Talk of JESUS . com

Category: 4 Gospels + Good News of the NEW Testament

What are the Gospels?

FOUR Gospels:

GOOD NEWS! (That’s what Gospel means.)

Matthew, Mark, Luke & John begin the New Testament proclaiming the Good News of Israel’s long-awaited Messiah and talk of JESUS Christ.

The four Gospels are first hand witness + proclaiming GOOD NEWS

  • by two Jewish Apostles of the Messiah JESUS, Matthew & John
  • Two gentile (non-Jewish) followers of THE WAY of Jesus Christ, Mark & Luke, who proclaim the GOSPEL recorded from witness of Peter, Paul and other Apostles and disciples of JESUS in the first century.

READ the Good News of the Messiah and Savior Jesus from accounts of His twelve Apostles & others witnessing the resurrection of the Lord Jesus from the four Gospels of the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

SHARE the Gospel

  • with your Christian friends and those who do not yet believe in JESUS CHRIST.
  • Comment on a Talk of JESUS post and SHARE in your social media world.
  • I Have Seen the Lord!

    I Have Seen the Lord!

    Hear what so many witnesses to the Resurrection have to say about Jesus.

    The following first person accounts of the resurrection of Christ Jesus are not literal, but taken from the testimony of the Holy Gospels.

    The Gospel of John

    This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.

    John 21:24

    John

    I was not first to see our Lord Jesus risen. She came running to us with the Good News.

    Μαγδαληνή – Mary Magdalene

    We had been at the foot of the Cross where they crucified Jesus; three of us, all named Mary. (They alway called me, Magdalēnē, after my hometown by the seashore of Galilee). I heard the Lord cry out, “teleō (it is finished),” as His Spirit left Him.

    Later we wailed as a centurion pierced His already dead and lifeless torn flesh hanging on the Cross. Other disciples came to the skull beyond the gate where they gathered His body into a clean shroud and gently carried it to a nearby tomb.

    We followed Jesus’ body and the men carrying it to a newly carved tomb. Uniformed guards rolled a stone in front of the cave and they made us leave. As darkness fell upon us we knew it our duty to somehow complete His preparation once the daylight after the Sabbath allowed us to return.

    I returned on the first day of the week even before dawn. When I arrived at the tomb, expecting to ask the Roman guards to remove the stone at the entrance, I was amazed to see it had already been rolled away.

    What could I do? I ran back to tell Peter about the empty tomb.

    Mary returns to the tomb

    Peter and John had left after running to the empty tomb and examining it briefly. I returned to find them looking inside. They didn’t know what to make of the empty tomb and went back to town talking to each other. There I was alone, I thought.

    I cried as I fell to my knees. What had happened, I wondered? Then through my tears I looked into the darkness of the tomb and thought I saw the two guards sitting where Jesus’ body had been laid on the day before the Sabbath.

    “Woman, why are you crying,” one of them asked?

    “Because they’ve taken away my Lord,” I told them, “and I don’t know where they’ve put him.” I was about to tell them how I had to prepare His body for burial, how Joseph and Nicodemus had only brought the shroud and the myrrh, but we had to finish the preparation of our Lord for burial.

    The First Witness

    Then I turned to look beyond the door of the cave. It was brighter outside and there stood another man I had not seen before. He spoke to me as men always addressed women with work to do.

    15 “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it that you’re seeking?”

    This man probably also has work to do, I thought. But I continued to plea for my Lord’s body which was not there.

    “Sir, if you’ve carried him away, tell me where you’ve put him, and I will take him away.”

    Then I recognized His gentle smile and loving voice.

    “Mary.”

    I turned to embrace Him as I poured out my joy at the sight of Him:

    ““Rabboni!”

    “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus cautioned after I called Him teacher, “since I have not yet ascended to the Father…”

    It took every bit of obedience to restrain my joy to listen, but not to touch the Lord. As I struggled with my emotions, He continued:

    “… But go to my brothers and tell them that I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”

    Of course, I ran back to town and announced it to the Disciples. Jesus always called them His brothers and all of us His family.

    “I have seen the Lord!”

    John 20:18b CSB

    As quickly as I could I told them all I had seen, then Peter ran out the door followed by John.

