They Came to Him

Luke sets the birth against the most powerful man in the world: Caesar Augustus orders a census, and a carpenter from Nazareth must travel to Bethlehem “because he was of the house and lineage of David” (2:4). An emperor’s paperwork puts the Son of God exactly where Micah said He would be born (Micah 5:2). The manual notes that Bethlehem means “house of bread” and that the word manger comes from a Latin word meaning “to eat.” The One who would call Himself “the bread of life” (John 6:35) was born in the house of bread and laid in a feeding trough, “because there was no room for them in the inn” (2:7). The King of heaven entered the world with almost nothing.

🔗 Cross-references

• Micah 5:2 ↗Micah foretells that the eternal Ruler will come out of Bethlehem.
• John 6:35 ↗Jesus declares, “I am the bread of life,” the meaning hidden in His birthplace.
• 1 Nephi 11:20–21 ↗Nephi sees the virgin bearing a child in her arms and learns that He is the Lamb of God.

The first announcement goes not to the palace or the temple but to shepherds working the night shift. The angel’s words are universal, “to all people,” and personal, “unto you” (2:10–11). The sign is a baby in a manger. Then a multitude praises God: “on earth peace, good will toward men” (2:14). Notice what the shepherds do. They decide together to go (2:15), they come “with haste” (2:16), they make the news known (2:17), and they return “glorifying and praising God” (2:20). Notice Mary too. She “kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart” (2:19). Both responses are worship: the eager telling and the quiet keeping.

🔗 Cross-references

• John 10:11 ↗The newborn announced to shepherds becomes the Good Shepherd who gives His life for the sheep.
• Mosiah 3:3 ↗An angel brings King Benjamin “glad tidings of great joy” about the coming Savior.
• Alma 13:22 ↗Alma teaches that angels declare glad tidings of great joy to all nations.

On the eighth day the child is named Jesus, “which was so named of the angel” (2:21). Forty days after the birth, Mary and Joseph come to the temple with two turtledoves or pigeons, the offering the law allowed when a family could not afford a lamb (Leviticus 12:8). Simeon, “just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel,” had been promised by the Holy Ghost that he would see the Lord’s Christ before he died. He comes “by the Spirit into the temple” at exactly the right moment (2:25–27). He holds the child and says he can depart in peace. Then Anna, a widow who “departed not from the temple,” gives thanks and speaks of Him to all who looked for redemption (2:37–38). Years of faithful waiting ended in a single moment.

🔗 Cross-references

• Leviticus 12:6–8 ↗The law of Moses allowed two birds in place of a lamb for families who could not afford one.
• Isaiah 49:6 ↗Isaiah’s promise of “a light to the Gentiles,” which Simeon echoes in Luke 2:32.

Wise men from the east arrive in Jerusalem asking where the newborn King is, because they have seen His star and have come to worship Him (2:2). Herod is troubled, “and all Jerusalem with him” (2:3). The chief priests and scribes know the answer at once and quote Micah: Bethlehem (2:4–6). Yet the record never says any of them made the short trip. The travelers who came the farthest are the ones who kneel. When the star stops over the house, they rejoice “with exceeding great joy,” fall down, worship the young child, and give gold, frankincense and myrrh (2:10–11). Warned of God in a dream, they go home “another way” (2:12). Meeting Christ changed their route.

🔗 Cross-references

• Numbers 24:17 ↗Balaam foresees “a Star out of Jacob,” centuries before the wise men’s journey.
• Helaman 14:5 ↗Samuel the Lamanite prophesies a new star at the Savior’s birth.
• 3 Nephi 1:21 ↗In the Americas, the new star appears just as Samuel said it would.

Almost as soon as the wise men leave, an angel warns Joseph: take the young child and His mother and flee into Egypt. Joseph “arose” and left “by night” (2:13–14). Matthew sees a pattern in it, “Out of Egypt have I called my son” (2:15; Hosea 11:1): as Israel once came up out of Egypt, so does Israel’s Messiah. Herod’s rage at Bethlehem’s children is hard to read (2:16), and Matthew doesn’t soften it. After Herod dies, Joseph receives two more dreams that guide him home and then to Nazareth (2:19–23). The manual teaches that parents can receive revelation to protect their families. Joseph shows the pattern: he listened, he acted quickly, and he kept listening for the next instruction.

🔗 Cross-references

• Hosea 11:1 ↗“Called my son out of Egypt,” which Matthew sees fulfilled in the child Jesus.
• Doctrine and Covenants 8:2 ↗The Lord promises to speak to us in our mind and in our heart by the Holy Ghost.
• Matthew 1:24 ↗Joseph’s first prompt obedience, which prepared him for this one.

Luke gives us one scene from the Savior’s youth. At twelve, Jesus stays behind in Jerusalem after Passover. After three days of anxious searching, Mary and Joseph find Him in the temple with the teachers. The Joseph Smith Translation of verse 46 clarifies that they were hearing Him and asking Him questions. His answer, “wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” (2:49), shows He already knew who His Father was. Then He goes home and is “subject unto them” (2:51). Luke 2:52 sums up the following years: He grew in wisdom, stature and favor with God and man. Latter-day revelation adds that He “received not of the fulness at first, but continued from grace to grace” (Doctrine and Covenants 93:13).

🔗 Cross-references

• Doctrine and Covenants 93:12–14 ↗The Savior received grace for grace and continued from grace to grace until He received a fulness.
• JST Matthew 3:24–26In the Bible appendix: Jesus grew up with His brethren and waited upon the Lord for the time of His ministry.

Return today to the angel’s words and read them as addressed to you. The manual observes that humble, devoted seekers from many backgrounds found Him, and that the good tidings are for “all people.” Look back at the week’s witnesses: shepherds who hurried, Mary who pondered, Simeon who was led by the Spirit, Anna who never left the temple, wise men who traveled far and knelt, Joseph who obeyed in the night. Each came differently, and each came. Only those who stayed home, or who felt threatened by Him, missed Him. As you take the sacrament today, remember that the child born in Bethlehem is the Saviour born “unto you,” and think about what gift you will bring Him this week.

🔗 Cross-references

• Matthew 2:11 ↗The wise men’s long journey ends in worship and gifts.
• 2 Nephi 26:33 ↗The Lord invites all to come unto Him, and denies none who come.