You’re probably familiar with the Nativity story. But the truth about Mary and Joseph, the two parents at the heart of the story, is often brushed aside when talking about Christianity’s main man, Jesus. But Mary and Joseph are interesting characters. Here’s the untold truth of Mary and Joseph.
In Mary and Joseph’s time, women’s purity was valued as a currency, something that would sweeten the deal between marriage negotiations in family. There were no paternity tests back then, if you wanted kids that you were sure were yours, the best insurance was marrying a virgin.
So imagine your girlfriend shows up after visiting her cousin for three months with a big ol’ baby bump. You can probably picture the reactions. “Pregnant? Holy crap!” Everyone, not just Joseph, was freaking out. Mary would have been considered damaged goods and not marriage material.
It didn’t help that she was claiming this was God’s baby. So Joseph planned to end their engagement. According to National Geographic, Joseph was just trying to not make the situation worse. But don’t think Joseph was insensitive for wanting to dump Mary because she was unexpectedly pregnant.
Breaking up was actually the classiest move Joseph could have made at that time. Think about the story of the Nativity as if it happened today: A teenage girl from an extremely conservative society gets engaged, visits her cousin, and comes back visibly pregnant.
Mary was an OG and kept to her story that the Holy Spirit had gotten her pregnant, but people were as skeptical of the idea back then as they would have been today. “I am the virgin Mary. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.”
Joseph tried to be nice about it, Matthew 1:19 describes how he planned to separate from her quietly so the public wouldn’t shame her. But “shame her” is a nice way to say “stone her to death.” Deuteronomy 22:21 and the surrounding verses lay down the law that if a girl got intimate
While unmarried, she would be stoned to death for bringing shame upon her family. But Joseph didn’t want this to happen to her. Later on, the angel Gabriel visited him in a dream and reassured him that yes, Mary actually was going to have God’s kid.
So Joseph doubled down on his Good Guy stance and took on Mary as his wife even though she was pregnant. Tablet describes how Joseph has taken on newfound popularity in modern times as people have realized just how important he was to keeping Mary safe.
People have realized that without him, the birth of Jesus definitely wouldn’t have happened. Shocking! “Sweet baby Jesus.” Once the angel visited Joseph and confirmed that Mary was really going to have God’s kid, Joseph got on board immediately. But this also extended to after the birth of Jesus.
God, perhaps impressed by how cool Joseph had been throughout this whole ordeal, sent another angel to Joseph telling him that they had to pick up and leave immediately. He obeyed, and they fled what turned out to be a massacre of all kids in Bethlehem younger than two years old.
King Herod, whose name you may remember as one of the more popular Sunday School villains, had sent people out to kill any child who might be the Messiah after running into the three kings on their way to visit Jesus.
Apparently he was worried about another king trying to take his place, and you know how kings are about being kings. “I am the KING!” Joseph has been shoved aside in favor of the Virgin Mary in the eyes of a lot of believers,
Since she had to carry Jesus and bear the social stigma of the pregnancy. But that’s beginning to change. In 2003, Pope John Paull II spoke about Joseph setting an example as someone who believed in the messages he received from God but also stayed humble and didn’t seek attention as God’s stepdad.
The National Catholic Register sang his praises in 2011, recommending him as someone Catholics could go to for divine help in parenting. It’s explicitly stated in the Bible that Joseph and Mary didn’t consummate their marriage until after Jesus was born and they bailed to Egypt.
Which makes sense, since Mary was pregnant most of the time they were initially together. But even this viewpoint is pretty revolutionary in terms of how believers view Mary. There’s a healthy group of people, mostly Catholic, who believe that Mary never lost her virginity. Ever.
The “perpetual virgin” view of Mary is used as a way to honor her alleged holiness and purity as the mother of God. National Catholic Register points out that people who believe this theory do so partly because of the lexicon surrounding families at the time.
Whenever men are referred to as Jesus’s “brothers” in the Bible, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re Jesus’s brothers by blood. They could be his cousins or other family members, or maybe even just his friends. This is another story about the life of Jesus that may have been altered through the lens
Of pop culture. It’s quaint to picture Jesus learning how to build things out of wood with his dad. It’s like they’re alluding the imagery of the stable of his birth and his future death on a cross. It also fits the idea of Jesus’s beginnings being humble.
The Bible even tells a story of when Jesus was roasted in his hometown of Nazareth when he came back as an adult to perform miracles. They said things to the effect of, “Wait, how does the son of a carpenter know all these things?”
In the Ancient Greek that the Bible was translated from, Joseph is referred to as a tekton. According to A Greek-English Lexicon, tekton can mean a carpenter or wood-joiner but is commonly used to describe any craftsman or woodworker. Some theories allege that this means Joseph may have actually worked with stones or larger materials.
An author cited in the Telegraph claimed that Joseph may have even been a master architect who provided Jesus a comfortable upbringing. Sorry to disturb anyone’s assumptions, but Christ was not white. Jesus may have been played by white actors in a lot of films, but that’s definitely not
How it went down in real life. A breakdown from Live Science suggests that if Jesus took after Mary at all, he would have had olive skin and was probably of average height for the time. Mary probably looked like other Israeli Jews, or maybe with a slightly darker complexion.
She also would have been pretty average looking, since the Bible goes out of its way to specifically mention whenever someone is particularly attractive, and it didn’t do that with Mary. “I’m painting the birth of Jesus, as it was and always will be.” “Uh, no. Here’s how you’re going to paint me.
Serene, and gorgeous.” James Martin wrote in Slate that we can’t forget that Mary was probably 14 years old at the time when she gave birth to Jesus, something that was common for the time. She probably would have been arranged to be married around the time of her first period.
Just in case you needed your Nativity scene to be even more awkward. Mary had it harder than most women when it came to childbirth, even when you consider the time period. She presumably had Joseph to help her. But she had no experienced midwives, which were available to expecting mothers back then,
According to The Jewish Woman. Mary also, thanks to circumstances, had to give birth in a smelly place outside of her own town away from her family. That would be hard on anyone. But add on a difficult labor and it becomes a whole other story: In the Quran, Mary has
To give birth with her back against a palm tree for support. She says out loud, quote, “Oh, I wish I had died before this and was in oblivion, forgotten.” “Congratulations Mary, it’s a boy.” “And you didn’t die during childbirth like most women during this time. It’s a miracle.”
Mary has a whole chapter about her in the Quran and is the only woman mentioned by name, according to the BBC. Her chapter talks about the birth of Jesus and the immediate aftermath. According to PRI, it also features a story about baby Jesus speaking up in his mom’s
Defense when people said she wasn’t a virgin. Guess if you have all the knowledge in the world, you really have all the knowledge. In case you haven’t noticed, there are a lot of paintings of Mary. The young mom of Jesus has been featured in probably more paintings than anyone who ever lived.
In a lot of these paintings, Mary’s portrayed wearing a light blue shawl or hijab. It’s a light, airy color, not unlike the robe worn by her son in the most expensive painting on earth, Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi. But is Mary’s blue covering accurate to history? Probably not.
The Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge confirms that clothing for women Israelites was lighter and more brightly colored than men’s clothing. Assyrians of the time wore blue tunics as undergarments, but that was relatively far from Mary’s ‘hood. Aleteia describes how Mary’s blue covering is really an allusion to her purity and closeness to God.
She doesn’t wear the white of a saint or the red of a Jesus-killing emperor. Blue is the color of special woven tassels worn by Jews in that time to remind them to follow the Commandments. In short, Mary wears blue in paintings to symbolize that she is just that much holier
Than anyone else painted with her. In Catholicism, there are lots of books beside the Bible that people debate over in terms of authenticity. Some people dismiss them outright. Other people take them in consideration alongside the Bible. Some of these extra texts for Catholicism are called the apocrypha writings.
Catholic Culture describes them as documents that didn’t make it to the Bible compiled by people who wanted to know more about Jesus. Even if they’re not true, they say a lot about what people thought about Jesus and his place in the culture not long after he was alive.
If these writings can be believed, Joseph had a first wife named Melcha. According to The Catholic Dictionary, the apocrypha states that Joseph was a widower with six children, who asked to marry Mary after his wife died. This fits the pop culture image of Mary being much younger than him.
It also fits with the idea of Mary being a perpetual virgin but Jesus still having brothers and sisters. They could have been step brothers and sisters. If it’s true, it provides a very different image of Joseph: An older guy who’s already
Done the marriage and babies thing who has this new wife who’s pregnant somehow. But he still steps up to be stepdad of the year. One of the most consistent parts of the Nativity story is that Mary had to give birth to Jesus in a stable full of animals.
The town was full of people coming to Bethlehem, and apparently no one was nice enough to let a heavily pregnant woman take their adjoining suite. So they took the only space available. Now, people of that region at this time didn’t keep animals in stables the way we do today.
Think of a home in biblical times as the ultimate open concept home: People would sleep up in what was essentially the second floor while doing chores and other everyday work on the base floor. The base floor was also where the animals were brought in at night.
Newsweek reported that this was likely where Jesus was born, not in an entirely separate structure built outside of a house. What most likely happened was that Joseph showed up at his extended family’s house, was told that there wasn’t enough room in the sleeping quarters for Mary to give birth,
And so they had to make do with the gross basement where the animals hung out. It wasn’t so much people being monsters to a pregnant woman as much as Joseph’s cousin Fred arrived early and scored the last couch. Check out one of our newest videos right here!
Plus, even more Grunge videos about Bible stories are coming soon. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don’t miss a single one.
Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and this is Ascension Presents So, the feast of the Immaculate Conception happens every December 8th Which always causes people to say: “Wait a second December 8th, the conception of Jesus, he was born on the 25th? Like that’s only 17 days
You guys do not understand human biology.” But you don’t understand Catholic theology. ‘Cause it’s not about the Immaculate Conception of Jesus. It’s about the conception of Mary….What? Yeah, it’s totally true. The Immaculate Conception declares that Mary, from the very first moment of her conception was preserved from all stain of original sin
By the merits of her son’s future life, death, and resurrection. What? One of the things that means is that Jesus is Mary’s savior. People will say well how can … what do you mean Mary was without sin? She even calls God “my Savior.”
Well, yeah. Because Jesus saved her before before she got sick from original sin. I remember hearing this explanation years and years ago. They said: “Imagine this. Imagine there’s this worldwide epidemic, this virus that was rampant, and you were gonna get it And if you got it, you were gonna die.
And then along came Dr. Joe Johnson, and he comes up with this cure. Everyone who gets injected with this cure will get healed of the disease and will live. But then Dr. Joe also comes up with a vaccine. And if you get this vaccine, before you get the disease,
You’ll also … you won’t get the disease and you’ll live. So, imagine: you get the disease and you get the cure. Dr. Joe is your savior. He saved you from this virus. From this death You don’t get the disease, but Dr. Joe vaccinates you. Therefore, you are preserved from getting the disease.
Dr. Joe is still your savior. In a similar way, how you and I have been saved by Jesus if we’ve been baptized, and hopefully continue to be saved by saying yes to his grace is after the fact. We got sick. Original sin. But the way that God saved Mary is he preserved her.
He gave her basically the vaccine before she even got sick. Again, it’s by what? By the merits of her Son’s future life, death, and resurrection. People say “What? The future life, death, and resurrection? Like, how is that possible? ‘Cause that would have happened like 47 years
Before Jesus died and rose from the dead, right? So if Mary was roughly 14 when she conceived Jesus, and then Jesus died when he was roughly 33 Forty-seven years earlier, um that seems likely that it would be retroactive. How would it go through time like that? God’s merits go through time like that?”
Well, I would say that’s a great question. How do God’s merits go through time two thousand years into the future and affect us? ‘Cause that’s what we believe. By the power of the Holy Spirit That’s what we think. That’s what we say. Because God’s outside of time.
He can go to any moment in time if he wants. OK, so that’s one thing. But here’s the question: it’s like: “Well, why would that happen?” Well let’s look at these two stories. Let’s look at the story of the fall, right? In Genesis chapter three. You have one man and one woman.
And they are both without original sin. So, Jesus isn’t the first person without original sin, and Mary isn’t the first person without original sin. Adam and Eve were made without original sin. Now, Jesus is called the New Adam, right, by St. Paul? So there’s old Adam, Genesis chapter three.
Jesus is called the New Adam. Question: If there’s an old Adam and and old Eve And there’s a New Adam, doesn’t it also make sense that there would be a New Eve? Let’s look at the story. Genesis chapter three: Here’s the woman without a sin, and an angel of light appears to her.
You know, one of the shiny ones, the “hosh” is the Hebrew word, the glistening ones, or the bright ones— Lucifer the light bearer— an angel of light appeared to this woman without original sin, Eve and he speaks words to her that cause her to disbelieve and disobey. she says, “no”
To God and yes to the words that called her to disbelieve and disobey. She takes that disobedience, hands it on to the husband— the man— who then hands that disobedience and death to the whole world. We are all descendants of Adam and Eve; we all inherit that original sin; we all inherit
The disobedience and death. Now that’s the fall team, those two. There was also a redeem team. In Luke’s gospel, what do you have? You have this woman without original sin, Mary and the angel of light Gabriel, appears to her and he speaks words to her that cause her to obey and believe,
To believe and obey. When she says, “yes” to God’s message in that and trusts him she then hands on that obedience to the one conceived in her womb, the man, who then when he says, “yes” to the Father, he hands on life to the whole world so just like the woman
To the man, man to the world of the fall, in the New Testament, the new creation, the redeem team, from the woman to the man, from the man to the world. That’s why Eve is called the mother of all the living; Mary is called the mother of all the redeemed.
Well, why would God have to do that? Why couldn’t he just do it on his own? He could totally do it on his own. God could save the entire world on his own. That’s why St. Augustine had said the God who willed to create you without you is not willing to redeem you
Without you. The God who created you without your permission does not want to redeem you without your consent. This is like the mystery. This is like the way God does things, right? He could do it on his own, but he wants us to work with him.
You think, what was the work that God asked Mary to do? This is remarkable ’cause we believe Mary is like the greatest saint who ever lived. What was the work God asked her to do? Did he ask her to like start a movement, to start an orphanage, to start hospitals, to start schools
To start whatever? No … he just … this is the crazy thing. Some people think that we think Mary is amazing because on her own strength, her own goodness, her own beauty, her own whatever. False, not at all. We believe that all of Mary’s goodness comes from what God did in her life.
It didn’t come from her power or her strength. That all of Mary’s goodness, just like the goodness of any of the saints did not come from her; it came from God had done in her life, and she simply said, “Yes.” Consider this: You will never be asked to do anything more than Mary,
And all she was asked to do was say, “Yes.” So here we are on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. My invitation is this: Say “yes” to God, Regardless of whether you’ve been living like a rockstar, in a good way like a rockstar saint, or like a rockstar not in the best way,
Say “yes” to God today. You cannot go wrong when we say “yes” to God. From all of us here at Ascension Presents, my name is Father Mike. God bless. Dude, I’m just gonna try this. OK so I’ll be able to hold it up like this Mary, did you know that your baby boy
Would one day walk on water. Mary, did you know? that your baby boy would save our sons and daughters. DId you know that your baby boy had come to make you new? This child that you delivered would soon deliver you. False. Heresy. Not heresy, technically heresy is the obstinate in public
Opposition to be corrected. It’s just an error and the error is only in one line of the song. It’s a great song, it’s a beautiful song. But, it’s wrong in that sense. Why? Because it says this child that you will deliver will soon deliver you. The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception states
That from the very first moment of her conception Mary was preserved from all stain of original sin by the merits of her son’s future life death, and resurrection. So, when the song says, “he will deliver you,” it’s like actually, dude, um that happened like I don’t know fourteen years ago.
Go ahead, and like the song. It’s just the one thing that’s not good. My sister, she’s always like “Why can’t I like that song?” “I love that song.” It’s great. It’s great. It’s fine. It’s just the one line, that’s all I’m saying. That’s all I’m saying. That’s all I’m saying.
Two thousand years ago, the angel Gabriel brought a rather unusual message to a little girl named Mary: Behold, the Holy Spirit will come upon you and you will conceive a child, even though you have had no relations with a man. Proving, as they say, that abstinence is 99.9999999 percent effective.
The belief Mary gave birth to Jesus as a virgin is not, nor has it ever been, a controversial topic in Christendom. It fulfills a prophecy found in the book of Isaiah, and Christians accepted it from the very beginning. The idea that she REMAINED a virgin, however… now that is up for debate.
Why do Catholics argue for her perpetual virginity and when did this belief develop? This is Catholicism in Focus. As with most things in our faith, the first place we want to look to answer our question is the Bible itself. Although not the ONLY source of God’s truth, it is a pretty important foundation.
Which… is unfortunate for Catholics in this case… as the Bible isn’t much help. The best we can say about the perpetual nature of Mary’s virginity, based on the Bible, is that the Bible doesn’t say much. It definitively speaks of her virginity in conceiving of Jesus, and then remains silent
On any other domestic events in Mary’s life. Scripture doesn’t definitively negate the idea. It does, however, offer some contrary evidence, as Protestants like to point out. In each of the synoptic Gospels, there is a pericope in which Jesus, speaking to the
Crowds, is informed, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside and they wish to see you.” Jesus of course spiritualizes the situation, saying that those who do the will of his father are his mother and brothers and sisters, and that’s great for us as a moral lesson, but
It does present a practical problem for take on Mary: clearly, the disciple didn’t mean this spiritually, but literally. He was speaking of Jesus’ actual flesh and blood. The same can be seen in the Gospel of John, the Acts of the Apostles, and St. Paul’s
First letter to the Corinthians and to the Galatians, as each reference the brothers of Jesus. Clearly, Jesus had some biological relatives, and the Catholic Church doesn’t negate that. We just don’t accept that these children are the offspring of Mary.
When we look to the actual description of these so called “brothers” of Jesus, it’s important to note that no one is ever described as “the son of Mary.” Whereas family lineage is common in other places in the Gospels, as in the sons of Zebedee, these brothers are given no further detail.
Of course, this assumes that the word “brother” actually means what we mean, which is not a guarantee. In the semitic world, calling someone a “brother” could be a catch-all for many types of relationships from step-brother to cousin even to uncle.
In the Book of Genesis, for example, Abraham uses the Hebrew word for “brother” to greet Lot, even though he is in fact his uncle. As if that weren’t ambiguous enough, we see in the Gospel of Matthew that two of his
Disciples, James and Joseph, are at one point referred to as his brothers, but are later described as the sons of a different Mary entirely. All of this helps to understand the scene from John 19 in which Jesus entrusts his mother to the Beloved disciple while on the cross.
If the Mary, the Mother of Jesus, did have other children, Jesus would have had no need to make sure that his mother was cared for after his death, and this scene would make little sense. For many in the early Church, passages referring to Jesus’ siblings posed no problem to the
Belief in the perpetual virginity of Mary because many understood them to be children of Joseph before he betrothed Mary, or, in all likelihood, children from another marriage. Given the world at the time, there is no reason to believe that Joseph couldn’t have had other wives and a much larger family.
In fact, an early Christian source says just that. In the Protoevangelium of James, a partial Gospel written around 120 AD, we read Now, is this a canonical source, binding on all the faithful? Of course not.
It was not deemed authentic enough to be included in the Bible and so we must be wary of taking any of its words as dogmatic truth. What it is, though, is early evidence of a developing popular belief: if it was important
Enough to be written down in the early second century, it means that there was already a strong oral tradition and popular devotion among the people a generation earlier. Over the next two centuries, the belief in the perpetual virginity of Mary took root
Throughout all of Christendom, developing a strong devotional following in both East and West. Some like Tertullian and Helvidius argued against it, but the vast majority of Church leaders, people like Origen, Athanasius, Basil the Great, Ambrose, Cyril of Alexandria, Pope Leo, Jerome, and Augustine, all defended it.
And trust me—if you can get Jerome and Augustine to be on the same side of something, that’s saying something. They … did not exactly get along. Eventually, the teaching was so well-established among the leaders of the Church with dissenting opinions only coming from minority, heretical voices, that the Second Council of Constantine
In 553 definitively referred to Mary as “ever-virgin” and the Lateran Council of 649 further cemented the teaching’s place in Catholic theology: Clearly, this teaching was well rooted in the ancient Church. But it also persisted. What’s probably most interesting about this topic is not that the belief has existed basically
Since the beginning, it’s that it continued unchallenged even through the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. While many Protestants today do not accept this teaching, all of the major reformers did. Martin Luther, sermons on John. Ulrich Zwingli, Corpus Reformatorum. John Wesley, Letter to a Roman Catholic.
Calvin didn’t even think it was a controversial question: In one commentary, he wrote, Unfortunately, many people do raise this question today, and I guess you can understand why. Scripture does not explicitly state that Mary remained a virgin. If you are a biblical literalist and sola-scriptura rigorist, that’s the ballgame.
But really, that’s precisely why scripture can’t be the only source of truth. It’s why we believe that Christ founded the Church, that the Holy Spirit continues to guide it, so that when questions like this arise a generation after the Gospels were
Written, and the faithful maintain that same belief even through the Reformation, we can know of it’s truth. It may not be spelled out in the Bible, but when Basil, Augustine, Jerome, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Zwingli and Wesley can all agree on something… there might be something to it.
>> NARRATOR: In a backwater of the ancient world, a newborn child heralds new hope for mankind. It is a birth riddled with paradox. A virgin has become a mother; God has become human; a child is King. The biblical account of Jesus’ birth has enraptured millions. But the passage of 2,000 years
Has obscured the historical events that inspired it. What really happened? The answers, though elusive, may still be within our grasp– in clues contained in the Bible, in ancient historical documents and in recent new discoveries by scholars and scientists. Join us as we try to reconstruct the true story of a birth as
Mysterious as it was momentous. [Captioning sponsored by A&E TELEVISION NETWORKS] >> NARRATOR: For many, the search for the truth begins here. This sanctuary in Bethlehem was built in 326 A.D. at the behest of the mother of the most powerful man on Earth. A decade earlier, Constantine
The Great had altered history by declaring Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. His mother Helena became convinced by local residents that his newfound faith began on this spot. Visitors to the Church of the Nativity can descend to a grotto below, where Jesus is said to have been born.
Many share Helena’s belief. Others, who do not, still acknowledge the site’s symbolic if not historic value. Here, both can find satisfaction. Here, they can touch Christmas. For Christians, the birth of Jesus marks the moment when the world was transformed by the arrival of humanity’s savior. To others, it is an epochal
Turning point: the dawn of the dominant figure of Western culture. The mystery of Jesus’ birth is contained in two books of the New Testament: the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. But many scholars believe that they are works concerned not so much with facts than faith. To extract history from their pages is problematic.
>> DANIEL SMITH-CHRISTOPHER: The Hebrews knew that some truths are more profoundly communicated by telling a story than simply narrating historical events. That presents us an interesting difficulty. Sometimes we have to take a biblical passage and decide how much of this is the narration of events and how much of this is
Story and how do we tell the difference? >> ELIZABETH McNAMER: Our idea of history is different from writers who were writing then. We’re interested in the facts and only the facts. People writing at that point were interested not just in what happened, but in the interpretation of what happened.
