Key Verse: Matthew 1:22-23
[22] All of this took place to fulfill what the Lord has said through the prophet: [23] “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” – which means, “God with us.”A blank page sits between the Old and New Testament signaling a time period of 400 years known as the “silent years”. A time where no new prophets were raised and God revealed nothing new to the Jewish people. Some awaiting the promise of a new King being born while others awaiting a the Chosen one to save them from the current governing regime. As the hope of the people diminished and desperation overcame them, God broke His silence and spoke. A young woman named Mary conceived a child in her virgin womb by the Holy Spirit (Mt. 1:20) and gave birth to the Son of God, Jesus.
The silence was broken with the cry of a new born King, a miracle, the birth of God in the flesh. The rejoicing, shouting and singing of the people broke through the silence of four centuries and twenty generations. A lone star shining in the sky declaring the only Way to the Father. Shattering all expectations of what would come, a King, a Savior wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. The silence was broken through the unexpected; humility and power from on high.
Let this Christmas be a time to humbly reflect on how God broke the silence in your life when Jesus was born in you. Rejoice, shout and sing for “God is with us!”
