Chapter 5

“This Is My Son”

EVERYONE has a father. You have a father. And I have a father. When a girl does good things, her father is pleased to tell others: “This is my daughter.” And when a boy does what is right, his father is proud to say: “This is my son.”

Jesus always does what pleases his Father. So his Father feels pleased with him. And do you know what Jesus’ Father did?⁠— He spoke all the way from heaven to tell men: “This is my Son.”

Jesus really loves his Father. He showed this even before he came to the earth. He had a wonderful place in heaven with his Father, Jehovah God. But God had a special work for Jesus to do. To do that work, Jesus had to leave heaven. He had to be born as a baby on earth. Jesus was willing to do this because Jehovah wanted him to do it.

To be born as a baby on earth, Jesus had to have a mother. Do you know who she was?⁠— Her name was Mary.

Jehovah sent his angel Gabriel from heaven to talk to Mary. Gabriel told Mary she was going to have a baby boy. The baby would be named Jesus. And who would the baby’s father be?⁠— The angel said that the baby’s father  would be Jehovah God. That is why Jesus would be called the Son of God.

How do you think Mary felt about this?⁠— Did she say, ‘I don’t want to do that’? Did she say, ‘I don’t want to be the mother of Jesus’?⁠—

No, Mary was ready to do what God wanted. She was very willing to listen to God’s angel. It was like listening to God! And Mary wanted to listen to God. She loved God and was glad to do what Jehovah God wanted her to do.

But how could Jehovah cause his Son in heaven to be born as a baby on earth?⁠— Jehovah is the most powerful one anywhere. He can do things no one else can do. So Jehovah took the life of his Son from heaven and put it inside Mary. Jesus began to grow inside of Mary just as other babies grow inside of their mothers. After that Mary married Joseph.

Then the time came for Jesus to be born. He was born in the city of Bethlehem. Mary and her husband Joseph were visiting that city. But Bethlehem was full of people. There was not even a room where Mary and Joseph could stay on the night that Jesus was born. They had to put the baby Jesus in a manger. A manger is a place that holds food for cows and other animals to eat.

Exciting things happened on the night that Jesus was born. Near Bethlehem an angel talked to some shepherds. He told the shepherds what an important person Jesus was. He said to  them: ‘Look! I am telling you good news that will make people happy. Today someone was born who will save the people.’ Jesus would do many good things for people who love God.​—Luke 2:10, 11.

This was good news! Other angels in heaven began to join together in praising God. They were happy! The shepherds could hear what they said.

Now the shepherds wanted to see Jesus. The angel told them that they could find Jesus in Bethlehem. So they went there. When the shepherds got there to see Jesus, they told Joseph and Mary all the good things they had heard. This made Joseph and Mary very thankful to God. Can you imagine how happy Mary was that she had been willing to be the mother of Jesus?

Later, Joseph and Mary took Jesus to the city of Nazareth. That is where Jesus grew up. When he was grown, he began his great teaching work. This was part of the work Jehovah God wanted his Son to do on earth.

 About three years later, Jesus and some of his followers went up on a high mountain. What happened there?⁠— As the others watched, Jesus’ clothes began to shine brightly. Then God’s own voice was heard. Jehovah said about Jesus: “This is my Son, the beloved.” God was pleased with his Son.​—Mark 9:2-8.

Jesus always did what was right. He did not pretend to be someone that he really was not. He did not tell people that he was God. The angel Gabriel had told Mary that Jesus would be called the Son of God. Jesus himself said that he is God’s Son. And he did not tell people that he knew more than his Father. He said: “The Father is greater than I am.”​—John 14:28.

When Jesus’ Father gave him work to do, Jesus did it. He did not say, ‘Yes, I will do it,’ but then do something else. He loved his Father. So he listened to what his Father said.

We want to please Jehovah too, don’t we?⁠— Then we must show that we really listen to God, as Jesus did. God speaks to us through the Bible. It would not be right to pretend to listen to God, but then believe and do things that are contrary to the Bible, would it?⁠— And remember, we won’t find it hard to please Jehovah if we really love him.

(Other texts showing why we need to know and believe what the Bible really says about Jesus: Matthew 7:21-23, 1 Timothy 2:5, 6 and John 4:25, 26.)