It didn’t disturb them at all to add things to put forward their own theology, and it didn’t disturb their readers, either. >> JUDY YATES SIKER: They weren’t historians and they weren’t biographers. They were people whose communities had been impacted by the life of one they called Jesus of Nazareth, and it was
Imperative that they tell the story. >> NARRATOR: But did Matthew and Luke base their accounts of Jesus’ birth on actual events? Or did they merely invent the story after Jesus rose to prominence? The answers are all the more elusive because the narrative known to millions is in fact a fusion of two strikingly
Different tales. It begins when God chooses an obscure young virgin named Mary to carry his son. He tells her of his plan in an extraordinary encounter known as the Annunciation. >> “The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in
Your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.’ And Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be since I am a virgin?’ And the angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you and for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God.'”– LUKE 1:30.
>> NARRATOR: When Mary reveals her pregnancy to Joseph, her fiancé, he disbelieves her story. But when another angel visits him to verify it, his devotion to Mary is restored. Months pass… then a drama begins that is described by Luke but never mentioned by Matthew. The Emperor demands that all the
Roman world, including the Hebrew people, return to their ancestral homes in order to be taxed. >> “Now it came about in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited Earth. And all were proceeding to register for the census,
Everyone to his own city.”– LUKE 2:1. >> NARRATOR: Joseph, originally from Bethlehem, must escort the pregnant Mary on an arduous journey to his home city, 90 miles away. >> SMITH-CHRISTOPHER: One of the realities that we must always keep in mind in thinking about the Christmas story is that Palestine was Roman- occupied Palestine.
This was not a time or a place when the Hebrew people were in control of their own fate. Rome was very much in control of the fate of these people. So, there’s a human drama: There’s the drama of a father and a mother protecting their child and of trying to do the
Right thing. There’s a larger drama, and that is, this is a Hebrew family trying to do the right thing under the brutal occupation of Palestine by a foreign entity– the Roman Empire. >> NARRATOR: When Mary and Joseph arrive, they discover that Bethlehem is crowded to capacity. With no lodging available, the
Couple’s dilemma worsens. Mary goes into labor. >> “And she gave birth to her newborn son, and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”– LUKE 2:7. >> NARRATOR: The setting where Jesus was born is not specified.
But the presence of a manger– a feeding trough for livestock– has led many to believe it was a stable. Both Matthew and Luke describe how God makes known the miraculous birth to a receptive few. But they differ about who was informed and how. According to Matthew, God conveys the news through a
Wondrous morning star. It serves as a beacon for foreign dignitaries, who travel hundreds of miles to pay homage to the infant Jesus. >> “The star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over where the child was. And they came into the house and
Saw the child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and worshipped him. And opening their treasures, they presented him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.”– MATTHEW 2:9. >> NARRATOR: In Luke’s version, the message of the birth is carried by an angel. It is delivered not to powerful
Foreigners, but to the local area’s most humble inhabitants. >> “There were shepherds in the fields keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people.
For today, in the city of David, there has been born for you a savior, who is Christ the Lord.'”– LUKE 2:8. >> SMITH-CHRISTOPHER: The birth of Jesus represents one of those shining moments in human history when there seems to be a kind of sunrise in human darkness.
The birth of Jesus and the life and teachings of Jesus provide us with a level of hope, a message of trust and of just the human possibilities, and I think even non-Christians can come to appreciate that in Jesus as well. >> SIKER: Whether you are a person of faith or not, you have
Echoes of the story in art, in literature, and you can’t avoid it. And so, one needs to be aware of what this story is and what the significance of this story is in order to survive in Western culture. >> MARVIN MEYER: There’s something about the birth of any child that is a wonderful
Moment. It’s a wonderful moment for a family, but in the case of the story of the birth of Jesus, the point of it is, here is a birth that may have some meaning for a bigger family, for the family of Israel, for the family of humankind. >> NARRATOR: One man’s birth
Would turn the world upside down. A new faith would challenge the old order. Jesus, claiming to be the Son of God, would be seen as a threat to Caesar, who claimed to be a god himself. Two charismatic leaders, each asserting their divinity, would offer a revolutionary choice for the future.
>> JOHN DOMINIC CROSSAN: For millions of people, Caesar as divine made sense. He owned the legions, he controlled the Mediterranean world, he brought peace to it and he lived in a huge palace over there on the Palantine Hill in Rome. Now, over here is another story, a counter-story, an anti-story,
Which says, “No, God is not the god of power and violence incarnate in Caesar; God is the Jewish god of justice and righteousness incarnate in a little child who was born in a tiny country, an occupied colony of the Roman Empire, born just about as low as you can imagine.
So you hear of the clash of two gods.” And the question of the story– and it is the Christmas question– “Where is your god? Is your god in power or in justice? Take your choice.” >> NARRATOR: For two people, the choice is never in doubt. The virgin and the carpenter who
Bring Jesus into the world are the first to love him and all he represents. Surprisingly, however, the Gospels tell us little about them. All efforts to trace the historical roots of Christmas lead back to two pivotal figures. The human drama in the story belongs to Mary and Joseph.
They are the parents of God’s only Son, responsible for bringing up the Savior of the world. Yet the Gospels provide little information about them. Today, we think of them simply as a virgin mother and a humble carpenter. Mary’s identity has been obscured by centuries of idealization, encouraged by the Catholic doctrine of the
“Immaculate Conception.” >> SIKER: The phrase the “Immaculate Conception” is often misunderstood as a reference to the immaculate conception of Jesus, when, in fact, it is a reference to Mary. There was a sanctifying grace that preserved her from the stain of original sin. It was important that Mary’s pureness be preserved.
And so, I think that in order for this young woman to be the mother of one who was later, in Christianity, considered God, that it was important that we not have original sin stain this family. >> NARRATOR: For a less romanticized, more accurate portrait of Mary, scholars take
A deeper look into the Gospels. According to Luke, she is neither meek nor mild, but driven by a sense of purpose. She reveals herself in a powerful proclamation now known as the “Magnificat.” >> “My soul exalts the Lord. He has brought down rulers from their thrones, and has exalted those who were humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent away the rich empty-handed.”– LUKE 1:46. >> SMITH-CHRISTOPHER: What is the image that Luke portrays for us of the young Mary? It is not an image of this kind of glowing, white, virginal woman floating in the air. It’s the image of a
Revolutionary young woman in Roman-occupied Palestine, who sees the implications of the coming of her child to be expressed in those powerful words that the rich will be sent away, the poor will be fed, and the powerful will be pulled down from their thrones. This is a very politically savvy young woman.
>> NARRATOR: If Luke saw Mary as a revolutionary, he also saw her as a virgin. For historians, the virgin birth defies analysis. They are not equipped or inclined to discuss miracles. In their quest to understand the Christmas story, they must confine themselves to a conventional approach. In recent years, they have
Discovered other possible explanations for Mary’s dual role as virgin and mother. Advances in reproductive biology have focused attention on a phenomenon called parthenogenesis. It is a rare process in some plants and animals in which an egg can develop into a new organism without being fertilized. No instance of the process
Occurring in a human female has ever been recorded. Still, it leaves open the possibility that a virgin birth could have a basis in science. Some scholars, however, believe the Gospel authors did not base the virgin birth on a real event, but were inspired by an Old Testament prophecy.
>> “The Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call his name Immanuel.”– ISAIAH 7:14. >> NARRATOR: According to some scholars, the Gospel authors likely claimed Jesus was born of a virgin to remain consistent with Isaiah’s prophesy of the
Coming Messiah. >> ROHALD F. HOCK: Isaiah himself, so far as we know, had no intentions of looking that far ahead, but the standard procedure throughout the ancient world was to make connections between the present and the past, and Christians are doing that with Jesus by connecting him with the past Scripture– in
This case, the prophecy of Isaiah. >> NARRATOR: Ironically, however, some claim it is possible that Isaiah never intended to predict that the Messiah would be born of a virgin. His words, written originally in Hebrew, may have taken on an erroneous new meaning when translated into the Greek version available to Matthew and Luke.
>> MEYER: In the original Hebrew of Isaiah, the word that is used for, well, “virgin” is actually ” alma,” the Hebrew word that means “a young woman”– a young woman of the age when women can conceive and bear children. And there is no more baggage than that that is connected to
That particular term. >> SIKER: When this gets translated into the Greek, which is what the early Christians would have been using– the text that they would have had– is ” parthenos,” which is more heavily nuanced as “virgin.” >> MEYER: The fact of the matter is, the doctrine of the virgin
Birth works better with the Greek than it does with the original Hebrew. >> SIKER: I don’t think that the speculation that the whole idea of Mary’s virginity comes from this “mistranslation” is one that argues very well. For one thing, it’s not a mistranslation. It is one of several words that
Is perfectly acceptable as a translation. But it does have a more heavy nuance of virginity. >> NARRATOR: Scholars who scrutinize the virgin birth focus not only on Isaiah’s prediction in the Old Testament, but also the Gospels themselves. In an apparent contradiction, the same biblical authors who celebrate Mary’s virginity also
Write that Jesus had several siblings. >> “Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters with us?”– MATTHEW 13:54. >> McNAMER: The orthodox tradition on this is that they were children of Joseph by an earlier marriage.
The Roman Catholic tradition is that these were simply cousins of Jesus. >> NARRATOR: Matthew and Luke, however, provide no information supporting this interpretation. >> MEYER: If one will insist, theologically, upon the perpetual virginity of Mary, then there are some great problems when it comes to the brothers and the sisters of Jesus.
And then some creative theological and historical work has to be done. The spin doctors have to go to work. I think that the simplest way to read those accounts is to understand that Jesus had real brothers and real sisters. It was that kind of an ordinary family. >> NARRATOR: If Jesus had
Biological siblings, it would negate only the notion that Mary was a virgin her entire life– not necessarily her virgin birth of Jesus. >> “Joseph knew her not until she had borne a son, and she called his name Jesus.”– MATTHEW 1:25. >> NARRATOR: Some scholars argue that this verse implies that Mary conceived Jesus
Miraculously, and later lost her virginity as she and Joseph assumed a conventional sexual relationship. For skeptics, the question remains: “If Mary was not a virgin, and God was not the father of Jesus, who was?” The most likely candidate, predictably, is Joseph. But in the first century, a rumor surfaced of another possibility.
It was chronicled by the Christian theologian Origen, who taught in Egypt in the second century. He wrote of an allegation that Jesus was the offspring of Mary and a Roman soldier. >> “The Jew, speaking of the mother of Jesus, said that she was guilty of adultery, and that
She bore a child to a certain soldier named Panthera. It was to be expected, indeed, that those who would not believe the miraculous birth of Jesus would invent some falsehood.”– ORIGEN, AGAINST CELSUS, CHAPTER 33. >> SIKER: Origen argues that they had to create this lie– this lie of Mary and the Roman
Soldier– because they knew, and they unwittingly admitted in their lie that Jesus’ birth was not a usual birth. And so, if they couldn’t accept the miraculous nature of this birth, what else would they do but create such a lie? >> CROSSAN: The accusation that Mary was raped by a Roman
Soldier and produced a child, therefore out of wedlock, seems to me to be the obvious rebuttal that I would make if I didn’t accept the virginal birth. This is the nasty, within-the- family, and therefore very nasty name-calling that goes on between Christian Jews and non-Christian Jews in the first
Century, each sort of saying rather nasty things about the other. >> NARRATOR: But could this accusation have any basis in fact? One clue scholars have examined is the name of the Roman soldier mentioned by Origen– Panthera. >> MEYER: Lo and behold, it turns out that a tombstone of a
Certain “Panther” has been found in Germany– the tombstone of a Roman soldier whose name was Tiberius Julius Abdes Panther. And it is said that he was a Sidonian archer who was based in Palestine. And so, that leads then to the speculation: Could it be the case that Mary was actually
Raped by, seduced by– but, at her age, we would call that rape– raped by a Roman soldier? And it is one of the historical possibilities. >> NARRATOR: The tombstone, discovered in 1859 in the city of Bingerbruck, is an intriguing yet inconclusive piece of evidence. Some scholars have argued that
Panthera was likely a common name among the ancient Romans. So, finding it etched on an ancient tombstone should not seem surprising. The discovery has become part of a 2,000-year-old theological debate over Jesus’ parentage. But the issue was once a private crisis for one humble carpenter. After Joseph learns Mary is
Pregnant, say the Gospels, he naturally assumes she has betrayed his trust. Under the laws of his time, he could have Mary stoned to death for her perceived infidelity. Instead, he quietly breaks their engagement. God intervenes. He sends an angel to Joseph in a dream, who tells him that her child has been miraculously
Conceived. Joseph accepts the divine explanation. He and Mary resolve to carry out God’s miracle. In 1997, archaeologists make a remarkable discovery three miles from Bethlehem. The pinkish limestone appears utterly ordinary, except it is located precisely in the center of the ruins of a 5th-century church. The church, it seems, was built
Purposefully around it. The diggers believe they have found the fabled kathisma– the Greek word for “the seat.” According to an apocryphal text, Mary rested on it on her way to give birth to Jesus. Ancient Christians gathered here to commemorate her journey to Bethlehem. The find renews debate over an age-old historical question:
Where was Jesus born? >> McNAMER: I believe that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, just as the stories tell us. The reason I believe this is that there were very early traditions in the church of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. These would have surfaced very soon after his death, when
People still remembered things, that he was born in Bethlehem. >> MEYER: I think it was likely Nazareth. Jesus was known as Jesus of Nazareth. And, typically, people were known by their birthplace. This is where the family lived. The way in which Matthew and Luke go through some contortions
To get the family to Bethlehem in order for Jesus to be born there seems to indicate that there’s something that is theologically motivated about this kind of account. >> NARRATOR: Some scholars believe that the Gospel authors knew Jesus was born in Nazareth, but altered the truth in the name of faith.
Their inspiration, once again, may have been a prophecy from the Old Testament. >> “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you one will go forth for me to be ruler in Israel.”– MICAH 5:2. >> NARRATOR: From Bethlehem,
Predicts Micah, will arise a Messiah for God’s chosen people. If Luke and Matthew wished to exalt Jesus as the awaited King, no other city would suffice as his birthplace. Whether inspired by facts or faith, Luke’s account of the journey to Bethlehem is complex and colorful. His story begins in Nazareth,
Where Mary and Joseph await the birth of Jesus. But the Roman Emperor, Caesar Augustus, orders a census of his empire. >> HOCK: A census involved essentially finding out the numbers of people, the wealth of people, for purposes of taxation. So you had to have figures. You had to have concrete data
About what a province could generate in terms of taxes so that when the Empire decided what its tribute should be, they would be able to raise those funds. And, presumably, the reason Joseph and Mary traveled to Bethlehem is because Joseph has property there and, for that reason, is required to register
Himself there rather than at Nazareth. >> NARRATOR: Luke does not specify their means of transportation. But since donkeys were commonly used to move both goods and people, the popular image of Mary riding one is entirely plausible. The roads in Palestine, even by ancient standards, were primitive. The food commonly taken on an
Extended journey was bread and water. Scholars imagine the 90-mile trek would have been grueling. Slowed by Mary’s condition, they would have traveled perhaps ten miles a day. The entire journey would have lasted more than a week. The question remains whether Joseph and Mary really endured such a journey.
The key to the answer may lie in the census that Luke says motivated it. >> “This was the first census taken while Quirinius was Governor of Syria.”– LUKE 2:2. >> NARRATOR: Independent historical sources confirm that a Roman census did occur during the reign of Quirinius. But it occurred in 6 A.D., long
After Jesus was born. It has been suggested that Luke misidentified the Governor; he may have meant to specify the similarly named Quintillus. His reign began in 6 B.C., around the same time that another Roman census was conducted. Even if this is true, however, paradox persists. Roman records indicate that
Every census ordered by Caesar Augustus over a 42-year span involved only Roman citizens. Mary and Joseph would not have participated. Also suspect is a census that required registrants to return to the city where they were born. >> CROSSAN: If everyone goes back to their ancestral home to be recorded and then goes back
To wherever they live, that’s a bureaucratic nightmare. It’s not the way the Romans did it. They wanted you recorded where you were working. “We want to know where you are to pay your taxes.” So, it’s a story which Luke creates in order to get Mary and Joseph and Jesus, of course to
Be born yet, to Bethlehem. But it is not factual. It’s fictional. >> DR. RICHARD HORSLEY: For a long time, we thought that this was just a story, and that this was just a literary device. Well, we’ve discovered papyri in Egypt, now, that put a whole different slant on this.
The Romans required peasants who had found themselves unable to both pay their taxes to Caesar and provide for their families to return to their villages precisely in order to be down on the farm where they would raise crops and pay the Roman taxes. Then that puts some great credibility back in this legend
That Joseph and Mary journey to Bethlehem on the occasion of Caesar having decreed a tax. >> NARRATOR: Whether Luke’s story of the census is credible or not, there may be a completely different scenario that compelled Mary and Joseph to journey to Bethlehem. Some scholars suggest it is possible that Mary was aware of
The Old Testament prophecy in Micah. They believe she may have purposely delivered her baby in the predicted city to bolster his role as the Messiah. >> SMITH-CHRISTOPHER: Let’s remember Luke’s portrayal of Mary as a socially and politically very sophisticated young woman who sees her role as part of the resistance of the
Hebrew people to Roman-occupied Palestine. For this woman to associate the coming of this messianic child with the line of David and to make a move to Bethlehem to emphasize that association would be a politically very savvy move on her part. Is it possible? Absolutely, I think it’s possible.
>> NARRATOR: If Jesus was born in Bethlehem, it is still a mystery as to the precise setting. One passage, however, may hold the answer. >> “And she gave birth to her newborn son, and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there
Was no room for them in the inn.”– LUKE 2:7. >> McNAMER: Luke says to us, “There was no room at the inn.” Actually that can be translated: “It was not the place for them in the inn.” You know, an inn was simply an open field, surrounded by a wall
Where travelers could go to be safe from the animals and robbers, and there was a huge fire in the middle where they could do their own cooking, and many travelers would have been staying there. It probably would be the last place in the world you would want to have a baby.
>> NARRATOR: Luke’s mention of a manger implies Jesus was born in a stable, where it would most likely be found. But it is doubtful it would have been a freestanding structure. The more likely setting is a cave, as caves were commonly used to house livestock in the Holy Land.
Wherever Jesus was born, Matthew and Luke call attention to the modest nature of the setting. Though they decree Jesus a King, they make clear that he was not born in a palace. >> SMITH-CHRISTOPHER: Virtually all of the Gospel accounts want to emphasize the humble beginnings of Jesus– the poor beginnings of Jesus.
Look at the setting for the arrival of God’s Messiah. God chose the least, God chose the powerless as the stage upon which salvation shall be worked out. That’s a very profound and important point. >> NARRATOR: For Christians, Jesus’ birth signifies a new beginning for mankind. 2,000 years later, the centuries
Themselves are measured from this pivotal moment in history. But when it occurred still remains a mystery.ou a merry Christmas We wish you a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year… ♪ >> NARRATOR: Every December 25, millions embrace Christmas with reverence and revelry. >> ♪ Navidad, Navidad, hoy es Navidad… ♪
>> ( chanting in Latin ) >> NARRATOR: But unconsciously, the entire world celebrates it every day. In theory, every minute and second that ticks by is measured from the moment Jesus drew his first breath. On New Year’s Eve, the number emblazoned above Times Square declares how many years we believe have passed since Jesus was born. The only problem is that we are almost certainly wrong. The answer was a mystery even in Jesus’ own time. For the early Christians, the defining moment of his life was not its beginning, but its end. The question of when Jesus was born was not an issue until the second century. Christians found themselves
Challenged by a splinter group of believers who claimed Jesus had never been born in the conventional sense. >> McNAMER: I believe that the birth of Jesus only became important in the second century with Gnosticism. Gnostics were an heretical group within the church who were suggesting that Jesus never had a real body.
They essentially did not believe that matter was good. The only thing that was good was spirit. They did not believe in the incarnation. They believed in what we call the Docetic Christ– he only appeared to have a body– and I believe that the infancy narratives were written to counteract this heresy.
>> NARRATOR: When the early Christians became more curious about the circumstances of Jesus’ birth, they began to speculate about the date it occurred. In Egypt, a bishop named Clement determined that Jesus was born on November 18. Elsewhere in North Africa, an anonymous scholar of the same era declared it to be March 28.
Why they chose these dates is unknown. By the fourth century, Christians were no closer to finding the truth. But they decided which day seemed most appropriate– at least symbolically. December 25 had long been celebrated as the pagan holiday honoring the Sun God, Mithras. It was part of a two-week
Festival of the winter solstice, when the days began to lengthen. For the first several centuries of Christianity, the church found itself in fierce competition with popular pagan religions. What better way to challenge them than to usurp their holidays? >> CROSSAN: In the same way that you might take a pagan temple
And put a Christian shrine right on top of it, you put a Christian feast, the birth of Jesus, right on top of the winter solstice, right on top of a pagan feast. You sort of obliterate the pagan layer with the Christian layer. >> NARRATOR: Beyond the practical motivation was the symbolic.
>> McNAMER: I suppose we could say that Jesus was the light of the world, and this was a wonderful time to have the celebration, when there is darkness and then there is light– this light suddenly appearing. >> NARRATOR: In the year 349, Pope Julius formally designated December 25 as Christmas.
Believers now had an official date on which to celebrate, but the declaration extinguished whatever curiosity remained to discover the actual date of Jesus’ birth. Throughout the centuries, few clues have surfaced to solve the mystery. One is provided by Luke in one of the best-known passages from his Gospel.
>> “There were shepherds in the fields keeping watch over their flocks by night.”– LUKE 2:8. >> NARRATOR: In ancient Israel, shepherds guarded their flocks at night only during the season when the ewes gave birth to their lambs. It happened in the spring. In December, sheep were generally kept in corrals, unwatched.
Some scholars believe Luke’s reference suggests we may be celebrating Christmas eight months too late. Ultimately, determining the month and day Jesus was born may be impossible. But determining the year offers scholars more hope. The effort began some 500 years after his birth. By then, the Christian Church had expanded its influence to
All dimensions of life. Perhaps the only untouched dimension was the most intangible of them all: time. To that point in history, calendars measured time beginning with the founding of Rome or the reign of some of its rulers. For Christians, this was no longer acceptable. >> Meyer: As Christians were contemplating a calendar, they
Thought, “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there would be a calendar that would be geared into Christian values? Wouldn’t it be remarkable if there could be a Christian calendar that would begin with Jesus?” And then it becomes important to find out: “Well, when did Jesus begin?” >> MOSLEY: The question of the
Nativity– the date of the birth of Jesus– has puzzled people for 1,500 years. >> MOSLEY: Church Fathers decided that rather than count years from the beginning of the reign of an impious, non- Christian Roman emperor, that they should count the years with the birth of Jesus. And so Dionysus Exiguus, a monk
Within Rome, was given the project of determining when precisely Jesus was born. >> NARRATOR: For reasons known only to Dionysus, he decided to place Jesus’ birth in the year 753 of the old Roman calendar. He then invented a new calendar, decreeing that Jesus was born on December 25 in the year 1 B.C.,
With the year 1 A.D. beginning a week later. Today, many scholars believe Dionysus made a critical error. They say he failed to take into account a key piece of information from the Gospels. >> SIKER: One of the details in Matthew and Luke’s infancy stories is that his birth took
Place during the reign of Herod. So, if we can determine the reign of Herod and the death of Herod, then we can more closely determine the date of Jesus’ birth. >> HORSLEY: The question of the timing of Herod’s death is not in question. We’re fairly sure that Herod died in what would be
Chronologically 4 B.C., and then that provides the symbolic if not the actual point at which Jesus must have been born: just before that happened. >> NARRATOR: 4 B.C. Perhaps a few years earlier. Until additional evidence is discovered, this range is as close as we can come to the answer. This renowned astronomer
Believes he may have found the answer. For several years, he has been investigating yet another mystery of the Christmas story. >> NARRATOR: The search for Christmas transcends the bounds of Earth. Light years away might be one of the tale’s greatest mysteries: the Star of Bethlehem. >> “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 have come to worship him.'”– MATTHEW 2:2. >> NARRATOR: For centuries, the star has endured as a mesmerizing symbol of Christianity– almost as powerful as the cross.
