路加福音 1: 32-33 祂要为大，称为至高者的儿子；主神要把他祖大卫的位给祂， 33 祂要做雅各家的王，直到永远；祂的国也没有穷尽。」
路加福音2:13-14 忽然有一大队天兵，同那天使赞美神说： 「在至高之处荣耀归于神！在地上平安归于祂所喜悦的人！」
曾有一段日子，当时两个孩子还小，圣诞节对我来说并不是喜气洋洋的节庆。在街上洋溢的欢呼声里，我的心反倒沉了下来。想到耶稣降生的目的，竟是要走向十字架、走向残酷的死亡，这如何教人欢欣呢？！
我抱着孩子时，想着：若是我的孩子，从婴孩一路抚育成人，到了三十三岁就被挂在十字架上受死，那会是何等撕裂心肺的痛？想到这里，圣诞节对我而言并不是庆祝，而像是一种提前看见受苦的预告，我也不明白为教会布置圣诞装饰的意义何在？！
by Max Lucado
When Christ was born, so was our hope. This is why I love Christmas. The event invites us to believe the wildest of promises: He did away with every barrier, fence, sin, bent, debt, and grave. Anything that might keep us from him was demolished. He only awaits our word to walk through the door. Invite him in, escort him to the seat of honor, and pull out his chair. Clear the table; clear the calendar. Call the kids and neighbors. Christmas is here. Christ is here.
One request from you, and God will do again what he did then: scatter the night with everlasting light. He’ll be born in you. Let “Silent Night” be sung. Every heart can be a manger. Every day can be a Christmas. The Christmas miracle—a yearlong celebration!
Read more Because of Bethlehem
马太福音2:7：于是希律暗暗地召见博士们，问他们那星出现的确切时间。 2:8 就差他们往伯利恒去，说：「你们去仔细寻找那孩子，找到以后，就来告诉我，我也好去拜他。」
马太福音 2:12 他们梦中得到指示，不要回去见希律，就从别的路回自己的地方去了。
马太福音 2:16-18 希律王见自己受了博士的诡计，就大怒，差人将伯利恒城里和周围所有两岁及两岁以下的男孩，照着他从博士那里得知的日期，都杀了。这就应验了先知耶利米所说的话：「在拉玛听见哀号和大声哭泣的声音，是拉结为她的儿女哀哭，不肯受安慰，因为他们都不在了。」
这个故事在其他福音书中都没有记载，它让人想起出埃及记开头法老的命令（1:16）。这两个故事都以政治暴力和死亡开篇，提醒我们统治者在面对可能威胁其领导权和权威的人时，会采取怎样的手段。
希律王试图除掉耶稣，这使他成为《马太福音》中众多不怀好意的犹太领袖中的第一个，随着福音书走向高潮，这一点变得非常清楚。
东方三博士的故事中有几个面向引导读者展望耶稣最终抵达耶路撒冷时将要面临的境况。首先，「犹太人的王」这个称号不仅回顾了耶稣的家谱（第1章），也预示著福音书中仅有的另外两次出现——耶稣受审和被钉十字架。
by Max Lucado
Maybe your life resembles a Bethlehem stable. Crude in some spots, smelly in others. Not much glamour. You do your best to make the best of it. But try as you might, the roof still leaks, and the winter wind still sneaks through the holes you just can’t seem to fix. You’ve shivered through your share of cold nights and you wonder if God has a place for a person like you.
Find your answers in the Bethlehem stable. The story of Christmas is the story of God’s relentless love for us. The moment Mary touched God’s face is the moment God made his case: there is no place he will not go. No place is too common, no person is too hardened, no distance is too far. There is no person he cannot reach. There is no limit to his love.
Read more Because of Bethlehem
by Max Lucado
Hollywood would recast the Christmas story. Joseph’s collar is way too blue. Mary is green from inexperience. The couple’s star power doesn’t match the bill. Too obscure, too simple. The story warrants some headliners. And what about the shepherds? Do they sing? A good public relations firm would move the birth to a big city. The Son of God deserves a royal entry. Less peasant, more pizazz.
But we didn’t design the hour. God did. And God was content to enter the world in the presence of sleepy sheep and a wide-eyed carpenter. No spotlights, just candlelight. No crowns, just cows chewing cud. If God was willing to wrap himself in rags, then all questions about his love for you are off the table. When Christ was born, so was our hope. That’s why I love Christmas.