    Σίμων Πέτρος – Simon Peter

    I am Simon, son of John the fisherman, owner of the fishing fleet on the Sea of Tiberias. Jesus calls me Cephas or Peter, but I denied knowing Him when the soldiers took Him away. It was just as He had said.

    The trial was no trial at all and they convicted Him of nothing. But they tortured and killed Him anyway, mocking Him before the crowds. I was afraid. We were all afraid and we hid from the authorities.

    On the first day of the week after His execution Mary Magdalene comes bursting in the door. “They’ve taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they’ve put him!”

    I took the lead, not waiting for anyone, and darted out the door. John followed closely, the young man running a bit quicker than me. When I arrived he was stooping down looking into the empty tomb. He was looking at something.

    I stooped down and went on in and saw the linen cloths lying there. 7 The wrapping that had been on his head was not lying with the linen cloths but was folded up in a separate place by itself.

    This makes no sense, I thought. John stepped in behind me and also saw the neatly folded linen cloths and the wrapping that Joseph had placed around Jesus’ head as we had carefully held His lifeless body.

    We left and went back to town.

    Ἰάκωβος – James, Son of Zebedee

    James, chosen randomly for this post-resurrection witness, represents any of the unnamed Disciples in the locked room where the Lord appeared.

    I am James the elder or the greater, as I am sometimes called so as not to confuse me with Jesus’ younger half-brother, son of Joseph. John, my younger brother and I were followers of John the Baptist until we met the Lord.

    John, Peter and I had all witnessed the transfiguration of our Lord when He appeared with Moses and Elijah. We knew He IS the Messiah of God.

    But I feared for my own life after Peter cut off the ear of a centurion arresting Jesus in Gethsemane. Even then He healed the man as if it had never happened. It was like so many miracles of Jesus we had witnessed the last three years.

    Most of us had gone back into town to the room where our Lord had washed our feet. And we kept the doors locked.

    On the first day of the week Peter and John had answered an early and urgent knock at the door. They left hastily, following Mary. When they returned my brother John told us he was certain the Lord was alive. Peter agreed and confirmed the evidence of all they had seen at the empty grave.

    We all discussed it, all, that is, except Thomas who was not there. But we once again began to hope and thought hard about scripture Jesus had so often discussed with us. Then in the evening an amazing thing happened, and as I said, the door was locked.

    Jesus came, stood among us and said, shä·lōm, that is, “Peace be with you.”

    Having said this, he showed us his hands and his side. I shed tears of joy, but also of sorrow as I looked upon the Lord’s hands and the place where the nails had been driven through. He also showed us his spear-pierced side. How was it possible? Yet there our Lord stood among us.

    And ever so briefly as we were all still rejoicing the Lord left, disappearing instantly as He had appeared in our room with the locked door.

    Θωμᾶς Δίδυμος – Thomas

    Jesus and the others called me Thomas or Didymos, which means, ‘the twin.’ My given name is Judas, but they call me Thomas so as to not confuse me with Judas, half-brother of Jesus or Judas Iscariot, who betrayed our Lord.

    Word had reached me that Jesus IS alive and had appeared to the others. I hurried back to Jerusalem to the room where we had celebrated the Passover feast before our Lord’s suffering and death. The door was locked, of course. I knocked and announced myself, ‘it is Didymos.’

    ‘Thomas,” Peter replied as he opened the door and quickly locked it once more. “Last week the Lord appeared to us here.” “Thank you for sending the messenger with the good news to me,” I responded.

    “We’ve seen the Lord!” all the Disciples were telling me.

    Yet even though I had come back with my heart full of hope I replied,

    “If I don’t see the mark of the nails in his hands, put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

    For they had all told me how they had seen the scars of His crucifixion.

    Jesus tells Thomas, “Put your finger here..”

    Suddenly, the Lord also appeared in the locked upper room to me. The Lord greeted us all, “Peace be with you.” Then He turned to me.

    “Put your finger here and look at my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Don’t be faithless, but believe.”

    I touched the bloodless indentation in the Lord’s right hand, buckled to my knees, weeping and looking into His familiar loving eyes.

    “My Lord and my God!”

    Jesus’ look accepted my belated worship. Then He said to all of us:

    “Because you have seen me, you have believed.”

