Bible Study The Christmas Story (Sort Of)

[Beetow]

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Hello;

There are numbers of Christians, and non Christians alike, whose knowledge of
Jesus and his family is pretty much limited to greeting cards, television specials,
Hollywood movies, Broadway & school plays, fragmentary information, and folklore.
Well; I think we can do better.

Buen Camino
Pleasant Journey
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[Beetow]

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Jesus' Mom

● Luke 1:31-34 . . Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you
shall name him Jesus . . and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his
father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever. How will this be-- Mary
asked the angel --since I am a virgin?

FAQ: From whence did baby Jesus obtain a Y chromosome for his male gender?

REPLY: In the beginning, Eve's entire body-- inside and out, front to back, top to
bottom, and side to side --was constructed with material taken from Adam's body
(Gen 2:21-22) So if God could construct an entire woman from material taken from
a man's body, then it shouldn't be too difficult for Him to construct a teensy little
chromosome from a woman's body.

The practicality of it is that a Y chromosome constructed with material taken from
Mary's body wouldn't be an alien substance created ex nihilo; but would be 100%
natural; easily traceable to Mary's parents, and from thence back to David.

FAQ: Was Mary Jesus' surrogate mother or his natural mother?

REPLY: The angel informed Mary that she would conceive in her womb. Well;
according to the birds and bees, a woman's ovum has to be involved in a baby's
beginning in order for the little tyke to be considered a conception.

FAQ: Was it important that Mary be Jesus' natural mother?

REPLY: Jesus needed a genetic tie to David because the angel said he was on track
to ascend the king's throne.

The thing is: candidates under consideration for David's throne have to be-- first
and foremost --one of his natural descendants, no exceptions.

● Ps 132:11 . .The Lord has sworn in truth unto David; and He will not turn from it:
"Of the fruit of your body will I set upon your throne"

The new testament verifies Jesus is the fruit of David's body spoken of in that
oath.

● Acts 2:29-30 . . Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch
David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day.
Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him,
that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on
his throne.

● Rom 1:3 . . . His son; descended from David according to the flesh

Those two passages would be easily proven untrue had not Jesus' mom been his
natural mother, and if she in turn had not been one of David's natural female
descendants.
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Jesus' Dad

Joseph had no part in Jesus' conception. (Matt 1:18-19 & Luke 1:31-35)

Even so; Mary's boy is positioned in Joseph's genealogy. (Matt 1:1-17)

It's sometimes assumed Jesus was Joseph's foster child. But foster kids have no
place in a man's family tree. Seeing as how Jesus wasn't Joseph's paternal
descendant, then the only way he could be legally placed in Joseph's genealogy was
by adoption; and it came about like this:

Joseph was instructed to give Mary's baby the name Jesus. (Matt 1:21)

Joseph complied. (Matt 1:25)

In ancient times when a man stood with a woman to name her child, he officially
declared it his (cf. Luke 1:13 & Luke 1:59-63). So from then on the neighbors, and
Jesus' mom, identified Joseph as Jesus' dad. (Luke 2:27-28, Luke 2:41, Luke 2:48,
& Luke 4:22)

FAQ: Why make an issue out of Jesus' association with Joseph?

REPLY: Because God hand-picked Mary's son to inherit David's throne. (Luke 1:32-33)

The thing is: David's throne never passes down to his royal posterity via women; it
always passes down via the men in his line, viz: Mary was able to give Jesus a
direct tie to David, but she couldn't give her son a direct tie to David's principal
royal heir, whom God hand-picked to be Solomon. (1Chron 22:7-10)

Long story short: Joseph is directly related to both Solomon and David (Matt 1:6-16,
Luke 2:4) so it was necessary for him to adopt Mary's boy in order to place the lad
in Solomon's genealogy and thus validate him as a proper heir to the throne.

FAQ: Since when did the Jews begin placing men in positions of power by adoption?

