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The Hidden Story of Jesus

by Norman Tew

 
This article was based on some ideas in a sermon preached by Eden Ashcroft at Thornleigh 3rd December 2022.

A group of shepherds who looked after their sheep near Bethlehem spread a story to everyone they could. They claimed that one night they had heard, and then seen, a host of angels and that one of the angels had told them to go into Bethlehem and see an important new-born baby in a stable. They had gone to the stable and seen the baby.  It is unlikely that many believed their tale because shepherds were unclean and not to be trusted. Their story probably did not spread far from Bethlehem.

The Bible records the circumcision of the baby after 7 days and his presentation to the Temple. Mary would have been unclean for 40 days (see Leviticus 12). At some stage Mary and Joseph moved into a house. Sometime after this there had been a stir in Jerusalem.  Some foreign (non Jewish) scholars had turned up saying that they had seen a new star that indicated that a king had been born in Israel. They visited Herod who called together the priests. The priests said that the Word of God through the prophets had predicted that the prince of Israel would be born in Bethlehem. The scholars had gone off toward Bethlehem but did not return. They just disappeared and their story was probably soon forgotten. There is no indication that the priests tried to check on their story.

However, when the scholars failed to come back to him, Herod was worried by what he had been told.  He ordered that all the male babies in Bethlehem under the age of two years should be killed just in case the scholars were correct and one of the babies would be destined to replace Him.

The baby Jesus had been taken one night into Egypt, but this was done secretly at the command of God and Joseph was not likely to have told anyone what they were doing or where they were going.

Almost thirty years later John the Baptist started preaching and he introduced Jesus as the Lamb of God. It is unlikely that any connection was made between the first two stories and Jesus the preacher and miracle worker.  Mary held the stories in her heart and probably Luke received the story of the shepherds (see chapter 2) from her.  It is also likely that Matthew (also his 2nd chapter) received the story of the wise men from her.

There is an interesting comment in John 7. See verse 50. Nicodemus was meeting with the priests, and he challenged them that they should not judge Jesus without talking to him. The priests answered him, "Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee." It is obvious from his story that they did not connect Jesus with the baby of Bethlehem.

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