But did it truly exist, or was it created after the fact to make Jesus’ birth seem more miraculous? >> McNAMER: Generally, after people died, it was often said that a star had proclaimed their birth. This was said for Alexander the Great. It was said for the Emperor Augustus himself, that a star
Appeared at his birth. In fact, Shakespeare tells us the heavens themselves tell forth the birth of princes. I don’t believe there was a star. I don’t believe that there were magi who came from the east. >> SIKER: I don’t know what that Star of Bethlehem was, but I do
Think that it’s highly likely that there was an astrological event that occurred in that region that was brought into the legend, brought into the story, brought into the tradition of the birth of Jesus. >> NARRATOR: For centuries, astronomers have tried to determine if the Christmas star was more than a myth, and what
Celestial phenomenon could have accounted for it. >> MOSLEY: The first astronomer to speculate on what the Star of Bethlehem might have been was the great Johannes Kepler, 400 years ago– the man who worked out why it is that the planets move the way they do– and when Johannes Kepler saw an exploding
Star in 1604, he thought, “Aha! That might have been what the Magi saw. What could be more glorious?” And we can look at the old Chinese records and they recorded all stars that exploded that they saw, but none appeared at the time of the birth of Jesus. So, despite the charm of the
Idea, and despite Kepler’s enthusiasm for it, apparently it was not an exploding star. >> MICHAEL MOLNAR: Some astronomers have proposed comets, or in particular, Halley’s Comet, which is probably the most famous comet of all, and it appeared at around the time that we believe Jesus was born. However, if you look at the
Ancient texts and try to understand what the people of ancient times believed in, they feared comets. Comets didn’t indicate the birth of a king. It really meant, usually, the death of a king or the start of a war. So, we really cannot propose that a comet, or in particular
Halley’s Comet, was the Star of Bethlehem. >> NARRATOR: For some modern astronomers, the key to unraveling the truth lies in understanding the point of view of the magi. The term “magi” is the root from which we derive the word “magic.” They were a respected class of advisors in the ancient Near
East who used astrology to predict the future. >> MOSLEY: The magi thought the planets moved because the gods were causing them to move. The gods were making them go this way and that way, and when one planet happened to line up with another planet, that that was because the gods had
Something in mind for us, and there was some correspondence between what happened in the sky and what happened down below. They believed in magic, and they believed in the magic of the sky. >> NARRATOR: In the ancient Near East, belief in astrology began several centuries before the birth of Christ.
It was almost universally accepted throughout the region. The only place where it had little influence was the nation in which Jesus was destined to be born. >> MOLNAR: We find that tiny Judaea is sort of an island in a sea of astrology believers. That is, all the countries, the
Cultures in and around Judaea, they believed that astrology did predict the future, that it was a science, and that it really helped them to understand their own lives. But only when we go to Judaea, we find that it is not practiced or believed in. >> NARRATOR: Judaea’s lack of astrological insight is evident
In a key passage from Matthew that may help explain what the Star of Bethlehem was. >> “Then Herod secretly called the magi, and inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.”– MATTHEW 2:7. >> MOSLEY: An important clue in Matthew is that only the magi saw this star, whatever it was.
Herod and his advisors didn’t know about it. They had to inquire diligently of the magi what they’d seen, so that tells us it wasn’t something spectacular in the sky, like a bright comet, that everyone cave seen. >> NARRATOR: Some astronomers believe that what the magi saw, and the Hebrews did not, was a
Visually subtle conjunction of planets. It happens when one heavenly body appears to cross the path of another. It is a common occurrence. But many scholars believe that 2,000 years ago, a specific conjunction may have been viewed as a sign that the Old Testament prophecy had been fulfilled– that the Messiah had finally
Been born. John Mosley, of the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, has had an avid interest in the Star of Bethlehem for 20 years. He believes he has discovered the celestial phenomenon that attracted the magi. >> MOSLEY: I think that what the magi saw was a series of conjunctions. There were three conjunctions of
The planet Jupiter and the star Regulus, and two very close conjunctions of Jupiter and Venus over a ten-month period of time during the years 3 and 2 B.C., and the final of these conjunctions was really spectacular. It’s the sort of thing that I would love to see. Jupiter and Venus were so close,
They almost touched. So, if you were looking for something of great astrological interest– and after all, the magi were astrologers– then I think you could do nothing better than to look at these conjunctions– this series of events– as the sort of thing that would have made the magi think, “Aha, this is important.
The prophecies were fulfilled.” >> NARRATOR: Michael Molnar, an astronomer formerly of Rutgers University, has a different theory. His interest in the Star of Bethlehem began when he discovered a clue on an ancient coin at a New York collector’s show. It was minted in Syria in 13 A.D. His findings represent perhaps
The most significant recent insight into the Christmas story. >> MOLNAR: One side had the god Zeus on it, or our Jupiter. I’ve seen lots of coins with that god on it. But I flipped it over and the other side was a beautiful picture of Aries the Ram, a sign of the zodiac.
There was the ram, leaping across the sky, looking backwards at an overhead star. Aries the Ram is key to the whole puzzle. We astronomers were looking in the wrong part of the sky for the Star of Bethlehem. The star had appeared in Aries the Ram. >> NARRATOR: Molnar’s research into ancient astrological texts
Reveals that each sign of the zodiac represented a particular kingdom. Aries represented Judaea. Molnar discovered that a specific set of conditions occurring in Aries would have convinced the magi that a person of cosmic importance was to be born there. >> MOLNAR: The most important star that would confer
Kingships– make a young boy a king– was the star of Zeus, which we call the planet Jupiter today. So I knew that the star was most likely the planet Jupiter. I found that the moon played a very important role, and that the closer the moon was to Jupiter, the better were the
Conditions to have the birth of a young king. But most important was that Jupiter had to be in the east. Well, “in the east” means, according to the beliefs and practices of stargazers of 2,000 years ago, that it was about to emerge as a morning star– that is, in the eastern morning sky.
>> NARRATOR: Molnar’s challenge was to find the precise moment when this particular set of conditions occurred in the constellation of Aries. >> MOLNAR: Well, to make a long story short, I ran my computer program for a huge swath in time that biblical scholars believe Jesus was born, and we find that
In 6 B.C.– on April 17 to be exact– these events happened. Jupiter was in the east, in Aries the Ram, and at the same time, the moon came extremely close to Jupiter. The moon came so close, in fact, that it eclipsed Jupiter, and these celestial objects in Aries the Ram indicated, according to
The astrologers, that there was the birth of a great king. >> NARRATOR: Molnar’s findings are perhaps the most compelling evidence that the Star of Bethlehem was a genuine phenomenon. His theory is all the more intriguing in that it places the star’s appearance in the very year that many scholars believe Jesus was born.
The magi, whose belief in astrology compelled them to follow the star, are as much of a mystery as the star itself. Tradition holds that there were three wise men, but Matthew never specifies how many there were. Matthew also never tells from what nation they came, but many scholars think they were from
Babylonia– the site of modern- day Iraq. Outside of Israel, no other country was as aware of the tale of a coming Jewish Messiah. 500 years before Jesus’ birth, the Babylonians conquered the Hebrews and exiled tens of thousands of Jews back to their kingdom. Scholars believe that it was therefore inevitable that the
Ancient prophecy became common knowledge among the Babylonians. Ironically, their astrological interpretation of the star would compel them to believe that their true king had emerged from a nation they had vanquished. >> SMITH-CHRISTOPHER: The Babylonians were one of the most brutal ancient regimes to have ever conquered the Hebrew people, and here come the
Babylonian descendants, subservient to the birth of a Hebrew Messiah, so deeply impressed with the significance of this birth that they come on bended knee to this child. There is a wonderful irony in this story, almost as if the Gospel writers are saying to us, “Remember the people who thought
That they were so powerful and who conquered us so many centuries ago? Even they now are on their knees before the birth of our humble Messiah.” >> NARRATOR: According to Matthew, the magi present the infant Jesus gifts of gold and two aromatic resins: frankincense and myrrh. The gifts held deep symbolic
Significance for the readers of Matthew’s day. >> McNAMER: Some believed that the Messiah, when he came, would be a king. Some believed that he would be a great prophet. Some believed that he would be a priest. Gold is for a king, frankincense for a priest, myrrh would signify a prophet.
So, what Matthew is doing in this little story is simply telling his audience, “Whatever you were expecting in the way of a Messiah has been born.” >> NARRATOR: Although every nativity scene depicts the magi honoring a newborn, many scholars believe they arrived when Jesus was as old as two.
The Greek word Matthew uses to describe Jesus is one the Greeks attached not to a baby, but a toddler. For 2,000 years, the comforting images of the Christmas story have warmed the hearts of millions. But the search for the tale’s historical roots leads to one of the most horrifying incidents
Described in the Bible. The birth of Jesus triggers an event that bathes the streets of Bethlehem in blood. It begins when the Magi, led by the star, pause in Jerusalem. They seek an audience with King Herod the Great. For more than 30 years, Herod has ruled despotically over
Judea as a loyal ally to the Roman Empire. His power is matched only by his unpopularity. The Magi hope that Herod can help them find the infant destined to be king. But their questions inadvertently imperil Jesus’ life. >> “The Magi arrived in Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is he
Who is born king of the Jews?’ And when Herod, the king, heard it, he was troubled.”– MATTHEW 2:1. >> NARRATOR: According to Matthew, Herod regards Jesus as a dangerous political rival. Fate has pitted an innocent child against one of history’s most ruthless and vengeful leaders. >> HORSLEY: This fellow was the
Very epitome of a tyrant. He had secret police. He had informers sort of spying on the people, especially in Jerusalem. The minute he would hear of any resistance, he’d send out the troops first and ask questions later. He was suspicious of his own sons, and he killed his own sons.
He put to death his own sons that would have been his heirs. >> McNAMER: He murdered so many of his own family, including his mother, his favorite wife, Marianna. He was unscrupulous and extraordinarily cruel. >> NARRATOR: Herod’s paranoia is ignited by the Magi’s news of the Messiah’s birth. His thoughts turn instantly to
Murder. But he keeps his intentions secret from the Magi, hoping that they will lead him to his target. >> “And he sent the Magi to Bethlehem and said, ‘Go and make careful search for the child, and when you have found him, report to me, that I, too, may come and worship him.'”–
MATTHEW 2:8. >> NARRATOR: After the Magi honor Jesus, writes Matthew, an angel informs them of Herod’s scheme. They defy his order to return to his palace and hastily leave Judea. By taking a different route than the one they used to arrive, they avoid capture by Herod’s soldiers and interrogation as to Jesus’ whereabouts.
Enraged, Herod hatches an alternate plan. Estimating Jesus’ age from the time the Magi first saw the star, he orders that all boys in Bethlehem aged two and under be killed. From Jerusalem, the Christian Era’s first death squad approaches. At this moment, according to Matthew, the unsuspecting Mary, Joseph and Jesus are asleep.
But God sends an angel to alert them to the danger. >> “The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, ‘Arise, and take the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt.'”– MATTHEW 2:13. >> NARRATOR: As the family escapes, Herod’s soldiers sweep into Bethlehem. The king’s cold-blooded order is
Carried out. The incident becomes known as “The Slaughter of the Innocents.” Matthew’s account of what occurred in these streets is the most dramatic episode of the Christmas story. But many scholars contend it never happened. They cite a lack of any corroboration from other sources. >> SIKER: If this event was indeed as horrific as Matthew
Described it, it seems that it would appear in Luke’s Gospel. It seems that it would have appeared in the writings of one such as Josephus, a significant Jewish historian of the first century. I think that those things indicate to us– especially the absence in Josephus– indicate to us that… Matthew may have
Been up to something else. >> NARRATOR: Some scholars say the lack of corroboration is not by itself proof that the slaughter is simply Matthew’s invention. They point out that the population of Bethlehem was then perhaps 1,000, and that there could have been as few as 20 infants under two.
The limited scope of the slaughter may have kept it from entering the history books. >> CROSSAN: It would certainly have been awful, but it would probably not have been a huge number. And yes, of course, it could easily have escaped Josephus. So I couldn’t argue that it didn’t happen because Josephus does not mention it. It’s quite possible he wouldn’t have heard of it, or he could
Have heard of it and not thought it was important. >> SMITH-CHRISTOPHER: Could the Slaughter of the Innocents have happened? Was Herod the kind of ruler capable of this kind of brutality? The answer to that question is, absolutely yes, he was capable of that kind of brutality. We have account after account of
Ancient rulers terrified of the idea amongst their captive population that a ruler was going to come, that a deliverer was going to come, and their attempts to try to deal with it. This is not at all an unbelievable element to the story. >> NARRATOR: Whether fact or fiction, the Slaughter of the
Innocents is reminiscent of another horrific episode from the book of Exodus. It describes how the Egyptian pharaoh tries to murder another messenger of God– the infant Moses– by ordering the execution of all Israelite boys. Some scholars believe Matthew’s account is an invention based on the older story, and an effort
To reinforce Jesus’ role as the deliverer of his people. >> CROSSAN: In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus is the new Moses. So the same way that Pharaoh tried to kill all the children and almost killed Moses but Moses escaped by divine power, bad Pharaoh becomes bad Herod. This is Matthew working the
Parallelism between Jesus, the new Moses in his life, so Jesus must be born, as it were, and almost killed like the old Moses was. >> NARRATOR: In Egypt, writes Matthew, the young Jesus finds safety from Herod’s wrath. But Matthew provides no details about how Mary and Joseph endure
The 250-mile trek to bring him here. Some scholars speculate that they finance the journey by selling the gold, frankincense and myrrh given to them by the Magi. But other scholars doubt they ever venture here. No historical evidence has been found to support Matthew’s account. And Luke’s Gospel contradicts it, describing how Mary and
Joseph travel uneventfully with the newborn Jesus back to Nazareth. Where the holy family lived and how long they stayed in Egypt, Matthew does not say, but a number of legends have survived. In Cairo, the Church of Saint Sergius is built upon the site where it is believed that they stayed for three months.
Outside Cairo, Christians since the fifth century have gathered at this ancient sycamore. They call it the Tree of Mary… for here they believe she sought shade beneath its branches. >> McNAMER: I have visited those sites in Cairo, and they are fun to go to, and if they help people’s piety, that’s fine, but
I don’t think they have any, uh… have any basis in history. >> NARRATOR: One reason that scholars believe Jesus never visited Egypt is that his teachings many years later bear no sign of Egyptian influence. >> CROSSAN: I don’t find anything that Jesus would have learned in Egypt, even if I take
Literally the idea that he went there as a young child and lived there for a length of time. I do not find anything in the teachings of Jesus or the life of Jesus that does not come straight out of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Jewish tradition. >> NARRATOR: Despite the lack of
Any Egyptian nuance to Jesus’ ministry, some scholars believe he may have indeed spent time in Egypt. >> SMITH-CHRISTOPHER: Jesus would’ve been a member of a minority in Egyptian culture. It could very well be that the Egyptian influence on Jesus was exactly the opposite of what some people speculate.
In other words, it may have solidified his Hebrew identity and not so much made him open to Egyptian influence. After all, we know that living in exile, living in Diaspora, sometimes makes people intensely more interested in their cultural tradition, and so less interested in the influences of the majority culture around them.
>> NARRATOR: After an unspecified time in Egypt, writes Matthew, Mary and Joseph receive a message from God that it is safe to return. >> “When Herod was dead, an angel appeared, saying, ‘Arise and take the child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel, for those who sought the
Child’s life are dead.'”– MATTHEW 2:19. >> NARRATOR: Joseph escorts his family back to Judea to the city of Nazareth. There, some 30 years later, Jesus will begin his earth-shaking ministry. Reconstructing the history of Jesus’ birth begins by examining the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. But there is another version of
The first Christmas unknown to millions of believers: The Infancy Gospel of James. It was purportedly written soon after Herod the Great died, which scholars believe happened in 4 B.C. The author claims to be James, one of the brothers of Jesus alluded to several times in the New Testament.
James is identified as Jesus’ brother in the books of Matthew, Mark and Galatians. And Josephus, the first-century historian, corroborates James’ identity when he writes of James’ death at the hand of a treacherous high priest. >> “So he assembled a council of judges and brought it before James, the brother of Jesus,
Known as Christ, and several others, on a charge of breaking the law and handed them over to be stoned.”– JOSEPHUS, THE JEWISH ANTIQUITIES. >> NARRATOR: Although The Infancy Gospel of James was accepted by early Christians, the church never authorized it as scripture. As such, it has been relegated
To the biblical literature known as the Apocrypha. It presents many of the same elements as the traditional story. There is the census, the trek to Bethlehem, the Magi and the Star. But there, the similarities end. James writes that Mary goes into labor not in Bethlehem, but before they are ever able to
Reach the city. >> “When they came to the middle of their journey, Mary said to him, ‘Joseph, take me off the donkey, the child is pushing from within me to let him come out.’ So he took her off the donkey and said to her, ‘Where will I take you and shelter you?
This area is a desert.’ And he found a cave and led her there while he went to find a Hebrew midwife in the land of Bethlehem.”– THE INFANCY GOSPEL OF JAMES 17:10. >> NARRATOR: In contrast to Matthew and Luke, James specifies that Jesus is born in a cave which coincides with what
Many scholars believe to be the true setting. While Joseph is away searching for a midwife, Mary begins to deliver the baby Jesus. At the same moment, a bizarre phenomenon occurs. Joseph is stunned as time literally stands still. >> “With utter astonishment, I saw the birds of the sky were not moving.
And I looked at workers picking food up and they were not picking it up. And I saw sheep being driven, but the sheep were standing still.”– THE INFANCY GOSPEL OF JAMES 18:4. >> HOCK: He is suddenly struck by everything in nature– the heavens, the stars, the birds, the workers, the animals all
Around him stopping right in their tracks, and then suddenly, everything returns to the way it was, and life goes on as it had formerly. And presumably in the context of that story, the moment of the suspension of time, Jesus himself is being born. >> NARRATOR: Joseph returns to the cave with two midwives.
But Mary has already given birth. One of the midwives believes Mary’s claim that she is a virgin. But the other, named Salome, is skeptical. >> “The midwife said ‘Mary, position yourself, for not a small test concerning you is about to take place.’ When Mary heard these things, she positioned herself.
And Salome inserted her finger into her body. And Salome cried out and said, ‘Woe for my lawlessness and the unbelief that made me test the living God. Look, my hand is falling away from me and being consumed by fire.'”– THE INFANCY GOSPEL OF JAMES 20:1. >> NARRATOR: Salome begs
Forgiveness for her lack of faith. God hears her prayer and sends an angel to heal her. James’ account reaches its dramatic peak with a version of the slaughter of the innocents that differs slightly from Matthew’s. >> HOCK: You do have the murder of the infants with Herod attacking the babies.
Mary, who had given birth to Jesus in a cave, now hides Jesus by placing him in the manger so the familiar manger from Luke is now used in a different way in The Infancy Gospel of James. >> NARRATOR: Is it possible this intricate tale is the most accurate version of the Christmas story?
Although James’ Infancy Gospel was supposedly written just after the death of Herod in 4 B.C., scholars believe it was produced as much as 150 years later after the books of Matthew and Luke. They note that it is written in a literary style not invented until the second century.
The style is known as an encomium, which follows strict rules of composition to praise virtuous persons– in this case, the Virgin Mary. And James, they argue, could not possibly have been the author. The historian Josephus records that he died in 62 A.D., a hundred years before the document was apparently written.
>> HORSLEY: One of the reasons why The Infancy Gospel of James seems to have less credibility, perhaps, than the stories contained in Matthew and Luke is it doesn’t seem to be quite as familiar with local color in Palestine– the thought being that maybe whoever put this together, didn’t really have
Much direct knowledge of Palestine. >> SIKER: It was also probably not someone who was Jewish, because there are errors in the understanding of Jewish customs and traditions. >> NARRATOR: Many scholars believe that the only knowledge the author had of Jesus’ birth was what had been recorded several decades earlier in the
Gospels now familiar to millions. >> CROSSAN: The major source that the author of The Infancy Gospel of James has is Matthew and Luke. There is not any clear evidence that he has any other real information. It does not seem that he has any sort of raw, unfiltered traditions that Matthew and Luke
Didn’t know about, but somehow this author has found out about. It’s possible, of course, but that doesn’t seem to be what the author has. What the author has simply is two sources and a very, very good imagination. >> NARRATOR: Although its value as an historical source is questionable, the Gospel of
James still provides valuable insight. Many scholars believe it represents the earliest effort to idealize Mary– an effort that centuries later would culminate in the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. >> SMITH-CHRISTOPHER: The significance of these writings is often that they give us a picture into the concerns and
The cares of the time they come from. So sometimes these writings give us very interesting insights in what were Christians thinking and worried about in the 200s, in the 300s, in the 400s. For that question, these writings are very important and very valuable. But for missing historical information, not very important.
>> NARRATOR: The Infancy Gospel of James is ultimately more intriguing than it is enlightening. Rather than holding any key to the truth about Christmas, it is perhaps the earliest effort to speculate on what that truth may be. To what degree the Christmas story should be considered historical fact may never be known.
To Christians, the Christmas story is an imponderable miracle– God’s invasion of human history in a stable 2,000 years ago. The miracle, however, lies dormant for some 30 years. Then, as told by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Jesus emerges with a message that redefines man’s purpose. The man born in the most humble
Setting imaginable teaches that the poor are imbued with as much dignity as the most powerful king. The man born beneath a shining star teaches that hope will burn brightly as long as men love each other as brothers. The man born of a virgin teaches that the world can be
Transformed by the pure in heart. >> McNAMER: The message of Jesus was the most powerful and the most idealistic message ever. I mean, to stand on that mountain and say, “Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are you when you forgive your enemies. Be good to them that hurt you.”
>> MEYER: “To do unto others as you would have them do unto you. To turn the other cheek. To go the extra mile.” To do those sorts of things that may make our world a better place for all of us to live in. >> SMITH-CHRISTOPHER: Suddenly we’re presented with an
Incredible hope that burns brightly, a hope that there is a god who cares about us, a hope in the possibility that we can live with each other differently than the way we so often have, a hope that there’s a different way of being a human society, and the very coming of Jesus
Embodies that hope in a profound sense. >> HORSLEY: Not only was he understood as the Savior and Christ by the new religion Christianity that developed, but Jesus was the one who really defined and articulated the agenda for ordinary people who were struggling for independence from domination by foreign powers and their own unjust
Rulers, and laid out an idea of what a life of justice and mutual caring could be. >> NARRATOR: Jesus’ revolutionary ministry is but a continuation of the Christmas story– as the Son of God carries out his plan to save mankind from sin and death. It continues further with his arrest, trial and execution.
The significance of his birth in the manger can be understood only by recognizing his sacrifice on the cross. Still, it is Jesus’ resurrection that marks the ultimate fulfillment of God’s plan. 30 years after a miracle brings Jesus into the world, another enables him to rejoin his heavenly Father.
