Do you have an interest in learning about the birth of Jesus? Did you know it's only found in two of the four Gospels of the New Testament? Do you know all the people involved in the Christmas story? In this blog I organized it to help any one who would want to know.

Here are the people involved in the Christmas story:
Zachariah
Elizabeth
Gabriel the angel-- sent to Zachariah, Mary and possibly Joseph (Bible just says an angel)
(baby) John-- Son of Zachariah and Elizabeth, 2nd cousin to Jesus, grew up to tell others that the promised Messiah was coming
Mary
Joseph
Shepherds-- labourers of low degree, usually poor
Simeon--in temple when Jesus was presented to the Lord by parents, he prophesied about the baby
Anna-- elderly woman who was a prophetess who stayed in the temple praying and fasting
Wise men-- The Bible does not say there were three of them and it does not specifically say they were kings.

The story is found in Matthew 1:18-2:12 and Luke 1:5-2:40. The Luke version gives most of the details. Matthew's version gives more details about Joseph and tells of the wise men (Magi). There is a gap of about 400 years between the Old Testament and the New Testament in which people did not hear from God. The part that tells of the night Jesus was Born is found in Luke 2:1-20. The entire story can be broken up into 11 passages:

Luke 1:5-25 Birth of John foretold
Luke 1:26-38 Birth of Jesus foretold
Luke 1:39-45 Elizabeth's song
Luke 1:46-56 Mary's song
Luke 1:57-66 Birth of John
Luke 1:67-80 Zachariah prophesies of John
Luke 2:1-7 Jesus' birth
Luke 2:8-20 Angels tell Shepherds
Luke 2:21-24 Naming and presentation of Jesus
Luke 2:25-35 Simeon
Luke 2:36-40 Anna
Matthew 1:18-25 Birth of Jesus
Matthew 2:1-12 Wise men visit Jesus

When Luke tells the story, he tells of the praise offered to God by those involved. The church during Jesus' time enjoyed singing songs to God.
Elizabeth's song-- Luke 1:42-45
Mary's song-- Luke 1:46-55
Zacharias' praise-- 1:67-79
Angel's tiding of great joy-- Luke 2:10-14
Simeon's blessings to God-- Luke 2:28-35

Interesting Facts from the Bible about Jesus' birth:
1. Gabriel-- angel who stands in the presence of God
2. After Zachariah talked with Gabriel he couldn't speak until their baby was born
3. When pregnant Elizabeth visited pregnant Mary, Elizabeth's baby leaped in her womb
4. When Mary and Joseph went to the temple to dedicate Jesus, according to Jewish custom they had to bring an offering, (an animal that would be burned as an offering in the temple), they used a pair of birds because they were poor and not able to afford larger animals possibly such as lambs.
5. The wise men didn't visit Jesus on the night of his birth. He was a young child and in a house when they came.

A fun way to teach the story to children is through the book, The Advent Book by Jack and Kathy Stockman. It's a big thick book with a door on each page. Someone can open the door and read a key Bible verse from the Christmas story and see a picture that illustrates the verse. There are 25 doors in the book. One can be opened each day leading up to the 25th.