"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judæa, in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came Wise Men from the east to Jerusalem"; and as they entered the city, their first question astonished everyone.
"Where is He that is born King of the Jews?" they asked. "For we have seen His star in the east, and we are come to worship Him."
Herod was the king then, placed there by the Romans, and he did not like to hear that there could be another king! He sent at once for the scribes, and demanded of them where Christ should be born. So they told him that Micah had prophesied in their Scriptures that Christ should be born in Bethlehem. And Herod was so anxious to make sure of this, that he sent the Wise Men to inquire in Bethlehem, and said he would come to worship Him.
And the Star moved before the Wise Men till it came and stood over where the young Child was.
Then the Wise Men saw the Holy Babe, with Mary, His mother; and they fell down and worshipped Him, and opened their treasures, and gave Him the precious gifts they had brought from the east.
In Isaiah vii. 14 the Jews were told that the mother of the Lord should be a virgin; and in Jeremiah xxiii. 5 that He should be of the royal house of David.
And now comes the fulfilment of all these prophecies off seven hundred years before.
He was born of a virgin, in Bethlehem, David's city.
Also God said by Micah He was "to be Ruler in Israel"; and in Isaiah xlix. 6 we have this great and further prophecy which embraces the whole world: "I will also give Thee for a light to the Gentiles, that Thou mayest be My salvation unto the end of the earth."
So we think of our Lord Jesus Christ as the great Gift which God the Father gave to the world.