From the empty tomb emerges the faith destined to transform the world. >> SIKER: There are those who would argue that it’s based on a lie, that’s it’s based on false rumors of disciples who stole the body of Jesus to make a good story, and yet, somehow, this story has made its way through
History and time in a way unequaled. >> NARRATOR: Beginning as a fringe faith, Christianity receives widespread acceptance after the Roman Emperor Constantine accepts Jesus as his God and Savior. 300 years after Jesus’ birth, Christianity becomes the official religion of the Roman Empire. As the centuries pass, its influence becomes immeasurable:
Art and science, politics and economics, self and society– all are transformed by Christianity. But Christianity’s impact on history is not always positive. During the crusades, medieval Christians try to recapture the Holy Land from the Muslims. In the name of Jesus, they kill thousands of innocent men, women and children. During the Inquisition, the
Church supports torture as a means of coercing confessions from those considered heretics. By the 16th century, the church grows so powerful, it becomes corrupted by its own success. One measure of its decline is that salvation, once only earned by the faithful, can now be purchased by the rich. A German monk, Martin Luther,
Declares his outrage. Inspired by Jesus, who cast the moneychangers from the temple, he fights for reform. The Reformation splits its believers into Catholics and Protestants. Today, millions of Christians still struggle to live up to the high standards of their own faith. >> SMITH-CHRISTOPHER: We have had a very checkered history as
Christians of trying to embody the teachings of a peaceful Messiah who calls on us to care for each other rather than dominate each other, to share with each other rather than hoard from each other. And it’s unfortunate that the first 2,000 years of our attempt as humans to embody the
Teachings and example of Jesus have not been terribly successful. >> McNAMER: Gandhi once said about Christianity, “It is so magnificent. What a pity it’s never been tried.” I do believe it has been tried. There are just hundreds and hundreds of wonderful people in the pages of history of Christianity that show that
It has been tried and has made a difference. >> CROSSAN: Christianity has done many things in the name of Jesus for which I, as a Christian, am ashamed. It has also done many good things in the name of Jesus for which I am very glad as a Christian, and which makes me
Very glad to be a Christian. >> NARRATOR: 2,000 years after Jesus was born, a third of the world’s population professes to be followers of the faith he inaugurated in a manger. For Christians, Christmas celebrates how God gave the world a gift it never deserved but needed more than anything. To accept the gift is to acknowledge the responsibility of giving something back. >> SMITH-CHRISTOPHER: The Christmas story is intended to question us on the deepest levels of being a human being.
Here was the coming of a new way of living. Here was the coming of a new hope. Here was a profound challenge to how we as humans think that the world has to run, as opposed to our belief that the only way that we can live together is to
Be armed to the teeth and to be ready to fight. Here was one who brought a message: “No, that’s not the way. We can care for each other; we can take care of each other; we can live justly; we can live at peace.” If we miss that profound challenge, then we miss the
Significance of the Christmas story. >> SIKER: For me, the Christmas story is an account of the recollections of people like you and I who had an experience of God’s presence that was so powerful that they couldn’t hold it in. It’s a story of mystery and a story of hope replete with the
Possibilities of peace and goodwill in a world where both are in short supply. >> NARRATOR: For generations to come, the search for the historical truth of the day it all began– the search for Christmas– will continue. No matter what is discovered along the way, millions will always find comfort in the story.
They will find fulfillment in the images of an infant’s gentle smile and a virgin mother’s loving glance. [Captioning sponsored by A&E TELEVISION NETWORKS Captioned by The Caption Center WGBH Educational Foundation]
Welcome back to Mythvision Podcast, Dr. Ehrmen. We have a course that everybody should go check out and it is on other virgin births in antiquity. That is the question. Tell us briefly about this course. Right. So we’re we’re in the Christmas season now. And one of the things
That’s obviously celebrated is Jesus birth to a Virgin. There are lots of elements of the Christmas story that are very much worth talking about. And this one is particularly intriguing for several reasons. You find the virgin birth in the New Testament only in the Gospel of Matthew and Luke.
The other two Gospels don’t mention Mark and John, and it’s nowhere else in the New Testament. Of the 27 books of the New Testament only to mention Jesus being born as a virgin. But it becomes a very central feature of Christianity and Christian doctrine, since,
Well, since the Enlightenment, some scholars have pointed out that there are other stories like that floating around in the ancient world where somebody is somebody is born in the union of a divine being, an immortal being in almost all of these cases have a male divinity,
A God who comes down and gets a mortal being a woman pregnant. And so the child is born then is the union of a immortal and immortal, both human and divine. And so the question so these kinds of stories are circulating throughout the Roman world,
And you have a number of cases of political figures, of philosophers, religious figures who are said to have divine parents. And if you go on the Internet, you’ll see that these things are called virgin births, that the virgin birth of Jesus was always a common trope throughout the
Throughout the Greek and Roman world, so that you have these divine followers, immortal mothers. My question in the seminar is, were any of these women in your stories virgins? Were they virgins? And if so, then are Christians just taking over this theme from others? If not, if they were actually weren’t virgins, then
Why did Christians come up with the idea of a virgin birth? Why do they tell that story as opposed to some other kind of story of the miraculous? So that’s that’s what the webinar is about. I’m looking forward to that webinar. And of course, I hope everybody goes down in the description.
WWE dot message and podcast dot com forward slash virgins plural. The link is there. So, Dr. Ehrman, I’d like to focus on something that really has intrigued me. The earliest gospel consensus academics say, is Mark, and if Mark is our earliest, why the heck doesn’t Mark
Capitalize on the birth of Jesus from a virgin? Right. Well, it’s a very interesting question, a really important question. There will be scholars, a different views, although I think my guess is the majority scholars think that Mark didn’t tell us anything about the virgin birth
Because he didn’t know about a virgin birth that this is not a story that would that he had heard yet. It’s not clear whether the story had even come into being yet. It’s gets even more interesting than that with Mark, because in Mark’s gospel, you have a passage.
You don’t you don’t quite get it this way. In the other gospels in March, in the Matthew Luke or John in Mark’s gospel. A couple of chapters late after when Jesus Jesus is ministry, a couple of chapters into his ministry, he is he’s attracted this big crowd.
And there’s a lot of rumors going on around him. And we’re told that his mother and his brothers come to rescue him from the public eye because they think he’s gone out of his mind, his mother. And so she doesn’t seem to know who he is. And Mark.
And that that’s often taken as an indication that in Mark’s gospel, at least, there’s not only not a virgin birth, but there’s a question about whether Mark, I mean, why change arguing against a virgin? Not arguing against because he doesn’t know about it. But his gospel seems to presuppose that it wasn’t
A virgin birth because because Mary doesn’t seem to know Jesus. It’s wow, this is great information. I’ve always wondered that. And I want to make one mention. There’s contemporaneous work to the Gospels. I’ll say, give or take a few decades. Suetonius writes, Actually, in lives the Caesars,
And I’m really impressed with his Augustus angle, because in this documentation on Augustus, you literally hear not only of portents of his birth, there’s like a prophecy where lightning strikes a certain wall and these people fight against the Romans almost to their own self-destruction. But the Senate and this is it’s really interesting
Catch his word that this prophecy is going to be fulfilled in a certain year. So the mothers didn’t want to rear up their children and put them in the census saying, hey, our kids are going to be born and they’re going to kill these children
If they find out that this might be one of them. That sounds a lot like Matthew. Do you think there’s something going on here? Well, it sounds like Matthew. It sounds a lot like Exodus. Same thing with the birth of Moses. They’re actually it’s it’s it’s a trope in an ancient literature
That that the great man had a lot of troubles to begin with and almost didn’t make it out of infancy. And so and so you have these kind of divine interventions to to make it happen. And so you get the divine intervention involved in the birth often,
But then also in the early protection of the child. And so I don’t think Sistani’s is getting this from Matthew. I think this is this trope that you get in in other in other contexts, including, you know, the ancient Greece, the birth of Sargon, the Great
As also a similar kind of story, the king of Assyria. And so, yeah, so I think it is a trope and it is interesting that you get this spectacular birth of Augustus instantaneous. And that is part of part of the trope. I must ask you your thoughts on this.
I watched your debate, the long debate on the resurrection with Mike Lickona and you. And there was a moment during the debate where I felt like maybe Mike was wiggling in his seat a little and you were getting a little hype. And I loved that
Because it’s fun to see this go on with academics. And you said there are so many other stories of other people. And I think you mentioned virgin births or miraculous births. And my and I don’t want to get caught up on whether they’re virgins or not
Because your course is going to get into this. But the point I do want to mention is this seems to be kind of an Achilles heel in my opinion, when the Christians set up a creed that demands you believe this is a virgin birth
And that you need to believe that in order to be a Christian. But we have all these other stories, whether they’re virgins or not. Don’t you see there’s a huge flaw on people being not consistent toward other narratives. There are speaking about other gods or demigods, you name it.
Well, I think I think the consistency is the issue. I mean, I don’t think that it’s necessarily an Achilles heel for Christianity that we have these other stories floating around, because there are there are ways that you can explain that if you’re a theologian and have I mean, you know, I mean, C.S.
Lewis, for example, was an apologist, not a theologian, but C.S. Lewis claimed somewhat famously that that you have to and he’s actually borrowing it’s from Justin Mark from the second Christian century, who first of all argues that that you have kind of foreshadowing to what’s going to happen
With with when God comes into the world in other religions, because religions are all completely false, are also claims of truth in other religions that are actually true. And so they have reflections of what’s going to happen. And so, you know, you can get around these things on a theological level.
The problem is the historical level, which is the one that you’re talking about. If someone like an apologist like Michael Cohen wants to say, we’ve got proof of Christianity, here it is. It’s bam, bam, bam, bam. And the exact not the exact same thing, but the parallel thing, the exact parallel
Things can be claimed for other gods and other humans. Then why is it proof for Christianity and not for these other things? And when you come to it, so when you come to the miraculous proof, okay, I’m going to claim that the God was my was my literal fault,
And I’m going to claim that and my followers are going to believe me and they’re going to convince other people, how are you going to convince somebody that your father actually was God? I mean, isn’t that your mother going to say, oh, I actually never had sex or I didn’t want to?
But the others, God came down and he had his way with me. And so it’s based on what the woman said. What okay. Is that evidence? I mean, suppose marriage some people say, look, the only way the gospel writers could have gotten it is if Mary told them.
And so it had to be right. Well, okay. So today, if there’s a woman who gives birth and she says, look, I never had sex before, really, trust me, it’s like I’m not married, I never had sex. And she gives birth. You think, Oh, well, that’s evidence then. Okay. Yes. You accurate? Yes.
No. Okay. I think you had sex and so, you know. So what kind of evidence would be that somebody could say for the Virgin birth, what would be the other team that would be different from the evidence that Romulus, who was born of a Virgin
Or Alexander the Great or or any of these other who are who are not considered right now or born of a virgin. By the way, I am saying they were said to be born miraculously with the Divine Father. That’s not the same as the one. Being a virgin. And I understand that
Every narrative of every God is unique and special in its own way. But there’s also differences. There’s similarities. So I think that that’s also this like copout thing that apologists use this to say This is so unique and it’s like they’re all unique and different and there’s always something special about them.
Yeah, that’s exactly right. So you have you have apologist, though. They’ll take five divine men from the age of five sons of God and who are doing miracles, you know, do those things. And then they’ll say, Yeah, but Jesus is different because He does that. So let’s see.
So Jesus really is different or people ascending to heaven. Yeah, well the this year. Yeah, but Jesus is different because of that and it’s true Jesus is different because of that. But if you put that, if you’ve got five other divine men, if you put the pile of six, including Jesus and
You take one of the others out, you could do the same thing. Oh, yeah, those others, including Jesus, this isn’t but this versus that, you know. And so everybody’s different. So it doesn’t, you know. But I don’t know why apologists who want to argue objectively
For the for the historical truth and use logical argument. I don’t understand why they don’t understand logic, but it summed up. The idea of philosophy. I have found from reading books like Francesca Staver, Orkopoulos book, which takes your away and places him in his ancient Near Eastern context, where she spends
Multiple chapters talking about God’s penis. I mean, like the physical body of the deity. Over time, though, we find Plato comes in and the impact of the philosophers in the Mediterranean world, there seems to be this trickle down effect where they’re kind of even shit like, Oh, hold on, Jesus did what?
No, that must mean something else. It’s an allegory or a metaphor or something. Yet they still hold on to the idea that the gods have children. And my question, zeroing in specifically on Jesus is this He’s called son of God.
And Mark, how can he be a son of God if he isn’t born? At least Matthew’s narrative is trying to say, Hey, the poor numa, which is a whole nother thing. I think your course will probably get into is what births Jesus and Mary as a virgin
Using the Septuagint, which is a whole nother sidetrack. But the question is why is he a son of God? And Mark, if he isn’t birthed by God in Mark? So it’s a very good question, a very important question, because to understand what Mark means,
It’s important to understand what the term son of God met in the Roman world at the time. Son of God was a term in familial relationships. You would be in you could be the son of somebody if if they were your biological parent or if they adopted you. And so that’s why
That’s why Octavian could claim to be the son of Julius Caesar, who is who was declared a god. And so he declared himself the son of God within apart from apart from the theological things about Sons of God, it’s important that within family relationships, the the upper elite people who were adopting people,
If you were adopted in the ancient world by an elite person, you were normally adopted as an adult. So they’re not adopting a baby and raising. All of you probably do that sometimes. But like Julius Caesar adopted an adult or an older boy, Octavius, to be his to be his son.
Julius Caesar had another son with both Cleopatra and Cleopatra had a child, Kazarian, who was his biological son. But being the biological son was not as important as being the adopted son. The adopted son became Caesar Augustus Kazarian, whom you’ve probably never heard of, became a nobody.
They adopted son was the one who was given all the status, the power, the money, everything. And so being an adopted son was a big deal. And you’re still considered the son. Jesus is the son of God and Mark, probably because He’s the adopted son of God. God makes him his son.
So He doesn’t have to be born to be the Son of God. And around the world He can be adopted. Thank you so much, Doctor. Airman, go sign up. I hope to see you there. And let’s learn something together.
Dr. Charles Stanley: Well, the manger scene with Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, with a few animals in the barn is a scene that most of us have thought about and have seen and have talked about all the, these many, many years. But today, this very sacred scene has become a target.
And when I think about the manger scenes that have been placed in different places, earlier in this century, it was more often seen than today. And little by little, the manger scene has been discarded because some people objected. And they saw that as a target.
The most important event in the history of all humanity, a target of people who hate God, hate religion, who are agnostic or totally unbelievers, it’s become a target. Then, it became a political issue. And so, that today, you see less and less scenes of the Mary and
Joseph, Jesus, and all the rest that you and I know about. So, they go to court. They do all kind of things to remove the manger scene. But think about this, God placed the first manger scene here and no matter what somebody says or does or what kind of laws they
Pass, the effects of the manger scene will still be here when Jesus comes no matter what they try to do. And, when I understand what really happened in that spot, that place, wherever it may be, and there are manger scenes all over the country today, regardless of what people try to do.
So, I want us think about it in light of let’s look into a little deeper look at that because there’s more there than simply Mary and Joseph and the shepherds who came. And so when you look at that scene, you realize that there’s more to it than meets the eye.
So, I want us to look at it. It was the most significant birth in the world–the most significant thing that had happened up until that time. Because it was that moment in time when God came to earth in the form of a baby to live among men; to grow up; live in a
Carpenter shop; learn to be a carpenter. One day laid aside His apron maybe and His tools and walked out to change the world. That makes it a very, very significant scene. So when you look at it, it’s easy to say, “Well, we’ve seen this for years.” But what does it represent?
It’s a reminder of your salvation. It’s a reminder that you don’t have to worry about dying. It’s a reminder that your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. And it’s a reminder that all of your blessed assurance is not because of anything you and I have done, but simply respond to
The truth of the message of the gospel which began pictorially right there in that situation. And then, when you begin to look at what the Scripture says about Him, I want us to look at the Colossians chapter one for a moment because here is an awesome description of what this
Manger scene is all about in this first chapter. Speaking of Jesus, “In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins. This is what was happening. He is–watch this now–“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and
On earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things have been created through Him and for Him.” That is, in that scene is the baby we just described. “The image of the invisible God; the firstborn of all creation.”
And then the Scripture says He, “He is,” not was, but “He is before all things; and in Him all things hold together.” That is, in that cradle lay a baby that everything we have just read about was true of Him. People criticize that scene.
That scene is a picture of the most significant thing that has ever happened until the cross, the crucifixion and the resurrection. So the Scripture says, “He is before,” listen to that–not was, “He is before all things. In Him all things hold together.
He is also head of the body, the church, He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,” that is resurrection, “so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all
Things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of the cross; through Him, I say, whether things in earth or things in heaven.” That’s what happened and that’s what that scene represents. Now that’s an awesome description of the Lord Jesus Christ. So, when somebody sort of recklessly says, “You ought to
Take that thing out of your yard, or that’s just religious stuff.” No, it’s not just religious–it’s reality. It’s eternal reality. When you read that passage in Colossians chapter one and recognize and ponder over those words about who Jesus is and what happened that night He was born, we should all bow before
That scene to say, “Thank You, thank You, dear God for giving to us the Son of God.” And so, when you think about it, was that something insignificant? The most significant thing that had ever happened since the creation of the world–the coming of God in the person of a
Baby, to dwell among men; and one day to die on a cross, resurrect and ascend to Heaven; and one day He’s coming back. Everything about all of it is sacred to all of us whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Who all have to go back to the Scripture to say here’s what happened. And the reason I’m saved and my name is in the Lamb’s Book of Life because God chose to come to earth in the form of a babe, lay down His life on the cross, pay my sin-debt in full,
Even before I was born. Think about this. Our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. And think about this. Not to any of our credit. Think about it. That all of your life you will live and the blessings of God you’ll receive, and the forgiveness of sin is yours.
And your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Not one single one of us can take any credit for any of that. So, at Christmas, if there was more to give than ourselves, we should give it. And giving presents to other people will remind us we’ve
Already received the greatest present we’ll ever be able to receive. The gift of the Son of God as our Savior, Lord, Master and the hope and the promise of Heaven forever and ever and ever. That’s ours. [congregation applauding] And think about this. You can’t determine a person’s value by their surroundings.
And if you’ll think about Jesus–wasn’t born in a palace. You’d think the Son of God should be born in a palace–no. He was born in a little crib. So, you can’t look at their surroundings. Bethlehem–where was that? A small town. And no one who walked into a stable like that would
Possibly believe that God was lying there. They couldn’t possibly believe that. That Holy God chose to come to earth in the form of a babe–virgin born. And so, the interesting thing to me is that people who want to criticize the virgin birth and sort of make fun of it and say,
“Well, that’s impossible.” What do we say? Yes! Yes, yes, yes, it’s impossible. No, that would take a miracle. Yes, it’s a miracle because it’s God at work on a human level that man could not understand. It was God coming to earth in the form of a babe to grow up
Like any other little boy except sinless, and one day lay down His life in order that you and I would have eternal life. Can they explain it? No. And I think one of the reasons they want to get rid of it is because it’s so overwhelming. They can’t explain it. Watch this.
It’s their pride–they can’t explain how a baby could give them eternal life. They don’t, they can’t explain how God operates. And so you and I have so much to be grateful for. And when I meet people like that it doesn’t get me upset. I feel sorry for them, for the simple reason–listen–they can
Have this awesome mind that can explain, invent, you name it, and they can’t conceive of God becoming a child, a baby. God growing up, dying on a cross, being resurrected, and returning to the Father, writing our name in the Lamb’s Book of Life. They don’t understand that.
I do, I understand why they don’t understand. One of the reasons they don’t understand is they don’t want to. Naturally, if I want to live a sinful life, I don’t want to believe all that stuff. So, I understand why they’re foolish; why they are very
Foolish not to consider the fact that the birth of Jesus Christ was a reality. And the fact that He walked among men was a reality. That He died upon a cross was a reality. And that He died in order to save us from our sins was a reality.
That He rose from the dead is a reality. Sits at the Father’s right hand as the judge of all mankind. Listen. If I didn’t want to live a godly life, I wouldn’t want to believe that. But I’m sorry friend, it’s the truth. And what you look with disdain, is your only hope
Of eternal life. So be wise. Think about this. Just think about, just possibly if it’s truth–what does it mean to you? Christmas is not about packages. It’s not about eating. It’s not about fun. It’s about God. It’s about Jesus. It’s about the cross. It’s about the Resurrection. It’s about hope. It’s about assurance.
Unless this was Jesus the Son of God, unless He did die on the cross paying our sin-debt in full as an atonement, it’s meaningless. But thank God it is all the truth–the eternal truth of God prepared before the foundation of the world. So, it’s a significant time, far more serious than people
Take it. And so, when I think about that and I think about the fact that God made His greatest revelations to us in such a lowly in such a lowly fashion. Think about this. He could have made Jesus some great emperor. He could have made Jesus some great king.
There were kings; there were emperors; there were all kinds of important people. But think about what God did. Shocked the world. He rose from the grave and all of us who have accepted Him as our Savior, God changed our life. And if somebody says, “Well how, how do you know you’re saved?”
You can explain it. You have assurance in your heart. Why? Because it’s a promise of Almighty God. We have a relationship with this Jesus. And we have a relationship with Almighty God. Everything was changed the moment Jesus Christ was conceived in the body of the Virgin Mary.
And His life from thereafter has changed everything. This was an event in time that changed everything. And to all of us who are wise enough to accept Christ as our Savior, He gave us the promise of eternal life. So, when I think about the fact that God revealed all of this
To a bunch of shepherds. He also does some other things that we don’t expect. Think about this. He made it possible for you to go to heaven and He called it being born again. And so, He made it simple enough that if you and I confess,
Repent of our sins, and place our trust in that baby born in Bethlehem and grew up to be a carpenter, the Son of God, the Messiah, who sits at the Father’s right hand. He made it so simple so that you and I could understand salvation. Think of that.
Jesus did not speak in terms above people’s heads. He talked about things that they understood. And He talked about sheep, and He talked about life. He talked about death and talked about relationships. He made it possible for us to understand how God thought, because He was God in the flesh.
He didn’t make anything difficult. You say, “Well, I don’t always understand everything the Bible says.” Probably all of us would have to say there are some things we don’t fully understand. We don’t fully understand miracles unless we’re willing to give God the credit that He has the power to perform them.
So, God has made all of these things possible so that even a child. And I think about one morning Becky was five years of age and she said to me after breakfast, she says, “Dad, would you pray with me? I want to receive Jesus as my personal Savior.” Five years old.
My first thought was, “Now, Becky, do you understand this?” And so, I began to talk to her a little bit and she assured me that she understood that Jesus died on a cross for her sins. And think about a five-year-old girl concerning about sin.
Died for her sins and that if she would confess her sins, she would be saved. Well, I was with her this week and she said, “I remember you kneeling by my bed with me and I prayed and asked Jesus to come into my heart. I’ve never doubted that.”
Think about the world, and all the wisdom of the world. Think about what God did. He made it possible for children as well as adults to understand enough about forgiveness; to pray and to have eternal life at a very, very young age. Think about how complicated we make things today.
I think of the computer, for example. So many things about it are so difficult. God made the most important thing in all of our lives very simple. “If you’re willing to confess to Me, that is to agree with Me that you’re a sinner.