    “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”

    John 20:29B CSB – words of the risen Christ Jesus

    Μαθθαῖος לֵוִי – Matthew Levi

    The Gospel of Matthew

    The Hebrews know me by Levi and I collected the Roman tax for their leaders. But once the Lord called on me to follow Him, I was mostly called by my Greek name, Matthew.

    Besides John, I am one of the twelve witnesses to the incarnate life of the Messiah Jesus. We were all, of course, Jews, who spoke Aramaic and Greek with the Romans. My Gospel adds other detail to John’s Gospel.

    The Gospels of Mark and Luke

    You would probably call us second generation disciples of Jesus. Just a short time after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, Peter came to us after Herod executed James, John’s brother with the sword. John Mark began recording all that Peter witnessed and then interviewed other Apostles as well.

    The physician Luke also wrote a detailed Gospel of the events in Jesus’ life and a second scroll of the Acts of the Apostles, where Luke faithfully records the events of Pentecost. John also recorded the receiving of the Holy Spirit, as the Lord Jesus had promised.

    John – Much more to say

    The Apostle John closes his Gospel and resurrection account in this way:

    The Purpose of This Gospel

    Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

    John 20:30-31 CSB

    The young Apostle John would be the only Disciple to live to old age. (All others sacrificed their own lives for the sake of the Good News of Christ Jesus).

    John wrote three letters to the church as well as the closing book of the Bible about the apocalypse of the close of the age, Revelation.

    Παῦλος שָׁאוּל – Paul [Saul of Tarsus]

    Our witness of the risen Christ would not be complete without that of a zealous Jewish scholar and Pharisee once opposed to the Lord Jesus and a murderer of followers of The Way, Paul, known as Saul.

    Luke records Paul’s own witness in Acts 9:

    3 As he traveled and was nearing Damascus, a light from heaven suddenly flashed around him. Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? ” “Who are you, Lord? ” Saul said. “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting,” he replied.

    Paul’s later letter to the church at Corinth speaks to us about the all-important witness of the resurrection of Christ.

    1 Corinthians 15

    Resurrection Essential to the Gospel

    Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel I preached to you, which you received, on which you have taken your stand.

    .. that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

    • 4 that he was buried,
    • that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
    • 5 and that he appeared to Cephas [Peter]
    • then to the Twelve)

    Then he [the risen Christ Jesus] appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep.

    1 Corinthians 15:6
    • 7 Then he appeared to James,
    • then to all the apostles.
    • 8 Last of all, as to one born at the wrong time,a he also appeared to me.

    Resurrection Essential to the Faith

    13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised… 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins…

    If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.

    1 Corinthians 15:19

    Christ’s Resurrection Guarantees Ours

    20 But as it is, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep… If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.

    Note that he does not call on us to party (as the world misquotes), but warns that to live in this way is fruitless, since we believe in the resurrection. Our certainty of eternal life in Christ guarantees that the fruit of this life becomes our reward for eternity.

    A closing thought for Easter

    John has told us that he could have told us many more convincing things to convince us that Jesus IS the Messiah. Many witnesses, even historians outside the Bible testify to Jesus.

    Paul continues his eloquent witness for Christ and the resurrection of Jesus, which I commend to your prayer and study.

    Question is: Do you believe in the Lord, Christ Jesus?

    I will close with Paul’s own further witness, which I pray you will take to heart for the sake of your eternal soul.

    Death has been swallowed up in victory.
    55 Where, death, is your victory?
    Where, death, is your sting?

    56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

    57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

  • Festival of the Passover

    Festival of the Passover

    No holy holiday surpasses peçach, the festival of the Passover, in the calendar year of the jews. In a previous post, Josiah – a Good King also Dies, we discovered that Passover had been completely forgotten by the Judah. The Law had not been read and Kings before Josiah had done evil in the sight of the Lord.

    פֶּסַח

    We also reviewed the meaning of Passover:

    “a sparing, immunity from penalty and calamity.

    The root word suggests from application of scripture in Exodus 12 that the Lord will pass over or spring over you when executing judgment. He will halt the punitive action in your case.