Read more Because of Bethlehem
马太福音2:9-11：他们听见王的话，就动身去。他们在东方所看见的那颗星，在他们前面行，直行到婴孩所在的地方，就停住了。他们看见那星停住了，就大大地欢喜。进了房子，看见婴孩和他母亲马利亚，就俯伏拜祂，打开宝盒，献上黄金、乳香和没药。
当东方三博士离开耶路撒冷时，那颗星就像天上的“GPS”，指引他们直达耶稣在伯利恒的所在：
太 2:9 他们听见王的话，就动身去。他们在东方所看见的那颗星，在他们前面行，直行到婴孩所在的地方，就停住了。
找到耶稣后，东方三博士向他献上礼物：
太 2:10 他们看见那星停住了，就大大地欢喜。 2:11 进了房子，看见婴孩和他母亲马利亚，就俯伏拜祂，打开宝盒，献上黄金、乳香和没药。
这些礼物的意义有许多解释。叙利亚人埃弗雷姆（公元4世纪）认为前两件礼物代表了东方三博士过去偶像崇拜的某些方面，而第三件礼物则代表了他们如今对耶稣的敬拜：
by Max Lucado
The Christmas tree hunt is on! The preferences are different, but the desire is the same—we want the perfect Christmas tree. You search for the right one, you walk the rows, you examine them from all angles. This one is perfect!
God does the same. He has picked you. He knows just the place where you’ll be placed. He has a barren living room in desperate need of warmth and joy. A corner of the world needs some color. He selected you with that place in mind. God made you on purpose with a purpose. He interwove calendar and character, circumstance and personality to create the right person for the right corner of the world, and then he paid the price to take you home.
1 Corinthians 6:20 (NLT) says, “God bought you with a high price.” The Christmas promise is this: we have a Savior, and his name is Jesus.
Read more Because of Bethlehem
马太福音2:1-2：当希律王的时候，耶稣生在犹太的伯利恒以后，有几个博士从东方来到耶路撒冷，说：「那生下来作犹太人之王的在哪里？我们在东方看见祂的星，特来拜祂。」
马太福音中的故事发生在希律王（西元前72-74年）时期。西元前37年，在马克安东尼的敦促下，罗马元老院任命希律王为「犹太人的王」。在此数十年，罗马将军庞培于西元前63年攻占耶路撒冷，终结了该地区的哈斯蒙尼王朝（约瑟夫斯，《犹太战争史》1.14.4）。
希律王的家族并非犹太人，而是以东人（希腊文中对以东人的称呼）。约瑟夫斯是我们了解希律王的主要讯息来源，他淡化了希律王的出身，反而强调了他与犹太地区及其风俗传统的联系。艾瑞克‧范登‧艾克尔（费勒姆学院）认为：「约瑟夫斯觉得有必要评论安提帕特和希律王被犹太人接受一事，这或许表明，这种接受并非易事，也并非普遍共识。」
Christmas is a season of interruptions. Some we enjoy, some we don’t. You may be facing an interruption during this season of life. What you wanted and what you received do not match, and now you’re troubled and anxious. Everything inside you and every voice around you says, “Get out. Get angry.” But don’t listen to those voices. You cannot face a crisis if you don’t face God first.
Colossians 1:16-17 (MSG) says, “For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment.” God holds it all together, and he will hold it together for you.
马太福音2:3-5：希律王听见这话，就甚惧怕；耶路撒冷合城的人也都惧怕。于是希律召集了所有的祭司长和民间的文士，问他们基督当生在何处。 2:5 他们回答说：“在犹太的伯利恒，因为先知是这样写的。”
马太福音 2:6 “犹大地的伯利恒啊，你在犹大诸城中并不是最小的，因为将来有一位君王要从你那里出来，牧养我以色列民。”
马太福音2:3：希律王听见这话，就甚惧怕；耶路撒冷合城的人也都惧怕。
在这里，耶路撒冷被描绘成一个充满恐惧和敌意的城市，它在整部福音书中都扮演着这样的角色。 这里的「耶路撒冷合城的人」可能指的是统治阶级──所有那些在维护现状中拥有既得利益的人。此外，叙述很快便确立了耶路撒冷（罗马和犹太政权的中心）与伯利恒（大卫的出生地，也是他继承人的出生地）之间的对立：
太 2:4 于是希律召集了所有的祭司长和民间的文士，问他们基督当生在何处。 2:5 他们回答说：“在犹太的伯利恒，因为先知是这样写的。”
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