If you’re willing to ask Me to forgive you of your sins. If you’re willing to ask Me to forgive you on the basis that I died and paid your sin-debt in full, that I would save you forever.” Think about how wise that was, how wise God is.
He didn’t intend for it to be complicated. He intended for it to be simple so that even a child could understand forgiveness; and that the cross was payment– the shed blood. And that this Jesus rose from the grave and He’s seated at the Father’s right hand. Then here’s what He did.
He sent the Holy Spirit to convict us, to help us to see what sin was in our life, to identify sin in our life, in order to be able to be saved very early in life. I was twelve. My daughter was five. And I think Andy was about eight or something like that.
Think about that. Watch it. Your eternal future; your eternal future hinged on one decision you made–trusting Jesus Christ as your Savior. You talk about an awesome God. God–born as a babe, placed in a manger, not in a palace. Growing up in a normal home whose mother was criticized
Because it didn’t look like she was very pure. Look at all the things God did that were so unnatural when we think about holiness. Every event was holy. Every event was righteous. Because that’s who God is. He doesn’t operate on the basis of what we think.
He operates on the basis of perfection, holiness, righteousness, purity, truth. He operates on the basis of truth. So, when the Bible says, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” That’s so true. People, people can’t understand this whole Christian life unless they’re born again; unless there’s a transformation
In their life. And when they do, everything changes. Because the ways of God and the ways of man differ. And when we look at the story of Jesus and His birth, it’s unlike anything that we would think of today. So, we have become mentally brainwashed.
We have to have computers and all the things that go with that. And all this information–think about this. All the information you, you can touch this key or that key and anything you want to know you can find out. We think we invented all of that.
God knew all about that when Mary gave birth to Jesus. He’s known about it all the time. And you know what? Think about this. As wise as we think we are we’re so brilliant about so many things that the most important thing that ever happened was very simple.
A woman gave birth to a child who was the Savior of the world; who died on a cross; who rose from the dead; who sits at the Father’s right hand. And that’s the only thing we’ll ever learn that will get us to Heaven. He made it so simple. [congregation applauding]
And I think about–God doesn’t do His work necessarily all the time through people who are great and great minds and so forth. But whoever, who was Mary? Some little girl from Nazareth. Who was Joseph? Some fellow out there. And look what God did through them. Watch this carefully.
Don’t ever underestimate what God wants to do in your life. He may want to do something in your life then you think, “Who am I?” Can you imagine how shocked Mary was when she found out that she was pregnant? And probably how scared to death she was, except that God had
Spoken to her. If you try to fit your life into the world’s mold, you miss life at its best. When you surrender your life to Jesus and tell Him that whatever He wants to do with your life is fine with you. You surrender your life to Him.
You may not ever have a big job. The world may not know about you. But when you surrender your life to Him, here’s what you have. You have the best. Now, If anybody had said to my mother, “Rebecca, you gave birth to Charles and, the Father took your husband away when he was
Just nine months of age–that was best.” My mother nor any other woman in their might, right mind would agree with that. But God knew what He was doing. He makes no mistakes. It took me a long time to convince my mom that God didn’t make a mistake.
Say, “Mom, suppose I’d had a father and I’d had a lot of good things in life and things would have been easier for me. But what did He do? He just left me with you and just the two of us. You remember when we lived in one room?
And it was difficult and you only made nine dollars and ten cents for forty hours of work. You remember how many hours you worked and day after day after day. And somebody had to keep me and you remember all the things you went through and–” And sometime my mom would tear up
And I’d say, “You know what? All that was perfect. All that was good. Because what it did, it made you and me absolutely depend upon God for everything. So whenever that’s true, that’s good. God doesn’t operate the way we operate. His ways are higher than our ways.
And His grace and goodness and love and mercy we’ll never deserve. So, it may be that today it’d be good for you to look back in your life and think about maybe the hard times you had and, or your parents had and maybe you haven’t had a lot of things that
Your friends have had and so forth. Remember this. God doesn’t make any mistakes. No mistakes. He does what the wisdom of only God could possibly do. He doesn’t make any mistakes. And you know what? God hasn’t made any mistakes in your life. He hasn’t. He’s allowed things that you don’t like. Naturally.
He’s allowed things that cause you hurt and pain and suffering. But the moment you trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior, He put you on a high level. That does not mean that you won’t suffer and hurt. And sometimes accuse God of mistreating you.
But the truth is, He’s watching over you, caring for you. And if you look to the world to help you understand what God’s doing in your life, you’ll probably never understand it. He saved you. None of us can say, “Well, I understand why God saved me.” No you don’t. No you don’t.
You understand what happened maybe when He saved you. But why did God what about your neighbor? He didn’t chase– hadn’t saved him. Some of your friends, people you work with–some of them are not saved. You’ve talked to them about Jesus–they’re still not saved. We’re all dependent upon this resurrected Christ.
Born in a manger to His own a stranger as the song goes. They never understood. So, Christmas is an awesome time of a mighty God of awesome love, who does things we’ll never understand. And who did something we will never be able to explain fully.
He took this little girl from Nazareth and this little guy Joseph. He did something miraculous in their lives, and He’s been changing lives ever since. Now, if you’re not a Christian, you may not have understood all this. But let me just say this to you. You’ll never understand unless you’re willing to understand.
Unless you’re willing to at least acknowledge the fact this Jesus has transformed the world. This Jesus is unlike any other person born. This Jesus is the way to God. And you can never find anything to criticize Him for legitimately, because He was perfect. Who else would go to a cross for your sins?
Only the Son of God. Who else would forgive you for all the dirty, nasty stuff you’ve done and thought about? Only the Son of God. You either have Jesus and His forgiveness or one day you stand before God and be judged for your unbelief and your sinfulness.
If you’re willing to join the ranks of God’s children by confessing your sins and surrendering your life to the Lord Jesus Christ, your name will be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. No matter what happens to you from this moment on, when you
Die, the Bible says, “Absent from the body, present with the Lord. For those who die without Christ, absent from the body– judgment.” It’s an awesome, awesome opportunity. And remember this. There is no other way to be saved, to be forgiven– no other way. Except a man be born again–unless God transforms
Your life, no other way. I don’t know what you’ve heard, what you’ve believed. It’s either Jesus or eternal separation from God. And think about how patient He’s been with you so far. The wisest thing you can do, if you’ve never trusted Christ as
Your Savior, whoever you are, wherever you are is to ask the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sins. Surrender your life to Him and let Him change your eternal destiny. We’re saved by faith, by the grace of God, through faith. Amen? congregation: Amen. Dr. Stanley: Father, we thank You that You
Don’t do it our way. Thank You that You did it Your way. Thank You for grace, love, mercy, kindness–all that You can just pour into our lives day after day. Thank You for the Crucifixion, the Resurrection. And thank You that You’ve promised to come back.
Thank You that You’ve promised to come back one of these days and call us home to be with You. Whether it’s individually or that day that the Lord Jesus Christ descends from Heaven with His holy angels to rapture His Church, the Body of Christ.
We just want to say today, Lord Jesus, we love You. Don’t always understand but we love You. We praise You. We adore You. And we pray that You’ll so work in all of our lives that those who meet us will meet the Lord Jesus Christ. In whose name we pray, amen.
SPROUL: Now, when we talk about Jesus receiving what you call “the substance” from His mother, the Virgin Mary, of course we’re talking about His human nature. And because we’re talking about His deriving His human nature from His mother, you would
Think that that human nature would pass along, as it is the case with every other human being, all of the ramifications of original sin. Now, that raises all kinds of theological questions that touch upon it. One of the oldest theological questions is the question of how the soul, for example,
Is transmitted from parents to their children. And the two schools of thought of that are called “creationism” and “traducianism.” Traducianism says that the whole person, body and soul, is transmitted from the parents to their progeny through the natural process of birth.
Others argue, which is called “creationism,” that every time a human being is born, that person is a brand new creation by the immediate and direct power of God’s creativity. And so it’s not a matter of transmitting human nature by natural processes.
Now the reason I say that this question you’ve raised touches on the dispute over creationism and traducianism is that if you’re a creationist, you have no problem with having a human nature coming from the mother of Jesus, yet at the same time being born without original sin
If it’s a direct and immediate act of divine creation. If you’re a traducianist, on the other hand, where you see the body and soul being transmitted through the natural process, then the question that you raise becomes a more difficult problem. However, others have argued, and particularly historically in the Roman Catholic Church
That the reason for the virgin birth and to bypass the male was not because they believe that original sin was transmitted by the male rather than the female, but rather that the miraculous dimension of Jesus’ birth being a virgin birth was partly designed by God
To interrupt the normal transmission of human nature from parents to their children in order to make it possible for a human being post-Adam to be born without original sin. Now in the mystery of the incarnation, we don’t know exactly what process God used to make that so in the birth of Jesus.
We do know, as the Scriptures teach us, that He was made like us in every respect except one, namely without sin and without original sin. Some have argued against that saying if Jesus didn’t have original sin, He wasn’t truly human.
But of course, the problem with that is this, that Adam before the fall was truly human, and we in our glorified state in heaven without sin then will still be human. So that original sin is not an inherent necessity for humanness.
So we know theologically that God could have this child born through the virgin birth from His mother and bypassing the normal process of original sin. WEBB: R.C., I’m just curious, did some of the earliest church councils wrestle with that question? SPROUL: Well yes, they did.
And of course, early on there was a debate and a dispute over from whence Jesus’ divine nature came? And Mary was called “theotokos”, the mother of God, but not in the sense that Jesus derived His divine nature from His mother, but only to point out that the One that she bore and
That she nurtured as His mother was God incarnate.
[Elder Uzziah] Peace and blessings family this is Uzziah and today we’re going to talk about the virgin birth for centuries it’s been said that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin and today we’re going to talk about that in the scriptures we’re going to go through the word of God
And we’re going to see what the bible really says about how Christ was born but before we begin let’s begin with a word of prayer [Praying] Father thank you so much for allowing us to come together for another day of fellowship edification wisdom knowledge and understanding
We ask o lord that you continue to anoint us with thy word father help us see wonderful things out of thy precepts o lord that have been closed for all of our lives father we ask for your mercy for we know father that we’ve committed many trespasses and sins
In these last days and we ask for your forgiveness we ask o lord that you allow this lesson to go out with free course that brothers and sisters can open up their hearts to receive
Thy word and thy word alone father we ask that you watch out for any brothers or sisters that are going through any calamities we ask that you heal them and comfort them as much as thy see fit in
The name of thy son Jesus the Christ we pray and we thank you lord amen![Elder Uzziah] All praises to the most high welcome brothers and sisters today we are going over a very important lesson
Now I promised many of you that I would do this class but I needed some time so thank you for your patience today we’re going to talk about the virgin birth was Christ born of a virgin
And is the way that we’ve been taught about the virgin birth aligned with what the scriptures say I need all of you brothers and sisters to have your bibles pens and papers ready because we’re going to go over an extensive breakdown of the scriptures today I need your time your patience
And your prayers that we can get through this as smoothly as possible now let’s go ahead and begin with the book of John in order to understand how Christ was born you must know three things first you must know the promises pertaining to how Christ was born according to the prophecies of God
Secondly you have to know the ceremonial customs of the Jews finally you must understand the timeline of the gospels if you don’t understand these three things there is no way that you can understand the virgin birth again in order to understand how
Christ was born you must know three things you must first know what are the promises that are written in the bible about the life of Christ what does the bible say about how Christ would be born what are the prophecies pertaining to him if you don’t understand the prophecies or
Even know that the prophecies are in there then you have no idea of knowing what’s right or wrong secondly you must understand the ceremonial customs of the Jews Christ was known as the king of the Jews so if you don’t understand all of the historical context
On what was happening at that time there’s no way to understand his birth third and finally you must understand the timeline of the gospels as we go into today’s lesson you’re going to see that the different accounts that was given in the gospels by our forefathers like saint Luke as well
As saint Matthew occurred during different times accounts are given of situations that occurred at different time periods and if you’re not focused on understanding the timeline it can be easy to get confused but first we are going to begin with the promises concerning the birth of Christ and
Rightly divide the word all I ask for you brothers and sisters to do is to take good notes and please make sure that you smash the like button make sure that you do that for me real quick before we begin
Because that’ll go a very long way towards growing our YouTube channel so now let’s begin this is in the book of John chapter 7 and verse 38. it reads [Reading Scripture] He that believeth on me as the scripture hath said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water now brothers
Sisters we have to begin with this verse because this is a very controversial topic some of you may revert back to whatever teachings that you heard in the Baptist church some of you may have been Jehovah’s witness regardless of what walk of life you come from the thing that’s
Supposed to align believers together is the word of God the bible is the ultimate authority on God so please as you tune into this lesson please block out any preconceived notions that you have and go to the scriptures to understand God’s word this is not about your mama
Your daddy your grandma and your granddaddy that said that they know everything about the bible let’s believe on Christ as the scripture says if we want to receive the blessing okay now we’re going to start off like I talked about with the promises pertaining to Christ’s
Birth we’re going to go to the book of Acts in the new testament to understand what the promises were remember brothers and sisters the bible tells us in the book of John that the scriptures cannot be broken so we have to go to the scriptures to understand
What happened and then we reconcile our understanding from that we do not make up our own understandings to talk about God we go directly into the word and we know that if God said this then it must be true this is in the book of Acts the 13th chapter and the 22nd verse
It reads and when he had removed him he raised up unto them David to be their king this is talking about our forefather king David to whom also he gave their testimony and said I have found David the son of Jesse a man after mine own heart which shall fulfill all my will
Of this man’s seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a savior Jesus Jesus the Christ is our lord and savior in order for us to know about our savior we have to
Go into God’s word to learn what has been written about him here God is promising us that the savior would be raised unto Israel from a man’s seed of this man’s seed hath god according to his promise
So this is not something that is speculative God is promising us that according to the loins of David we would then see Jesus Christ on earth now it’s our job to figure out how that happened
We cannot discredit this verse and act like it’s not in the bible it’s on us to figure out how this aligns with the virgin birth a lot of us have been taught that Christ was born through an immaculate
Conception where his mother Mary was impregnated by an angel and then from there Christ was born we have to reconcile that through Acts chapter 13 and verse 23 because we’re reading right now out of the new testament we know that Christ is the word so surely everything that’s been written
And document in documented in the word must stand true we must remember the scriptures cannot be broken so now let’s go to another new testament scripture here we were reading in the book of Acts now we’re going to read Paul’s epistle to the romans this is the book of romans or the letter
The epistle of Paul to the romans the first chapter in the first verse Paul a servant of Jesus Christ called to be an apostle separated unto the gospel of god which he had promised for by his prophets in the holy scriptures concerning his son Jesus Christ our lord which was made
Of the seed of David according to the flesh so it’s clearly letting us know in this verse that Christ was born from David’s seed if we’re unclear on the seed that it’s talking about its talking about the seed of man’s flesh when it talks about the word flesh in the bible
It’s making reference to your physical form and we know usually when man is created um in this earth most of the time it is done through sex most of the time whenever a man or a woman child is born it is done through the act of sexual intercourse where a man’s seed
Uh implants a woman’s egg and then from there a conception is formed and after the process of nine months lord’s will a child will be born so now this understanding is contrary to what we’ve heard in the mainstream Christian world all throughout every Christian denomination we’ve been taught
No it was not from the seed of a man that Christ was born it was through a virgin birth but again we’re going to another new testament scripture to see when the prophets are talking they keep
Talking about the seed of man creating Christ how is this the case we must continue to go throughout the scriptures we must search the scriptures to see when was this promise given in the bible hold that let’s go to 2nd Samuel’s the seventh chapter if this was a promise
When did we receive the promise pertaining to the birth of Christ we must understand even though we’ll read in the bible about Christ being born of a virgin that is not the only promise pertaining to him that is not the only detail that highlights his birth
That’s why Christ said I come in the volume of the book we must go through all scripture because all scripture is profitable for doctrine so as we read in 2nd Samuel chapter 7 and verse 10 it reads moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them
That they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them anymore as before time and as since the time that I commanded judges to be
Over my people Israel and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies also the lord telleth thee that he will make thee in house and when thy days be fulfilled and thou shall sleep with thy fathers
I will set up thy seed after thee which shall proceed out of thy bowels and I will establish his kingdom so I want you to know we’ve gone through three verses now and every verse that we’re reading about talks about seed seed seed in other words this is talking about sperm
Every time we peel back the layers the bible is giving us more explicit detail on what this seed is talking about when we read in Romans 1 it said seed according to thy flesh here it goes as far as to say that the seed which is after thee shall proceed out of thy
Bowels now any brother and sister that knows what bowels is talking about knows that your bowels is referring to your lower private section this is where different things flow out of the body some of you may be familiar with the term
Bowel movement but when the bible is talking here about the seed proceeding out of thy bowels it is talking about a man’s sperm being released from him in other words what this is saying is that the prophecy is that through the sperm of David there would be descendants
In rule so as we read the promise again it says and when thy days be fulfilled this is talking to king David and thou shall sleep with thy fathers I will set up thy seed after thee this is talking about a future lineage which shall proceed out of thy bowels
And I will establish his kingdom now some of you may be thinking oh okay well that may have happened through Solomon but let’s look at the next verse he shall build a house for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever we know Christ’s kingdom is a everlasting
Kingdom that will reign forever this is why we read in the new testament that Christ our king descends from the seed of David I’m just giving you guys all of the promises as we begin now let’s go to first Chronicles chapter 17 and verse 11. everything that we
Read about in the new testament derives from old testament writing when we go to first Chronicles 17 David is promised first Chronicles chapter 17 verse 11 and it shall come to pass when thy
Days be expired that thou must go to be with thy fathers that I will raise up thy seed after thee which shall be of thy sons and I will establish his kingdom now this is a very important verse
It reads and it shall come to pass this is letting us know that this is a future prophecy it’s not something that’s happening right now but God promises that this will happen at a later time when thy days be expired meaning when our forefather king David passes away that thou
Must go to be with thy fathers meaning deceased like the forefathers of old that I will raise up thy seed after thee meaning there would be future leaders from the line of David the lineage would not be cut off at David but rather through his sperm his name would live on
Which shall be of thy sons this is very important when talking about the virgin birth because many will make the argument that Christ came from the seed of David through Mary that is not a son that
Is a daughter so in order for the prophecy to be fulfilled Christ had to have been born through the seed of man there had to be a son from the line of David to produce the sperm that
Then became Christ on earth we’re going to go into all this brothers and sisters please be patient with me I must go through much detail in order for you to fully understand all we’re doing right now is going through the promises and as we’ve read from verse to verse the promise was that
David would pass away leaving behind a royal legacy to follow after him it reads in verse 12 he shall build me in house and I will establish his throne forever even Christian laypersons know that Christ our king he sits on a throne in the everlasting kingdom forever the world to come
Shall be under Christ so now we’re getting all these different verses David seed David seed through his bowels according to the flesh why have we never been taught this well let’s go to Numbers chapter 1 verse 18. we’re still getting the understanding on how Christ was born
Now when we read in the book of chronicles it told us that Christ who would rule forever would come through David’s sons and the reason why it says that is because when you read in Numbers chapter 1 and verse 18 it tells us that every man woman and child
Is known by the seed of their fathers you are who your father is and when we read in Numbers 1 and 18 it says and they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month and
They declared their pedigrees after their families by the house of their fathers according to the number of the names from 20 years old and upwards by their polls now brothers sisters I know that we are living in Satan’s kingdom but I want you to imagine a life of righteousness
When a child is born you will tend to notice that if that child was born uh um with a mother and father in the household and they were married the child is going to take on the father’s name the reason why the child is going to have the father’s surname is because
The father imparts the seed of life the woman uh develops the seed in the womb and nourishes it until the child is born but the child itself is a descendant from man we’re gonna go through
All of this in the scriptures I know that a lot of y’all are so used to the ways of the world where you know a lot of children that have been born in single parent households they take on their mom’s
Last name the father’s not even thought of here we’re going back to the days of old we’re going back to the historical context that set the stage for Christ’s birth so here we’ve gone through all these scriptures seed of David seed of David is going to happen through sperm that’s why when
You read in the new testament in the book of Luke the second chapter it tells us in the fourth verse and Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea unto the city of David which is called Bethlehem because he was of the house and lineage of David
This is how the prophecy was fulfilled Joseph was ordained as the husband of Mary because he was of the lineage of David all of the prophecy came to pass through him but now you might be asking okay well if that’s true Uzziah why does it say that Christ was born of a virgin
Why does it seem like there was some immaculate conception that had nothing to do with Joseph at all we’re going to go to this let’s go to Matthew chapter 1 verse 1. again the three things that you
Need to understand when it comes to Christ’s birth is the promises pertaining to how Christ is born you then need to understand the ceremonial customs of the people lastly you need to understand the chronological order of the gospels so that you don’t misunderstand what is written
We’re still going through the promises and now I’m showing you how the promises was fulfilled with joseph as being from the lineage of David this is in Matthew chapter 1 verse 1. this is the beginning of the new testament the book of the generation of Jesus Christ the son
Of David the son of Abraham Abraham begat Isaac and Isaac beget Jacob and Jacob begat Judah and his brethren and Judah begat fares and Zara of Thamar and Phares beget Esrom and Esrom begat Aram why does it keep saying one man’s name after another when talking about be getting a child
Because the child is the descendant of the father’s seed yes the woman may house the seed as it is nurtured and developed in the womb but we understand from Numbers 118 Acts 13 Romans 1 and 3 that all of these children
Are born through their father’s sperm that’s why it says the book of the generation of Jesus Christ because it’s telling you Christ’s genetic pool it’s telling you Christ’s DNA he’s the son of David the son of Abraham Abraham begat Isaac and Isaac begat Jacob these are men
Who had sex with their wives and from the act of sexual intercourse they brought forth children for example Abraham and his wife Sarah through the act of sex they had Isaac and then from Isaac Jacob Jacob begat Judas and his brethren and I want us to look right here at the second
Verse when it says Jacob begat Judas and his brethren because what we know through history is that Jacob is the forefather of the 12 lost tribes of the nation of Israel let’s go to the book of Genesis chapter 49 verse 10. please brothers and sisters take good notes
Genesis chapter 49 verse 10 reads the scepter shall not depart from Judah this is the same Judah that we read about in Matthew chapter one this is the beginning of the genealogy of Jesus Christ Abraham had Isaac Isaac had Jacob Jacob had Judah and in Genesis 49 and 10 were reading
About the prophecies concerning Judah the scepter meaning power shall not depart from Judah meaning it’s always going to stay there nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh come and unto him shall the gathering of the people be now the primary part I want us to focus on is
A law giver from between his feet what’s between the feet of a man is his reproductive organs that’s what it’s saying the prophecy all the way back from genesis 49 is that there would always be men in positions of power from the loins of Judah hold that let’s go to the first verse
Genesis 49 and 1 and Jacob called unto his sons and said gather yourselves together that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days so when we’re reading about the prophecies pertaining to Judah this is about prophecies that would happen at a later time
These will be prophecies that would carry over all the way until the last days brothers sisters I need y’all to see this for yourself what tribe did David come from David came from the tribe of Judah the prophecy about him being in rulership and his descendants