REPLY: Jacob was the first. He took possession of Joseph's two sons Manasseh &
Ephraim and elevated them to tribal heads equal in position to his eldest sons
Reuben and Simeon. (Gen 48:5-6)
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Registration In Bethlehem

● Luke 2:1-6 . .In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should
be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while
Quirinius was governing in Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.

. .So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to
Bethlehem the town of David because he belonged to the house and line of David.
He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and
was expecting a child.

* David's birthplace is known from 1Sam 16:1 & 1Sam 16:18

The distance from Nazareth, north of Jerusalem, to Bethlehem south of Jerusalem;
is about 68 linear miles, and roughly 93 road miles.

I don't know why artists always depict Mary traveling those 93 miles on donkey
back when the mode of transportation isn't mentioned. Personally, I don't think
Joseph and his fiancée traveled to Bethlehem alone anyway, but rather, in the
company of their kin just as they did when Jesus was 12 years old. (Luke 2:41-45)
Seeing as how Mary and Joseph were of the house and lineage of David, then their
kinfolk would've been too.

Jesus' mom was in her third trimester and ready to deliver. In her condition, the
padded bed of a wagon makes far more sense than the back of an animal; and no
doubt Joseph's and Mary's relatives pooled their resources and made sure she was
comfortable.

Mr. Quirinius (a.k.a. Cyrenius) is an historical figure. His name is mentioned in Res
Gestae (The Deeds of Augustus, by Augustus) placing Quirinius as consul as early
as 12 BC.

The Roman historian Tacitus mentions that Quirinius was appointed by Augustus to
be an advisor to his young son Caius Caesar in Armenia.

Although Quirinius wasn't seated as a head of state at this time, he was actively
governing in Syria in a capacity that we today might call a bureaucrat.

The first century historian Josephus wrote: "Quirinius, a Roman senator who had
gone through other magistracies, and had passed through them all until he had
become consul, was appointed governor of Syria by Caesar and was given the task
of assessing property there and in Judea."

Webster's defines a consul as: an official appointed by a government to reside in a
foreign country to represent the commercial interests of citizens of the appointing
country.

NOTE: It's handy to know a little something about Quirinius' political status because
critics are fond of using him to challenge the Bible's historical accuracy. They are
correct in that he wasn't a head of State at the time, nevertheless, he was active in
government; and apparently quite proficient.
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The Angel & The Shepherds

● Luke 2:8-12 . . Now there were shepherds in that region abiding in the fields and
keeping the night watch over their flock. The angel of The Lord appeared to them,
and the glory of The Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear.

. .The angel said to them: Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good
news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a
savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord.

* The Greek word translated "Messiah" is equivalent to the Hebrew word for
"anointed" which isn't limited to important Jews. For example in Isa 45:1 it tags a
Gentile potentate named Cyrus; whom Jeremiah predicted would initiate the work
of rebuilding the Temple. (2Chron 36:22-23 & Ezra 1:1-4)

Now; the purpose of the wise men was to announce the birth of a monarch (Matt
2:1-2) whereas the purpose of the angel was to announce the birth of someone to
rescue the Jews from retribution (Matt 1:21) In other words: Jesus was on track to
protect his people from the wrath of God-- a people who not only fully deserved it,
but definitely on track to get it; and with no humanly possible way to avoid it. (Ex
34:6-7, Amos 3:1-2)

FAQ: Why did the angel appear to only the shepherds?

REPLY: One possibility is that the date of Zech 9:9 was accurately predicted in
advance by Dan 9:25 to occur on what we know as Palm Sunday. (Matt 21:1-12)
But although Micah 5:2 predicted Messiah's birth would occur in Bethlehem; the
date of that particular event was withheld. Consequently, those sheep guys were
the only audience at hand instead of the thousands that one might expect at such a
significant moment in history.
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The Wise Men And The Star

● Matt 2:1-9 . . Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of
Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying:
Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east,
and are come to worship him.

