"So Let it Be Written... So Let it Be Done"

The life and times of a real, down to earth, nice guy. A relocated New Englander formerly living somewhere north of Boston, but now soaking up the bright sun of southwestern Florida (aka The Gulf Coast) for over nine years. Welcome to my blog world. Please leave it as clean as it was before you came. Thanks for visiting, BTW please leave a relevant comment so I know you were here. No blog spam, please. (c) MMV-MMXIX Court Jester Productions & Bamford Communications

Friday, December 23, 2005

Matthew 1:18-2:23 NIV

The Birth of Jesus Christ
18This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[a] because he will save his people from their sins."

22All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"[b]—which means, "God with us."

24When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Matthew 2
The Visit of the Magi

1After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi[c] from the east came to Jerusalem 2and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east[d] and have come to worship him."
3When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ[e] was to be born. 5"In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written:

6" 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'[f]"

7Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."

9After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east[g] went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. 12And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

The Escape to Egypt
13When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him." 14So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son."[h]
16When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

18"A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more."[i]

The Return to Nazareth
19After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead."
21So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene."

Footnotes:

Matthew 1:21 Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua, which means the LORD saves.
Matthew 1:23 Isaiah 7:14
Matthew 2:1 Traditionally Wise Men
Matthew 2:2 Or star when it rose
Matthew 2:4 Or Messiah
Matthew 2:6 Micah 5:2
Matthew 2:9 Or seen when it rose
Matthew 2:15 Hosea 11:1
Matthew 2:18 Jer. 31:15

Reprinted from www.biblegateway.com

3 Comments:

At 24 December, 2005 10:19, Blogger Genna said...

Thank you for posting this. Many people forget what the season is all about. A few years ago, my daughter and I started a new tradition for us--we actually have birthday cake for Jesus. It puts it all into perspective.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! :O) Have a great time with your kids.

 
At 24 December, 2005 10:44, Blogger Tim said...

genna: that sounds like a really cool tradition.

Happy holidays to you too, my friend. Be safe and God Bless.

 
At 02 January, 2006 02:53, Blogger American Guy said...

funny - my family has the same tradition (i come from a very catholic family) they also do a thing where one person reads the bible bit that Linus made famous (And that's what christmnas is all about, Charlie Brown). A few years back, one of my cousins did the reading and the family brought out the cake, then he deadpanned (in complete sincerity) "Who's birthday is it?"

 

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