Updated December 16, 2025 by Alex Rodriguez
Christmas is my favorite time of the year. Beyond the festive lights, holiday parties and the bright decorations (my church fills its sanctuary, lobby and hallways with decorated Christmas trees and fake snow!), I love observing Advent—the 25 days leading up to Christmas Day. This time of year is especially meaningful for Christians as we focus on the birth of Christ and what it means for us—and for those still waiting to know Him.
Taking time to pause each day and remember the time before Jesus’ birth, when the world waited in eager anticipation for the Messiah, centers me on the deeper meaning behind this special season.
Maybe you’re looking for Bible verses about Christmas to help you focus on the meaning of the holiday. You might be looking for a Scripture to include in a Christmas card or something inspirational to share on social media. Maybe you’re looking for a way to open up a conversation to share the gospel online by posting a meaningful verse that speaks to the deeper reason Christians celebrate Christmas.
Whatever the reason, I hope these 20 Christmas Bible verses can help keep our focus on what we’re all celebrating this season: the birth of Jesus, God’s only Son and gift to the world.
Bible Verses Prophesying Jesus’ Birth
The following verses come from the Old Testament prophets, who announced that a Savior, a Messiah, would be born to redeem all people from their sin. These verses tell of the extraordinary circumstances under which this Savior would be born. Centuries later, Jesus would come and fulfill these prophecies and more.
1. The virgin will conceive (Isaiah 7:14)
“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”
— Isaiah, 7:14, New International Version
If Jesus weren’t the Messiah, it would have been simply impossible for Him to fulfill all the Old Testament prophecies that spoke of Him. The prophet Isaiah foretells many specific facts about Jesus 700 years before the Lord’s birth, and Jesus is the only one who has fulfilled them all.
This verse fills me with joy because it confirms that God always had a plan to redeem us from our sin. To me, this verse shows His love through the miraculous birth of Jesus.
2. To us a Child is born (Isaiah 9:6)
“For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
No earthly ruler would be capable of what Isaiah says of this coming King. Sure, a sovereign might offer wise counsel, bring peace and be a powerful protector, but no Israelite would have called any king “mighty God.”
The verse reminds us that despite everything we see going on in the world—all the turmoil and unrest we might see and experience—we can rest in a God who is mighty, and who is sovereign over all. The prophet also points to Jesus, our mighty Prince of Peace. We can take refuge in Him.
3. But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah (Micah 5:2)
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
from ancient times.”
After the Magi visit King Herod, the king pulls together the law’s chief priests and teachers to determine where the Messiah will be born (Matthew 2). This is the passage they point to as a prophecy for the location of the Lord’s birth.
This prophecy means a lot to me because it foretold that our King would come down from heaven in humility and offer His life for every man—for the poor and the lowly, not just the elite. The circumstances around His birth and even the humble location of his birthplace, Bethlehem, pointed to this.
4. Your king comes to you (Zechariah 9:9)
“Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
This passage speaks of Jesus coming into Jerusalem at the end of His ministry. But it’s often mentioned in connection to Christmas because it’s such an inspiring picture of Jesus coming to save us as a humble victor. It also encourages our own rejoicing at the coming of our King, Jesus!
Bible Verses About Jesus’ Birth
These Christmas Bible verses come from the New Testament, beginning with passages from the four Gospels, which give an account of Jesus’ life and ministry.
5. You are to give Him the name Jesus (Matthew 1:21)
“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
An angel of the Lord comes to Joseph in a dream and tells him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife. The Holy Spirit conceived the child she is carrying, and they are to give the child the name Jesus.
I love learning about the meaning behind people’s names. Jesus is called by many names and titles in the Bible, and each of them is significant and rich in meaning. Did you know Jesus means “Yahweh saves“?
6. Will be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35)
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.”
An angel named Gabriel tells Mary that she will have a son. Naturally, she struggles to understand because she’s a virgin. The angel tells her that she will conceive when the Holy Spirit overshadows her. Miraculously and mysteriously, Mary becomes pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit and gives birth to Jesus, just as the angel says.
Not only is the Lord called the “Son of God,” but He also called Himself the “Son of Man.” Learn a little bit more about this mysterious title in our post Why Did Jesus Call Himself the Son of Man?
What I love about this verse is that it shows that God has power beyond human limitations. Christ’s birth is a miracle, and only God could have done it.
7. No word from God will ever fail (Luke 1:37)
“For no word from God will ever fail.”
This is the angel’s final assurance when Mary responds in wonder at the news of her pregnancy. At face value, we see the beauty of this statement in the simple fact that everything the angel tells Mary will come to pass. But when we consider how Jesus fulfilled thousands of years’ worth of prophecies, it becomes even more poignant for us.
