence, but it became

0:08:03.280 --> 0:08:06.520
<v Speaker 1>the answer to the prophecy. And there to Bethlehem's there's

0:08:06.600 --> 0:08:09.640
<v Speaker 1>Bethlehem and Bethlehem at Befforshire. He came to the right one.

0:08:10.320 --> 0:08:13.760
<v Speaker 1>He showed him at the right place. You have to

0:08:13.800 --> 0:08:16.160
<v Speaker 1>put we have to when you ask ourselves why there

0:08:16.200 --> 0:08:18.960
<v Speaker 1>was no room in the inn, I think we have

0:08:18.960 --> 0:08:22.280
<v Speaker 1>to kind of put ourselves in that situation. We read

0:08:22.280 --> 0:08:25.120
<v Speaker 1>the Christmas story through our Christian eyes, and we don't

0:08:25.160 --> 0:08:27.360
<v Speaker 1>read it through the eyes of the culture into which

0:08:27.360 --> 0:08:30.920
<v Speaker 1>he was born. People in Bethlehem, apart from some divine

0:08:31.000 --> 0:08:33.960
<v Speaker 1>revelation would have had no idea what was going on?

0:08:34.000 --> 0:08:36.200
<v Speaker 1>Who is this mother? Who is this person? The bottom

0:08:36.280 --> 0:08:39.679
<v Speaker 1>line it was it was sensus time in Bethlehem. There

0:08:39.720 --> 0:08:42.520
<v Speaker 1>was no room anywhere for anybody. I don't think they

0:08:42.520 --> 0:08:45.040
<v Speaker 1>were singling out in Jesus. They just had no room.

0:08:45.120 --> 0:08:47.600
<v Speaker 1>And when he came to the door and they didn't

0:08:47.600 --> 0:08:50.840
<v Speaker 1>have any room and ultimately gave him a place where

0:08:50.840 --> 0:08:53.160
<v Speaker 1>he could be born. That was a gracious thing for

0:08:53.240 --> 0:08:55.560
<v Speaker 1>him to do because there wasn't room any place else.

0:08:55.640 --> 0:08:58.160
<v Speaker 1>And it wasn't hey, we're not going to let Jesus

0:08:58.160 --> 0:09:00.200
<v Speaker 1>in here. They didn't know who he was. They have

0:09:00.200 --> 0:09:04.760
<v Speaker 1>a clue who he was. But it became a wonderful

0:09:04.800 --> 0:09:08.480
<v Speaker 1>story because just as they had no room for Jesus

0:09:08.520 --> 0:09:10.520
<v Speaker 1>in the end, so many people today don't have any

0:09:10.600 --> 0:09:13.560
<v Speaker 1>room for Jesus at all, whether it's Christmas or Easter

0:09:13.640 --> 0:09:15.959
<v Speaker 1>or anytime. And I can speak about that because I'm

0:09:15.960 --> 0:09:18.600
<v Speaker 1>a pastor and I know what that's like. And when

0:09:18.640 --> 0:09:22.600
<v Speaker 1>we come back more from doctor David Jeremiah, the film,

0:09:22.800 --> 0:09:28.040
<v Speaker 1>the book Why the Nativity, here on our American stories,

0:09:39.080 --> 0:09:42.240
<v Speaker 1>and we returned to our American stories and to doctor

0:09:42.320 --> 0:09:47.120
<v Speaker 1>David Jeremiah and his conversation about his film and book

0:09:47.679 --> 0:09:51.880
<v Speaker 1>Why the Nativity. Let's pick up when we last left off.

0:09:52.480 --> 0:09:55.080
<v Speaker 1>Why was Jesus born in a stable? The stable, to

0:09:55.120 --> 0:09:58.680
<v Speaker 1>me is a picture that Jesus wanted people to know

0:09:59.600 --> 0:10:03.760
<v Speaker 1>that he came for all men, not just for the hierarchy,

0:10:03.840 --> 0:10:07.240
<v Speaker 1>not for the aristocrats. He came. In fact, this is

0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:10.000
<v Speaker 1>an amazing thing that he was first worshiped by a

0:10:10.000 --> 0:10:13.120
<v Speaker 1>group of shepherds who were the outcast of that culture.

0:10:13.760 --> 0:10:16.720
<v Speaker 1>And to be born in a manger was to state

0:10:16.800 --> 0:10:20.080
<v Speaker 1>that the very obvious fact that he had he had

0:10:20.080 --> 0:10:23.120
<v Speaker 1>come for all people. He didn't. He came. And if

0:10:23.120 --> 0:10:26.200
<v Speaker 1>he came for the shepherds and he was born in

0:10:26.240 --> 0:10:31.000
<v Speaker 1>a manger, he came for you. One of the big

0:10:31.559 --> 0:10:34.760
<v Speaker 1>arguments that comes around Christmas time is the argument of

0:10:34.800 --> 0:10:37.440
<v Speaker 1>the virgin birth. Why was Jesus born of a virgin?

