The Word Becomes Flesh

Follow Along with the Message

Advent Character Study – The Word Becomes Flesh

Bethlehem – The Location of the Incarnation (Luke 2:1-5)

• Why Bethlehem
  1. Bethlehem was the town of King David.
  2. Fulfillment of  (Micah 5:2)
• Two Verifiable Facts:
  1. Caesar Augustus ruled from 27 B.C. to 14 A.D.
     • Issued a decree that everyone in the Roman world was to  in a census.
     • Censuses were done on a regular basis for tax purposes as well as to get a count of those who were qualified to be in the military.
  2. Quirinius was made governor in 6 A.D. of Syria.
  3. Three solutions to the Quirinius  :
     • First, there is evidence that Quirinius served  The first term would have been between the years of 4 B.C. and 1 A.D. It would have been during this first term that the census was called and enforced by Quirinius.
     • Second relates to the Greek word protos that is translated as first. There are other biblical passages, such as John 15:18, which render this same word as  .  In that case then it would mean that it was a census that was decreed before Quirinius was governor.
     • The third option is that the decree for a census was made by Caesar, but because it was a  process, it would have been started under Herod, but completed under Quirinius.
• Luke was speaking of a  census, that is historically  and he is speaking of known historical figures, which are known to have lived and ruled at the time of the birth of Christ.
• Bethlehem means “House of  ” and Jesus calls himself the “Bread of Life” (John 6:35).

The Birth of Jesus – The incarnation (Luke 2:6-7)

• 90-100 mile journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem.
• A manger is a   for animals.

Good News – The Incarnation Announced (Luke 2:8-14)

•  - God’s power, his grandeur, or his splendor.
• In this context it refers to the condition of being bright or shining, brightness, splendor, radiance.
• Christ (Greek) = Messiah (Hebrew) =  

The First Worshipers – The Incarnation witnessed (Luke 2:15-20)

• The news the Shepherds received caused them to act
  1. They acted  hurrying off to Bethlehem, searching for the sign that they were told to look for; a baby lying in a manger.
  2. They acted by using their  to spread the word that the Messiah had finally arrived, causing those they told to marvel and be amazed.