. .When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem
with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people
together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto
him: In Bethlehem of Judaea. After they had heard the king, they went on their
way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them.

FAQ: Why didn't the Jews' religious scholars accompany the wise men to
Bethlehem?

REPLY: They likely assumed the Eastern men were kooks-- I mean, after all; they
were from a foreign country. In those days outsiders consisted mostly of pagans
whose knowledge of the divine was derived from the sciences of astrology and
divination. In point of fact: the Greek word translated "wise men" basically pertains
to magicians, which were regarded as sorcerers.

The visitors likely thought they had seen the last of that star back home, so it
must've been very reassuring to see it again; and this time as a guiding light rather
than a sign.

● Matt 2:10 . . When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.

NOTE: As the Earth turns, stars appear to move across the sky from the east
towards the west. Their star moved directly south, and also came to a stop; which
should alert planetarium managers that it wasn't an astronomical object.

● Matt 2:9 . . It stopped over the place where the child was.

Normal celestial objects are so far out in space that it's nigh unto impossible to tell
the exact spot on earth where one of them is directly overhead at any given
moment without special instruments; so I think we can be reasonably confident
that this star was low enough that there was no mistaking the exact house where
young Jesus was lodged. In other words; this star wasn't a star, rather, it was an
apparition.

The shepherds were given no guide. They had to conduct a house to house search
for baby Jesus; and their target was different too. The shepherds went looking for a
religious figure whereas the wise men were seeking a political figure.

FAQ: How did the wise men know their star was associated with the Jews?

REPLY: Matt 2:12 strongly suggests their entire odyssey was supervised from start
to finish so that when the men spotted the star back home in the east, they were at
the same time informed by God as to its purpose and urged to pack up and head
for the land of Israel; specifically the city of Jerusalem because that's always been a
sort of Washington DC for David's dynasty.

I think the wise men fully expected to find the young king in Jerusalem because
they didn't inquire as to where he'd be born, rather: where is he that "is born"
because they were sure in their own minds that he was already out and about even
before they left home.

● Matt 2:11a . . On coming to the house,

As travelers completed their registration and returned home, the inn would've
become available for moving Joseph's family out of the stable into better
accommodations.

● Matt 2:11b . . they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and
revered him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold
and of incense and of myrrh.

The Greek word for "revered" in that verse is a very general word depicting
adoration, obeisance, homage, and/or submission relative to one's betters; either
human or divine.

The gifts they gave Jesus were common trade items of that day, and among the
variety of things we'd expect to be offered to royalty as tribute. No doubt all three
items came in very handy to finance the family's temporary residence in Egypt;
especially the gold. (Matt 2:13-15)
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Herod

● Matt 2:7-8 . .Then Herod summoned the wise men privately and found out from
them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said:
Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me,
so that I too may go and worship him.

Well; the visitors might've returned had not God intervened.

● Matt 2:11-12 . . And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod,
they returned to their country by another route.

That was likely a safety measure to prevent Herod from knowing where to find the
lad because rulers in that day were typically Machiavellian, tyrannical, and despotic
--they didn't just crush potential threats to their power; they utterly annihilated it;
and as subsequent events demonstrate, ol' Herod had neither conscience nor
concern for child welfare.

* Saddam Hussein's first order of business upon taking control of Iraq was to order
the executions of some of his closest supporters because they weren't totally
onboard with his ideals. North Korea's Kim Jong-Un is suspected of initiating the
murder of his uncle for similar reasons.

● Matt 2:16a . .Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men,
was exceeding wroth

There's really nothing in the story to even remotely suggest that the wise men
made a fool out of Herod and/or jeered him. They simply failed to comply with his
wishes; which in his mind wasn't merely refusal of his request, but a failure to take
him seriously. (cf. Gal 6:7)

● Matt 2:16b . . He sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem,
and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time
which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.

