Birth

1. Why was the Son of God born as a human being?

It was God's decision. In other religions, man must try hard to climb up to God; the gospel tells us that God came down to us, because we are incapable of climbing up to Him. By coming down to us in human form, God showed that He cared for us and that He wanted to be close to us. Immanuel means "God with us" (Matt. 1:23). To live and to die as our substitute, He had to become a human being with body and soul. Even so He had to remain sinless so that He could be a sacrifice without blemish. Jesus (Yeshua) means 'Yah saves' (Matt. 1:21). 

2. Why was Jesus born at Bethlehem?

God wanted it that way, and He said so through His prophet Micah (5:2). David was from Bethlehem, and as his descendant,  the Messiah, was called "Son of David". David was a shepherd when he was anointed to become king. He wrote Psalm 23 with the renowned words "The Lord is my shepherd." The Good Shepherd was also born in Bethlehem. The sacrificial lambs for the temple were cared for by shepherds in Bethlehem; therefore, the Lamb of God (John 1:29) was born there too. Bethlehem means "house of bread" and Jesus was the "bread of life" (John 6:35).

3. How do the two genealogies differ?

Matthew 1                     Luke 3
        ---                          Adam - Abraham
Abraham - David     =     Abraham - David
David - Jesus          <>    David - Jesus

a. Matthew and Luke agreed that Jesus was a descendant of Abraham and David―in line with prophecies about the Messiah.

b. The difference in the family-tree from David to Jesus may be due to different approaches: Matthew might have underlined Jesus' legal ancestry through Joseph, while Luke might have emphasized Jesus' biological ancestry through Mary.