Biblical Bytes Podcast

53. Bonus Christmas Episode (W/ Special Guest Host!)

• Adam Van Arsdale and Alison Howell

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Join us for a special Christmas bonus episode featuring a heartwarming story of Jesus's birth told by our special guest, 12-year-old Andrew. Andrew shares insightful connections and historical context on the nativity story, revealing the true meaning of Christmas. From his favorite Christmas memory to the prophetic significance of Bethlehem, Andrew captivates us with his knowledge and enthusiasm. Get ready to explore the incredible tale of Jesus's birth, understand the significance of the shepherds, wise men, and the prophecies, and embrace the joyous essence of the season with us.

00:00 Welcome to the Christmas Bonus Episode
00:03 Meet Our Special Guest: Andrew
00:43 Andrew's Favorite Christmas Memory
02:04 The True Story of Jesus's Birth
03:06 The Journey to Bethlehem
03:53 The Birth of Jesus in a Cave
05:10 The Shepherds and Their Role
09:46 The Wise Men and Their Journey
12:02 Prophecies and Connections
15:49 Wrapping Up: Reflections and Prayer


Music used in intro: "Hard Answers" by JK Productions

Adam:

Welcome to today's very special Christmas bonus episode. We are thrilled to have a special guest with us in studio today, Allison's son, Andrew. Say hi, Andrew.

Andrew:

Hi.

Adam:

Oh, you got to be a lot more excited than that.

Andrew:

Hello.

Adam:

There we go. I like that. He's going to be leading us through a special, incredible story of Jesus's birth. Get ready to dive into the true meaning of Christmas with fresh insights and some amazing connections as Andrew is going to take the reins for this holiday episode. Hey, Andrew, how are you doing today?

Andrew:

I'm doing great.

Adam:

Good. You're natural already at this. I gotta tell you, I have to coax your mom and coach your mom into how to do this. And you just walked right in and acted like a professional immediately.

Andrew:

Thank you.

Adam:

You're quite the natural. So I have a question for you.

Andrew:

Okay.

Adam:

I want you, since this is our bonus Christmas episode, I want you to tell me, what is your favorite Christmas memory?

Andrew:

My favorite Christmas memory has to be waking up my whole family, and then running downstairs and opening the presents.

Adam:

So are you the first one in the house awake?

Andrew:

Yes. More than likely.

Adam:

Do you at least let them sleep past like 6am? Or is this like a Usually like 7 o'clock. Okay. Do you have trouble sleeping at night on Christmas Eve?

Andrew:

Very much so.

Adam:

I'll, I have a story about that. When I was a little kid, like probably, younger than you were, probably more like 6, I would Actually tell them how old you are.

Andrew:

I'm 12 years old.

Adam:

12 years old. You've heard it ladies and gentlemen, the youngest podcaster who's gonna make this podcast episode the most famous one we've ever had. But when I was like six years old, I could not wait for Christmas. I ended up sneaking out of my room at like two o'clock in the morning and saw all the presents and started peeking in and my mom caught me. We ended up having to wake up the whole house and we ended up opening presents at two o'clock in the morning. So if she's listening, which she usually is, she's our one other listener out there other than Miss Mary, of course. Um, she's gonna laugh at that because she'll, she'll remember those special memories of waking up at two o'clock in the morning to open up presents. So you let them sleep past six a. m. and then you go and you wake everybody up for Christmas?

Andrew:

Yes, sir.

Adam:

Ah, that makes for a great memory. Christmas time is a special time. It's a special time for memories. And it's a special time for a special reason. And I hear that you have a message prepared for us this morning.

Andrew:

Yes, sir. I'm going to tell you what actually happened during the Christmas story.

Adam:

I cannot wait. And I know our listeners are excited about it. So I'm going to let you take the reins. Go ahead and tell us what you want to tell us.

Andrew:

So, 700 years before Jesus was born, Micah 5, 2 tells us that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem. This is an example of how God just takes small things and makes them do great things.

Adam:

700 years? That's crazy. I can't even, like, say what's gonna happen in seven hours, let alone somebody tell us 700 years. That's amazing.

Andrew:

Cuz Bethlehem was a very small town. Nobody really knew about it. And it would later bring, be the birthplace of the Savior.

Adam:

Wow. I've actually been to Bethlehem.

Andrew:

Really?

Adam:

It is really cool. If you ever get the chance, you'll have to go sometime. Then you can tell this story at the place that Jesus was born.