0:10:37.880 --> 0:10:39.680
<v Speaker 1>Why was it important for him to be born of

0:10:39.720 --> 0:10:43.880
<v Speaker 1>a virgin? Because he was God, he had to come

0:10:44.000 --> 0:10:48.800
<v Speaker 1>into this world and not lose his holiness. So when

0:10:48.800 --> 0:10:53.160
<v Speaker 1>he came through a virgin without the male involved in

0:10:53.200 --> 0:10:56.800
<v Speaker 1>the birth process, he preserved his holiness. He came and

0:10:57.360 --> 0:11:00.520
<v Speaker 1>he could become at that particular time one God and

0:11:01.480 --> 0:11:08.160
<v Speaker 1>man and Mary who had never known a man. I remember,

0:11:08.280 --> 0:11:10.520
<v Speaker 1>there's a funny little story about that. I had some

0:11:10.559 --> 0:11:12.800
<v Speaker 1>books some years ago that I actually was a little

0:11:12.840 --> 0:11:16.240
<v Speaker 1>New Testament I had written, worked on to make available

0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:18.800
<v Speaker 1>to people. And my grandchildren were pretty young at the time.

0:11:20.040 --> 0:11:22.520
<v Speaker 1>I have twins, and they came in and they said, hey, Poppy,

0:11:22.520 --> 0:11:24.800
<v Speaker 1>can we have one of these? And I said, yeah,

0:11:24.920 --> 0:11:26.840
<v Speaker 1>but you gotta promise me you'll read it. And they

0:11:27.080 --> 0:11:29.320
<v Speaker 1>what you meet, I said, starts with Matthew. I want

0:11:29.320 --> 0:11:30.920
<v Speaker 1>you to I want you to read Matthew this week

0:11:30.960 --> 0:11:33.839
<v Speaker 1>and tell me you read it. So about halfway through

0:11:33.840 --> 0:11:35.560
<v Speaker 1>the week, I get a call from their mom and

0:11:35.600 --> 0:11:40.480
<v Speaker 1>they said, okay, okay, you answer this one. Bradley came

0:11:40.480 --> 0:11:44.040
<v Speaker 1>and said, hey, mom, if Mary and Joseph never even

0:11:44.120 --> 0:11:47.280
<v Speaker 1>knew each other, how could they have a baby. I said, well,

0:11:47.320 --> 0:11:51.280
<v Speaker 1>tell mem ask their father. But I mean so so

0:11:51.320 --> 0:11:55.400
<v Speaker 1>the whole thing about the virgin birth is the key.

0:11:54.880 --> 0:11:59.480
<v Speaker 1>It preserves the deity of Jesus Christ. And I want

0:11:59.480 --> 0:12:03.160
<v Speaker 1>to tell you I know it's true. I remember reading

0:12:03.160 --> 0:12:05.320
<v Speaker 1>this story and how it helps me so much to

0:12:05.360 --> 0:12:07.800
<v Speaker 1>know it's true. When Mary was standing at the foot

0:12:07.800 --> 0:12:10.640
<v Speaker 1>of the cross, and they were getting ready to crucify

0:12:10.720 --> 0:12:14.760
<v Speaker 1>her son. They were getting ready to crucify her son

0:12:14.840 --> 0:12:19.360
<v Speaker 1>because he claimed to be God, and they said he

0:12:19.440 --> 0:12:26.840
<v Speaker 1>was a blasphemer. Mary could have spoken up and said, no,

0:12:26.960 --> 0:12:30.160
<v Speaker 1>he's not God. I remember the night he was conceived,

0:12:30.200 --> 0:12:34.360
<v Speaker 1>he is not God. But she never did that. She

0:12:34.480 --> 0:12:37.760
<v Speaker 1>watched her son die on the cross because she knew

0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:42.600
<v Speaker 1>that what the Bible says about him was true. And

0:12:42.679 --> 0:12:44.920
<v Speaker 1>to me, you don't need any other argument for the

0:12:45.000 --> 0:12:49.920
<v Speaker 1>virgin birth of Christ than that one. You know, I've

0:12:49.960 --> 0:12:52.840
<v Speaker 1>gotten a little bit involved in the Shepherd's story. Why

0:12:52.880 --> 0:12:56.880
<v Speaker 1>the Shepherd's because if you had. I mean, I just

