However, can we for just a few moments take a look at this matter from a different point of view? I ask that you bear with me when I say that I can 'understand' how the fulfilling of God's Promise to send the Messiah was, at that time, hard for many to believe.

Consider the times; the Jews were being hard pressed by the Romans. They were being made to feel like they were foreigners in a land that was really theirs. Also, God had been silent for four hundred years prior to the time of the birth of Jesus. For four hundred years heaven had not spoken to the Jews. Priest nor prophets had not heard a word from God for that long. Is it any wonder that many people had begun to 'doubt' the validity of the prophecy, or that others chose to 'disregard' God's promise...maybe placing it on the 'back burner'? Perhaps, some even began to 'chuck it all up' to the ramblings of mad men? Think about it! Oppressed people do not think they need spiritual deliverance, they only want the 'battering'...in whatever form... to cease. They want action that they can literally see and feel! So it is we gaze the infinite intellect of an All Powerful God bringing about a 'Perfect Ending'. For we could not have had a 'Perfect Beginning' without a 'Perfect Ending'. 

And I glory in the Magnificent Wisdom of Almighty God. For our Infinite Creator purposely designed this excellent objectionable and stewing atmosphere in which to reveal …His Promise. The perfect wearied state-of-mind of a down-trodden people that weren't even thinking rationally due to the governmental discord and resentment that rested in the hearts of the populace…was just as it was supposed to be. In order that our Maker's plan would unfold as He wanted it to, there had to be detest in the air. There was not going to be any place for human sentiment and kindness to sneak in and rob the world of His One-of-a-Kind, Exquisite Gift to us. Absolutely not! His flawless plan for Salvation was going through from start to finish, from the stable to the cross, exactly as He wanted it to be. And our God made sure of it.

In a stable surrounded by animals and their filth...the King of Kings came forth. A trough was filled with hay for His bed, and He was swaddled in a piece of cloth that no doubt His mother had hurriedly pushed into one of her bags at the start of the journey. There lay the world's Redeemer! The Deliverer…the long-awaited Messiah! And except for three wise men who had followed a star... kings they say, also a few nearby shepherds alerted by angels, and His mother and Joseph, his earthy father…no one believed it! No one believed it because no one was supposed to believe it. For if most of the people believed He was the Messiah they would have upheld Him and protected Him… not hated Him. They would have erected Him a golden throne, not realizing that He had left one behind. But that was not in God's Plan of Salvation. 

Thus, to fulfill scripture, God allowed Herod's heart and mind to be filled with murderous evil contempt, with him immediately endeavoring to slay the infant Baby Jesus. However, God alerted Jospeh in a dream and he took Mary and the infant to the safety of Egypt…where they stayed until it was safe to return home.

Jesus lived quietly, for the most part, unnoticed, growing physically and spiritually. Therefore, years later, when His public ministry began, His own people would look scornfully at Him and His birth and think...our Deliverer!?!? Who is this lunatic?! Who is his family and where is he from?! Some poor man born in a stable in Bethlehem and raised in Nazareth, that wretched place, with a mother who was the prophesied virgin?! No! She was a wayward woman, that's what she was! So what…if some dazed, probably half-asleep shepherds claimed they heard and saw angels!  And, so what…if three wise men, who said they followed a star from the east, came with gifts and said the babe was the Promised One! Where are they now?! Liars! All of them!! Oh, no…! There is no way this man could be our long awaited 'Messiah'! Where is his army with weapons?! We want a warrior!!! We want power!!! Where is his armor?!? Where is his sword to slay the Romans and deliver us…to take back what is ours!?!?

Of course, near the end of Jesus’ earthly mission, there were those here and there that felt, even knew, that He was who He said he was; His mother,  His disciples, and a few followers. Also, there was Nicodemus, that late night visitor. But none could help Him. For who considers the words of friends or the tears of a mother, whose heart is filled with love for her child...good or bad? And as a Pharisee Nicodemus was outnumbered, threatened, silenced by his tainted constituents. And, alas, Peter, that aggressive disciple who at one point not only felt but went so far as to declare his belief, yet…when encountering that very human cape of fear…even he buckled, and ran away, denying Him. And I have not read where any of His other disciples spoke up or defended Jesus when He was brought before the courts that night, as they were nowhere to be found in the crowd. But then again, they weren't supposed to intervene…as it wasn't in God’s Perfect Plan. Albeit, the babe, who had become a man, was born with a purpose…to Shed His Redeeming Blood for you and for me. 

So it is, I reiterate and attest that I do 'understand' how the rejection of the Virgin Mary's first baby, Jesus, the Perfect Lamb of God, would have come about…just as it was destined to happen. Because given the time and extenuating circumstances…who? Who would have thought that Jesus was the Son of God? Who would have thought that He was truly the Messiah? Who would have thought that only through Him could the whole world be saved? Who would have thought that the Celebration of His Birth, Christmas, would go on and on for over two thousand years? And all who believed and accepted Him as their Savior would receive the Precious Gift…of Eternal Life?! 

Looking at Christmas then…and, Looking at Christmas now. Who would have thought?  

Romans 9:33, Isaiah 28:16,Matt 1&2, Luke 2, John 19&20