Andrew:

Yeah, that's amazing.

Adam:

Okay, what else you got for us?

Andrew:

So, Um, Caesar Augustus was the emperor, and he set out a law, or a decree, that everyone had to be listed, and this was probably for tax reasons, and so, um, Joseph was in the line of David, so he had to go to Bethlehem, and Bethlehem was about 80 miles from Nazareth. So it was about a four day walk.

Adam:

You mean they couldn't just jump into their cyber truck and And have it steer their way. They had to walk. That's crazy.

Andrew:

Uh, Mark Rober, all these people, they weren't alive back then. They weren't? Tesla? No.

Adam:

Oh, that's crazy. That's sad. So they got on their Tesla donkey.

Andrew:

Yeah.

Adam:

Okay. So they had to go 80 miles.

Andrew:

Yes, sir. Okay.

Adam:

What happened next?

Andrew:

So they set the decree, or they did the decree or the law, and then when they were there, um, Mary gave birth to Jesus. And, uh, she, a lot of people think that he was born in like a stable or a barn, but he was actually born in more like a cave. Really? The people in Bethlehem were known to, uh, keep their flocks and their animals in caves next to their homes.

Adam:

Oh, wow. So that, so they were able to have some sort of protection, but it wasn't like a little wooden stable like what our rangers Okay. Okay. So it wasn't a cave. That's crazy. Okay.

Andrew:

And in the same way that the wise men went to Bethlehem looking for a king, Samuel would go looking for a king. Which would be David in the same way.

Adam:

Oh, so this this is a repeating story So we've actually heard a story similar to this in the Old Testament. Wow, that's amazing So Samuel once went looking for a king and he found King David.

Andrew:

Yes, sir

Adam:

Okay, and so now we're talking about their great great great great great great great great great.

Andrew:

Yeah something another

Adam:

grandchild Basically through David's line. Wow, that's cool Awesome. Okay, what else you got?

Andrew:

So, like, the, um, the shepherds, they were probably pretty surprised to hear that the savior of the world was gonna be born in a manger. Because a lot of people think the manger kinda looks like a bed. But actually, it would be more like if my aunt put her baby in her feeding trough that she feeds her horses with.

Adam:

Oh yeah. I, you know, I've seen, uh, one of the things that you get to see when you go to Israel is they, they show you, um, an ancient manger. And, and I had never thought about this before, because I've always thought it was like some sort of like wooden thing with hay in it and whatnot. It's actually a big old stone that they've just carved out. So it's even like this hard Uncomfortable stone. It's like whenever I go and stay at my mother in law's house in Indiana for Christmas, um, she lets us sleep on her guest bed and her guest bed feels a lot like, um, the manger that the baby Jesus was probably laid in. It, I mean, it's hard as a rock and it's also the same exact mattress that Lauren had to sleep on, sleep on when she was in high school. So Lauren was pretty grouchy whenever I met her, you know, I don't think she slept very well for a long time. Okay. I have a question about the shepherds. Can I ask a question about the shepherds?

Andrew:

Anything. Awesome.

Adam:

Why is it that God chose the shepherds?

Andrew:

Well, shepherds were not important in the world's view. They were probably very poor, didn't have that much. But God's view is very different. First Corinthians 128 through 29 tells us this, God chose the things of the world that are common and looked down on. God chose the things considered unimportant to do away with things that are considered important. So no one can boast to God.

Adam:

Wow. So, did we know another shepherd

Andrew:

who became king? Um,

Adam:

yes.

Andrew:

David.

Adam:

So we're here, man, David is all in this story, isn't he?

Andrew:

Mm hmm.

Adam:

That's crazy. So he chose the shepherds, and these guys were the unimportant, the common, to look down on. And he chose these things, these people to do something incredible, which was to carry the good news. And what was that good news?

Andrew:

It was that Jesus is the savior of the world, and he was gonna be born in Bethlehem.

Adam:

Wow. That's amazing. I can't imagine. You know how terrified I would have been in the middle of the night if an angel appeared to me?

Andrew:

That's crazy. That is very scary. I'll be scared.

Adam:

Okay, so what else do you want to teach us?

Andrew:

So, I have a question for you, actually.

Adam:

Great.

Andrew:

I understand why Herod was upset that the savior of the world was being born, but Why was all of Jerusalem being, was disturbed by the king being born?

Adam:

Boy, that is a really good question. I want to hear what you think.