Ruling is consistent about what was said through his forefather Judah God is still establishing the same order all the way from Genesis 49 through the book of Samuel into the new testament nothing has changed this is the reason why the bible tells us Christ came in the volume of the book
Because we cannot understand Christ’s birth if we don’t understand what was written about in the first book of the bible a lawgiver is coming from between the feet of Judah in between the feet of a man is his reproductive organs his reproductive organs brings forth the seed
The seed then procreates into future descendants these are all things that we must got to know and understand brothers and sisters this is not rocket science now we’re going to go to Deuteronomy the 28th chapter because I know some of y’all out there even though we’ve already
Gone through almost 10 scriptures where it’s told you seed seed seed Christ is coming through a man Christ is coming through sperm I know it’s so hard to grasp because you’re having cognitive dissonance based upon all of the programming that’s been put into you up until this point I’m
Being patient with us all brothers and sisters because all of us at one point in our lives had to learn when you read in Deuteronomy the 28th chapter it reaffirms the meaning of in between his feet that we read about in Genesis 49. Deuteronomy 28 this is verse 56
The tender and delicate woman among you which would not adventure to set the soul of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness her eyes shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom and toward her son and toward her daughter and toward her young one that cometh out
From between her feet how does the young one come out from between a woman’s feet because that is where her reproductive organs can be found a man’s reproductive organs hold sperm that’s in between his feet a woman’s reproductive organs will then push out the baby this is all fundamental
Child birthing 101. there are so many brothers and sisters that don’t know much about the bible at all but one thing they do know is that if they’re going to create life on this earth it has to come
From a man putting his reproductive organs into a woman’s reproductive organs and from there a child will be born if it’s of the lord’s will so we’re getting precept upon precept that’s showing that the rulers that descended out of the line of Judah would come from a man’s seed sperm and
Reproductive loins I know this might be a little hard for y’all but this is why the bible says this this is Hebrews chapter 7 and verse 14. for it is evident that our lord spring out of Judah
How did he spring out of Judah because he comes from the descendants of Jacob’s fourth-born son Judah then begat sons as we read about in Matthew 1 and then over the course of many generations Christ is born so now let’s bring this back okay we’re going to go back to Matthew chapter one
Now I hope that all of this is clear thus far we read in Matthew chapter one and verse one it reads the book of the generation of Jesus Christ the son of David the son of Abraham Abraham beget
Isaac and Isaac begat Jacob and Jacob begat Judah and his brethren and Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar and Phares begat as ram and as ram begat Aram this is an entire lineage of men procreating
Other men as you read from verse to verse now we’re going to jump down to the sixth verse of this generation and Jesse begat David the king and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Uriah brothers and sisters one thing that you’ll notice when it talks about
Uriah and Judas they put an s on these letters because in the time of the new testament these are now writings that came from Greek scrolls I want you to understand this the same Uriah that you’re reading in verse 6 is talking about Uriah the Hittite that you read about in the old
Testament the same judas that you’re reading about in Matthew 1 and 2 is talking about our forefather Judah Jacob’s son it’s the same name just a different transliteration of words okay so now we understand this is the genealogy of Jesus Christ this is one man lying down with a woman
And procreating another son and procreating another son and procreating another son all the way up until Jesus the Christ but before we get to Jesus the Christ and we focus on uh David the son of Jesse when you jump down to verse 16 it reads and Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary
Of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ Christ is a Greek word it means anointed so now we’re going to go to the book of Luke the first chapter so that way we can start reading the
History of Christ’s birth we need to understand everything that led up to the birth of Christ right here we’re given the promises now we’re going to go into the account of how Christ was born in the gospels from saint Luke we’re now going to go to Luke chapter 1 and verse 26
And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David and the virgin’s name
Was Mary and the angel came in unto her and said hail thou that art highly favored the Lord is with thee blessed art thou among women and when she saw him she was troubled at his saying
And cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be and the angel said unto her fear not Mary for thou has found favor with God now the reason why marriage is troubled is because whenever you read about our four parents being confronted by angels the angels took on a very
Bold appearance very intimidating it wasn’t what you see on all of these different Christian churches where hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah you got to get that out your mind you have to look at what the scriptures say if the angels were so soft and so warm and friendly
Why would Mary and the other descendants of god’s people had been afraid of them surely had they been so warm and so rosy everyone would have been excited everybody would have been singing kumbaya the class about the angels that’s for another time
It reads here and the angel said unto her fear not Mary for thou has found favor with God and behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb the reason why you need to hold at this point is because it’s
Giving you an indication of the chronology of the gospel when the angel is telling Mary thou shalt conceive it lets us know she is not pregnant yet this is important because when you go into saint Matthew Matthew is giving an account based upon a woman that is already pregnant so please
Don’t merge the two together because that’s where confusion comes in the book of Luke 1 she’s not pregnant in Matthew 1 she’s impregnated and now Joseph decides how to move forward but here we are for now Luke chapter 1 verse 31 and behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth
A son and shalt call his name Jesus he shall be great and shall be called the son of the highest and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David and he shall reign over the house
Of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there shall be no end now where do we read about that we read about that in the book of second Samuel we read about that in first Chronicles this is prophecy
At play so then when we read in verse 34 it reads then said Mary unto the angel how shall this be seeing I know not a man this is where many people get confused when people read this verse alone
They think oh well the reason why Mary is asking this is because there’s no man in her life at all hold that let’s go back to where we were in verse 27. let me start at verse 26
And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from god unto a city of galilee named Nazareth to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David so when we read here
Mary is already promised to Joseph in marriage when Mary is asking how shall this be seeing I know not a man it doesn’t mean that Mary never foresees a day where she’s going to be uh with
A man or be intimate she’s asking this because she had not had sex the sex had not taken place as of yet that’s the reason why the angel says thou shall conceive all of those prophecies that we
Read about through a man’s seed from between his knees that part hadn’t happened yet we’re about to get there in the prophecy this is the reason why angel the angel is now coming Mary doesn’t know how all of this is going down but the angel has been sent from God
To guide her then said Mary unto the angel how shall this be seeing I know not a man why is she asking see not I know not a man because Mary understands a woman has a child through sex is not
Going to be anything mythical God’s not going to drop a baby from the heavens above it’s not going to happen like that a man has to put his sperm in her but because she hadn’t had sex yet
She’s wondering from the angel how are you able to expound on all of these characteristics about my so-called child when I haven’t even uh uh uh conceived yet let alone went through the process of labor Mary’s confused and the angel answered and said unto her the holy ghost shall come upon
Thee see this is where everybody falls off the horse brothers and sisters we’re going to go through multiple verses on this but what you’re going to learn after going through this class is when the holy ghost anointing comes upon a woman god plays a part in guiding her through
A childbirth a childbirth it does not mean that God himself is having sex with her or his angels it means that he is bringing forth a hedge of comfort and protection hold that gonna go to the book of uh Proverbs real quick we’re coming back to this proverbs chapter 20
And verse 24. man’s goings are of the Lord how can a man then understand his own way what greater example do we have of this verse in the story of our forefather mayor of foremother Mary who
Did not know exactly how all of this was going to go down and the Lord is going to guide her through the angel that’s the reason why Mary said unto the angel how shall this be in verse 35 it reads
And the angel answered and said unto her the holy ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee there okay when something is shadowing you it’s a long side it’s a figment what the angel is telling Mary is
Mary in your doings the Lord is going to guide you along the way it’s not going to be the Lord himself that’s just putting his seed into the woman no that’s what man is for the first commandment that was given to man in the bible was be fruitful and multiply
God uses man as an instrument to deliver sperm in order to bring forth children the angel answered and said unto her the holy ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee therefore also that holy thing which shall be born
Of thee shall be called the son of God and behold thy cousin Elizabeth she have also conceived a son in her old age and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren for with God nothing
Shall be impossible often times when people read this they will use that as the basis to say see this is how we know that Mary had this child from out of thin air because god is saying nothing shall be impossible that’s how we know that God was the one that impregnated Mary
Not Joseph brothers sisters this is the reason why Christ said I come in the volume of the book if we isolate these verses without a full picture of God’s word in its totality you could walk away thinking that but as we go from precept to precept you’re going to see the explanation
Of what all of this is saying that’s the reason why I just ask y’all to sit patient take notes and smash the like button and Mary said behold the handmaid of the Lord be it unto me according to thy word and the angel departed from her so when Mary says
Behold the handmaid of the Lord she’s acknowledging herself as a servant she’s not acknowledging that she’s God’s side chick she’s acknowledging that she’s going to do the will of God as is commanded to her
Be it unto me according to thy word well what’s the word from the seed of David of his sons you’re going to have a son that’s how this whole thing goes down everybody’s got their part to play
Joseph got his part to play Mary got his part to play her part to play the angel is just coming and bringing all of the prophecy to pass because this is what you got to ask yourself what woman
In her right mind would truly believe that of all women on earth she’s going to be the one chosen to deliver the only begotten of the father how many of you guys would really think that y’all gotta understand these are these are real people I know a lot of times
When we read the bible you tend to think about it like a fairy tale but this is a real woman on earth out of all the different women on earth that could have been chosen for such a high honor
The Lord chose Mary and that’s the reason why the angel told her in verse 28 thou art highly favored the Lord is with thee blessed art thou among women now where the confusion comes into play is what we’ve been taught through Roman Catholicism
We’ve been taught that Rome that um Mary is almost a deified figure even though the scripture says blessed art thou among women not blessed art thou above women Mary was a woman just like everyone else but the difference is out of all women on the earth
At that time the Lord favored Mary and chose her among women to receive the seed of David to bring forth Christ I pray that this is very clear just in case it’s not we still got a lot of scriptures
To go okay THE MOST HIGH is going to put the power of the spirit of Christ into the seed of Joseph one thing that we got to understand brothers and sisters this is where the second part of this kicks in if you’re going to understand how Christ was born you have to understand
The ceremonial customs of the Jews historically child birth it was always a collaborative process what do I mean by that you know a lot of times in this modern day women can have children just being a single parent but in the ancient world there was a mother a father
A midwife now we’ll talk about doulas there was an entire team of people who supported bringing a child into this world and this is no different when it comes to the birth of Christ
Real quick I want to show you the definition of the word midwife just so that way we are all on the same page okay this is what the word midwife reads when you look at the definition midwife noun a person typically a woman trained to assist women in childbirth
The midwife does not impregnate the woman to have a child but she’s on the roster of helpers in the support system necessary to get a child out of the womb this is a part of the Jew custom
This is a part of the Israelite way we would always have a team surrounding righteous sisters to bring a child into this world now when it comes to the man’s role the man delivers the sperm which
Then helps to build the body the Lord is the one that determines the spirit that will be implanted into the body hold that we’re gonna go to Jeremiah chapter one Jeremiah chapter 1 verse 4
Then the word of the Lord came unto me saying before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee is this God telling Jeremiah that he was the one that impregnated Jeremiah’s mother no this is the Lord telling Jeremiah that
He’s responsible for the spirit that came on the child the man that procreates the child he cannot dictate what spirit is going to be upon this boy the father ultimately decides what spirit is going to be upon man man creates the body the father imparts the spirit before I formed thee
In the belly I knew thee the spirit dwelled among the heavens before it was imparted into the sperm and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee and I ordained thee a prophet unto
The nations so the same way that the Lord ordained Jeremiah to be a prophet before his parents ever lie together that was the exact same thing that happened with the Messiah before joseph and Mary it was always known throughout bible history a Messiah is coming on the earth
But there has to be a certain way to do it there has to be a royal lineage there has to be a woman chosen and the woman would receive direction from the angel on how all of this would take
Place okay and even as we can see in the writings of Jeremiah Jeremiah himself didn’t know what God had in store but that didn’t mean that the God of uh this bible our God did not have wonderful works ordained for him now we’re going to go to Job chapter 31 verse 14. I
Just want y’all to see this God ordains things before life begins job chapter 31 verse 14 what then shall I do when God riseth up and when he visiteth what shall I answer him did not he
That made me in the womb make him and did not one fashion us in the womb so see there’s only but so far that a mortal man can go and bring forth life on this earth the man delivers the seed God is the one that fashions that child in the womb he’s
The one that decides okay this spirit is going to go in this womb this spirit is going to go in this womb this man and this woman is going to come together God is not the author of confusion
But we’ve got to know every role that’s at play in the process of childbirth otherwise we don’t understand how all this comes together the same way that God ordains a midwife to physically be there and help a woman through childbirth God’s spirit is also there guiding the process and this
Is something that we must see all of us were spirits before we were brought on this earth when we read in Genesis the bible says let us make man in our image there was already
An hour in the heavens before man was created on earth so God already has a divine will in place he’s just using people like pawns to bring a greater story about I pray that you understand this this is Ecclesiastes chapter 12 verse 7. man delivers the seed God anoints the spirit
Ecclesiastes 12 7. then shall the dust return to the earth as it was and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it so that dust which represents the body that’s temporary given of men
The spirit which is separate from the body because the body is just a shell that belongs to the Lord the Lord is the one who harbors these spirits and appoints them into the womb at will so when
We read now in Genesis chapter 25 I’m going to give you real examples of this at play right now you might be thinking this is just hocus pocus oh man Uzziah it’s a whole working crew for the baby
That’s a stretch you’re going to see it right here we’re gonna read right now about a man who lied down with a woman and God assisted the process along the way this is Genesis chapter 25 verse 21
And Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife because she was barren and the Lord was entreated of him and Rebecca his wife conceived this does not mean that the Lord had intercourse with Rebecca this means that god allowed the blessing of conception to take place once Isaac lied with her
And the children struggled together within her and she said if it be so why am I thus and she went to inquire of the Lord now wait a minute Isaac was the one that put his seed in Rebecca
Why is she not going to him because it’s the man that implants the sperm it’s God that is the judge of the spirits see what I’m trying to point out to you brothers and sisters this is something
That our fore parents knew from the beginning of time it’s only foreign to us because we’ve never been taught the word we’ve never learned hey a man and a woman could come together and it could seem carnal but God might have been a part of it the whole time that’s the reason why
The scriptures tell us that wisdom will walk with us by crooked ways even in the world they’ll say God works in mysterious ways so we don’t know how God has his hand in things as servants and the children struggled together within her and she said if it be so why am I thus
And she went to inquire of the Lord and the Lord said unto her two nations are in thy womb Isaac couldn’t have told her this this is way over Isaac’s head now just like it was over the head of
Joseph and Mary they could not fathom this is what’s going down right here same miracles are happening right now right now we’re reading a miracle about a man having sex with a woman and then from that conception two nations and superpowers on the earth would create
And the lord said unto her two nations are in thy womb and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels and the one people shall be stronger than the other people and the elder shall serve the younger this is something that only God can do y’all man can’t control that
All matters of life and death is the power of the Lord we just have a small role to play this is in Genesis chapter 4 and verse 1 again many stories tell us this Genesis 4 and 1 and
Adam knew eve his wife and she conceived and bear Cain and said I have gotten a man from the Lord why come people don’t say eve had a virgin birth this was an immaculate conception everybody knows Adam lied down with eve because the commandment was be fruitful and multiply
When did that commandment change I have gotten a man from the lord that does not mean that the Lord was in bed with Adam’s wife it means that God facilitated the process God was the one that gave
The commandment to be fruitful and multiply just like Mary was given a commandment from the angel go do this this and this and this is how the child is coming same thing let’s go to another scripture
This is Genesis chapter 21. verse 1 because I know a lot of y’all are still thinking but why did when it came to Mary the angel said with God nothing is impossible did not the Lord say the same to this woman that we’re about to read right here
Genesis 21-1 and the lord visited Sarah as he had said and the lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken now why does it say as unto the Lord has spoken because Sarah thought it was impossible
How can I be of old age and still have a child Sarah laughed at it but with God nothing is impossible if God says that this is what he’s going to do he’s going to do it
And all we have to do is follow suit that’s the reason why Mary told the angel I’m going to be a handmaiden what you’ve told me in thy word that’s what I’m going to do this is no different with eve
No different with uh Sarah no different with Hannah no different with roof we read scripture after scripture after scripture where God is allowing a man and woman to come together but he’s producing something that is bigger than them genesis 21-1 and the Lord visited Sarah
As he had said and the lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken for Sarah conceived and bear Abraham a son in his old age at the set time of which God spoken to him so everything is on God’s clock yo
God operates on a schedule God knows this is going to be the window of time where you go without this is the time that you’re going to be unmarried you’re going to come together at this time
You’re going to lie together here God puts that in us when you read in the book of Job it tells us that when we are in deep sleep God will seal our instructions on what we’re to do in
The days to come this is everything that we learn about when it comes to Mary for Sarah conceived and bear Abraham a son in his old age at the set time of which God had spoken to him this is God
Showing Sarah that all things are possible with him now let’s go to the book of Ruth this is Ruth chapter 4 verse 13. I want you to notice the pattern so Boaz took ruth and she was his wife and when he went in unto her the Lord gave her conception
And she bear a son that’s not saying that the Lord was the one sexing Boaz’s wife it’s saying that the Lord was the one that guided the process the Lord was the one who facilitated this to happen that’s why it says the Lord gave her a conception if the Lord
Wants something to happen it’ll happen if the Lord doesn’t want something to happen it’s not going to happen but what the Lord doesn’t have to do is be all things to all people he does not need to be a
Woman’s husband because he’s already appointed man to procreate he already gave man commandment to be fruitful and multiply god is the great puppet master in the heavens above saying I want this man to get with this woman they’re going to have this child he’s going to grow up and operate like this
All of this is of the Lord God is the screenwriter we’re just the actors in the film now let’s go to the next verse this is the book of Judges chapter 13. and this is eerily similar to what we read about in the book of Luke Judges chapter 13
Verse 1. and the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the lord and the lord delivered them into the hand of the philistines forty years and there was a certain man of Zorah
Of the family of the Danites whose name was Manoah and his wife was barren and bear not and the angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman and said unto her behold now thou art barren and bearest not but
Thou shall conceive and bear a son now is anybody popping up out of the woodworks at this point and saying oh how’s that going to happen Lord you’re going to come and get in the bed chamber with me nobody is thinking that we’re reading about an angel coming to a woman and saying
You’re going to conceive you’re going to bear a son it hasn’t happened yet but I’m going to tell you how it will take place now therefore beware I pray thee and drink not wine nor strong drink
And eat not any unclean thing for lo thou shall conceive and bear a son and no razor shall come on his head for the child shall be a Nazarite unto god from the womb and he shall begin to deliver
Israel out of the hand of the philistine here we’re reading about a man not conceived yet prophesied to give Israel deliverance out of the hand of their enemies so if this could happen during the time of Judges why don’t you think it would happen during the time of Luke
There’s no new thing under the sun the problem is 99.9% of the people have never been taught the fullness of the bible so all they do is open a book in the middle of
All its writings and say oh look at that an angel came to a woman and then from there a child was born if you knew this history you would know this happened you would know the angel would come to
The woman and give her clear instructions on how she would lie with a man we’re reading about it right here for lo thou shall conceive and bear a son and no razor shall come on his head
For the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the philistines we’re going to read down all the way to verse 13. then the woman came and told her husband hold that then the woman came and told her husband
The angel is going to put something in the ear of the wife the wife’s going to go to the man and then from there the child is going to be born this is common sense then the woman came and told
Her husband saying a man of God came unto me and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God very terrible this goes into what I was saying earlier not kumbaya kisses and hugs
When our four parents saw angels they described them as terrible but I asked him not whence he was neither told he me his name but he said unto me behold thou shalt conceive and bear a son
And now drink no wine nor strong drink this is the angel telling the woman what to do neither eat any unclean thing for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death so the
Same way that a woman might have a midwife and a doula she may also receive godly instruction on how to successfully bring forth a child this is the entire team process of childbirth then Manoah
Entreated the lord and said o my Lord let the man of God which thou didst sinned come again unto us and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born and God hearkened to the voice of
Manoah and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she said in the field but Manoah her husband was not with her and the woman made haste and ran and showed her husband and said unto him
Behold the man hath appeared unto me that came unto me the other day and Manoah arose and went after his wife and came to the man and said unto him art thou the man that spaketh unto the woman
And he said I am and Manoah said now let thy words come to pass how shall we order the child and how shall we do unto him notice this notice how you read nowhere in these verses about Manoah saying
How dare you say something to my woman I’m the man I’m running all of this our forefathers understood you may be the one to hold the sperm but God may use angels in order to
Give instructions on how the child is born this is not a one-man show I mean every time you read in the bible it’s always God utilizing multiple people to accomplish a goal the beginning creation multiple people using a goal Christ coming on the earth having up to 12 disciples setting up 70 more
After them multiple people to accomplish a common goal so why do we then think all it’s going to be in the procreation the birth of a righteous child why do you think that’s just oldest just a woman
She’s just going to you know something’s just going to pop into her and everything is good from there no there’s going to be multiple parties at play and Manoah said now let thy words come to pass how shall we order the child and how shall we do unto him see true godly people
They understand it might be them that’s doing things physically but they’re physical beings in a spiritual world they understand that they could do nothing without the Lord helping to guide the process along the way but the Lord’s part is not sexing the woman the Lord’s part is to give
The blueprint as he’s always done the entire essence of the bible is God laying down a formula for us to follow it’s no different when it came to joseph and Mary and the angel of the Lord said unto Manoah of all that I said unto the woman
Let her beware meaning everything that was told to Manoah’s wife she needed to follow it in order to bring forth a righteous seed that’s no different than what we read about in Luke chapter one as it pertained to Mary that’s the reason why Mary told the angel everything according to thy word
That will I do and that’s the reason why we saw in the word it was promised from God that the Messiah would be born through the seed of David now it’s Mary’s job to live that out so now
We’re going to go to Matthew 1. Matthew 1 also gives an account on the birth of Jesus the Christ but remember now in order for us to understand how Christ was born we gotta know what were the promises concerning Christ’s birth that we read about earlier what were the customs
Of the Jews and what is the chronological timeline of the gospels when we read in Luke chapter one Mary had not conceived when we start to read here this woman Mary is already pregnant Matthew chapter 1 and verse 18 now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise
When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph before they came together she was found with child of the holy ghost again where laypersons get slipped up is they read the words before they came together and they presume that the bible is talking about sex when you read all throughout
The new testament it mentions nothing of sexual activity when the term came together is used hold that let’s go to Matthew 27. this is another chapter in the same book of Matthew where coming together is revealed Matthew chapter 27 and verse 62.
