December 25, 2022

The Birth of John the Baptist and Jesus Foretold. He Shall Be Called Immanuel, God With Us. What Was Mary’s Lineage? Did You Know Jesus Christ Is A Descendant Of David And Tribe Of Judah.

The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

5. In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6. Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly. 7. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years.

8. Once when Zechariah's division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9. he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.

11. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13. But the angel said to him: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. 14. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15. for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. 16. Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. 17. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

18. Zechariah asked the angel, "How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years."

19. The angel answered, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time."

21. Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. 22. When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.

23. When his time of service was completed, he returned home. 24. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. 25. "The Lord has done this for me," she said. "In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people."
The Birth of Jesus Foretold

26. In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27. to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."

29. Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33. and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

34. "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"

35. The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37. For nothing is impossible with God."

38. "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

39. At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40. where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. 41. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42. In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43. But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44. As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"
I added the pictures above to the message I shared below.
I want to emphasize that the angel of the LORD is speaking to Joseph in the scripture above. I would also like to make clear that the Holy Spirit is male not female because He impregnated Mary. And biological women don't have sperm aka seed. I hear it a lot where people want to imagine the Holy Spirit as a female energy. But they have created their own deity that is not of God almighty aka Yahweh. Furthermore, if the Holy Spirit is God almighty Himself than God is male not female and Jesus Christ, a biological male, is God almighty made flesh to walk among us, than that further confirms that God almighty is male not female. That is the evil demonic spirit of Lilith trying to corrupt  and mislead people from worshipping the one true God in the highest, the God of heaven and earth, the God of Ages. (emphasis mine)

[source: TheWordOfTruth.org]

In the first chapter of Matthew, Joseph the carpenter is visited by an angel who gives him an important message. Joseph had been thinking about what he should do because Mary was pregnant–and he knew the child was not his.
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. 21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. 22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 23 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. (Matthew 1:20-23)
There are three critical points regarding the divine nature of Jesus in these verses. First, Mary conceived a child “of the Holy Ghost”. This pregnancy was unusual to say the least. There was no human father who impregnated her. Rather, Jesus was conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit. The fact that Mary was a virgin is well established in Scripture, both in Matthew 1:23 and in the prophecy Matthew quotes.
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)
In addition, Mary herself admits this fact.
And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? (Luke 1:31, 34)
So the Holy Spirit, Who is also divine, brought about Mary’s miraculous conception of Jesus. So the sin nature of mankind was not passed down to Jesus. (Romans 5:12; Hebrews 4:15) This is vital to the doctrine of Jesus’ divinity.

Second, the child’s name is “Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21) Only God can forgive sin. (Jeremiah 31:34; Mark 2:7; Luke 5:21; Romans 3:25) And that is exactly what Jesus did. He removed our sin from us and nailed it to His cross. (Colossians 2:14) Jesus’ name means “Jehovah is salvation”. That’s Who He is. He is Jehovah. He is salvation. He is the One Who saves us from our sins.

Third, Jesus is called “Emmanuel”. As Matthew 1:23 states, this name means “God with us”. Jesus was the personification of God Himself. This is consistent with John 14:9 where Jesus tells Philip, “he that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” The angel revealed to Joseph that the child in Mary is God in the flesh.
I added the picture above to the message below.

[source: GotQuestions.org]

ANSWER

It is common knowledge that the genealogies contained in Matthew and Luke differ. Most conservative Bible commentators explain the difference by holding that Jesus’ genealogy in Matthew 1:1–16 is traced through Joseph’s line to show Jesus’ royal right to the Davidic throne; correspondingly, the genealogy in Luke 3:23–38 traces Jesus’ ancestry through Mary’s line. This means that Mary’s lineage is recorded in the Gospel of Luke.

Mary’s lineage, as recorded by Luke, does not mention Mary, but that’s to be expected—including women’s names in genealogies was not standard practice. It begins this way: “[Jesus] was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph, the son of Heli” (Luke 3:23). This comment affirms the truth of Jesus’ virgin birth (see Luke 1:29–38). Joseph was a “son” of Heli by virtue of his marriage to Mary, who would have been the daughter of Heli (Matthew 1:16 lists Joseph’s biological father as Jacob).

Some notable points in Mary’s lineage are that she was a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Luke 3:34); she was specifically of the tribe of Judah (verse 33). She was also a descendant of Boaz (verse 32) and David (verse 31). Significantly, Luke traces Mary’s lineage all the way back to Adam (verse 38). This fits with Luke’s purpose as he wrote to Gentiles and emphasized that Jesus is the Son of God who came to save all people (cf. Luke 2:10–11).

Another issue relating to Mary’s lineage is her relation to Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. Luke says that Mary was related to Elizabeth, who was in the tribe of Levi (Luke 1:5, 36). An argument sometimes put forward by those who deny the credentials of Christ is that, if Mary was Elizabeth’s “cousin,” then Mary must also have been a Levite. Some translations, such as the KJV, do state that Mary was the “cousin” of Elizabeth (Luke 1:36). However, the English word cousin does not have to imply a close relation, and other versions of the Bible translate the word as “relative” (NKJV, ESV, CSB, BSB). Even if Elizabeth and Mary were close relatives, it was still possible for them to be of different tribes, as women were identified with their father’s tribe, not their mother’s. Elizabeth’s father was a Levite, making her a Levite by birth, but her mother may have been of Judah. Conversely, Mary’s mother may have been a Levite and kin to Elizabeth’s family, while Mary’s father was of Judah. Luke’s genealogy shows that Heli, whom we assume to be Mary’s father, was a direct descendant of Judah, not Levi. In addition, the angel Gabriel affirmed Jesus’ Judean lineage, telling Mary that “he will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David” (Luke 1:32, NLT). David was of the tribe of Judah.

Regardless of Mary’s specific lineage, that Jesus is a descendant of David and Judah is beyond doubt. Other Bible verses also point to the fact of Judah being the tribe of Jesus’ heritage, as the rightful Messiah and Savior of all (Hebrews 7:14; Revelation 5:5).

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