Talk of JESUS .com

Tag: virgin

  • Hail Mary, humble wife of GOD

    Hail Mary, humble wife of GOD

    And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

    Gospel of Luke 2:16 King James Version

    Mary an Introduction

    Christians, Jews and unbelievers know parts of the iconic scene unfolding in Bethlehem through a virgin Jewish mother. 

    Today I honor Mary most appropriately by retelling her story of Christmas mostly from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.

    Mary, Eve of the Virgin Birth

    And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem..

    .. with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

    Gospel of Luke 2:4-5 KJV excerpt

    And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

    Mary, wife of Joseph?

    Not quite, according to custom and Jewish law. 

    Do YOU know any young woman who has been pregnant (even near full term) yet not married to the man she knew?

    μνηστεύω – Strong’s G3423 – mnēsteuō – from a derivative of G3415; to give a souvenir (engagement present), i.e. betroth:—espouse.

    Recall that GREEK is the common language not only of Luke the Physician but also of all of the Roman Empire ruled by Caesar Augustus.

    Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused G3423 to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.

    Gospel of Matthew 1:18 KJV

    SCANDELOUS !

    (as least in the A.D. First Century)

    Mary, ENGAGED to Joseph

    AND they both know that the Virgin Mary had NEVER come together with Joseph her fiancé!

    Joseph, an honorable man 

    (like his namesake and ancestor, Joseph, son of Jacob, who the LORD used to rule Egypt under Pharaoh.)

    Gospel of Matthew 1:19- KJV

    Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. 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.

    Matthew 1:20b KJV

    And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS:

    for he shall save his people from their sins.

    Gospel of Matthew 1:21 KJV

    An angel of the Lord speaks to you!

    What to do?

    The adoptive father of JESUS believes God (of course). And Joseph is a righteous and honorable man.

    Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden 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.

    Gospel of Matthew 1:24-25 KJV

    Signs and Witnesses

    Prophesy of Isaiah and others centuries Before Christ.

    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 KJV

    a Failure of Kings Advent 4 of Christ

    Witness by a heavenly host of Angels – Luke 2:8 KJV

    And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

    For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

    And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

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

    Gospel of Luke 2:8-14 King James Version

    Witnesses and worship

    And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. .. Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,

    Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:

    For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,

    Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;

    A light to lighten the Gentiles,

    and the glory of thy people Israel.

    Gospel of Luke 2:25-32 KJV excerpt [context]

    Signs before Jesus’ birth

    There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.

    And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.

    And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course, According to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.

    And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

    Gospel of Luke 1:5-11 King James Version

    An Angel of the Lord standing beside the Priest of God right inside the Holy of Holies! A pretty big deal.

    Briefly, what happens next is a foretelling prophetic birth of JOHN the BAPTIST, preparing the way for the Lord Jesus, the consolation of Israel and Messiah sent of God the Father.

    Elisabeth, John and the Holy Spirit

    • Zacharias the Priest of God continued to serve his term in the Temple unable to speak.
      • Daily worshipers in Jerusalem must have know that something was up.
    • He returns home.
    • Elisabeth conceived.
    • An angel of the Lord then appears in Nazareth prior to their trip to register for the census of Caesar and also tells Mary:

    And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath 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.

    Gospel of Luke 1:36-37 KJV

    • And Mary went into the hill country of *Juda
    • And entered into the house of Zacharias
    • and (knowing the the angel had revealed) saluted Elisabeth.

    And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary,

    the babe leaped in her womb;

    and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:

    Gospel of Luke 1:41 KJV signs confirming the Messiah when Mary greeted the mother of John the Baptist

    In the Year of the most controversial birth in history

    Jesus Christ born in a manger

    Church fathers, theologians who study such things, took a few centuries to articulate the trinitarian Christology from the Apostles recorded in Scripture from the A.D. first century.

    Creeds, Catechisms, Confessions & Christ – What do you believe?

    The clarity of their CREEDS and CONFESSIONS of FAITH define our hope of eternal life in the Lord Jesus Christ.

    I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
    And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.
    Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary,
    and was made man…

    Nicene Creed excerpt
    AD 325 & AD381

    Born of the Virgin Mary

    Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

    And 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.