Now the next day that followed the day of the preparation the chief priests and pharisees came together unto pilate when they came together is this talking about an orgy no this is talking about a gathering when people would commune together
The new testament would regard it as coming together being one with another not sexually but in fellowship now we’re going to go back to Matthew 1 and 18. so I can prove what this is saying now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise when as his mother Mary was
Espoused to Joseph before they came together if coming together is about a group gathering this is talking about the wedding typically when a woman is promised to a man there’s going to be a wedding ceremony to commemorate the marriage but again we’re so estranged from all this history not
Even knowing the customs that we don’t understand this word before they came together before the wedding feast she was found with child of the holy ghost the reason why this was a problem is because this is not customary when that’s why in the next verse it reads then Joseph her husband
Being a just man when the scripture says that Joseph is a just man it means it’s a man that keeps god’s laws remember this is a man from the lineage of David he comes from a royal stock he was very learned on the commandments of God the reason why it says
Joseph her husband being a just man and not willing to make her a public example was minded to put her away privately is because of the fact that they had sex before the wedding feast that is a typical custom among Israelite marriages hold that we’re going to go to
Genesis chapter 29 verse 20. now when you read in the law this doesn’t always happen whenever a man uh entices a maid and lies with her some in some cases there’s sex prior to the wedding feast
However I’m going to this verse because I’m trying to show you what the customs were of the Jews from the beginning of time this is Genesis chapter 29 and verse 20 and Jacob served seven years
For Rachel and they seemed unto him but a few days for the love he had to her and Jacob said to Laban give me my wife for my days are fulfilled that I may go unto her now when you read the history
Jacob is the forefather of the 12 tribes Labon is his father-in-law Jacob had to work for Labon for seven years in order to get one wife when you read through the history you read first about our foremother Leah okay but that’s for another time Jacob served seven years
For Rachel and they seemed unto him but a few days for the love he had to her and Jacob said unto Laban give me my wife for my days are fulfilled that I may go in unto her okay Jacob loved this
Woman so much that he was willing to work seven years to get her in marriage he says man pops it’s time man I’ve been working for you for seven years it’s time for me to do what I need to do I’m a man
And Labon gathered together all the men of the place this is they came together before they came together the same thing that you read about in the book of Matthew the coming together represents a group gathering Labon gathered together all the men of the place and made a feast
This was customary according to our customs if you took a woman as a wife uh the ideal way to go about doing that in most cases is you speak with the father you then understand what the needs of the father is whose daughter you want in marriage the father will then
Give instruction on how to receive his blessing and then once it is time for the wedding the men and people of the city will be gathered together in one place and a wedding feast will take place there’s going to be a marriage certificate behold this brother Jacob is married to my wife Leah
May they have many wonderful years together may their marriage be blessed and then there’s going to be a feast along with a bed chamber I’m going get into that in a second but I just want you to
See the customs of the feast when Jacob said unto Laban give me my wife for my days are fulfilled that I may go on going unto her he didn’t just hand uh his daughter over to Jacob and said okay
Go handle your business no there first had to be a gathering from there it was a feast verse 23 and it came to pass in the evening of that feast that he took Leah his daughter and brought her to him
And he went in unto her the bed chamber followed the commemoration of the wedding this was a joyous occasion and see this is the reason why we need to bring this back in these last days because we are so disconnected from how righteous marriages go you can’t wrap your mind
Around this when it comes to the scriptures you can’t understand how there was this controversy during Joseph and Mary’s time because you don’t understand how things go in a traditional sense but that’s Genesis 29 we’re going to go back now to Matthew 1 again Matthew chapter 1
Verse 18. now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise meaning this is how Christ was born when as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph before they had a wedding before they had the marriage feast she was found with child of the holy ghost why would this have been a problem
Because if the woman was pregnant prior to the wedding feast people would have looked at the woman prior to the wedding and spoke ill of her oh this woman is already pregnant who’s she getting sex by this woman is a whore this is the reason why when you go into verse 19
It says Joseph her husband being a just man and not willing to make her a public example was minded to put her away privately the reason why he was minded to put her away privately
Is because he was in fear that if she showed up to this wedding feast pregnant they would talk about her like a dog she would get dogged out and there are laws in the bible about a woman who has lost
Her virginity prior to the wedding feast this is why we must know the customs of the Jews before we talk about the birth of the king of the Jews this is Deuteronomy chapter 22 verse 13. Deuteronomy
Chapter 22 verse 13 reads the following if any man take a wife and go in unto her and hate her and give occasions of speech against her and bring up an evil name upon her and say I took this woman
And when I came to her I found her not a maid then shall the father of the damsel and her mother take and bring forth the tokens of the damsel’s virginity unto the elders of the city in the gate
And the damsel’s father shall say unto the elders I gave my daughter unto this man to wife and he hateth her and lo he hath given occasions of speech against her saying I found not thy daughter a maid and yet these are the tokens of my daughter’s virginity and they
Shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city what is this talking about when you go back to Deuteronomy chapter 22 and verse 13 it says if a man take a wife and go in unto her and hate her
Meaning a man has sex with a woman but he decides he no longer wants her hand in marriage verse 14 and give occasions of speech against her meaning the man who now wants to be loosed from the woman
He will now rail against the woman and make the accusation that she is uh not pure because she’s already been with a man I’m not using the term virgin here for a reason and give occasions of speech against her and bring up an evil name upon her why would the woman
Have had an evil name because up until the wedding ceremony when you’re in the bed chamber the custom is that the woman would have been chased and pure she would have not been out here having sex this is the reason why the father mentions the tokens of virginity but we’re still
At verse 14 and give occasions of speech against her and bring up an evil name upon her and say I took this woman and when I came to her meaning I lied with her I found her not a maid then shall
The father of the damsel and her mother take and bring forth the tokens of the damsel’s virginity unto the elders of the city in the gate the token of the damsel’s virginity represents blood on the bed sheets of the woman’s hymen being penetrated to let it
Be known this woman was a uh which what we would call virgin prior to us having sex when you had the bed chamber in the wedding you would have a bed chamber with a light sheet
Upon the bed so that way when the man lies down with the woman the blood can go into the sheet and then after intercourse it can be delivered unto the father and then the father will then
Show that unto the city as a badge of honor that his daughter is a pure woman rather than a harlot out in the street our forefathers needed some way of signifying that they raised righteous children
So when we read in verse 14 it says and give occasions of speech against her and bring up an evil name upon her and say I took this woman and when I came to her I found her not a maid
Then shall the father of the damsel and her mother take and bring forth the tokens of the damsel’s virginity unto the elders of the city in the gate now why would they have brought that before the elders of the city in the gate because it was on the father now to prove
That his daughter did not in fact have sex prior to dealing with this man the man is making an accusation this woman has already had intercourse the father says nope here’s the sheets right here you’re the one that penetrated her she’s now with blood as the token of a virgin I’m bringing this
Forth before the elders of the city to prove that my daughter was chased this all had to be done because in the ancient world our forefathers would act like the devil and some men to get out of their marriage commitment would potentially lie on their spouses and say that the woman uh
Already lost her virginity when in fact she did not before him this is the reason why when you read in Matthew uh 19 it talks about the men how men divorce their wives for any cause
Verse 17. uh let me go back to verse 15. then shall the father of the damsel and her mother take and bring forth the tokens of the damsel’s virginity unto the elders of the city in the gate
And the damsel’s father shall say unto the elders I gave my daughter unto this man to wife and he hated her and lo he have given occasions of speech against her saying I found not thy daughter a maid and yet these are the tokens of my daughter’s virginity so in a marriage ceremony
The father is supposed to be able to get the bed sheets after intercourse to prove my daughter had virginity and they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city so this was public notice Joseph knew prior to the wedding ceremony well how are we going to do that
I’m there’s not going to be no way I’m gonna be in this bed chamber with you during the feast you’re already gonna be with child and it’s going to come across a certain way you’re gonna be evil
Spoken of that’s the reason why Joseph wanted to put her away privately because you all know how we do as a people y’all know how we talk y’all see again you gotta go back to the ancient world
In the modern day it’s cool in the masses of the people in the world to have sex without marriage that was a shameful thing it’s cool in the modern day you know oh I had this child on my
Own I’m the mother and the father I do it all it didn’t roll like that in the bible in the ancient world if you were impregnated that better had been from your husband after the wedding ceremony but
Not every marriage happened that way and just because it didn’t happen that way it didn’t mean that the husband and wife weren’t righteous or that they were not to deliver a righteous seed there are different laws in the bible that give stipulations about what would happen in certain
Situations and lo he had given occasions of speech against her saying I found not thy daughter a maid and yet these are the tokens of my daughter’s virginity and they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city and the elders of that city shall take that man and chastise him this
Is if this man was lying on the woman and they shall immerse him in a hundred shekels of silver and give them unto the father of the damsel because he hath brought up an evil name upon
The upon a virgin of Israel and she shall be his wife he may not put her away all his days but if this thing be true and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel meaning she did have sex
Prior to all of this then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father’s house and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die because she had wrought
Folly in Israel to play the whore in her father’s house so shall thou put away evil from among you it was a shameful thing for a woman to be with child prior to marriage and those were the intricacies of what Joseph was dealing with before the marriage ceremony
When you read in Matthew 1 Joseph and Mary are already regarded as husband and wife but they had not gone through the formality of a wedding ceremony this was the customs of the Israelite way you cannot understand how Christ was born if you don’t understand the customs of the Jews
So now we go back to Matthew 1 18 it says now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise when as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph before they came together she was found with child of the
Holy ghost then Joseph her husband being a just man and not willing to make her a public example was minded to put her away privately now from here comes the contradiction let’s say that you believe in your mind Mary is the virgin Mary immaculate she’s not lied down with man
How could this have been the case if Joseph her husband being a just man was not willing to make her a public example if Mary was impregnated by anyone but her husband surely that would have been grounds to make her a public example according to the law if we already
Know that Joseph was a just man according to the law of course his recourse out of the marriage would have been a public example look city this woman says she’s a a virgin but look at these bed
Sheets ain’t nothing there I didn’t do it I wasn’t the one that had sex whether somebody else did it surely there is no way in hell that Joseph would have been a just man from the line of David and tolerated entering into a marriage dealing with another man’s son
That’s out of order but y’all know in this modern day we are so busy used to scent behavior it’s hard for men and women to wrap their mind around the fact that if you entered into a marriage uh with a woman and she got pregnant during a time where you’re courting
Her now go remember what we read in Luke 1 when we read in Luke 1 Mary had not conceived yet and she was regarded as promised to Joseph so in between that time that your promise to this man
You go out and have a child by another man what man in his right mind being a just man would not have brought her to shame Joseph her husband being a just man and not willing to make her a public example was minded to put her away privately
Why was he minded to put her away privately because he knows the shame that would have come from people’s judgments with her having already been pregnant at the wedding feast it’s an acknowledgment we didn’t already lie together this is something that a lot of times
Is best happened after the feast just like we read about with Jacob Jacob worked seven years after that the father said okay cool let me gather the people of the city together there’s a father’s honor in that he’s going to gather the city together he’s going to give away his daughter’s
Hand in marriage a feast is going to be declared and then from there you lie in the wedding chamber and because it did not go down like this in this case this is why Joseph was daunted with fear
But verse 20 but while he thought on these things behold the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream saying Joseph thou son of David fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife for that which is conceived in her is of the holy ghost meaning Joseph don’t worry
Just because this is unconventional it doesn’t mean that you’re going to be up against shame the Lord is working with you because he’s chosen you to be the father of the Messiah Mary is now going to conceive from your sperm this is what is already going down you got to put yourself
In the situation if you come into the truth we haven’t seen this happen so many years time and time and time again brother and sister are interested in each other they go through a courtship process they say with their mouths oh yeah you know we’re just gonna
Hold out we’re gonna wait until the wedding we know how to control ourselves month or two later uh yeah um I’m sorry brother um see what had happened was me and brother uh Gedaliah we already kind of did what we did this happens all the time and when it happens there’s a recourse
That needs to be taken to make sure that that marriage is godly at the wedding feast you’re getting the papers the people know about it when two people are just sexing behind closed doors it’s a secret marriage is not supposed to be that way marriage overall is supposed to be
Something that everybody knows this is the reason why there is a marriage certificate to acknowledge who this woman belongs to in marriage and this is the reason why there is a bill of divorce all of this down low stuff that makes you subject to shame this is why the scripture says marriage
Is honorable and all it’s supposed to be a great celebration that the community would rejoice fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife for that which is conceived in her is of the holy ghost the angel is telling Joseph don’t worry Joseph I’m behind this and she shall bring forth a son
And thou shall call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins his people makes reference to his lineage his generation him being from the children of Israel that ha your lineage is given to you through sex through your loins then offspring from one generation to the next
But here we go here’s where the problem comes in now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet saying behold a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel which being interpreted is God
With us when everyone reads this word virgin that’s what makes them think that Mary never had sex but let’s look at what the scholars say behind the use of the word virgin in the text see this is where you have to apply scholarship to your learning when we read in verse 22
Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of by the Lord uh by the prophet saying this is talking about the book of Isaiah during the time of Isaiah it was prophesied a virgin shall be with child and shall bring
Forth a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel which being interpreted is God with us to find the proper reference all you need to do is go to Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14. here’s where we fall off the horse the scholars know the word virgin does not guarantee
That a woman has had sex or not that’s why we’re going to look at this put it on the screen so you can see it with your own two eyes I’m not making none of this up I’m sharing this so that way you
Could see it with your own eyes let’s go now to the word alma okay alma notice Hebrew text is a Hebrew word for a young woman of child bearing age this was the case regarding Mary despite its importance to the account of the virgin birth of Jesus in the gospel of Matthew
Scholars agree that it has nothing to do with virginity but is taken by many to refer rather to a woman who has not yet borne a child it’s telling you right there in plain English from the scholars is telling you right there when everybody reads the word virgin they presume
The woman hadn’t had sex they’re focused on their western world view of the word virgin which to them has been taught a woman who has not been penetrated but when you go off of biblical definitions rather than the world you will come to find that the word
Virgin does not only mean a woman who has not met had sex one of the definitions of the word virgin is a young woman of marriageable age regardless of if she had sex or not
Go and look this up for yourself I’m putting the receipts on here right here for you to see it this is what the scholars are pointing out it says alma which was the word going back to
Virgin in the text in which this was written is a Hebrew word for a young woman of childbearing age despite its importance to the account of the virgin birth of Jesus in the gospel of Matthew scholars agree that it has nothing to do with virginity but it is taken by many to refer
Rather to a woman who has not yet borne a child do you know the reason why it’s taken by many because the world imposes on us its understanding and then we take that and run with it and think
It’s coming out of the bible this is the reason why many of you don’t understand the different meanings of the word world this is the reason why many of you don’t understand what John 3 16 is truly saying this is the reason why many people don’t understand the meaning of the word
Love in its totality because what the world does is they tell you what to think not knowing there are multiple definitions of all these things there’s multiple definitions of the word virgin multiple definitions of the word world multiple definitions of the word love but yet we will be so
Locked into one train of thought that we say nope I’m gonna just stick to whatever definition I got out of Esau school system and surely I can make that square peg fit into a round hole you have to use the bible to understand bible context bible definitions and as we can see
Despite its importance to the account of the virgin birth of Jesus in the gospel of Matthew scholars agreed that it has nothing to do with virginity but it is taken by many to refer rather to a woman who has not yet borne a child so with all thy getting let’s get understanding now
Let’s move back to where we were we’re still in Matthew chapter one do me a favor brothers and sisters please make sure that you smash that like button please make sure that you continue to share
This class Matthew chapter 1 and now we’re going back to verse 21 and she shall bring forth a son and thou shall call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins and let me say
Something else I truly thank all of you brothers and sisters for taking the time to go through this you’ll notice what a lot of people will do is they won’t dedicate the amount of time to actually go through this lesson read the verses for themselves and then come to the conclusion
That Joseph is the biological father of Mary instead what they’ll do is they’ll cut this video on for two seconds say up this goes contrary to what I was taught in the Christian church and they would just go off of what a man told them rather than studying to show themselves
Approved this happens all the time it takes time in order to go through these sayings this is not basic understanding brothers and sisters like I said at the very beginning in order for you to even understand how Christ was born you’ve got to know the promises that were written in prophecy
You’ve got to know the customs of the Jews and you’ve got to know the timeline of the gospels here it says in verse 21 and she shall bring forth a son and shall call his name Jesus for he shall
Save his people from their sins now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet saying behold a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son
And they shall call his name Emmanuel which being interpreted is God with us now if you’re applying critical thinking to what you’re learning the question that should be popping up in your mind is if I want to stay on the understanding that Mary had not had sex in virginity
How do I reconcile that with all of the different precepts I read about Christ being the son of David according to the flesh how do I justify the word talking about he shall come from between the man’s feet how do I justify Samuel saying it’s going to come to the
Seed in thy bowels how do I explain the multitude of verses that I read beyond Isaiah 7 and 14 which says that Christ will come from the seed of David if you are using logic and reason it will
Dawn on you the only way that those scriptures can all work together in harmony is if virgin applies as a young woman of marriageable age not a woman who never had sex a woman who was
Guided by the angel to have sex with a man and that’s how she was able to receive the seed of David through Joseph of David’s lineage that’s the only way that those two things can coincide if you want to say okay Mary no no no no I’m sticking to what I’ve been taught
Out of TD Jake’s church then that means you got to omit the book of acts the book of Romans the book of Samuel the book of Chronicles the book of Genesis all of those books now are a lie just so that way you can stand on the misinterpretation of one verse amongst
A multitude of scriptures this is the reason why the bible commands us to rightly divide the word if it’s saying two different things seemingly the bible is not contradicting itself it’s for you to see how it comes together yes Mary was a virgin in the sense of being a young woman
Of marriageable age and that’s the reason why God had favor upon her among women who had different ages to say okay now you’re going to get with Joseph Joseph’s going to lie with you y’all are
Going to have this child and there you will have Jesus the Christ that is how it all comes together behold a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel which being interpreted is God is with us and you want to know something
We can prove this because if we understand the definition of the word virgin as a young woman of marriageable age we can get through this verse based upon everything else that we’ve read in the bible and the prophecies are still true behold a young woman of marriageable
Age shall be with child and shall bring forth a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel which being interpreted is God is with us that’s true this falls in harmony with the scriptures
But we’ll read on then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had been in him and took unto him his wife and knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son and he
Called his name Jesus this is yet another landmine where people will look and say got you here Uzziah how are you going to get around this one I’m telling you see brothers and sisters this is the reason why we were warned in the book of Peter that they that are unlearned and unstable
Would wrestle with Paul’s writings as they would the other scriptures a lot of us we hang our entire understanding on Paul’s epistles but yet we will reject what Paul said in Romans 1 and 3 about Christ coming according to the seed of David according to the flesh we’ll blot that out
And then we’ll air on the other scriptures of the new testament when saint Matthew says and knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son this does not denote that they never had sex this is simply giving you a chronological timeline on what happened after this point this is the
Reason why I stress the importance of the timeline if you’re going to be a bible scholar you have to acknowledge the context you have to acknowledge the timeline you got to look at things and be
Like okay when this was going on who was in rule who was the king were the Israelites under the Egyptians were they under the Assyrian’s were they under the Babylonians what was the customs you know the Israelites had all these different types of laws civil moral dietary ceremonial sacrificial
How did these laws manifest itself in day-to-day life if you don’t know any of these things but then but then you get raised up in a church that’s just like oh you know Mary just out of
Thin air here come a baby out you’re gonna be lost and that’s the reason why the scripture says ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free I’m gonna go now to um this is in a book of
Y’all bear with me first Samuel chapter one first Samuel chapter one I’m I’m I’m getting this all back we’re getting it all together now y’all know we going through a lot and we almost done but just bear with me as I’ve stated before when we’re reading in this account of the gospels from
Saint Matthew this is not speaking about what’s happening prior to this in verse 25 this is talking about what would happen subsequently after Joseph being raised up from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bitten him we’re learning about what happened after that point but the child the
Woman is already pregnant the child is coming so we need to see okay what is this really saying for any of you that think okay and knew her not till she had brought forth her born son means
He this tells us he never lied with her come look at this this is first Samuel chapter one and we’re going to start at verse uh first Samuel chapter one I wanna see where I wanna start on this this is
Verse 19 and they rose up in the morning early and worshiped before the Lord and returned and came to their house to Ramah and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife and the Lord remembered her wherefore it came to pass when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived
That she bear a son and called his name Samuel saying because I have asked him of the Lord so if we use the argument that a man knowing his wife means this is the first time that they had
Sex surely we would have to plug this into what we’re reading right here Elkanah knew his wife and the Lord remembered her was this the first time that Elkanah and Hannah had sex no when you read in the history of okay night and Hannah Elkanah had two
Wives he had Hannah as one wife and Peninnah as the other Peninnah had Elkanah’s children but Hannah did not have children throughout k9 up to this point because she was barren when you read in verse 5 it reads but unto Hannah he gave a worthy
Portion for he loved Hannah but the Lord had shut up her womb Hannah and Elkanah had sex before but the thing about it is she did not yet have child just because a child is conceived doesn’t mean that that’s the first time a woman had sex come on let’s get real now
You might not know how many times a woman had sex prior to a woman being conceived with child so I’m just wanting to show you brothers and sisters this you may read Matthew opening up the bible right in the middle having never read none of the history that predates this and you could
Come to these assumptions as a layperson but every time we’re going into a scripture I’m showing you no it’s not talking about that it’s talking about this here’s the scripture here’s the verse go and look at it on your own these scriptures said Christ would be
Made through the seed of David the question is how is that going to happen you tell me how it happened I’m going to read Galatians chapter 4 verse 4 Galatians chapter 4 verse 4 but when the fullness of the time was come God sent forth his son made of a woman
Made under the law now I got a question for you say the father actually did this miraculous virgin birth where Mary never had sex and just through a puff of smoke here it is she’s wrought with child how would Christ have been made under the law
Questions you got to ask yourself but when the fullness of the time was come meaning that the lord had a timetable on when Christ was coming into the earth he had a plan this Joseph and Mary thing this was all a part of a divine plan that God orchestrated he told
Uh the prophets the Messiah is coming on the earth through the seed of David we read this all the way back in Genesis 49 the scepter’s not going to depart from Judah nor a law given from between
His feet through the loins of Judah there’s going to be a king there’s going to be a ruler and through David’s seed this particular king is going to reign forever so y’all tell me who it was talking about if it’s not talking about Jesus Christ who’s sitting on the throne of
David forever if it’s not Jesus Christ who has an everlasting kingdom that cannot be destroyed you have to acknowledge the Messiah on that if we’re going to honor the bible if we’re going to say that this man is the king of kings we must acknowledge this is the son of David
Not because it was David himself that light with a woman and then from there Christ was born it was a line of sons as we read about in Chronicles that then ended up down to Christ in the lineage
The same way that it outlines in Matthew chapter one but when the fullness of the time was come God sent forth his son how did he do that he sent the spirit Christ was already here before he came in physical form he dwelt amongst the father in the spirit
World he was already in the third heaven so God sends forth his son how does he do it the same way that he sends every other spirit on the earth he has a man and a woman come together
Through the acts of sex the man gives the sperm God gives the spirit and then from there the child is born the child is created God sent forth the son made of a woman made under the law
Y’all tell me what law you get out of this bible where women are just born or uh women are just uh procreating all these kids pumping out all these kids through hocus pocus show me what law
I’ll stand corrected show me what law God sent forth his son made of a woman made under the law to redeem them that were under the law that’s us that we might receive the adoption of sons this is
Crystal clear anywhere you go old testament or new testament is all saying the same thing that’s the beauty of the bible this is why Christ told us I come in the volume of the book this is the reason