The Greek word for "coasts" is a mite ambiguous. It technically indicates borders,
but can also indicate regions and/or environs and surrounding areas.

That verse is commonly appropriated to calculate Jesus' age relative to when the
wise men visited him and his mother. But the verse merely indicates the passage of
time since Herod interviewed the men; which is quite useless for calculating Jesus'
age seeing as how he was already born before the men even left their country--
how long before they left their country, nobody knows for sure.

● Matt 2:17-18 . .Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
"A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her
children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more." (Jer 31:15)

Ramah was roughly six miles north of Jerusalem, while Bethlehem is roughly the
same distance south in the opposite direction. Ramah was settled by the people of
Rachel's son Benjamin, so that any weeping done by the mothers in that area
would be reckoned, by heritage, to be Rachel's weeping.

Anyway; what this suggests to me is that the slaughter of the innocents extended
beyond the community of Bethlehem. Were we to set a draftsman's compass to a
radius equal to the distance between Bethlehem and Jerusalem, and scribe a circle
with Jerusalem at the center, it would yield a pretty good idea of the area covered
by Herod's death squads-- roughly 113 square miles. (293 square kilometers)

But Herod's efforts were futile. Jesus wasn't even in the country; Joseph had moved
the boy and his mother down into Egypt before all the killing began (Matt 2:13) and
in time, Herod died and his danger to Jesus' survival died with him. (Matt 2:19-23)
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Jesus Out And About

● Luke 2:41-51 . . Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of
the Passover. And when he became twelve, they went up there according to the
custom of the Feast; and as they were returning, after spending the full number of
days, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem.

. . But his parents were unaware of it, but supposed him to be in the caravan, and
went a day's journey; and they began looking for him among their relatives and
acquaintances. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem looking for
him.

. .Then, after three days they found him in the Temple, sitting in the midst of the
teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him
were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

. .When they saw him, they were bewildered; and his mother said to him: "Son,
why have you treated us this way? Behold, your father and I have been anxiously
looking for you." And he said to them: "Why is it that you were looking for me? Did
you not know that I must be about my Father's business?" But they did not
understand the statement which He had made to them.

Well; I don't quite understand it either, but one thing I do know is that Jesus wasn't
rebellious: he was supervised by a higher power than his parents. (John 4:34, John
6:38, John 8:28, John 8:29, John 14:31)

NOTE: Other than that one instance of what at first appears to be an assertion of
independence; Jesus was actually a good kid.

● Luke 2:51 . .Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to
them.

Anyway, point being: it's commonly assumed that when the Word of John 1:1-3
came into the world as the flesh of John 1:14, that he came as a divine child. And
it's also commonly assumed that he came with all the wisdom of God preloaded in
his little baby skull. But no, the Word came into the world as a Jewish child (Rom
8:3, Heb 2:16-17) and was required to study his people's religion the same as any
other kid on the block.

But the Word's flesh had a very large advantage over the other kids. God equipped
Jesus with an unlimited amount of His spirit (Isa 11:1-2 & John 3:34) which made
him not only a quick learner, but also an astute learner, i.e. young Jesus was every
Sunday school teacher's dream: a kid that gets it.

● Luke 2:52 . . And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God
and man.

The Greek word translated "stature" is somewhat ambiguous. It can refer to age,
i.e. Jesus' physical development. Whereas it can also be speaking of maturity, i.e.
his personality's development.

Anyway; God was pleased with Jesus' spiritual progress, and apparently his
neighbors found Jesus to be an all-around regular guy-- in point of fact, so regular
that when he stood up in his town's synagogue to announce (in a nice way) that he
was the guy predicted by Isa 61:1-2 they in attendance that day were
thunderstruck.
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Jeconiah's Curse

Back in the old testament, God leveled a curse upon a really bad king in Solomon's
royal line to David's throne that reads like this:

● Jer 22:29-30 . . O land, land, land, hear the word of the Lord! Thus said the Lord:
Record this man as without succession, one who shall never be found acceptable;
for no man of his offspring shall be accepted to sit on the throne of David and to
rule again in Judah.