    Gospel of Luke 1:34-35 King James Version

    εὐλογέω – eulogeō

    .. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

    Luke 1:42b KJV

    κύριος – kyrios

    And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,

    And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

    For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden:

    for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

    Gospel of Luke 1:46-48 KJV [familiar beginning of the Magnificat of Mary]

    As were Joseph and others to whom the Lord sent His angels:

    The soul of Mary is humble, as is JESUS from her womb to the Cross.

    For he that is mighty hath done to me great things;
    and holy is his name.
    And his mercy
    is on them that fear him
    from generation to generation.

    Gospel of Luke 1:49-50 King James Version – from the Magnificat of the Virgin Mary declaring that the Lord is mighty and holy is His Name.

    Talk of JESUS .com

    Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel

  • Matthew 25 – Parable of the Ten Virgins

    Matthew 25 – Parable of the Ten Virgins

     Awake, the voice is calling us!

    "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" (literally: Awake, the voice is calling us) is a Lutheran hymn written in German by Philipp Nicolai, first published in 1599 together with "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern". 

It appears in German hymnals and in several English hymnals in translations such as "Wake, Awake, for Night Is Flying" (Catherine Winkworth, 1858), "Wake, O wake! with tidings thrilling" (Francis Crawford Burkitt, 1906), and "Up! Awake! From Highest Steeple" (George Ratcliffe Woodward, 1908). 

The hymn is known as the foundation of J.S. Bach's chorale cantata Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140, as well as being the foundation of settings by other composers.

P. Nicolai wrote the hymn in 1598, a time when the plague had hit. - Source:  BachCantatas.com

    Wake up, the voice calls us
    of the watchmen high up on the battlements,
    wake up, you city of Jerusalem!
    This hour is called midnight;
    they call us with a clear voice:
    where are you, wise virgins ?
    Get up, the bridegroom comes;
    Stand up, take your lamps! Hallelujah!
    Alleluia!
    Make yourselves ready
    for the wedding,
    you must go to meet him!

    Zion hears the watchmen sing,
    her heart leaps for joy,
    she awakes and gets up in haste.
    Her friend comes from heaven in his splendour,
    strong in mercy, mighty in truth.
    Her light becomes bright, her star rises.
    Now come, you worthy crown,
    Lord Jesus, God’s son!
    Hosanna!
    We all follow
    to the hall of joy
    and share in the Lord’s supper.

    May gloria be sung to you
    with the tongues of men and angels,
    with harps and with cymbals.
    The gates are made of twelve pearls,
    in your city we are companions
    of the angels on high around your throne.
    No eye has ever perceived,
    no ear has ever heard
    such joy.
    Therefore we are joyful,
    hurray, hurray!
    for ever in sweet rejoicing.

    Advent 1

    Advent, (from Latin adventus, “coming”), in the Christian church calendar, the period of preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ at Christmas and also of preparation for the Second Coming of Christ.

    • In Western churches, Advent begins on the Sunday nearest to November 30 (St. Andrew’s Day) and is the beginning of the liturgical year.
    • In many Eastern churches, the Nativity Fast is a similar period of penance and preparation that occurs during the 40 days before Christmas. The date when the season was first observed is uncertain.
    • Bishop Perpetuus of Tours (461–490) established a fast before Christmas that began on November 11 (St. Martin’s Day), and the Council of Tours (567) mentioned an Advent season.

    Source: Britanica.com

    a woke christmas sunday 2022 CE with Charlie Brown and his broke tree

    a woke OR AWAKE?

    I’m uncertain in these last days of the Common Era (once commonly called Anno Domini, literally “in the year of our Lord“ IF our church is woke or awake.

    (See link to ‘woke’ on TalkofJESUS.com cover page to learn more.)

    I’m also not certain if Linus reading Luke is the anti-inclusive message of the Gospel which offends the Holiday spirits of TV audiences, but I suspect that our aversion to ‘christmas‘ with a capital CHRIST (Christ-mass) is a deepening darkness as evident as the coming winter solstice.