Why in the same chapter where that’s referenced Christ says sacrifice and burnt offering thou what is not but a body thou has prepared how was the body prepared by Joseph lying with Mary creating the shell which comes through a conception from sperm and then from there the spirit was imparted
Christ was already a spiritual presence but he needed a physical body to be made manifest on this earth to die for our sins and it’s crystal clear in the bible if you take the time
To read this is in Hebrews chapter 2 verse 9. I got more scriptures just in case these ain’t clear enough I got more scriptures and more scriptures all praises to the Lord Hebrews chapter 2 verse 9
But when we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor that he by the grace of god should taste death for every man who is this
Talking about Jesus the Christ king of kings Lord of Lords now we jump down to verse 16. for verily he took not on him the nature of angels but he took on him the seed of Abraham how did he
Take on the seed of Abraham because from Abraham Isaac to Jacob Jacob begat Judah Judah begat his sons and then you go over and over into the lineage of David all the way down through Joseph it tell it says right here guys how many scriptures do we really gotta pull for
Verily he took not on him the nature of angels telling you right here wasn’t no angel that was lying down with Mary this wasn’t no angel sperm it was the sperm of a man the man was Joseph
For verily he took not on him the nature of angels but he took on him the seed the seed the sperm the loins of Abraham why is this why was it that it wasn’t just this miraculous thing where up you snap your fingers and oh look there’s a baby no man
Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to god to make reconciliation for the sins of the people for in that he himself have suffered
Being tempted he is able to support them that are tempted now I want you all to look at this when it says wherefore in all things we already understand what that’s talking about all things it behooved him the word behooved mean it’s necessary it is necessary that he be made like
Unto his brethren how how were his brethren made through sex through a man and a woman lying down with each other and then from there a child is born wherefore in all things okay this would have contradicted if Christ was made totally different from how all of his other brothers was made
If it was this miraculous conception wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren see this is what we got to understand brothers and sisters the miracle of the matter is that among all the women in the world the Lord chose Mary to deliver
Christ that’s a great honor but it wasn’t anything beyond God having the angel to give instruction we all know that when it comes to the time of Manoah in the book of judges but then we get to
The new testament for some reason and then just lose our wits wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest
In things pertaining to God you all know what this is saying the reason why Christ had to be made just like everybody else is so that way he could understand the things that we go through
If he was the seed of an angel he would not resonate with the challenges of man I’m not born of an angel I’m come from my father’s seed because I come from a mortal man I have certain
Um thoughts I’m fallible I’m a human being so Christ had to be created as a human being so that way he could understand what human beings go through listen if this was just all about some angel hocus pocus stuff why didn’t the father just leave Christ in the spirit world
Why was it necessary to send that man down unto this earth so that way he could posture himself in a physical body wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren through the act of sex that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining
To God to make reconciliation for the sins of the people for in that he himself had suffered being tempted he is able to secure them that are tempted in order for you to show mercy to me you
Got to know what I’m going through you’ve got to be able to live this out you’ve got to be able to come on this earth and understand what lust feels like you got to understand what anger feels like
Not because you’re some angel that’s holier than thou but because you’re a man like I am a man and you know what it’s like to go through this worldly state that was the entire reason why God said no
No no you ain’t gonna spend all this time just up in the heavens you want to get out here with the rest of these people and see what this world is really about and then if you endure through that
And die for the sins of the people then I’m going to sit you at my right hand that’s how the father orchestrated it but he couldn’t have orchestrated it if Christ was so disconnected from us that’s why in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren
So now we’re gonna go to the Wisdom of Solomon some of y’all already know about this verse some of y’all don’t I just wanted to go through a whole series of scriptures before we even brought this out if y’all didn’t believe nothing else that the bible says you better believe this now remember
The prophecy from the book of Samuel in Chronicles is that through David’s loins there would reign a king to rule forever from a physical presence we know that David brought forth his son Solomon we’re going to go into the Wisdom of Solomon to see what Solomon from the seed of David
David’s biological son said about the virgin birth this is the Wisdom of Solomon the seventh chapter and the first verse in the apocrypha I myself also am a mortal man like to all and the offspring of
Him that was first made of the earth and in my mother’s womb was fashioned to be flesh in the time of ten months being compacted in blood of the seed of man and the pleasure that came with sleep
And when I was born I drew in the common air and fell upon the earth which is of like nature and the first voice which I uttered was crying as all others do I was nursed in swaddling clothes
And that with cares for there is no king that had any other beginning of birth now you might look at this and of course in the spirit of gain saying say well didn’t Solomon physically come before Jesus the Christ on earth you keep talking about this
Timeline and the chronology why aren’t you talking about how Solomon came before Christ and if Solomon came before Christ then maybe it would make sense that he didn’t see any other king be born through any other way because Jesus the Christ the king of kings he came after Solomon
I hear your thought let’s jump down into the chapter verse 17 this is still Solomon speaking for he have given me certain knowledge of the things that are namely to know how the world was made and the operation of the elements the beginning ending and midst of times
The alterations of the turning of the sun and the change of seasons so I want you all to see this and you know what I’m also get verse 21 and all such things as are either secret or manifest them
I know now look at this Moses knew about the coming of Christ scripture says a prophet shall be raised like unto me to thy brethren uh Isaiah knew it said the diversion would be in child that was Isaiah 7 and 14. all these different old testament prophets knew it
But Solomon who was shown the beginning middle and in the times he didn’t know about the Messiah Solomon the same descendant who actually lived immediately after David who was groomed by David and David told him directly show himself a man Solomon didn’t know
That there was going to be another king to come on this earth after he was gone Solomon saw all of this for he had given me certain knowledge of the things that are namely to know how the world was made and you know what’s so heavy about that
Solomon could not know how the world was made had he not known Christ because Christ made the world Christ was there from the beginning when the world was made so he knows Christ better than we do in this mortal form there’s so many wonderful things that was shown to Solomon and Paul that
We cannot even understand is too wonderful for us so if Solomon is going on record and saying I have knowledge of the things that are mainly to know how the world was made Christ created it and the operation of the elements the beginning ending in midst of the times
How could God show the end of time if he can’t show Christ that represents the end of time how can you have knowledge about the times but you don’t know the story of a man’s life who literally altered time we’re living in 2022 a.d the a.d is after the death of Christ
So Solomon had to know all of this and what did Solomon say after being shown all of that for there is no king that had any other beginning of birth he outlines it all the way from verse one
Down to verse 4 letting you know how men come into this earth I myself also am a mortal man like to all and the offspring of him that was made first of the earth okay Adam then down and in my mother’s womb was fashioned to be flesh in the time of ten months
Being compacted in blood of the seed of man and the pleasure that came with sleep and when I was born I drew in the common air and fell upon the earth which is of like nature and the first
Voice which I uttered was crying as all others do this goes back to what we read about in Hebrews wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren Christ had to come
From seed he had to be compacted in blood there had to be time that he was in his mother’s womb and then from there he would take in the common air and the first voice in which he uttered was
Crying as all others do this is the reason why even when you look at the life of Christ you see that he began his ministry at 30. you don’t see Christ coming right out the mother’s womb okay watch me walk on water watch me you know come and declare all these wonderful things
It didn’t happen that way why because it had to be documented that Christ came out just like everyone else did through the act of sex and Christ himself had to be groomed by parents as that of us
It was behooved that it was done that way in all things now let me show you guys where all this stems from let me show you where the modern day uh programming of the immaculate conception and the virgin birth all stems from this all stems from
The Roman catholic church what many of us don’t realize is that there’s a difference between the bible referring to Christians that followed Christ versus the the creation of the religion of Christianity that was established in Rome bible Christian Rome Christianity we’re not
The descendants of Rome we’re the descendants of the children of Israel so we got to go to the bible rather than man-made religions to understand what the bible is saying this is the reason why we never impose any uh man-made denominations or man-made traditions but rather if we say something
We have to be justified from the word of God God did not give us religions he gave us commandments so now when we deal with this virgin birth right as we understand it this is what you have to see
You have to see that the interpretation of mother Mary it all comes from the roman catholic church look at this the four marian dogmas this is from catholic school learning the first dogma now what does the word dogma mean this means that these are accepted beliefs throughout the entire
Umbrella of Christianity whether you are catholic whether you are seven day adventist whether you are baptist whether you are kogic when the roman catholic church establishes a dogma it is a belief that is imposed to every denomination in the Christian world the Christian
Theology this is the reason why they have something called the world council of churches when all of these various denominational leaders will come together to learn what things they are mandated to teach as per Roman catholic order the four marian dogmas
One her divine motherhood early church upheld by the council of Ephesus in 431 a.d this is coming out 431 years after Christ perished wow a lot of things could change from from then a lot of things and that takes us to a whole other class that we got to do
About Paul’s letters about a great falling away we’ll deal with that another time Mary is properly called the mother of God because her son Jesus Christ is both true God and true man never did Christ give up his two natures since his incarnation her perpetual virginity
Early church upheld by the church fathers the incarnation of Jesus did not spoil the virginity of Mary God preserved her virginity before during and after the birth of Christ she remained a virgin for life so here it is we go through scripture after scripture where the scriptures say
Joseph is the husband of Mary Roman catholic church says nope this is just a virgin that just did her own thing now again brothers and sisters what are getting good understanding for someone to be husband and wife how do they consummate the marriage how is there a shift from
We’re promised together I’m espoused to you we’re betrothed to now okay I’m your husband now there has to be a consummation and even when you read in the scriptures this is not even Mary’s only child
But this is the reason why the bible says we ought to obey God rather than men but the roman catholic church created a dogma to say she remained a virgin for life her immaculate conception early church formerly defined by pope Pius the ninth in 1850 come on y’all
See y’all gotta y’all gotta want this to be the doctrine and let some of this stuff fly okay all of this is of the Lord but this is not defined until 1854 almost 2
000 years after the man is gone I mean it’s almost 2 000 years from the time that the man was born why do you need to 2000 years if it was evident to everybody that this was the case
Why would it need to be formally defined in any way outside the bible I thought I thought God has already given the definition he’s this is the reason why the bible says add not unto thy word except he reproved thee and thou be found a liar her immaculate conception
Early church formally defined by pope we now read about no pope pius in the bible uh 9 in 1854 in Mary God prepared a dwelling place for the incarnation of Jesus at the first moment of her conception in the womb of her mother saint anne Mary was preserved free from all staying
Of original sin wow that’s heavy her assumption body and soul early church formally defined by pope pius the 12th in 1950 some of y’all got parents that’s older than these doctrines coming out but you hold on to them as though they were gospel Mary being the immaculate ever
Virgin mother of God after finishing the course of her life on earth was taken up body and soul to heaven free from the stain of original sin her body was not subject to decay okay and also by the way before we get off this I just want you to happen to notice
The images that you see on the screen how convenient and see there’s the reason why when all of you say color doesn’t matter you don’t realize that the iconoclasm is camouflaged under the changing of doctrines it’s not just the images that were changed of the prophets
It was also the traditions and the customs this is the reason why so many people celebrate holidays that they cannot reference out of the bible all of this comes from the traditions of men but when Christ was on the earth he spoke against the traditions of men
Knowing the evils they could bring about this is the reason why Christ warned us false Christ shall arise in so much that they will deceive the very elect and we’ve been deceived my brothers and sisters and the only way that we can come back to truth is if we believe
On Christ as the scriptures say so as we close this out we’re going to go to Luke this is Luke chapter 6 verse 38 before all this stuff got changed back in 1800 a.d 1950 how did the people who actually walked the earth with Christ know Christ to be
In terms of how he was born this is the book of Luke the sixth chapter and the 38th verse it’s uh uh give me one quick second y’all give me one quick second do me a favor y’all while we’re doing this please make sure that y’all smash that like button
If you have not yet done so please make sure that you uh subscribe and turn on the notification bell so that way you can tune in to more classes from our church okay notice this this is in the book of John John chapter 6 verse 38 for I came down from heaven
Not to do mine own will but the will of him that sent me and this is the father’s will which hath sent me that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing but should raise it up
Again at the last day and this is the will of him that sent me that everyone which seeth the son and believeth on him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day
The Jews then murmured at him because he said I am the bread which came down from heaven and they said is not this Jesus the son of Joseph whose father and mother we know how is it then that he saith I came down from heaven when Christ spoke he spoke in parables
It was not for everyone to understand here the people murmured because they’re like what is this guy saying I came down from heaven I know who his father is you gotta understand this is community okay imagine now you don’t think at any point Joseph would have said well you know what guys
Ah I’m sorry I’m not really the father because an angel he was the one that put that seed in my wife and from there the child was born don’t call me the father I’m just this random guy that’s
Somewhere in the midst of this how was Joseph the father Joseph is the father because he imparted his seed in Mary his wife and they said is not this Jesus the son of Joseph see a lot of y’all
Think my people part of the reason why it was so hard for the Jews to receive Christ as the Messiah is because he came from humble beginnings it wasn’t like there was this larger than
Life oh my God look at the sky is cracked open here comes Christ now on a silver platter no he came from Nazareth and people said the Messiah is born and he came out of Nazareth can any good
Thing come from out of there we got to understand familiarity breeds contempt this is the reason why Christ said a prophet is not without honor except amongst his own people everybody is astonished at
Him talking about he’s come from heaven we’re like yo I know who your father is I know who your mama is I know you daddy is you’re just like the rest of us that’s why it behooved him to be made like
Unto his brethren in all things that was a part of the miracle and real quick I almost forgot which would have been more impressive Christ being conceived of an angel sperm and then coming on this earth and walking without sin or him being created just like the rest of us
And overcoming all trials in temptation what would have been more miraculous a man just like us growing up in the same cities dealing with the same challenges enduring all of the temptations that we received from our youth up and overcoming them
Or this story about this angelic child who was just made out of a pillar of smoke and then from there he looked at all of the servants among him and said oh you little peasants you deal with
Lust but I don’t know what that is I’m without sin no the reason why Christ was born this way is because God had to show forth the amazing wonders of a man coming on this earth in the flesh and then overcoming all of the trials of
Man this is the reason why Christ is called the son of man because he was born from a man and they said is not this Jesus the son of Joseph whose father and mother we know
Okay how could they have said they knew this father if it was some angel for far off they knew the man that impregnated Mary how is it then that he saith I came down from heaven see these
Were all things that a lot of our people they couldn’t wrap their mind around like remember whenever Christ was talking to Nicodemus and he was talking about being born again Nicodemus thought okay well is he a man going to go into his mother’s womb for a second time how
Is all this going to happen Christ is speaking uh uh symbolically while living in a physical state and it was up to us to learn it that’s the reason why it was given unto the disciples to understand
Speaking of the disciples what did they think when they saw Jesus the Christ they walk with the man surely they know more about him than we do John chapter 1 verse 45 Philip findeth Nathaniel
And sayeth unto him we have found him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did right Jesus of Nazareth the son of Joseph and Nathaniel said unto him can there any good thing come out of Nazareth Philip said unto him come and see that was a part of the miracle
The miracle was the Messiah who brings deliverance to the people is going to come from one of the most wretched of plays from a place you would not expect everybody’s thinking oh man surely the Messiah he’s going to come in on this high horse in this angelic robe
All of us are going to see him and behold his great wonders no Christ didn’t come like that he came out of Nazareth because it was a stumbling block for people to truly see wow good things do come from humble beginnings that’s the reason why Zachariah tells you not to despise it don’t
Despise humble beginning because you don’t know what could come out of this you think okay this is just Joseph yeah we know him that’s our guy but you don’t realize the Lord is going to move joseph
To then procreate the Messiah it’s God’s spirit that’s coming into this womb but God is going to use men on earth to fulfill his will okay now we’re going to go to Luke chapter 2 verse 48 Luke chapter 2 verse 48 please watch this class over and take good notes
It reads and when they saw him they were amazed um let me let me bring this back let me bring this back I’m not even gonna do it like that I’m gonna bring it up a little bit earlier just so y’all can walk with me into this point
Luke chapter 2 verse 41 now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover and when he was 12 years old they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast and when they had fulfilled the days as they returned the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem and
Joseph and his mother knew not of it but they supposing him to have been in the company went a day’s journey and they sought him among their kins folk and acquaintance and when they found him
Not they turned back again to Jerusalem seeking him and it came to pass that after three days they found him in the temple sitting in the midst of the doctors both hearing them and asking questions and all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers
And when they saw him they were amazed and his mother said unto him son why has thou dealt with us behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing so Mary now she regards this man Joseph as the father if anybody would know who the father is Mary would be it
Mary then says thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing why joseph don’t pop out of thin air I ain’t the father do you I never had sex with you what are you talking about this is what everyone understood when Christ was on the earth long before
Pope pius long before Christianity under the roman catholic church the true believers of the word that actually followed Christ this was the understanding they had the disciples had it the Jews had it Mary who had the boy had it
But you know what they all got it wrong us here in 2022 who’ve been following after the pope who said that Jesus Christ is a white man with blond hair and blue eyes they’ve got the right understanding everybody else in the bible who actually saw this they they’re all wrong they’re all off
And how crazy for scripture after scripture to go out and nobody correct none of this heresy and when they saw him they were amazed and his mother said unto him son why hast thou dealt with us behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing she’s giving Joseph the the president
She’s deferring to Joseph your father and I if this was if Joseph was a nobody it would have been all on Mary hey me and this dude that I’m with we was looking for you know thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing were your parents we birthed you
And he said unto them how is it that ye sought me wist ye not that I must be about my father’s business and they understood not the saying which he spake unto them now why wouldn’t they understand that guys could it be they didn’t understand it
Because Christ was referencing somebody outside of his biological father could it be that they didn’t understand it if Joseph who Mary is regarding as the father right here is right in front of the child confronting him and then he says I got to be about my father’s business what business son
I didn’t give you this business to stay up here in Jerusalem we came up here for the Passover now it’s time to go back he’s speaking about somebody else that they don’t know I mean this is so clear once the spirit really kicks in this is the reason why when you read in
The 48th verse of this chapter the word father has a lowercase f then when you read in the 49th verse it’s referring to an uppercase F the lowercase f from verse 48 is referring to the biological father the man who gave the seed the 49th verse is giving an uppercase F
Acknowledging the spiritual Father in heaven who’s the heavenly Father to us all that’s making reference to the man that put the spirit in the womb these are making reference to two different things there is a biological father and then there is a heavenly Father that we are
All subject to maybe you don’t see it we’re gonna go to another verse in the new testament this is in uh Hebrews Paul’s epistle to the Hebrews Hebrews chapter 12 verse 9. I want y’all to notice this furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us and we
Gave them reverence shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits and live now when Paul is writing here and using the word Father is he talking about two different people or is he talking about the same person there’s the fathers of our flesh which correct us as Joseph
Did and then there’s the Father of spirits that gives eternal life there’s a distinction one from the other these were all beliefs that our forefathers understood but us being estranged from the bible in the modern day there is no way that we could ever wrap our mind around
You’re going to have a biological father and you’re going to have a Father of spirits Jesus had a biological father the same way that David did Jesus also had a Father of spirits just like
We do we are all accountable to that man the head of every man is Christ the head of Christ is THE MOST HIGH this is a common understanding y’all but I’m telling you we’re so warped we think knowing that you’re Israel is a big deal you don’t realize throughout this entire bible nobody
Was really that geeked up and knowing that there the Israelites the bible speaks of it was common knowledge but we’ve been destroyed for a lack of knowledge so much this is like trigonometry to us
And this is the reason why we must repent this is the reason why we must endure to the end because the Lord is going to show us all things we know important prophesy in part now but in that day
When the Messiah returns he’s going to bring all things to our remembrance as well as our understanding and a lot is being brought to us right now and it’s in the prophecy but some will
See it and some won’t this is Matthew chapter 13 verse 53 we’re going to close it out right here Matthew chapter 13 verse 53 now some of you may be watching this from the roman catholic church
Um and you might be saying to yourself wow this is one of the biggest abominations I have ever seen how dare this man get on here and say that Mary wasn’t you know in her virginity and she had
Never had sex let’s look at this verse right here Matthew chapter 13 verse 53 and it came to pass that when Jesus had finished these parables he departed thence and when he was coming to his own country he taught them in their synagogue in so much that they were astonished and said
Whence have this man wisdom and these mighty works is not this the carpenter’s son who is the carpenter y’all the angel is the is the carpenter some somebody floating in the sky somewhere with a halo on their head no this is talking about Joseph Christ learned how to be a carpenter from his
Biological father the biological father he’s going to train the child is not this the carpenter’s son is not his mother called Mary now how do you think that all these different Jews are able to link Joseph and Mary together because when marriages took place it was common knowledge
For everybody to know it was it was not commonly understood among the Jews oh okay Mary’s are far off over here and she just had a baby on her own y’all we don’t know who the daddy is it’s somebody
From outer space that wasn’t the understanding is not this the carpenter’s son is not his mother called Mary and his brethren the the the siblings that they had more children with and his brethren James and Joseph and Simon and Judas and his sisters and had plenty kids are they not all
With us so now this puts us even more through a whirlwind because okay was it the virgin birth just for Jesus or was it the virgin birth for all of these children that married and had every last
One of these children married and had here it is Joseph he’s just sitting up watching somebody else baby after baby after baby after baby I’m righteous though I’m a just man come on man with all thy getting get understanding wisdom is the principal thing and it is high time for us to
Come back to this bible I pray that you brothers and sisters uh learned something were edified and you will use this class as inspiration to get closer to Christ according to the scriptures and with that brothers and sisters we say shalom okay thank you so much for all of you tuning in
If you have yet to do so please make sure you smash that like button uh make sure that you turn on the notification bell so you can receive an alert every time that we do another class there’s still a lot to go over brothers and sisters but we need your support
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Feel free to leave a comment and Lord’s will we will see you guys on the next lesson until next time we wish you peace and blessings may you and your households be blessed shalom
SPROUL: The New Testament is not suggesting that a virgin walks down the street and on her own strength and her own power suddenly conceives a child Of all of the miracles in the New Testament—the miracles of Jesus walking on the water, turning
Water into wine, feeding five thousand people, raising people from the dead, and so on—there’s one miracle story that seems to have been singled out for particular controversy, and that being His virgin birth. I mean, there have been furious debates, particularly in our
Day, over the credibility of the New Testament documents at the very beginning of Jesus’ life, because the New Testament presumes to teach that Jesus was born of a virgin. Now, some have tried to argue that the text doesn’t really teach it,
But that seems to be an act of despair to support it. But others just say, “Well, this is part of the mythical surroundings of the New Testament documents that no scientific, educated, sophisticated person in the twentieth century could ever believe.” Because if there’s
Anything that we know through our research and our understanding of the biological process, the system of reproduction, it’s this: that virgins don’t have babies. That it takes two people, male and a female. It takes the egg to be fertilized by the sperm in order for a baby
To be conceived—in vitro or ex vitro, doesn’t matter. It still takes both sides. A virgin, in and of herself, cannot conceive and have a baby. That is an inflexible, unbreakable natural law. And so anyone who would argue to the contrary must be involved in fantasy, legend, or myth.
But dear friends, let me say in the first instance that the New Testament is not suggesting that Jesus is born “”de”” like Athena out of the head of Zeus—that a virgin walks down the street and on her own strength and her own
Power suddenly conceives a child, and this child then is born and becomes the Messiah. No, it’s not as if we have a biological wonder that seeks to produce something out of nothing, that we can have the process of birth and the advent of life from no cause,
No power. But rather, the New Testament is saying, “Yes, indeed. There is a normal power, a normal facility, by which the race is propagated and the species replenished that we call the reproductive system. And there is a power unleashed through the reproductive process.”
The New Testament’s saying is that that power that we have in normal categories of nature has been set in motion and injected into this planet by a superpower that we call God, whose power stands behind all of creation, all of life.
Without the power of God, there can be no egg, there can be no sperm, there can be no life at all. The great miracle comes from the naturalist today who tells us that the world popped into existence on its own power. That’s the virgin birth of the
Whole universe. They deny the virgin birth that God Himself brings about by this power, this virgin birth, a very small thing for the Lord of heaven and earth to accomplish, indeed. And those who deny it put in its place the virgin birth of the universe. It’s incredible
That we have this kind of thinking going on, but it’s there and we have to confront it every day. But the point I want to make is this, that the New Testament says power stood behind the birth of Christ, but it was not the potency
Of Joseph that generated this child, but the potency of God the Father.”
