21 Nov December 25th Daily Devotion

 GOD’S PROMISE FULFILLED

 Luke 2:6-7 “While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.”

For thousands of years God’s people had heard His promise of a Savior.  This promise had been passed on from generation to generation.  There was a quiet expectation among the people.  Finally, when the “time for the baby to be born,” it came so quietly, in a manger in a barn in a small village in Judea.  The baby’s mother, Mary and her husband Joseph were the only two human beings to witness His birth.

Such it is with God’s promises and their fulfillment.  God chose not to have His promise of a Savior fulfilled in the way the world would.  Mary and Joseph were in a place for the promised Savior’s birth where cattle resided.  There is no way to sanitize this place.  At best, Joseph or the inn keeper might have scattered some fresh straw to cover up the manure.  The odor could not be covered up, it had to be there.  To say the least, the conditions for the Savior’s birth were not ideal.

What mattered was not the place, the conditions surrounding the barn and its manger.  What mattered was who it was that was born in that barn.  He was the very Son of God, true God, and true man.  He came not with trumpets and fanfare, but quietly tended to by God’s chosen human parents Mary and Joseph.

The writer of the hymn, “Once in Royal David’s City” captures well who this baby born in that barn was and the importance of His birth.  As the end of verse 1 says, Jesus Christ the baby born in that barn was laid in a manger that served as His bed.  The Angel Gabriel told Joseph this child was to be named Jesus because He would save His people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21)  He was and is the Christ, the one promised by God for this salvation work.

This promise, the promise of the Savior of the world, was carried forth for thousands and thousands of years.  This promise was the promise of none other than God the Father Himself.  He kept His promise.  He sent Jesus, His only begotten Son into the world to save sinners.  His promise today you celebrate fulfilled.  God kept His Word!  Jesus Christ His Son came into the world to save people from their sins.  He is the only way for you to overcome sin, Satan, and the world and to receive the crown of everlasting life.

Jesus is born!  Hallelujah!

Prayer:  Thanks and praise to You, O Father, for keeping Your promise to send Jesus Your Son into the world to save me and all people from their sins.  I rejoice and sing Hallelujah this day.  Amen.

Once in royal David’s city Stood a lowly cattle shed,

Where a mother laid her baby In a manger for His bed:

Mary was that mother mild, Jesus Christ her little child.

He came down to earth from heaven, Who is God and Lord of all,

And His shelter was a stable, And His cradle was a stall;

With the poor and mean and lowly Lived on earth our Savior holy.

For He is our childhood’s pattern, Day by day like us He grew;

He was little, weak, and helpless, Tears and smiles like us He knew;

And He feels for all our sadness, And He shares in all our gladness.

And our eyes at last shall see Him, Through His own redeeming love;

For that child so dear and gentle Is our Lord in heav’n above;

And He leads His children on To the place where He is gone.

Not in that poor, lowly stable With the oxen standing by

Shall we see Him, but in heaven, Set at God’s right hand on high.

Then like stars His children, crowned, All in white, His praise will sound!

(LSB 376)