    The title for this non-series for Advent ignored and ‘christian‘ ‘churches‘ CLOSED on christmas eve, christmas day or BOTH reflects my own nonplus question of why it seems so few christians really want to TALK OF JESUS at all, especially those of our local ‘church.’

    Roger@TalkofJESUS.com
    In previous years I have also prepared our hearts for Advent.
    The Scandal of a Virgin
    From Advent in the year of our Lord 2014

    In fact, December in the year of our Lord 2022 seems to be a time to gather the oil for our lamps that at least some of the virgins might be prepared for Christmas .. in fact, prepared for more.

    the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Matthew

    Doctrinally, it must be repeated that the belief in the Virgin birth of Christ is of the highest value for the right apprehension of Christ’s unique and sinless personality.

    R. A. Torrey :: The Virgin Birth of Christ

    The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham..

    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.

    Gospel of Matthew 1:18 – King James Version

    Therefore, Sleepers AWAKE!

    Parable of Ten Virgins

    “Then the kingdom of heaven may be compared to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were foolish, and five were prudent.

    “For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps.

    “Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. But at midnight there was a shout,

    ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’

    “Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’

    “But the prudent answered, saying, ‘No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’

    “And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast;

    and the door was shut.

    “And later the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open up for us.’

    “But he answered and said, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’

    “Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know the day nor the hour.


    A Caution of Jesus Christ to His betrothed, the Church

    This hour is called midnight;
    they call us with a clear voice:
    where are you, wise virgins ?

    Advent AD 2022: Are YOU awake?

    A Savior IS come.
    Christ died. Christ IS risen! Christ will come again.

    Are YOU preparing your soul with the oil of Christ’s anointing in the advent of His return?

  • The Parable of Degenerate Sisters

    The Parable of Degenerate Sisters

    A Parable from the Pre-incarnate Son of Man to the Prophet Ezekiel

    23:4 Marriage is commonly used in the Bible as a symbol for the covenant relationship between God and his people (e.g. Isa 54:1-8; Eph 5:22-23). 

    Ezekiel 23

    English Standard Version (ESV) (excerpted with literal & brief paraphrase)

    2 “Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother. 3 They played the whore… in their youth; there their breasts were pressed and their virgin nipples handled. 4 Oholah was the name of the elder and Oholibah the name of her sister. They became mine, and they bore sons and daughters…

    5 “Oholah played the whore while she was mine, and she lusted after her lovers… 6 clothed in purple, governors and commanders, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses. 7 She bestowed her whoring upon them, the choicest men … and she defiled herself with all the idols of everyone after whom she lusted. 8 She did not give up her whoring that she had begun in Egypt; for in her youth men had lain with her and handled her virgin nipples and poured out their whoring lust upon her. 9 Therefore I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands … after whom she lusted. 10 These uncovered her nakedness;they seized her sons and her daughters; and as for her, they killed her with the sword; and she became a byword among women, when judgment had been executed on her.

    11 “Her sister Oholibah saw this, and she became more corrupt than her sister in her lust and in her whoring, which was worse than that of her sister. 12 She lusted after the Assyrians (the same kind of men as her sister), all of them desirable young men. 13 And I saw that she was defiled; they both took the same way. 14 But she carried her whoring further. She saw men portrayed on the wall, the images of (evil enemies of God)… 16 When she saw them, she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. 17 And they came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoring lust. And after she was defiled by them, she turned from them in disgust. 18 When she carried on her whoring so openly and flaunted her nakedness, I turned in disgust from her, as I had turned in disgust from her sister. 19 Yet she increased her whoring, remembering the days of her youth, when she played the whore in the land of Egypt 20 and lusted after her lovers there, whose members were like those of donkeys, and whose issue was like that of horses. 21 Thus you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians handled your nipples and fondled your young breasts.”

    22 Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I will stir up against you your lovers from whom you turned in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side… 24 And they shall come against you… They shall set themselves against you on every side … and I will commit the judgment to them, and they shall judge you according to their judgments. 25 And I will direct my jealousy against you, that they may deal with you in fury. They shall cut off your nose and your ears, and your survivors shall fall by the sword. They shall seize your sons and your daughters, and your survivors shall be devoured by fire. 26 They shall also strip you of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewels. 27 Thus I will put an end to your lewdness and your whoring begun in the land of Egypt, so that you shall not lift up your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore.

