And on earth peace among men in whom he is well pleased.

15 And it came to pass, when the angels went away from them into
heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto
Bethlehem, and see this thing that is come to pass, which the Lord
hath made known unto us. 16 And they came with haste, and found
both Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger. 17 And
when they saw it, they made known concerning the saying which was
spoken to them about this child. 18 And all that heard it wondered
at the things which were spoken unto them by the shepherds. 19 But
Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart. 20 And
the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the
things that they had heard and seen, even as it was spoken unto
them.

The story of the birth of Jesus as related by Matthew is in striking
contrast with that of Luke. Matthew depicts Jesus as a King and at his
birth the reigning Herod trembles on his throne and the Magi adore him,
offering regal gifts. Luke represents Jesus as the ideal Man, and the
story is full of human interest. It describes two obscure peasants
journeying from their northern home in Nazareth to Bethlehem and there,
excluded from the inn, placing in a manger their newborn babe, while the
first to visit them are humble shepherds from the neighboring plain. Human
interests, however, are not merely earthly interests; the story is vocal
with heavenly melodies and inwoven with messages of divine meaning and
grace.

Only the most recent scholarship has vindicated the historic accuracy of
Luke in connecting the event with the decree of Augustus and with the
enrollment under Quirinius. However, these facts are mentioned by Luke not
so much to fix the date of the birth of Christ as to explain how this
occurred in Bethlehem when the home of his parents was in Nazareth. Only a
legal necessity would have made them willing to take such a journey at
such a time, but thus it appears that the emperor of the world was
concerned unconsciously in the fulfillment of divine prophecy concerning
the Saviour of the world. According to the imperial decree, Joseph left
Nazareth and with Mary, to whom according to Matthew he was not only
"betrothed" but married, journeyed to Bethlehem, five miles south of
Jerusalem, to be enrolled in his ancestral city. There is born their
promised Son. Their exclusion from the inn was n