We can put our faith in God’s word, and we can rest assured that His word always will come to pass.
8. The song of Mary (Luke 1:46-55)
“And Mary said:
‘My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me-
holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.’”
In one of the most beautiful Scripture passages in Luke, Mary responds to the news of her pregnancy with wonder and worship. In this song, Mary celebrates God’s goodness, exalts His might and looks forward to a time when Jesus will fulfill all that has been spoken of Him by the prophets.
I can’t help but wonder how I might have responded to hearing the angel’s news. Mary’s song of praise gives us a glimpse into the heart of Jesus’ earthly mother, and her own love and reverence for God.
9. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger (Luke 2:6-7)
“While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.”
The apostle John tells us that when he had a vision of the glorified Jesus, he fell at the Lord’s feet like a dead man (Revelation 1:17). Think about that for a moment. John spent three years with Jesus, but that didn’t prepare him to see the glory of the Lord as He truly is.
What’s impressive is that the Creator of all things chose to set aside His divinity and be born to a young peasant girl and laid in a feeding trough. I find His humility is as inspiring as His majesty. Don’t you?
10. In the town of David a Savior has been born (Luke 2:11)
“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”
Here, the angels announce the birth of Jesus to some shepherds tending their flocks. Notice all the descriptors they use for the infant: Savior, Messiah, Lord.
I think it’s significant—not to mention beautiful and encouraging—that God’s birth announcement doesn’t go out to the rich and powerful, but to uneducated field workers. It signified that His kingdom was not just for the elite, but for everyone.
11. Peace to those on whom his favor rests (Luke 2:14)
“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
After announcing Christ’s birth to the shepherds, Luke tells us that a host of angels appeared and began praising God. Imagine how these shepherds must have felt. For years, the most exciting thing to happen to them was probably the need to scare off an occasional predator. And then one evening, out of nowhere, this happens!
The angels’ worship ends with this proclamation, “On earth peace to those on whom His favor rests.”
Thanks to Jesus’s sacrifice, God’s favor is available to all of us!
12. Praising God for all the things they had heard (Luke 2:20)
“The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.”
On the angel’s recommendation, the shepherds visit the newborn King and become the first evangelists. Luke tells us, “When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them” (Luke 2:17-18, NIV).
Returning to the fields, the shepherds praise God for this incredible experience. And again, we see Luke’s recurring theme around the Christmas story. The shepherds discover things exactly as they had been told. Isn’t that amazing? God always comes through and fulfills His promises.
Bible Verses About What Jesus’ Birth Means
13. In the beginning was the Word (John 1:1-5)
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
John doesn’t begin his Gospel with the nativity story. He launches it with a profound theological monologue that reminds us of the Creation story. His readers would have immediately made the connection between his opening words and the words of Genesis: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1, NIV).
Jesus’s origin story doesn’t begin in a manger. In fact, He doesn’t have an origin story. He was there before the beginning of time, and everything we know was made by Him and for Him (Colossians 1:16, NIV). Some of Christianity’s critics suggest that the idea that Jesus was God developed over time. As John demonstrates in his Gospel’s opening lines, early Christians always worshipped Jesus as God.
This is one of my favorite passages of Scripture, and Christmas is a perfect time to reflect on it. Jesus is the light of all mankind, greater than any darkness we face in this life. That alone is reason to rejoice.
14. The true light was coming into the world (John 1:9-10)
“The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.”
The theme of “light” that John introduces in this passage also reminds us of Genesis. The author of Genesis tells us that the earth was formless and void and covered in darkness, and God’s first act was to speak into existence a light that separated the darkness.
Here, John tells us that Jesus is the true light. He is what separates the darkness from the light.
I don’t know about you, but one of my favorite things about holiday decorations is the Christmas lights. You can see them everywhere—on Christmas trees, decorating the outside of homes, in the form of wreaths and candles. To me, these lights are not just beautiful decorations against the darkness of the winter months; they point back to Jesus too. He is our hope, our joy, our light in the darkness.
15. The Word became flesh (John 1:14)
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
John’s opening verses come to an exciting climax here. In this passage, John tells us that the disciples were eyewitnesses to God’s glory. This Word of God, which was there in the beginning and through which everything was created, put on flesh and entered our world. He became one of us and lived on earth as a human, experiencing all that we do.
The God of all creation faced the same hardships, joys, pain points and temptations that all humans face.
This is often something I wonder at—that the God of all creation faced the same hardships, joys, pain points and temptations that all humans face. And in doing this, He revealed that our Father in heaven is not some distant being, but a personal God who, being full of truth, still has grace for us. This, too, is part of the miracle we celebrate at Christmas.