    A Three-part Festival

    Instructions for the Passover

    Exodus 12:3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month they must each select an animal of the flock according to their fathers’ families, one animal per family. 4 If the household is too small for a whole animal, that person and the neighbor nearest his house are to select one based on the combined number of people; you should apportion the animal according to what each will eat. 5 You must have an unblemished animal, a year-old male; you may take it from either the sheep or the goats. 6 You are to keep it until the fourteenth day of this month…

    Preparation

    The contemporary photo of an Israeli employee removing prayer notes from the western wall is just one example of a cleansing of sorts, associated with the sacrifice of Passover.

    You must be spotless before the Lord. Not better than everyone else, one who does more good works than (perhaps) the one who does not achieve eternal life. Spotless. Cleansed of sin.

    His place of worship in Jerusalem must be clean to begin the great sacrifice. Everything washed. Pure. This preparation to come before the Lord is symbolic of repentance.

    Are you mostly good?

    Not good enough (for no man or woman is good, no not one).

    lamb bound on the altar of sacrifice

    Yet we no longer sacrifice the blood of a lamb, for the Holy of Holies and the altar has been destroyed.

    Passover Meal

    Exodus 12: CSB/WLC שמות

    … then the whole assembly of the community of Israel will slaughter the animals at twilight.

    Exodus 12:6B

    7 They must take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses where they eat them. 8 They are to eat the meat that night; they should eat it, roasted over the fire along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

    Strict regulations also include: (9 Do not eat any of it raw or cooked in boiling water, but only roasted over fire—its head as well as its legs and inner organs. 10 You must not leave any of it until morning; any part of it left until morning you must burn.)

    What about now?

    Beloved follower of the Lord in this 21st century after the Messiah Jesus, I ask you:

    Even IF you strictly observance the Passover today, is your worship any more than symbolism?

    Can the blood of a lamb (no longer sacrificed) atone for your sin? כָּפַר

    11 וְכָכָה֮ תֹּאכְל֣וּ אֹתוֹ֒ מָתְנֵיכֶ֣ם חֲגֻרִ֔ים נַֽעֲלֵיכֶם֙ בְּרַגְלֵיכֶ֔ם וּמַקֶּלְכֶ֖ם בְּיֶדְכֶ֑ם וַאֲכַלְתֶּ֤ם אֹתוֹ֙ בְּחִפָּז֔וֹן פֶּ֥סַח ה֖וּא לַיהוָֽה׃

    Here is how you must eat it: You must be dressed for travel, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You are to eat it in a hurry; it is the Lord’s Passover.

    Exodus 12:11

    Christian and Jew alike understand the significance of the events to follow the quickly eaten Passover meal and the account of Moses as redeemer from slavery in Egypt.

    Christians ought to understand this same symbolism of the body and blood of the Lamb, the risen Messiah King, as in an upper room in Jerusalem, Jesus shared a last Passover meal with His beloved Disciple family nearly two millennia ago.

    And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.

    And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it.

    And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many.

    Mark 14:22-24 KJV

    Passover Celebration

    14 וְהָיָה֩ הַיּ֨וֹם הַזֶּ֤ה לָכֶם֙ לְזִכָּר֔וֹן וְחַגֹּתֶ֥ם אֹת֖וֹ חַ֣ג לַֽיהוָ֑ה לְדֹרֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם חֻקַּ֥ת עוֹלָ֖ם תְּחָגֻּֽהוּ׃

    “This day is to be a memorial for you, and you must celebrate it as a festival to the Lord. You are to celebrate it throughout your generations as a permanent statute.

    • 15 You must eat unleavened bread for seven days.
    • On the first day you must remove yeast from your houses.
    • Whoever eats what is leavened from the first day through the seventh day must be cut off from Israel.
    • 16 You are to hold a sacred assembly on the first day…
    • … and another sacred assembly on the seventh day.
    • No work may be done on those days except for preparing what people need to eat—you may do only that.

    Festival of Unleavened Bread

    … You must observe this day throughout your generations as a permanent statute.

    Thus, we remember how the Lord used Moses to bring Israel out of Egypt, where the Lord led and purified a people chosen to His for entry into a land promised to Abraham as his inheritance. Yet the Lord has used saviors besides Moses to redeem his faithful from the chains of this life.

