This content introduces Dr. David Jeremiah's "Why the Nativity" docudrama and book, which explores the profound significance of Jesus Christ's birth, answering 25 key questions about the event and its impact on human history.
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in the Nativity Story everything all
lives all story lines all prophecy
intersects in Bethlehem
naturally Bethlehem served as the
backdrop to David Jeremiah's why the
Nativity docudrama film with a set of
that little town created specifically
for the film and in preparation for its
release Dr Jeremiah sat down on the set
with Sheila Walsh to discuss how
important it is to keep Christ in
Christmas this holiday season and for
years to come
every year millions of people around the
globe celebrate Christmas but what does
it mean Hello I'm Sheila Walsh and in
just a moment I'm going to have the
privilege of talking to someone who has
devoted his life to the real meaning of
Christmas and most recently with his
Film Production about the birth of Jesus
why the Nativity drawing from both the
Old and New Testaments noted pastor and
theologian Dr David Jeremiah provides
answers to our questions about the
Nativity and gives us compelling reasons
to celebrate the birth of Jesus hello Dr
Jeremiah it is so wonderful to be here
Sheila thank you for coming to do this
this is amazing we're on the Bethlehem
at Nazareth back lot of your brand new
movie docudrama why the Nativity and I
have to say I very rarely run out of
words this is spectacular you know
Sheila I've been in the real Bethlehem
in Israel but sitting here is almost
more overwhelming than when I was there
because of all that's gone in to make
this as authentic as we could the
attention to detail is absolutely
breathtaking yeah I tell you what I
couldn't be more excited and more proud
of our guys and gals who worked on this
this has been an obsession with them for
almost three years now and
been through a lot of ups and downs and
starts and stops but here we are yep
we'll talk about some of that but before
we get to the actual movie this began as
a book tell us about that you know um
every book is like an adventure I know
you're an author so you know what I mean
people always ask you why did you write
that book and if you stop for a moment
and think about it there's always a
reason and this book started like this I
was in my office one day and a friend of
mine who is the president of Tyndall
house Ron beers called and said that
they wanted to do this book project
where we would answer 25 questions about
the Nativity and we brought our team
together and worked on it and why the
Nativity was the result
project like this I've never seen
anything quite like this was a daunting
task for you and for your amazing staff
to even begin a project like this
I think a lot of times if we knew at the
beginning what it was going to take for
us to get to the end we might have said
you know let's don't do this but we had
a great sense of what this could mean
and we have a guy on her staff named
Paul Joyner who wonderful has a
background in this and knows a lot about
it and we had no doubt that if we got
everything together Paul could pull it
off so I just want to let people know a
few of the statistics make sure I get it
all right because this is fascinating to
me so why the Nativity is an original
screenplay with an original score
created from creative people on your
staff and from the television and film
industry employing more than a thousand
people during this production with more
than 100 roles 19 of them children and
animals and they know what you say about
working with children and animals but we
decided we would just do that anyway and
it will be aired on networks and
streaming platforms everywhere this
Christmas and for Christmases to come
so much effort and creativity has gone
into this and I guess my bottom line
question is why
there's always been something about
turning point that's in the DNA here
that we want to do things nobody's ever
done before
we started and I don't think we realized
how big this would end up being you take
a step and then you take the next step
and and everything continues to multiply
until all of a sudden you look up and
you walk into this place where we are
tonight you know Sheila there's
something to be said about doing
projects that when they're done they're
so amazing that only God can get the
credit I love that and that's what I
think has happened here I mean we all
worked hard we know we had a part in
this but this is not something that
Humanity can pull off if God were not in
this we couldn't be doing what we're
doing wow in describing the motivation
behind this incredible docudrama why the
Nativity you've talked about the
Nativity as being the pivotal moment in
human history
well Sheila when Jesus entered this
world everything changed even the
calendars and that's true and people
forget that you know do you believe in
Jesus well you have to believe that
something happened because everything
changed we who are Christians know that
he came to change us but he also changed
the world and he brought hope where
there wasn't any hope he brought peace
into hostility
yes the coming of Jesus Christ into this world
world
was the Watershed of History yeah