Andrew:

So, I don't know because they, I know Jerusalem was God's people. Yeah, and they were bad and they were kind of mixed like they could do good things But they were also bad. Yeah, sometimes. Yeah, so I feel like they didn't want to accept that the Savior was gonna be born.

Adam:

Yeah, it's like When you're doing things that are bad, it can make you feel good sometimes. Um, and sometimes you don't want to give up those things that you know are bad. I have this problem actually, uh, like, especially during this time of year, you know what I, you know, know that I enjoy that's really bad that I should not enjoy so much,

Andrew:

um,

Adam:

Christmas treats. I could enjoy some Christmas treats all the time. I mean, all of them. I don't care what kind.

Andrew:

Will there be Christmas treats? Yes. Those are addicting.

Adam:

Absolutely. And your dad likes to keep boxes of those hidden in the student center and I found all those hiding places. You did? Uh huh. And so I always like to try to partake in those. But I definitely should not do that. Unfortunately, during this time of year, I have to do my best to give up the things that I think are good and delicious, even though they're really, really bad for me. And I, I think, I think you're going somewhere with that. I think that's what the people in Jerusalem were probably like. They probably knew that, um, they thought they were kind of getting away with some of the stuff that they, Um, shouldn't have been doing and for the savior of the world to show up, it was probably a little bit scary because they probably knew the things that they should have, should not be doing. They shouldn't have been partaking in those Christmas treats, right? And, uh, they knew that they should probably give it up for him. But little did they know that that would end up being the greatest thing that they, they could ever be gifted was, was somebody who would come and change what they thought was good. And show them what true joy, what true goodness it actually is. Yeah, this is great. Go ahead.

Andrew:

Oh, so the wise men, a lot of, uh, one of the biggest misconceptions was that the wise men were there when Jesus was born. But he was actually, they were actually not. The wise men were not there when Jesus was born. It was, A far walk, and it took a long time to get there, because they were either from, uh, present day Iran, Iraq, or Saudi Arabia.

Adam:

Wow, so they had to, they, they found out, and then they had to walk from there? Yes, sir. That's a little bit, I bet they wish they had a cyber truck. A cyber camel,

Andrew:

right? A cyber camel. Ride a

Adam:

cyber camel into town.

Andrew:

That'd be

Adam:

amazing. I also heard, um, that there, we always traditionally, how many, how many wise men do you think traditionally people act like there are?

Andrew:

A lot of people think there were three.

Adam:

Yeah. But is that true, you think?

Andrew:

Well, we don't know.

Adam:

Yeah.

Andrew:

Because they did bring three gifts. Yep. But we don't know how many wise men were present because the Bible never says. Yep.

Adam:

I'm gonna have to get, get rid of my ninja scene at home because it's not biblically accurate. Now I've got a wooden stable and three guys bringing gifts. Unacceptable. Unacceptable. Okay. What else you want to teach us or is there anything else?

Andrew:

Um, well, They realized that Jesus was worth a lot because they brought valuable gifts like an earth that an earthly king would Receive like gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Yeah, so they thought he they didn't think he would be like a baby they thought he would be like a Big king and very powerful, but they didn't realize he was going to be born in a manger, in a cave, with animals everywhere, probably stank pretty bad. Yeah,

Adam:

probably true. Yeah. It's funny too, because they actually went and spoke to the current king, and I don't think the current king would have enjoyed the message very much. You know what they said?

Andrew:

No, sir.

Adam:

We're here looking for the new king.

Andrew:

Yeah

Adam:

So that did, uh, uh, Herod, that's why Herod goes on his tirade. He decides he wants to try to kill a bunch of the kids under a certain age. And that's why they had to flee to Egypt, because here the wise men showed up and said, Hey, we're here looking for this star, we're looking for this new king, um, and they're saying this to the current king, who did not enjoy that message very much. Did

Andrew:

you know there's a prophecy that was foresighted with that? Really? It says, in Matthew 2, That, let me flip to it. It says, He left Egypt for, with, he left for Egypt with the child and his mother Mary. They stayed there until King Herod had died. So the words the Lord had spoken through the prophet came true. He said, I brought my son out of Egypt.

Adam:

Wow. You just knew that offhand too. That's not in a note or anything. I'm very impressed with you. Absolutely. So another prophecy that was spoken years and years before. Yes, sir. Here through the king, the current king of Jerusalem, of Israel, would, would fulfill this unknowingly.

Andrew:

By

Adam:

trying to kill the little babies. Yeah. Yeah, that's crazy.

