If you actually take the time to read through the list of names in Jesus genealogy you find four very unusual names present for a typical genealogy. Matthew lists four women whose own background was either Gentile (non-Jewish), scandalous, or both! You can read the texts yourself to get the full picture: Tamar (Genesis 38), Rahab (Joshua 6), Ruth (Ruth 4), and Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11), who isn’t even listed by name.

This song captures Simeon’s gratitude to God. It also captures Simeon’s readiness to die. Yet, it is sung in joy because Simeon has seen the promise fulfilled. It is a wonderful song that captures both God’s desire to extend redemption to the whole world, as well as a blessing with a caveat: this child will cause both the rise and fall of many in Israel.

In pictures and descriptions of Jesus’ birth, the angels attending are often portrayed as chubby cherubim, lightly plucking at harp and lyre. They hardly seem scary, or the type of characters that would frighten hardened shepherds. Yet this multitude broke through the heavenly curtain and with regal precision proclaimed in swift accord the present situation.

Mary stands in an illustrious line of biblical women who have praised the Lord in song. Miriam was the first, who after the destruction of Pharaoh’s army and the crossing of the Red Sea recounted in song the heroic event (Exodus 15). Deborah rejoiced in the Lord’s power to free his people from oppression (Judges 5). Hannah praised the Lord in song when the Lord bestowed his gift of a child upon her (1 Sam 2:1-10). These images of victory and blessing are intertwined beautifully in Mary’s song, which is known as the “The Magnificat.”

You can imagine Zechariah, after nine months of being unable to speak, opening his mouth to prophecy after the birth of his son. In this piece of prophetic poetry, he uses Old Testament language to express how God is worthy of praise because he has acted according to his promises (Gen 22:16-18) to deliver his people through a descendant of David. In the second part of the song (verses 76-79) Zechariah addresses his newly born child, with literary allusions to Isa 40:3 and Mal 3:1.

Like the three wise men from far-off lands, the shepherds in their fields were unlikely candidates in the hierarchy of Jewish leadership to be the first to hear of this great king’s birth. Yet God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. It is not unlikely that in this scene with the angelic host we are reminded of who Jesus is: our great shepherd.

To show how significant the birth of Jesus is, we are given a glimpse of the angelic host only rivaled by the visions of John in the book of Revelation. Jesus’ birth is a cataclysmic in-breaking of God’s kingdom into the earthly realm. This is a visual picture of the Lord’s prayer, “Thy Kingdom come.” We can almost imagine how shocked the shepherds must have been as the glory of the Lord shone around them!

The heavens were deeply attuned to the coming of the Savior. The star signified that creation had a part to play in displaying God’s good news to the people of the whole world. God even allowed pagan astrologers from the east to recognize the message of the star: that a king would be born in Judea. Yet even the wise men were surprised to find that the king was not in Jerusalem! God needed to speak his word to them directly for them to find the humble location of Jesus’ birth. When they arrived at the house, they presented gifts fit for a king (Isa 60:5-7): gold, frankincense, and myrrh. After paying homage to this newborn king, they traveled back to their homes.

The story of Jesus’ birth is a wonderfully unique story in the history of humanity, and nothing shows us this more clearly than a brief look at the diverse cast of characters participated in this unrivaled event.

One of the first important characters to appear is the Holy Spirit. The same Spirit who moved over the waters of creation in Genesis 1 is now breathed into Mary to create the holy child. In this passage the “Most High” travels from the highest throne of heaven to visit his presence on the lowly home of Mary.