known love and respected because of the
you're teaching on biblical prophecy but
when we look at the Nativity it didn't
start there did it it started thousands
of years ago why are the profits so
important well 700 years before people
like Micah and Isaiah Jeremiah
started to talk about the coming of the
Messiah the Messiah is going to come
Isaiah said that a virgin will be with
child a child is going to be called
Emmanuel and the hope of the Messiah was
in the heart of the Jewish people they
misunderstood who he was and
and many perhaps even still struggle
with that but he was the Messiah who
would come also to be the Redeemer the
prophets talked about it in fact
I just was reminded yesterday and
something I was reading that there are
316 prophecies that were literally
fulfilled in the first coming of Jesus
Christ and you can trace them in the
Bible and in history
stay tuned we'll be right back with more
about why the Nativity the docudrama
every year millions of people around the
globe celebrate Christmas but what does
it all mean why did God choose a young
woman named Mary and a simple Carpenter
named Joseph to bring his only son into
the world why was the son of God born in
a lowly manger in a small town called
Bethlehem and what does the Nativity
Story mean for us today explore the
powerful truths Beyond these questions
and More in why the Nativity drawing
from both the Old and New Testaments
noted pastor and theologian Dr David
Jeremiah provides answers to 25 of the
most thought-provoking questions
surrounding the most pivotal moment in
human history the birth of Jesus Christ
a copy of why the Nativity by Dr
Jeremiah can be yours for a gift of any
amount also available for a gift of any
amount Dr Jeremiah's newly released
docudrama why the Nativity based on his
best-selling book
let Dr Jeremiah be your guide as you
travel back in time to experience the
sights and sounds of that first
Christmas Story featuring stunning
visuals Dynamic teaching and dramatic
reenactments so riveting you'll want to
make watching why the Nativity a new
holiday tradition request your copy of
the why the Nativity book or docudrama
DVD for a gift of any amount or both for
a gift of 60 or more also available for
a gift of 100 or more the why the
Nativity study set which includes a copy
of the book 11 message CD album study
guide and the docudrama DVD an
unforgettable Journey Through the
wonders of Christmas awaits you contact
turning point today [Music]
[Music]
thank you for joining us I'm Sheila
Walsh here again to talk with Dr David
Jeremiah about his docudrama film why
the Nativity
one of the things that I have often
wondered was why did God pick that
particular time in human history for
Jesus to be born
well you know if you study history you
you realize that it was Jesus or
Oblivion history was at a very very
challenging point the Romans were in
charge they were running the world they
aren't called the iron Legions of Rome
for nothing there was also some other
things that were going on for instance
Rome had kind of United the world so it
would make it possible for the message
to be shared and Greek had become almost
like English is in the world and so at
that particular time at a time of great
need and darkness at a time when the
message could be received and and and
could go quickly to other parts of the
world the Bible says in the fullness of
time God sent forth his son what a great
message wow
I'd love to talk about the Central
characters of The Nativity let's talk
about Mary why did God choose this
particular young woman to be the mother
of the son of God
I'm not sure that we will ever know all
of the reasons for that but what we know
about her is she was a Godly young woman
she was certainly among the many women
in Israel who thought they might one day
be the mother of the Messiah that was a
hope that was kind of in the hearts of
many young women when Gabriel came and
told her that she was the one it must
have been quite a shock to her I don't
think she was expecting it I don't think
she was felt she was qualified her songs
that she created and the way she
responded to it tells you she was a very
humble person
and I always think about that one phrase
that she had when she heard it she said
be it unto me according to your word
that was her heart she was ready to
receive whatever God wanted to do for her
her
one of my favorite depictions in the
movie is the way that Joseph is depicted
you show so beautifully that they were
very much in love young teenagers very
much in love but they were about to get
married they were betrothed which was a
very serious thing and then suddenly
Mary is with child
why did God choose Joseph he had to be
quite a special man you know I have a
sermon that I've preached a couple times
during the Christmas season called The
Forgotten man of Christmas because
Joseph is sort of like a walk-on player
and then after the Christmas story he's
never heard from again he just walks off
the stage and he disappears into the
world yeah
but Joseph was a man who was willing to
do what God wanted him to do and he
didn't have to be in the center of the
story he was a supportive man worked in
a carpenter's shop and obviously loved
Mary much I mean he passed the test of