    Other Saviors Redeeming God’s Faithful

    We know well the saving of the Jews from Pharaoh. Some would look to Moses or Joshua as their redeemer or savior. Certainly Joseph saved Israel in Egypt until in the generations he was forgotten.

    Others see David as Israel’s king triumphant. A few recognize Ezra for bringing back worship in Jerusalem. All of these would give the same glory instead to the Lord God.

    One more mention of the unleavened bread in the generation of Abraham may have missed your notice. You may not believe it, though Moses tells it. Once again, it was served quickly and judgment by the Lord followed.

    The Doom of Sodom

    If any family should have been celebrating a festival of unleavened bread it would be the families of Abraham, who faithful followed the Lord from place to place as the Lord commanded. The Lord’s covenant with Abraham preceded the Law of Moses.

    As you may know, Lot, son of Abram’s brother Haran, also followed the Lord to both Canaan and Egypt before settling in the city of Sodom. It was a walled city with a gate like other cities of its time.

    Genesis 19:

    The two angels entered Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in Sodom’s gateway. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them. He bowed with his face to the ground…

    … He prepared a feast and baked unleavened bread for them, and they ate.

    Have you ever considered it? Lot prepared a feast of unleavened bread for the two angels who saved him from Sodom.

    Lot was unaware of their mission and events which had already taken place between the angels and Abraham.

    The Lord appeared to Abraham

    18 וַיֵּרָ֤א אֵלָיו֙ יְהוָ֔ה בְּאֵלֹנֵ֖י מַמְרֵ֑א וְה֛וּא יֹשֵׁ֥ב פֶּֽתַח־הָאֹ֖הֶל כְּחֹ֥ם הַיּֽוֹם׃

    Three angels had appeared to Abraham. Lot would only know that his uncle and aunt in their nineties were childless. He had been like a son to them.

    16 The men got up from there and looked out over Sodom, and Abraham was walking with them to see them off.

    17 Then the Lord said, “Should I hide what I am about to do from Abraham?

    Lot, of course knows nothing of the conversation to follow which has already taken place when two angels come to him at the gate of Sodom.

    The Lord had judged Sodom for the sin of all of its residents. Then Abraham intercedes, pleaing for the Lord to spare Lot and his family. Abraham saves them from the sentence of death, all except Lot’s wife who sinned even after the warning of angels.

    22 The men turned from there and went toward Sodom while Abraham remained standing before the Lord. 23 Abraham stepped forward and said, “Will you really sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

    Genesis 19:15 “Get up! … or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.”

    29 וַיְהִ֗י בְּשַׁחֵ֤ת אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶת־עָרֵ֣י הַכִּכָּ֔ר וַיִּזְכֹּ֥ר אֱלֹהִ֖ים אֶת־אַבְרָהָ֑ם וַיְשַׁלַּ֤ח אֶת־לוֹט֙ מִתּ֣וֹךְ הַהֲפֵכָ֔ה בַּהֲפֹךְ֙ אֶת־הֶ֣עָרִ֔ים אֲשֶׁר־יָשַׁ֥ב בָּהֵ֖ן לֽוֹט׃

    So it was, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham and brought Lot out of the middle of the upheaval when he demolished the cities where Lot had lived.

    Genesis 19:29 WLC,CSB

    A Savior at the gate of Jerusalem

    As the LORD in Person

    Came to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre,

    As the LORD in Person

    Came to Moses at Sinai,

    The LORD in the Person of the Son With Us

    Came to Jerusalem’s gate.

    —

    The Lord in Person sacrificed

    On a Cross beyond its walls,

    Jesus, Messiah and King

    Risen! in Person,

    Jesus, in flesh and blood shed

    Our King comes on the clouds again!

    Roger Harned

    The Lord will return

    Will you bow down to your Lord and King?

    Or will you yet crucify Him?

    The choice of judgment is yours, yet your redemption or just punishment will be His.

    Is Jesus your Lord? Or will you justify your sin without Him?

    To be continued... [eternally]
  • Emmanuel -3

    Emmanuel -3

    Introduction to God in a Manger

    We glanced at the introduction of Jesus in the Gospels of Mark and John in part 1 of this series. Yesterday in part 2 we examined issues of the virgin birth from the Gospel of Matthew. Today, Christmas, we conclude with scripture from Luke, our most familiar source of the Christmas story.

