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The Little Lamb: A Christmas Story (1955)
The Nativity of Jesus, or simply The Nativity, refers to the accounts of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth in the Gospels and in various apocryphal texts. The remembrance and re-enactment of the Nativity in the Christian celebration of Christmas signifies their belief that Jesus is the "Christ" or Messiah promised by the Old Testament. The main religious celebration among members of the Catholic Church and other Christian groups is the Church service at midnight on Christmas Eve or on the morning of Christmas Day. During the forty days leading up to Christmas, the Eastern Orthodox Church practices the Nativity Fast, while the majority of Christian congregations (including the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, many Mainline churches, and Baptists) begin observing the liturgical season of Advent four Sundays before Christmas—both are seen as times of spiritual cleansing, recollection and renewal to prepare for the celebration of the birth of Jesus.
The New Testament provides two accounts of the birth of Jesus: one in the Gospel of Matthew and the other in the Gospel of Luke, while other early nativity accounts, namely Justin Martyr's and that of the Protoevangelium of James, appear to harmonize them. The birth narratives of Matthew and Luke have some elements in common. They both relate that Jesus of Nazareth was the child of Mary, who was betrothed to Joseph, a descendant of the Biblical King David. The narratives also present the conception, preceded by an angelic annunciation, not as the result of marital relations, but of the power of the Holy Spirit. Meanwhile, the Gospel of John is silent on the nativity, as is the Gospel of Mark, which most textual critics consider the earliest of the canonical gospels. Critical scholars see the Gospel accounts as different, conflicting narratives, and they consider them to be pious fictions. E. P. Sanders describes them as "the clearest cases of invention in the Gospels", while John Hick states that "the whole beautiful Bethlehem Christmas story [was] created to fulfil supposed Old Testament prophecies".
The nativity accounts in the New Testament gospels of Matthew and Luke do not mention a date or time of year for the birth of Jesus. In Western Christianity, it has been traditionally celebrated on December 25 as Christmas (in the liturgical season of Christmastide), a date that can be traced as early as the year 330 among Roman Christians. Before then, and still today in Eastern Christianity, Jesus' birth was generally celebrated on January 6/7 (late at night on January 6) as part of the feast of Theophany, also known as Epiphany, which commemorated not only Jesus' birth but also his baptism by John in the Jordan River and possibly additional events in his life. Some scholars have speculated that the date of the celebration was moved in an attempt to replace the Roman festival of Saturnalia. Some scholars note that Luke's descriptions of shepherds' activities at the time of Jesus' birth suggest a spring or summer date. The theory that December 25 was the birthdate of Jesus is earliest noted in a fragment of the Chronographiai of Sextus Julius Africanus in the year 221.
The Gospel of Matthew places Jesus' birth under the reign of Herod the Great, who died in 4 BC. The author of Matthew also recorded that Herod had all the male children in Bethlehem two years old and younger executed, based on a prophecy relayed to him by the magi that a new King of the Jews had been born in the town. The order's instruction of "two and under", along with the inference that it took Herod time to realize that the magi were not about to deliver the child to him, implies a birth no later than 6-4 BC. The Gospel of Luke dates the birth ten years after Herod's death during the census of Quirinius, described by the historian Josephus. Most scholars consider the Gospel of Luke to be mistaken, though some writers still attempt to reconcile its account with the details given by Josephus.
That Mary was a virgin at the time of the conception of Jesus is indicated by her statement recorded in Lk 1:34, when she responds to the news of the impending birth with the words "How shall this be, as I know not a man?"
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Alias St. Nick (classic animation).mp4by imbaaackk8,818 views
sort of the story on which The Crippled Lamb was based...in a way..... but I'm still trying to figure out why Mom and Dad weren't keeping him warm....but it's still a cute story. :)
friendsfamilyaccount 1 year ago
This is the most beautiful christmas story ever!
ZahraCat 1 year ago
The Angel is kind of creepy looking
FilmsKayCee 1 year ago
Such a sweet, sweet video.
LaughinLashes 2 years ago