Birth, Baptism and Temptation of Jesus

What you need to know

• Luke begins with the angel Gabriel appearing to Zechariah the priest while he burned incense, announcing the birth of John to the barren Elizabeth. Zechariah doubted and was struck dumb until the child was named John.
• Six months later Gabriel came to Mary, a virgin betrothed to Joseph of the house of David, at Nazareth in Galilee, announcing that she would conceive by the Holy Spirit and bear a son to be called Jesus, who would reign on the throne of David for ever. Mary's reply was that she was the Lord's handmaid and it should be according to his word.
• Mary visited Elizabeth in the hill country of Judah, the babe leaped in Elizabeth's womb, and Mary responded with the song known as the Magnificat, which praises God for scattering the proud, putting down the mighty and exalting the lowly.
• In Matthew's account Joseph, finding Mary with child, planned to divorce her quietly until an angel told him in a dream that the child was of the Holy Spirit and would save his people from their sins, fulfilling the Immanuel prophecy of Isaiah 7:14.
• Luke sets the birth in Bethlehem because of a census ordered by Caesar Augustus, taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria, which brought Joseph from Nazareth to his ancestral town. Jesus was laid in a manger because there was no room in the inn.
• Shepherds watching their flocks by night were told by an angel of the birth of a Saviour, Christ the Lord, with the sign of a babe in a manger, and a multitude of the heavenly host praised God. The shepherds came, saw and spread the news.
• Luke also records the circumcision on the eighth day and the presentation in the temple, where Simeon, promised that he would not die before seeing the Lord's Christ, took the child and spoke of a light for the Gentiles and a sword that would pierce Mary's soul, and where the prophetess Anna gave thanks.
• Matthew records wise men from the East who followed a star to Jerusalem, asked Herod where the King of the Jews was born, were directed by the chief priests to Bethlehem on the strength of Micah's prophecy, and offered gold, frankincense and myrrh before returning home another way.
• Warned in a dream, Joseph took the child and His mother to Egypt, and Herod, realising he had been tricked, killed the male children of Bethlehem who were two years old and under. After Herod's death the family returned and settled in Nazareth.
• Luke 2:41-52 is the only glimpse of Jesus between infancy and His ministry: at twelve He stayed behind in the temple among the teachers, and told His parents that He had to be about His Father's business, afterwards returning to Nazareth and remaining obedient to them.
• John the Baptist, son of Zechariah and Elizabeth, appeared in the wilderness of Judea wearing camel's hair with a leather girdle and eating locusts and wild honey. He preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, called the Pharisees and Sadducees a brood of vipers, demanded fruits worthy of repentance, and said that one mightier than he was coming who would baptise with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
• Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptised, and in Matthew's account John protested that he needed to be baptised by Jesus, who replied that it was fitting to fulfil all righteousness. As He came up from the water the heavens opened, the Spirit descended like a dove, and a voice from heaven declared Him the beloved Son in whom the Father was well pleased.
• The baptism matters for three reasons: Jesus identified Himself with sinners though He had no sin of His own, He was publicly attested by the Father and anointed by the Spirit for ministry, and the Father, Son and Holy Spirit were all manifested at the same moment.
• The Spirit then led Jesus into the wilderness, where He fasted forty days and forty nights and was tempted by the devil to turn stones into bread, to throw Himself from the pinnacle of the temple on the strength of a promise about angels, and to receive all the kingdoms of the world in exchange for worship. He answered each from Deuteronomy, the devil left Him, and angels came and ministered to Him; Luke adds that the devil departed until an opportune time.