    Immanuel (Hebrew: עִמָּנוּאֵל‬ meaning, “God with us”; also romanized Emmanuel) – Wikipedia

    Every biography requires an introduction and the all-important announcement of “God With Us,” the Son of Man born in a manger requires not only an introduction, but a cultural context we can only mention today.

    Introduction to the Nativity

    The Nativity of Matthew, beginning with the genealogy of Jesus through Joseph and David, examines the Messiah of Israel from a Jewish perspective. Of course, Matthew, John and all of the Disciples were Jewish, as was Jesus.

    Mark and Luke were first century gentiles, Greeks, men who recorded the impact of Christ born to save not only Jews from sin, but all who believe.

    Luke 1:

    1 … a narrative about the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as the original eyewitnesses and servants of the word handed them down to us.

    Luke begins his two-part writing, Luke-Acts, with an introduction and overview in Chapter one. Many believe John the Baptist to be the Messiah; therefore Luke introduces John and Jesus as teachers prior to the well-know nativity of chapter 2. Note the same angelic witness.

    Gabriel

    5 In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest of Abijah’s division named Zechariah… 11 An angel of the Lord appeared to him…

    13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John.

    … He will be filled with the Holy Spirit while still in his mother’s womb. … to make ready for the Lord a prepared people.”

    19 The angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and tell you this good news.

    26 In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And the angel came to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you.”

    1:28 καὶ εἰσελθὼν ὁ ἄγγελος πρὸς αὐτὴν εἶπεν Χαῖρε κεχαριτωμένη ὁ κύριος μετὰ σοῦ εὐλογημένη σὺ ἐν γυναιξίν

    Luke 1:28

    Name Him Jesus

    31 Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end.”

    Please do not miss here that Gabriel, an angel of the Lord, comes to a woman, Mary. In most instances of angelic encounters, as was the case with Zechariah, father of John the Baptist, the angel brings the Lord’s message to a man with authority over his wife, family and others.

    Translations

    Much to consider here, even before the all-too-familiar narrative of the nativity which follows. Much disagreement among Christians based on translations which reinforce various cultural (denominational) beliefs. Consider just one brief passage.

    • KJV (English) And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
    • HNV (from Hebrew) Having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, you highly favored one! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women!”
    • VUL (Latin) et ingressus angelus ad eam dixit have gratia plena Dominus tecum benedicta tu in mulieribus
    • Greek listed above for Luke 1:28. Some translations in Latin and the Hebrew Bible come from the Septuagint, with origins in Alexandria, Egypt.

    Some versions of the Bible use less-controversial synonyms in some passages and prejudicial word imagery in certain key passages.

    Mary – favored woman

    And the angel came to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you.” [Other mss add Blessed are you among women.]

    Luke 1:28 CSB

    The angel Gabriel does not say, “Hail Mary,” such as one might say, “Hail Caesar.” The Greek word χαίρω chairō could also be translated: rejoice, be glad, joy, greetings, even God speed or farewell when appropriate. Much like שָׁלוֹם shalom in Hebrew, chairō is simply a greeting of encounter.

    Mary’s enduring witness

    Luke records Mary’s reaction in verse twenty-nine. How would he know this or details of the rest of this portion of her encounter with angels?

    Recall that unlike Joseph, Mary lived into Jesus’ complete life as the Son of Man and along with His brothers became part of the early church after Jesus’ death and resurrection. Therefore Luke would have interviewed Mary and/or those who had known her consistent witness for many years.

    30 Then the angel told her: “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

    • φοβοῦ Μαριάμ – Fear not Mary.
      • Do most all who personally encounter God’s angelic messenger not need this comforting assurance?
      • Yet what does it mean to have found favor with God?
    • εὑρίσκω heuriskō – 
      • ‘You have found,’ clearly indicates that Mary has been seeking the LORD.
        • ‘To come upon after searching:
          • to find by enquiry, thought, examination;
          • to find out for one’s self. 

    Mary, a young Hebrew virgin betrothed to Joseph, is a worshiper of the LORD and she is a young woman with great faith.

    Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?” [Lit. since I do not know a man]

    Luke 1:34 CSB

    Gabriel then told Mary of Jesus’ conception and birth, the birth to be detailed more by Luke in the most familiar nativity of chapter 2 and reveals the distant miracle of her relative Elizabeth, to whom Mary will go as she is with child.

    35 The angel replied to her: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.

    The Magnificat – a Hymn of Praise

    Mary magnifies or lifts up the Lord for His faithfulness to His faithful ones, much in the same way as Hannah, mother of Samuel, who anointed David.

    46 And Mary said:

    My soul praises the greatness of the Lord,
    and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
    because he has looked with favor
     on the humble condition of his servant.
     Surely, from now on all generations
     will call me blessed,
    because the Mighty One
     has done great things for me,
     and his name is holy.


    “For the Mighty One has done great things for me;
    And holy is His name.

    Luke 1:49 NASB

    The Nativity

    by Roger HarnedWhat is the Nativity?

    Nativity, Latin nātīvitāt, refers to birth, the place and circumstances of birth, the place of the stars at a time of birth, and most specifically, but not exclusively, refers to the birth of Christ, the Messiah, Jesus.

    Luke 2:

    And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.

    Luke 2:4-5 ESV

    A census by order of Rome. Joseph travels to his hometown to register.

    While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. Then she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him tightly in cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

    Luke 2:6-7 CSB

    Birth happens (ready or not, irregardless of place) and this lowly humble couple had no place for the Son of God to be born into this world. No reservation and no place fit for a Son of Man, only an animal-filled barn with mangers of hay to feed the donkeys and camels.

    We have already heard of other singular events of the Nativity unique to Jesus’ birth. Kings had followed a star to Bethlehem and then brought gifts just for this time and this King of Kings, so humbly born in a manger.

    Luke then documents a similar event from the hills just beyond Bethlehem.

    Angels and Shepherds

    Of course, these very hills had been the place where Samuel had sought out David, the shepherd and youngest of his clan, when the Lord had anointed him King.

    And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
    For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

    Luke 2:10-11 KJV

    And the angels told these lowly shepherds where and how to find and recognize Jesus in Bethlehem, the baby Son of God in a manger made for lowly animals. Surely some among these Jewish shepherds would have known the prophesy of Micah.

    But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
     Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
     From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.
    His goings forth are from long ago,
     From the days of eternity.”

    Therefore He will give them up until the time
     When she who is in labor has borne a child.
     Then the remainder of His brethren
     Will return to the sons of Israel.

    And He will arise and shepherd His flock
     In the strength of the LORD,
     In the majesty of the name of the LORD His God.
     And they will remain,
     Because at that time He will be great
     To the ends of the earth.

    Then these faithful keepers of the flocks received yet more confirmation.

    A multitude of angels sang

    Imagine angels from the sky joining voices with you as their audience!

    δόξα ἐν ὑψίστοις θεῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς εἰρήνη ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὐδοκίας

    Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

    Luke 2:14 KJV

    Amen! Glory to God in the highest, who has sent His Own Son to a manger as a Son of Man, one like a lowly shepherd.

    And the shepherds departed their fields to witness and worship the Christ child, their Messiah in a manger. Then they will tell others, perhaps later one will even confirm their witness to Luke.

    Recalling the Nativity to others

    We do not have here or anywhere in scripture angels worshiping Mary, shepherds worshiping Mary or Kings worshiping Mary. And we do not have Joseph, Mary, shepherds or kings worshiping angels, even Gabriel. These are later idolatries suggested by false shepherds of the church and false prophets.

    The LORD IS and the Nativity of Jesus is not His beginning.

    Let us witness the redeeming love of God, who came to us in His Own Image in the Person and humility of Christ Jesus. He IS the One we worship, for Jesus IS the Messiah who will save all who believe.

    But Mary kept all these things in her mind, pondering them in her heart.

    And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all things which they had heard and seen, as it had been said to them.

    Luke 2:19-20 DBY

    Keep these things in mind, pondering them in your heart, glorifying God for all things.

    Christ is born. The Messiah died for your sins. Christ Jesus will come again.

    Incarnate in a manger in Bethlehem; crucified on a Cross at Calvary, risen from a tomb in Judea; witnessed by thousands, risen into the clouds to return again…

    Jesus IS, with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, the beginning and end.

    Amen,