This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.
When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,
but before they lived together,
she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.
Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly.
Such was his intention when, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
"Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.
For it is through the Holy Spirit
that this child has been conceived in her.
She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins."
All this took place to fulfill
what the Lord had said through the prophet:
Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,
which means "God is with us."
When Joseph awoke,
he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him
and took his wife into his home.
He had no relations with her until she bore a son,
and he named him Jesus.
Rejoice the Lord is King! In this passage, Matthew depicts the birth of Jesus in a radically different way than Luke. Here, Joseph and Mary live in Bethlehem and Jesus is born in a house. This is significant because in the Gospel of Luke, Joseph and Mary go to Bethlehem and Jesus is born in a manger. It is clear that the theological significance of Jesus' origins in Bethlehem is his relationship with the house of David. Bethlehem was the town of David and his family. The birth in Bethlehem links Jesus with the house of David and fulfills Micah 5:2
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans[b] of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
from ancient times.”
No comments:
Post a Comment