The Christmas Story

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There are numbers of Christians, and non Christians alike, whose knowledge
of Jesus and his family is pretty much limited to Xmas cards, television
specials, Hollywood movies, Broadway & school plays, fragmentary
information, and folklore. Well; I think we can do better.

Hello; and welcome to a series of comments that address specific details
relative to Jesus' mom, Jesus' dad, the Shepherds, the Star, the Taxation,
Herod, Mary's atonements, Jesus in yeshiva, and Jesus' tribal affiliation.

Buen Camino
(Pleasant Journey)
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Jesus' Mom

● Luke 1:31-33 . . Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus . . and the Lord God will give him the throne
of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever.

Jesus' genealogy is relatively unimportant to the average Gentile, whereas
very important to Jews because only David's biological posterity qualify to
ascend his throne and govern the people of Israel.

● Ps 132:11 . .The Lord has sworn in truth unto David; and He will not turn
from it: "Of the fruit of your body will I set upon your throne"

The New Testament verifies Jesus' biological eligibility.

● Acts 2:29-30 . . Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the
patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us
unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn
with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he
would raise up Christ to sit on his throne.

● Rom 1:3 . . . His son; descended from David according to the flesh

** In other words: baby Jesus was a biological Jew rather than an artificial
Jew.

FAQ: From whence did baby Jesus obtain a Y chromosome for his male
gender?

REPLY: In the beginning, Eve's entire body-- inside and out, front to back,
top to bottom, and side to side --was constructed with material taken from
Adam's body. (Gen 2:21-22) So if God could construct an entire woman
from material taken from a man's body, then it shouldn't be too difficult for
Him to construct a teensy little chromosome from a woman's body.

Seeing as how Eve is the mother of all women (Gen 3:20 & Acts 17:26) then
any material taken from Mary's body to construct a Y chromosome for baby
Jesus would be owed to Eve's body; and by construction: to Adam's body.

The beauty of it is that a Y chromosome constructed with material taken
from Mary's body wouldn't be an alien substance created ex nihilo; but
would be 100% natural, and easily traceable all the way back to Eve, and
from thence to the very dust that was used to construct Adam's body.

I sincerely believe that what I suggest herein actually took place when the
power of the Most High overshadowed Jesus' mom per Luke 1:35; and if my
suggestion is true, then little Jesus was thoroughly a Jew-- biologically
descended not only from David and Abraham as all other Jews, but also from
the Man that God created in the book of Genesis.

● Heb 2:17 . . He had to be made like his brethren in every way.

FAQ: You say Jesus was David's biological descendant. How is that possible
if he had God's blood in his flesh.

REPLY: According to Lev 17:11, the life of the flesh is in the blood. Well
then, in order for Jesus to be David's bona fides biological posterity, he had
to have human blood in his flesh due to the fact that his biological ancestor
David was human. In point of fact, according to Acts 17:16, all truly human
men descend from one and the same human ancestor.

One of the oldest creeds in the book states that Jesus is fully God and fully
Man. Well that creed would be grossly mistaken if something other than
Adam's life was in Jesus' blood. Plus: on numerous occasions Jesus referred
to himself as "son of Man" which, likewise, would be patently false were
Adam's life not in his blood.
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Jesus' Dad

Joseph had no part in Jesus' conception. (Matt 1:18-19 & Luke 1:31-35)

Even so; Mary's boy is positioned in Joseph's genealogy. (Matt 1:1-17)

It's sometimes assumed Jesus was Joseph's foster child. But foster kids have
no place in a man's family tree. Seeing as how Jesus wasn't Joseph's
biological progeny, then the only way he could be legally placed in Joseph's
genealogy was by adoption, and it came about like this:

Joseph was instructed give Mary's baby the name Jesus. (Matt 1:21)

Joseph complied. (Matt 1:25)

In ancient Israel, when a man stood with a woman to name her child, it
became officially his (cf. Luke 1:13 & Luke 1:59-63). So from then on the
neighbors, and Jesus' mom, knew him as Joseph's son. (Luke 2:27-28, Luke
2:41, Luke 2:48, & Luke 4:22)

FAQ: Why make an issue out of Jesus' association with Joseph?

