“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt...”
Jeremiah 31:31-32
This New Covenant (New Testament) begins with the genealogy from Abraham...
Jeremiah 31:31-32
This New Covenant (New Testament) begins with the genealogy from Abraham...
...to Judah, from Judah to David, and from David to Jesus (Matthew 1:1-16).
In the town of Nazareth, there was a young virgin girl, named Mary, who was engaged to a man named Joseph. But before they would marry, the angel Gabriel appears to Mary, announcing that she will give birth to a Son and that she will name Him Jesus ["Yeshua," in Hebrew], meaning "God is salvation." That her child will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob [Israel] forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end (Luke 1:26-38).
After the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, Mary goes to visit her elderly cousin Elizabeth, who was carrying the messenger that would prepare the way of the Lord (Isaiah 40:3). John, the baby in Elizabeth's womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, confirm that Mary is mother of our Lord. Mary stays with Elizabeth for 3 months, and then returns home (Luke 1:39-56).
As any man would be, Joseph is appalled when he sees his fiancée with child. Assuming she has been with another man, Joseph makes plans to divorce her. But one evening, an angel of the Lord appears to him in a dream, and tells him “For that which is conceived in Mary is from the Holy Spirit [a miraculous, divine act in which Jesus' human nature was brought into existence directly through the power of the Holy Spirit, without the involvement of a human father]. She will bear a Son and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:18-25).
In those days, Caesar Augustus sent out a decree that all the world should be registered, thus requiring every person to return to the town of their ancestral lineage. So Joseph, being from the house of David, prepares to travel to Bethlehem to register himself and Mary, as his wife. This will be a 90-mile up and downhill journey across the desert, with pregnant Mary likely riding on the back of a donkey.
When they finally arrive, due to the census, Bethlehem is overcrowded. Every available room has been taken. Joseph and Mary agree to take the only space left, which is in a stable. And while they are there, the labor pains begin (Luke 2:1-6).
To be continued...
In the town of Nazareth, there was a young virgin girl, named Mary, who was engaged to a man named Joseph. But before they would marry, the angel Gabriel appears to Mary, announcing that she will give birth to a Son and that she will name Him Jesus ["Yeshua," in Hebrew], meaning "God is salvation." That her child will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob [Israel] forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end (Luke 1:26-38).
After the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, Mary goes to visit her elderly cousin Elizabeth, who was carrying the messenger that would prepare the way of the Lord (Isaiah 40:3). John, the baby in Elizabeth's womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, confirm that Mary is mother of our Lord. Mary stays with Elizabeth for 3 months, and then returns home (Luke 1:39-56).
As any man would be, Joseph is appalled when he sees his fiancée with child. Assuming she has been with another man, Joseph makes plans to divorce her. But one evening, an angel of the Lord appears to him in a dream, and tells him “For that which is conceived in Mary is from the Holy Spirit [a miraculous, divine act in which Jesus' human nature was brought into existence directly through the power of the Holy Spirit, without the involvement of a human father]. She will bear a Son and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:18-25).
In those days, Caesar Augustus sent out a decree that all the world should be registered, thus requiring every person to return to the town of their ancestral lineage. So Joseph, being from the house of David, prepares to travel to Bethlehem to register himself and Mary, as his wife. This will be a 90-mile up and downhill journey across the desert, with pregnant Mary likely riding on the back of a donkey.
When they finally arrive, due to the census, Bethlehem is overcrowded. Every available room has been taken. Joseph and Mary agree to take the only space left, which is in a stable. And while they are there, the labor pains begin (Luke 2:1-6).
To be continued...