0:12:56.880 --> 0:12:58.520
<v Speaker 1>got up a phone call with somebody a few minutes

0:12:58.559 --> 0:13:01.680
<v Speaker 1>ago and I'm asking him to help promote this film,

0:13:01.679 --> 0:13:04.720
<v Speaker 1>and he asked me this question. If I gave you

0:13:04.760 --> 0:13:06.520
<v Speaker 1>the keys to this network, where would you want to

0:13:06.559 --> 0:13:09.800
<v Speaker 1>put this show? Only nobody does that. And I think

0:13:09.840 --> 0:13:12.400
<v Speaker 1>about that with the Shepherds. If I gave you the

0:13:12.480 --> 0:13:14.559
<v Speaker 1>key to who you want to have received the Gospel

0:13:14.600 --> 0:13:17.520
<v Speaker 1>at first, who would you want? It wouldn't be the shepherds,

0:13:17.720 --> 0:13:23.280
<v Speaker 1>you know, when the shepherds, when the Israeli people were shepherds,

0:13:23.440 --> 0:13:25.719
<v Speaker 1>they weren't even allowed to live with other people. They

0:13:25.720 --> 0:13:29.640
<v Speaker 1>were the outcast. They had no credibility. They couldn't go

0:13:29.679 --> 0:13:31.960
<v Speaker 1>to the temple. They could, they weren't allowed in the temple.

0:13:32.960 --> 0:13:37.800
<v Speaker 1>Shepherds were the lowest of the low. And yet it

0:13:37.880 --> 0:13:41.840
<v Speaker 1>was to the shepherds that Jesus first revealed himself, as

0:13:41.840 --> 0:13:44.160
<v Speaker 1>if once again to say, no matter who you are,

0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:46.520
<v Speaker 1>no matter what you've done, no matter how far you

0:13:46.559 --> 0:13:49.400
<v Speaker 1>feel you are away from God, think of the shepherds.

0:13:50.440 --> 0:13:54.920
<v Speaker 1>They're the picture of God's willingness. When we couldn't come

0:13:55.000 --> 0:13:57.080
<v Speaker 1>up to where he was, he came down to where

0:13:57.080 --> 0:14:01.680
<v Speaker 1>we are. And that's especially true with the shepherd. Well,

0:14:01.720 --> 0:14:04.320
<v Speaker 1>if why the angels, You know, the angels are really

0:14:04.360 --> 0:14:06.959
<v Speaker 1>involved in jesus life. In fact, if you go through

0:14:07.000 --> 0:14:10.679
<v Speaker 1>the life of Jesus, you can almost say these are

0:14:10.679 --> 0:14:13.360
<v Speaker 1>the important moments in jesus life because angels were there.

0:14:13.760 --> 0:14:16.480
<v Speaker 1>They were there at his birth, they were as baptism,

0:14:16.520 --> 0:14:19.040
<v Speaker 1>they were there at his temptation in the wilderness. They're

0:14:19.040 --> 0:14:21.640
<v Speaker 1>going to be totally involved in his coming again in

0:14:21.680 --> 0:14:25.120
<v Speaker 1>the Rapture and in the Second coming. Angels were there

0:14:25.160 --> 0:14:28.840
<v Speaker 1>as emissaries from heaven. They were God's messengers. I think

0:14:28.880 --> 0:14:32.040
<v Speaker 1>they were God's protectors too. They God said, I'm going

0:14:32.120 --> 0:14:34.240
<v Speaker 1>to send Jesus to be the savior of the world,

0:14:34.320 --> 0:14:36.640
<v Speaker 1>and you, angels, I'm sending you down there to make

0:14:36.640 --> 0:14:38.920
<v Speaker 1>sure it goes right and take care of it. Watch it.

0:14:39.280 --> 0:14:44.120
<v Speaker 1>They were the messengers, you know, Gabriel and Michael, the

0:14:44.120 --> 0:14:46.480
<v Speaker 1>only two angels we know about by name in the Bible.

0:14:47.160 --> 0:14:50.120
<v Speaker 1>One was the protector, one was the communicator, and God

0:14:50.200 --> 0:14:55.360
<v Speaker 1>sent them both to be here when Jesus was born. Well,

0:14:55.400 --> 0:14:57.440
<v Speaker 1>you know, if you ask, if you ask scienists about

0:14:57.440 --> 0:14:59.920
<v Speaker 1>the Star of Bethlehem and why it was so import

0:15:01.280 --> 0:15:05.680
<v Speaker 1>they'll give you all kinds of scientific reasons why this

0:15:05.800 --> 0:15:08.560
<v Speaker 1>was a meteor that was out of control or something.