The bad king's name was Jeconiah (a.k.a. Jehoiakim and/or Coniah) and Mary's
fiancé Joseph was one of his descendants. (Matt 1:11)

It's commonly believed that the curse extended to Joseph, so that had Jesus been
Joseph's paternal descendant, it would've prevented Mary's son from ascending
David's throne.

However; adopted kids inherit from their dads the same as his paternal children; so
had the curse extended to Joseph, it would have extended to Jesus too because the
throne and the curse were a package deal.

Fortunately; the wording "to rule again in Judah" indicates that the curse on
Jeconiah's royal progeny was limited to the era of the divided kingdom. That
condition came to an end when Nebuchadnezzar crushed the whole country and led
first Samaria, and then later Judah, off to Babylonian slavery.

When Messiah reigns, the country of Israel will be unified. His jurisdiction won't be
limited to Judah within a divided kingdom, but will dominate all the land of Israel.
So the curse doesn't apply to him.

● Ezek 37:21-22 . .You shall declare to them: Thus said the Lord God: I am going
to take the Israelite people from among the nations they have gone to, and gather
them from every quarter, and bring them to their own land. I will make them a
single nation in the land, on the hills of Israel, and one king shall be king of them
all. Never again shall they be two nations, and never again shall they be divided
into two kingdoms.
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The Holy Couple's Private Life

It's remarkable the number of people I encounter online sincerely believing Joseph
shared a life with Jesus' mom with no intention of ever having any children by her.
In other words; they actually believe that Joseph was celibate in his own home; and
consequently Mary too: a young girl in the prime of life no less. I can't imagine a
more dysfunctional marriage than that. (Imagine kids growing up in a home where
parents never hug, kiss, or display the slightest feelings of romantic affection for
each other.)

* Since Mary was already engaged to Joseph prior to Gabriel's announcement; then
the logical assumption is that she was marrying a Jewish guy for the usual reasons
that Jewish girls wanted a Jewish husband-- to settle down, cohabit with a Jewish
man, and raise a Jewish family.

* And seeing as how Joseph was already engaged to Jesus' mom prior to the dream
sequence, then the logical assumption is that he was marrying a Jewish girl for the
usual reasons that Jewish guys wanted a Jewish wife-- to settle down, cohabit with
a Jewish woman, and raise a Jewish family.

Since the inspired Gospel narratives do not clearly, and without ambiguity, indicate
otherwise, it has to be assumed, from the normal round of human experience, that
Joseph and Mary fully intended to sleep together after their wedding just like every
other normal Jewish couple did back then.

Another point we should address is that some versions of Christianity insist it's a sin
to marry with no intent of producing children. That "sin" is based upon a very early
blessing in the book of Genesis.

● Gen 1:28 . .God blessed them and said to them; Be fruitful and increase in
number

Some folks regard that blessing as a rule of engagement instead of empowerment.
Therefore, had Mary and Joseph made no attempt whatsoever to produce children
together, then they would've been guilty of disobeying that which some folks regard
as a divine fiat. It gets worse.

God entices no man to sin (Jas 1:13). So if He had directed Mary and Joseph into a
celibate, platonic marriage-- thus forcing them to disobey His early fiat --then
according to some people's thinking; God would have been guilty of leading Jesus'
parents into sin.

A serious ethnic point that should be noted is that Joseph and his wife were both
Abraham's posterity. God early-on blessed their ancestor with this remark:

● Gen 22:17 . . In blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy
seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore.

Had Joseph not attempted to produce children of his own with his wife, he would've
failed to participate in Abraham's blessing and do his part in perpetuating his
ancestor's seed. In other words: it was Joseph's sacred privilege, and his sacred
duty, to make an honest attempt to have children with Jesus' mom.
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