love when he found out that she was
pregnant and he knew it wasn't because
of him and yet here she is with child
and and she says that it happened in a
certain way a way that had never been
responsible for a child to ever be born
before in history she was with child of
the Holy Spirit and the angel came and
told him that and God granted him the
faith to believe it and he lived it and
he protected her and he wasn't the
center of the story but he was really
the most important next character in the story
story
about that why was a virgin birth
so important that Mary had never been
with a man
well the Messiah had to be
perfect he had to be the perfect Son of God
God
and he also had to be human and if he
had gotten his Humanity the way we get
ours he would also have sin in his life
so he had to come into Humanity without
the agency of a sinful human being
and so he was born of Mary
but he was born of the Holy Spirit
so that he could be
the the sinless son of God
so why Bethlehem not the most auspicious
I mean it wasn't Jerusalem why was it
important that he was born in Bethlehem
well the Bible said that he would be
Bethlehem Africa would be his home but
you know Bethlehem was a pretty special
place Rachel was buried there and so
will Ruth and Naomi were buried there
and Bethlehem has a really cool name the
word Bethlehem means House of Bread wow
and Jesus Christ came to be the bread of
life he was born there obviously because
he happened to be there when taxation
was going on registration was going on
and I remember reading somewhere that if
Mary had been pregnant with Jesus one
month before that he would have been
born here if she had been pregnant one
month after that he would have been born
here but she was pregnant with Jesus at
such a time that when the census took
place he would be in Bethlehem thus
fulfilling the prophecy of the Old
Testament prophets and the place where
he was born I love the way it's depicted
it's like in a a cold kind of Dusty cave
not a palace you know what I think one
of the things that will surprise a lot
of people and it kind of surprised me
because I've told this story so many
times and read it right out of the
scripture and you know they went to the
inn and there's no room in the inn and
so they're born in what we thought was a
shed right but history tells us it
probably wasn't a shed at all it was a cave
cave
that was on the property there and so we
built a cave on our set do we have a
cave for Jesus to be born in as you
think about that in some of the other
aspects of the birth of Jesus
Sheila God went out of his way to put
the gospel on the lower shelf so that
everyone could feel welcome I mean he
wasn't born as you said in a palace had
he been born in a palace then some
people might have thought that he was
only for the aristocracy right but he
was born in a stable so that the least
among all of us
could be accepted and we'll talk about
that I'm sure in a few moments about the
Shepherds but that's why he did that he
came so that no matter who we are
or what we've done or where we've been
or how we may even think of ourselves he
is for us and he is available and he's
reachable I think the depiction of the
Shepherds might even be one of my very
favorite moments because they were
looked down on they weren't despised
they were nobodies you know what I've
done a lot of homework on the Shepherds
a Shepherd was so despised they were not
allowed to be a witness in court they
were not allowed in the temple they
couldn't worship so Jesus chose the
least of all people amazing to whom he
would first reveal himself as the
Messiah the Shepherds
remind us of how much God loves us how
much he loves all of us and I would just
stop and say at this moment maybe
somebody's watching this interview and
you think you know I'd like to be a
Christian but I'm probably not good
enough you don't have to be good enough
to be a Christian you just have to be
willing to let God's goodness invade
your life yeah as he did yeah when those
who are the least likely to be invited
to the party became the only ones
invited to the party that's just the
heart of God right so let's talk about
the Kings there was the Silk Road from
China there was a spice Road from Africa
so many people coming to Jerusalem I
mean just coming from all over the world
why a star why was that important
star LED them in a way that violated the
way stars move the star wasn't going in
the right direction as far as the
universe is concerned
and it was obviously a miraculous Story
I mean I've heard all of the stories
about how it was this and that and how
this came together and but it wasn't an
accident it was God star it was God's
miraculous star to bring the the wise
men to where they could Worship the Lord
and the wise men tell us that he's also
here for the aristocratic and for those
who are in the higher level sometimes
they're harder to reach than the
Shepherds that's true and they came to
worship and they'd picture the
importance of worshiping Jesus so many
times in the Christmas scene
the Shepherds and the wise men appear
together but they were never together
the wise men came maybe two years later
and they came from a long way their
Journey was an arduous Journey
They Came To Worship the Lord with the determination