0:15:09.160 --> 0:15:12.960
<v Speaker 1>But this was God's star. The star was going in

0:15:12.960 --> 0:15:17.040
<v Speaker 1>the wrong direction scientifically. It was almost like God was

0:15:17.120 --> 0:15:23.400
<v Speaker 1>defying everything to make sure that his wise men that

0:15:23.440 --> 0:15:27.160
<v Speaker 1>were coming would not get lost. I don't have a

0:15:27.280 --> 0:15:32.480
<v Speaker 1>scientific explanation for the star, because there is no scientific explanation.

0:15:33.000 --> 0:15:35.640
<v Speaker 1>It was God's star, and if God made him in

0:15:35.680 --> 0:15:38.400
<v Speaker 1>the first place, he can move him around anyway he wants,

0:15:38.680 --> 0:15:41.720
<v Speaker 1>And that night he moved a star to make sure

0:15:41.760 --> 0:15:46.840
<v Speaker 1>those three guys didn't miss what they set out to do. Well.

0:15:47.160 --> 0:15:51.640
<v Speaker 1>The wise men represent a whole different Why the wise

0:15:51.680 --> 0:15:54.440
<v Speaker 1>men is a good question. They represent a whole different

0:15:54.760 --> 0:15:57.760
<v Speaker 1>aspect of the culture. Isn't it interesting You got the

0:15:57.760 --> 0:16:00.800
<v Speaker 1>shepherds over here representing the down and out, and you

0:16:00.920 --> 0:16:05.360
<v Speaker 1>got the wise men over here representing the aristocracy. It's

0:16:05.400 --> 0:16:08.240
<v Speaker 1>almost like God put this pin down here, and put

0:16:08.240 --> 0:16:09.760
<v Speaker 1>this pin down here, and he says, I came for

0:16:09.800 --> 0:16:14.560
<v Speaker 1>everybody in between. The wise men came. Their gifts were special,

0:16:15.760 --> 0:16:21.840
<v Speaker 1>they represented worship, and unfortunately they get caught up in

0:16:21.880 --> 0:16:23.880
<v Speaker 1>the major scenes all over the country, and they didn't

0:16:23.880 --> 0:16:26.760
<v Speaker 1>come when the major scenes were there. They came way later.

0:16:26.800 --> 0:16:29.440
<v Speaker 1>The Bible says Jesus was a young lad when they came.

0:16:30.280 --> 0:16:34.760
<v Speaker 1>But they gave gold, frankincense, and gold for his kingship,

0:16:35.520 --> 0:16:42.920
<v Speaker 1>frankincense for his suffering, and mirr, which was a bitter

0:16:43.000 --> 0:16:49.200
<v Speaker 1>tasting element that represented his death and his sufferings. So

0:16:49.960 --> 0:16:53.760
<v Speaker 1>the wise men, they're always a beautiful part of the story,

0:16:54.320 --> 0:16:56.640
<v Speaker 1>and they're not very much written about him, except they

0:16:56.640 --> 0:16:59.800
<v Speaker 1>followed the Lord, and the journey they took wasn't like two.

0:17:00.320 --> 0:17:03.120
<v Speaker 1>It was a long journey to get to where Jesus was.

0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:07.160
<v Speaker 1>This story of the birth of Jesus, which we celebrate

0:17:07.160 --> 0:17:11.480
<v Speaker 1>with such exuberance in our culture today, actually is communicated

0:17:11.560 --> 0:17:14.359
<v Speaker 1>in Luke and in Matthew, and then it's referenced in

0:17:14.359 --> 0:17:17.520
<v Speaker 1>Philippians in a few other places. But the actual story

0:17:18.000 --> 0:17:21.199
<v Speaker 1>of Christmas, the story of the Nativity, is found in

0:17:22.320 --> 0:17:24.640
<v Speaker 1>a couple of chapters in Luke, in one chapter in Matthew.

0:17:26.840 --> 0:17:28.960
<v Speaker 1>It was prophesied in the Old Testament, as you know,

0:17:29.240 --> 0:17:32.919
<v Speaker 1>many many places in the Old Testament. Isaiah prophesied, Micah

0:17:33.000 --> 0:17:38.200
<v Speaker 1>prophesied it, Jeremiah prophesied it. It was foretold, and then

0:17:38.240 --> 0:17:43.320
<v Speaker 1>it was experienced. And we have somebody said, why don't

0:17:43.320 --> 0:17:45.399
<v Speaker 1>you have more information? We don't need any more information.

0:17:45.480 --> 0:17:47.840
<v Speaker 1>This is what God said would happen. This is what happened.

