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02:03Many modern scholars believe that the Gospel of Luke uses the census to bring Mary and Joseph from Nazareth down to Bethlehem
02:13because many biblical prophecies state that the Messiah will be born in the town of David in Bethlehem of Judea.
02:22And they barely got there before Mary gave birth.
02:52Oh, please, God, I humbly besiege you.
03:19Oh, please, let us in.
03:24We have a house full of guests.
03:35But they did say we can't sleep on the ground floor.
03:41And we can't sleep on the ground floor.
03:43Oh, God.
03:44So, God.
03:46They were not looking for a holiday.
04:16They were going to the ancestral home to be with their relatives.
04:21There was no room in the family quarters,
04:23and Judean houses were arranged in such a way
04:26that upstairs the family had their living quarters,
04:30and underneath them on the lower floor
04:32is where the animals were kept.
04:46I'm scared.
05:05I'm scared.
05:08We are being watched over.
05:10There can be no darkness where there is light.
05:16Childbirth in the ancient world was particularly dangerous.
05:22If a woman got sick or there were complications during childbirth,
05:26the child and the mother could be lost almost instantly.
05:30Millions of women died in childbirth.
05:33And now birds.
06:03From small things.
06:20Jesus.
06:24The traditional story is that Jesus was born somewhere near Christmas.
06:39Much more likely it was in the spring of the year,
06:43because we know that the shepherds are out in the fields with their flock.
06:48And there were these fields, which there still are today,
06:51where they're still raising sheep there.
06:53Do not be afraid.
07:08I bring you the good news for all people.
07:14To you is born this day in the town of David,
07:20a savior who is the Messiah.
07:25There's an aspect of prophecy at work.
07:30The Gospel of Luke has shepherds
07:33because Luke wants us to see Jesus as the successor to King David,
07:39who is considered to be the greatest king in the history of Israel.
07:44Who was also a shepherd called in from the field to lead his people.
07:49He's so small.
07:54He's so vulnerable.
08:12And he will have enemies.
08:17Enemies, yes.
08:22But friends also.
08:25The Magi are astrologists,
08:44The Magi are astrologers, and they have seen a star that won't let them go, that captures
09:02their imagination, that wants to guide them across the country.
09:05There's parts of the Gospels that seem to say that they're from Persia.
09:17Other places say that they might be from other places in the Middle East.
09:35We seek an audience with King Herod.
09:37According to the Jewish historian Josephus, Herod's last days are, to put it mildly, grim.
10:05Herod is internally eaten up by worms, he's ravaged by sickness, he smells terrible.
10:15His bowels are so irritated, so inflamed, that he can barely stand to sit.
10:22His genitals have been completely eaten away by worms.
10:28Enough!
10:29In addition to all the physical ailments, he's also increasingly paranoid, deluded.
10:41He sees plots everywhere.
10:42Now, the New Testament only tells us that the Magi are from the east, but to the east of Judea
11:08is the Parthian Empire, and Herod the Great's main job for the Romans is to keep the Parthians at bay.
11:18So when these Magi show up from the east, he could have them arrested thinking that they were spies,
11:25but he doesn't want to create a diplomatic incident for Rome.
11:28We seek the one who has been born King of the Jews.
11:38We saw his star when it rose, and have come to worship him.
11:43I'm not sure I understand you.
12:04I am the King of the Jews.
12:09A King?
12:10Yes.
12:11Yes.
12:13But not the King.
12:21You seek this child, the King of the Jews.
12:27And yet you do not know where he is.
12:31We read the heavens.
12:35Celestial movements.
12:38A star far brighter than any other.
12:43Let us hear, mighty Herod.
12:51We've seen nothing.
12:55We've heard nothing.
12:59But we will investigate.
13:01How is it that a rabble of trouser-wearing charlatans from the outer fringes of the civilized world know about the birth of this King of the Jews?
13:27And yet we know nothing!
13:29Herod is incredibly insecure about his Jewishness.
13:38While his father was Jewish, his grandfather had been a convert.
13:42And thus, to many Jews, he would have been seen as less Jewish than he might have wanted to be.
13:48He is immediately searching for this claimant, even though by all the information he has, it's only an infant.
14:06This is only a child, but Herod himself feels threatened by this child.
14:10The book of Micah.
14:12But you, Bethlehem, out of you will come one who will be ruler over Israel.
14:23For Herod, the greatest threat to his legitimacy is a better candidate.
14:36Any reports of another possible Jewish king would have terrified him.
14:53What do you want?
15:10We have come to see the Messiah.
15:17They just want to see him.
15:18The Gospel of Luke tells us that the shepherds go and find Mary, Joseph, and Jesus.
15:38The shepherds go and tell everyone that they meet the good news of this birth.
15:48The shepherds telling people is completely understandable.
15:58This is an incredible experience.
16:01But here's the thing.
16:03The more people they tell, the more danger they put the Holy Family in.
16:18My priests have found the prophecy.
16:34The child you seek is in Bethlehem.
16:37When you find this child, you must return here and tell me immediately.
16:50You understand I wish only to pay homage for such a prophecy to pass in my kingdom during my reign would truly be a blessing.
17:11You understand I wish only to pay homage for such a prophecy to pass in my kingdom to pass in my kingdom to pass in my kingdom.
17:41The Shepherds
18:11it is too much nothing is too much for a king
18:34the gifts of the magi gold frankincense and myrrh are suitable for a king
18:40from birth to death from womb to tomb frankincense is used in worship a symbol of prayer ascending
18:47to god myrrh is an odor retardant used in burial and gold well what king doesn't need resources
18:56it is not just presents we bear ill tidings also
19:02we came from jerusalem herod knows of the prophecy and despite his best attempts
19:11he could barely disguise his malice
19:14we had a vision in our sleep
19:22when mary and joseph realize that king herod knows about the birth of jesus
19:34they are immediately afraid about the future of their child
19:38so the magi have a dilemma do they return to herod and report to him and endanger the life of the
19:50child or do they return home by another route and incur the wrath of herod who might pursue them
19:57they know the kind of human he is and what he's capable of and they make a plan to get back home
20:04on another route they choose to do the righteous thing the right thing even though it puts them at
20:10risk they protect this baby with their own lives
20:16this better be good antipas
20:27we can't find them
20:32they were last seen leaving bethlehem but nothing after that
20:37our spies think they may have returned home by the desert road
20:42if the magi are running it is because they have found the child
20:57the prophecy is true
21:03you will take 20 soldiers into bethlehem immediately
21:13you will go to every house
21:15you will take any child you find there under the age of two
21:22and you will slit their throats
21:26there'll be a riot
21:30to kill so many on such a scale
21:34the men they might refuse
21:37refuse
21:38nobody refuses the herods
21:44you want to wear my crown boy
21:51get your hands dirty
21:58if any of you are in any doubt
22:20about this mission
22:21then remember this
22:24if your sword comes back unblooded
22:27then i'll get your children
22:30your wives
22:32your mothers
22:34and then i'll give you to my father
22:37twelve
22:39and then i'll give you to theуш