16. Look, the Lamb of God (John 1:29)
“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’”
All of Jerusalem was coming out to witness John the Baptist, the wild prophet in the wilderness. One day, Jesus appears on the horizon, and John calls out, “Look, the lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.”
His audience would recognize the metaphor. From Passover onward, the Lamb symbolized the sacrifice and covering for sin. Here, John is clearly proclaiming that Jesus is the Messiah, the One who will serve as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins by giving up His life.
I wonder what it would have been like to witness this proclamation.
17. He gave His one and only Son (John 3:16-17)
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
John 3:16 is probably the Bible’s most famous verse. It captures the gospel message, especially when paired with verse 17. Jesus came into the world to save it, not to condemn it. This child in the manger ultimately rescued humanity and set us free.
It can be tempting to see this verse and to overlook its significance because it’s quoted so often. I challenge you to come back to the heart of this verse this holiday season. It is, after all, the reason Jesus was born and what we celebrate every year at Christmas.
18. The gift of God is eternal life (Romans 6:23)
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
In the center of the Garden of Eden were two trees: the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God instructed Adam that they were not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If they did, they would certainly die (Genesis 2:16-17). When they disobeyed, sin and death entered into the human experience.
All of us are under a curse—the curse of sin. And without Jesus’s intervention, death is the outcome. But the gift we received on that first Christmas was the promise of eternal life. This child would one day sacrifice Himself to free us from the curse, and His resurrection would conquer death.
As Christians, we have accepted this gift of eternal life in Jesus. And Christmas is a special time for us to give to others as a reflection of God’s generosity toward us. This Christmas, Jesus Film Project is providing you with the chance to give generously and bring the gospel to those who don’t yet know Jesus. When you make a gift in the name of a friend or loved one, they’ll receive a personalized Christmas card letting them know you’ve made a gift in their name—and you’ll equip ministry teams to share the gospel around the world. Learn more or give here.
19. That we might receive adoption (Galatians 4:4-5)
“But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.”
The birth of the Messiah wasn’t early and it wasn’t late. Jesus came into the world at just the right time. Paul’s adoption metaphor would have been meaningful to his Gentile audience. If a wealthy family didn’t have children of their own, they would adopt someone to become their heir and inherit their wealth.
This is what God did for us. Through Jesus, we can all be God’s children and inheritors of His kingdom.
20. He made Himself nothing (Philippians 2:5-7)
“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.”
In his desire to create harmony in the Philippian church, Paul writes one of his most touching passages about Jesus. He shows us an image of a God willing to lay aside His might and power to put on our fragile flesh and walk among us. Paul tells us that He chose to become a servant.
The gift we received on that first Christmas was the promise of eternal life.
If there was ever anyone whose experience was beneath them, it was Jesus. He wasn’t only above the abuse He took, He was also above the whole human experience. But He laid aside the privilege of deity to come and make us holy, humbling Himself to serve, and not to be served. He demonstrated this at the Last Supper, when He washed His disciples’ feet.
Let this verse remind us in this season, when it can be so easy to lose ourselves in the hype of all that is going on around us, that when we posture ourselves to serve humbly as Christ did, we honor Him and point others toward Him through our service.
Bonus Verses
I promised you 20 Bible verses for Christmas, but I’d like to include two more that I feel are just as essential to convey the message of the Christmas story.
21. Jesus came into the world to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15-17)
“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”
Paul frames the incarnation (God coming to us as human) as a rescue mission. Jesus came into the world to liberate us and save us from our captors—those of sin and death.
What’s also inspiring here is that Paul calls himself the worst of sinners. He isn’t looking at others as the reason that Jesus had to come; Paul considers himself the great transgressor.
The patience and mercy that Jesus shows Paul lead the apostle to write one of the most beautiful blessings ever, “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”
I pray that the patience and mercy we experience from Christ move us to worship and glorify Him as Paul did.
22. The kindness and love of our Savior appeared (Titus 3:4-5)
“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”
As Paul points out, He didn’t save us because of our righteousness. On the contrary, He saved us despite our lack of righteousness.
Christmas is the celebration of God’s kindness and love appearing in the form of an infant. But that was only the beginning. The real gift was the mercy and sacrifice Jesus displayed on the cross. When we couldn’t save ourselves, He came to our rescue—at high cost to Himself.
Let this verse remind you this Christmas that not only is our God powerful and loving, He is also kind to us. What a joy it is to serve a God like Him.
What’s so special about Christmas?
Christmas is one of the most celebrated holidays on earth. All around the globe, people put up decorations, share gifts and remember the story of God arriving in the world as a child. And for me, the wonder of this season is that the story isn’t some legend or myth. It really happened.
This truth is central to our faith and bears great meaning to each of our lives. And it means eternal life for anyone and everyone who believes in Jesus.
And that makes all the difference.