0:17:47.880 --> 0:17:50.199
<v Speaker 1>Here's the record of it. I can embellish it if

0:17:50.200 --> 0:17:52.320
<v Speaker 1>you want to. And when you take the story and

0:17:52.400 --> 0:17:55.280
<v Speaker 1>you go back and get all of the prophecies and

0:17:55.359 --> 0:17:57.840
<v Speaker 1>put them together, then you have more of a body

0:17:57.840 --> 0:18:02.800
<v Speaker 1>of work on the Nativity. But the story itself is simple.

0:18:03.640 --> 0:18:08.639
<v Speaker 1>It's not hard to understand, and it's miraculous. Have your

0:18:08.640 --> 0:18:10.800
<v Speaker 1>fun to celebrate, do things you do, but don't forget.

0:18:11.280 --> 0:18:14.879
<v Speaker 1>Christmas is about God becoming man. God loving us so

0:18:15.000 --> 0:18:18.960
<v Speaker 1>much that he left the quarters of heaven to live

0:18:19.160 --> 0:18:21.879
<v Speaker 1>in the womb of a woman so he could become

0:18:21.920 --> 0:18:24.080
<v Speaker 1>one of us and go to the cross and pay

0:18:24.119 --> 0:18:27.760
<v Speaker 1>the penalty for our sin. The redemption story doesn't start

0:18:27.800 --> 0:18:31.720
<v Speaker 1>at the crucifixion. It starts at Bethlehem. Because part of

0:18:31.720 --> 0:18:35.480
<v Speaker 1>the sacrifice of God was the sacrifice of his son,

0:18:35.560 --> 0:18:38.440
<v Speaker 1>his only begotten son, and part of the sacrifice of

0:18:38.560 --> 0:18:42.680
<v Speaker 1>Jesus was leaving his place in heaven to come down

0:18:42.680 --> 0:18:45.920
<v Speaker 1>here and walk among us. There's no way to describe that,

0:18:46.680 --> 0:18:49.040
<v Speaker 1>and a great job is always by our own Greg

0:18:49.080 --> 0:18:53.080
<v Speaker 1>Hangler on the editing and production, and a special thanks

0:18:53.119 --> 0:18:57.160
<v Speaker 1>to doctor David Jeremiah and a special thanks to Turning

0:18:57.200 --> 0:19:02.080
<v Speaker 1>Point Ministries for putting this film together again. It's free

0:19:02.600 --> 0:19:07.160
<v Speaker 1>for all the stream all through Christmas season and beyond.

0:19:07.680 --> 0:19:10.640
<v Speaker 1>Type in the words Why the Nativity on your browser

0:19:11.080 --> 0:19:14.439
<v Speaker 1>or go to David Jeremiah dot org. Also, you can

0:19:14.560 --> 0:19:18.560
<v Speaker 1>check your cable listings. It will be appearing throughout the

0:19:18.640 --> 0:19:22.200
<v Speaker 1>month and again check TV Guide or wherever you get

0:19:22.240 --> 0:19:25.360
<v Speaker 1>your cable listings. Why the Nativity. By the way, pick

0:19:25.440 --> 0:19:28.240
<v Speaker 1>up the book it's terrific if you're a Christian, even

0:19:28.240 --> 0:19:32.440
<v Speaker 1>if you're not. Sixty four percent of Americans call themselves Christians,

0:19:32.720 --> 0:19:36.680
<v Speaker 1>and it's an important story, it's an important date, and

0:19:36.840 --> 0:19:40.440
<v Speaker 1>we celebrate as we do, but again, we want to

0:19:40.520 --> 0:19:44.160
<v Speaker 1>learn why we celebrate and get the stories behind the stories.

0:19:44.640 --> 0:19:47.959
<v Speaker 1>Why the Nativity does that, the book and the film

0:19:48.520 --> 0:19:52.359
<v Speaker 1>and doctor Jeremiah also happens to be my teacher. We

0:19:52.400 --> 0:19:55.359
<v Speaker 1>don't have a relationship. He's on the television every day

0:19:55.960 --> 0:19:59.560
<v Speaker 1>at six am Central Time where I live, and he's

0:19:59.560 --> 0:20:03.320
<v Speaker 1>been teaching me and coaching me for fifteen years and

0:20:03.400 --> 0:20:05.800
<v Speaker 1>doesn't know it. Well, it didn't know it until I

0:20:05.840 --> 0:20:09.760
<v Speaker 1>met him. This is lieh Habib, Why the Nativity with

0:20:09.960 --> 0:20:13.800
<v Speaker 1>Doctor David Jeremiah here on our American Stories