    28 “For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will deliver you into the hands of those whom you hate, into the hands of those from whom you turned in disgust, 29 and they shall deal with you in hatred and take away all the fruit of your labor and leave you naked and bare, and the nakedness of your whoring shall be uncovered. Your lewdness and your whoring 30 have brought this upon you, because you played the whore with the nations and defiled yourself with their idols. 31 You have gone the way of your sister; therefore I will give her cup into your hand. 32 Thus says the Lord God:

    “You shall drink your sister’s cup
    that is deep and large;
    you shall be laughed at and held in derision,
    for it contains much;
    33 you will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow.
    A cup of horror and desolation,
    the cup of your sister Samaria;
    34 you shall drink it and drain it out,
    and gnaw its shards,
    and tear your breasts;

    for I have spoken, declares the Lord God. 35 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, you yourself must bear the consequences of your lewdness and whoring.”

    36 The Lord said to me: “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Declare to them their abominations. 37 For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. With their idols they have committed adultery, and they have even offered up to them for food the children whom they had borne to me. 38 Moreover, this they have done to me: they have defiled my sanctuary on the same day and profaned my Sabbaths. 39 For when they had slaughtered their children in sacrifice to their idols, on the same day they came into my sanctuary to profane it. And behold, this is what they did in my house. 40 They even sent for men to come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came. For them you bathed yourself, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with ornaments. 41 You sat on a stately couch, with a table spread before it on which you had placed my incense and my oil. 42 The sound of a carefree multitude was with her; and with men of the common sort, drunkards were brought from the wilderness; and they put bracelets on the hands of the women, and beautiful crowns on their heads.

    43 “Then I said of her who was worn out by adultery, Now they will continue to use her for a whore, even her! 44 For they have gone in to her, as men go in to a prostitute. Thus they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, lewd women! 45 But righteous men shall pass judgment on them with the sentence of adulteresses, and with the sentence of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands.”

    46 For thus says the Lord God: “Bring up a vast host against them, and make them an object of terror and a plunder. 47 And the host shall stone them and cut them down with their swords. They shall kill their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses. 48 Thus will I put an end to lewdness in the land, that all women may take warning and not commit lewdness as you have done. 49 And they shall return your lewdness upon you, and you shall bear the penalty for your sinful idolatry, and you shall know that I am the Lord God.”

    A wife, holy and pure, a virgin undefiled, loyal and faithful: is that not the desire of a man? And is this not the highest and holiest desire of the Living God, in whose image we are made man? Is a faithful bride not the desire of Christ Jesus, the returning Bridegroom of His Church?

    Hebrews 13:4 Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.

    Jeremiah 3:8-10 She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore. Because she took her whoredom lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree. Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the LORD.”

    A history of divorce

    The LORD GOD has married you and made you His own! It is a most serious matter that a woman would play the whore and give herself to any other. This is the setting of the parable of the two degenerate sisters in Ezekiel 23. It is the history of God’s chosen ones of Israel and Judah.

    Christ Jesus is born a Son of Man, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin. The teachers of the Law come to him and ask about a man divorcing a woman. A woman had no such right of divorce or anything else separate of the rights of her husband as a matter of the Law.

     Matthew 19:3 And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?”

    4 He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh.

    What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

    7 They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?”

    8 He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”

    “… “Because of your hardness of heart…”

    Now the hardness of our hearts urges a wife to dismiss her husband!

    To the parable of the two degenerate sisters, must we now add another who has called herself, ‘christian?’

    Let Christ’s Church with ears to hear hear the distant trumpet announcing the returning Bridegroom of the Church, His Bride:

    Revelation 19:6-10

    English Standard Version (ESV)

    The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

    6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,

    “Hallelujah!
    For the Lord our God
    the Almighty reigns.
    7 Let us rejoice and exult
    and give him the glory,
    for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
    and his Bride has made herself ready;
    8 it was granted her to clothe herself
    with fine linen, bright and pure”—

    for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

    9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” 10 Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

    Even so, come, Lord Jesus, to your beloved church, the faithful who have not put You away by a bill of divorce.