Andrew:

I love how the Bible is like connected in all these different ways.

Adam:

Yeah, I agree. Okay. I have I have Something I'll quiz you on.

Andrew:

Okay.

Adam:

Okay. Um, so Uh, did, have you ever heard, um, of the, uh, the type of shepherds that were probably most likely the ones that Jesus, uh, or that the angel appeared to? Do you know what their job was?

Andrew:

What was their job?

Adam:

Their job was to raise, um, the specific, uh, uh, sacrificial animals that would be used in the temple. And we know that because the Bible tells us that it was nearby, nearby to Bethlehem. And the ones who were within a five mile radius of the temple. Were very specifically told that they they were the ones who had to raise the sacrificial animals And so there's a two part way for this one when the angel says hey You're gonna find the babe wrapped in in swaddling cloths lying in the manger. The angel doesn't really give Instructions or GPS locations of this but the but the shepherds apparently knew right where to go So there's this, there's this, um, there's this belief, early, early Christian belief that this was a very specific manger. Not just a random manger, it was a very specific one. And the reason it was a specific one was because within Bethlehem would have been the manger that the shepherds would raise the one sacrificial lamb that would ultimately go, um, go to slaughter for on behalf of, uh, of Jerusalem, of Israel. And so by saying the manger, it's almost like saying, Hey. There's a babe that's wrapped up in these swaddling cloths, and he's laying in the one manger, you know, the one that you keep the sacrificial lamb. And so there's a little foreshadowing of what's to come, um, with Jesus, who will ultimately be the sacrificial lamb. And he's also, um, wrapped up in, uh, swaddling cloths. Which was exactly what they would do with the newborn baby, uh, sheep or, or, uh, uh, sacrificial animals to keep them from becoming blemished. So if you're laying a newborn animal, um, in a stable, you want to wrap them up cause they can't have any blemishes in order to be sacrificed. And so they weren't just saying, he wasn't just, the angel wasn't just declaring like, oh, it's in this random stable and he's, you'll find him wrapped up like a baby. Really what it's hinting at is, hey, This is the sacrificial lamb, the one who's going to take away the sins of the world. You're going to find him in the manger, wrapped up in cloth just like your sacrificial animals are. Um, and then when the wise men show up with the myrrh, you know what the myrrh foreshadows?

Andrew:

Uh, I do not. What it represents?

Adam:

Uh,

Andrew:

Does it represent what he will be, um, wrapped in?

Adam:

Close. It'll be, it'll represent death. Oh, death. Because mer is used, um, at, at death as a, as one of those, um, uh, think elements that they would utilize, um, after, after a person passes away. So, so here we've got representations of, at his birth for all this stuff that's going to happen.

Andrew:

That's really cool.

Adam:

Yeah. I think so too. Well, Andrew, this has been great. Do you have anything else you want to add to this before we close it out?

Andrew:

Nope.

Adam:

This is great. I think you should read, uh, this last line. Right here. I got it. I think you should read that last line.

Andrew:

The true story about Jesus birth is even better than our traditions, because it teaches us that Jesus takes even the littlest things and accomplishes big things.

Adam:

Man. I don't think we can end it any better way. Well, Andrew, I am so thankful that you came. You wrote all this up. You worked on this. You studied. You brought the message. Thank you. And I think it's going to help our listener get into the mood for Christmas here. We're going to have to make this a regular thing now.

Andrew:

Okay.

Adam:

All right. Great. How about I pray for

Andrew:

I'm

Adam:

going to fire Yes, I agree. You're going to fire mom. All right. How about I close this out in prayer?

Andrew:

Okay.

Adam:

Father God, we are so thankful that we, um, have, young minds who are hungry and excited to get into your Word. God, I pray that, uh, the listeners are blessed by this message, God, as we, um, just, uh, reorient our hearts back to you as we look back at the gift, um, that you gave us, and through the birth of your Son. God, I pray that we can enjoy the joy of the Christmas time and the family. Uh, time in the, in the, in the Christmas treats. Why? Because we have true joy in, in what you did by giving yourself, giving your own son, um, on our behalf. God, I'm thankful for your word and I'm thankful for, uh, uh, uh, the time that we get to look forward to, um, of your second return. God, we ask that you'll just, uh, bless us and that you'll be honored in our celebrations of Christmas. In your name. Amen.

Andrew:

Amen.

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Adam Van Arsdale

Host
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Alison Howell

Host