REPLY: Because Jesus was selected of God to inherit David's throne. (Luke
1:32-33)

The thing is: David's throne never passes down to his posterity via women;
it always passes down via the men in his line, viz: Mary was able to give her
son a biological connection to David, but she couldn't give him the throne.

Also: the throne has to come down via David's son Solomon. (1Kings 1:13 &
1Chron 22:9-10) Joseph is related to Solomon. (Matt 1:6 and Matt 1:16)

Long story short: it was necessary for Joseph to adopt Mary's boy in order to
place the lad in Solomon's genealogy and thus validate him as a rightful heir
to the throne.

FAQ: Since when did the Jews begin placing men in positions of power by
adoption?

REPLY: Jacob was the first. He took possession of Joseph's two sons
Manasseh & Ephraim, and installed them as tribal heads equal in position to
Jacob's eldest sons Reuben and Simeon. (Gen 48:5-6)
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Bethlehem's Shepherds

● Luke 2:8-12 . . Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields
and keeping the night watch over their flock. The angel of The Lord
appeared to them, and the glory of The Lord shone around them, and they
were struck with great fear.

. . .The angel said to them: Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you
good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of
David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord.

The angel announced the birth of a savior. Webster's defines a "savior" as
one who rescues.

Rescuing is what the Coast Guard does when boats capsize. Rescuing is what
Firemen do when people are trapped inside burning buildings. Rescuing is
what mountaineer teams do when climbers are in trouble. Rescuing is what
EMT paramedics do when someone needs to get to a hospital in a hurry; and
kept alive till they arrive. Rescuing is what surgeons do when someone
needs an organ transplant.

I could go on and on giving example of rescuer after rescuer; but I think we
get the idea. The New Testament's Jesus is like that: he rescues people from
the wrath of God-- people who not only fully deserve it, but definitely in line
to get it; and with no humanly possible way to avoid it.

Now; of what real benefit would the savior of Luke 2:8-12 really be to
anybody if he couldn't guarantee a fail-safe rescue from the wrath of God?
He'd be of no benefit to anybody. No; he'd be an incompetent ninny that
nobody could rely on.

But, if a savior were to be announced who guaranteed anybody who wants it
a completely free of charge, no strings attached, guaranteed fail-safe, sin
proof, human nature-proof, Ten Commandments-proof, bad behavior-proof,
apostasy-proof, reprobate-proof, back-sliding proof, Sermon on the Mount
proof, God-proof, Devil-proof, irrevocable rescue from the wrath of God, and
full-time protection from future retribution; wouldn't that qualify as good
news of great joy?

I think just about everybody concerned about ending up on the wrong side
of things would have to agree with me that news like that would not only
most certainly be good; but also cause for celebration, and ecstatic
happiness.

FAQ: Why did the angel appear to only the shepherds?

REPLY: One possibility is that the date of Messiah's appearance was
accurately predicted in advance by the prophet Daniel to occur on what we
know as Palm Sunday (a.k.a. the Triumphal Entry) but the date of Messiah's
birth in Bethlehem wasn't predicted. Consequently, those sheep guys were
the only audience at hand instead of the thousands that one might expect at
such a significant event.
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The Wise Men And Their Star

The verse below is deliberately misquoted. Watch for the revision.

● Matt 2:2 . . Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have
followed his star from the east

No, they didn't follow Jesus' star from the east; rather, they saw it in the
east, i.e. their local sky.

Jerusalem was a logical destination seeing as how it was Israel's capital city.
Personally I think the wise men fully expected to find the new king quartered
right there in Jerusalem rather than elsewhere; so their inquiry "where is he"
was probably not meant for asking directions to another town.

● Matt 2:9 . . After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the
star they had seen in the east went ahead of them.

They likely thought they had seen the last of that star back home, so it was
very reassuring to see it again; and this time as a guiding light rather than a
sign.

● Matt 2:10 . . When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.

NOTE: As the planet turns, stars appear to move across the sky from the
east towards the west. Their star moved directly south, and also came to a
stop; which should alert planetarium managers that it wasn't an
astronomical object.

● Matt 2:9 . . It stopped over the place where the child was.

Normal celestial objects are so far out in space that it is nigh unto impossible
to tell the exact spot on earth where one of them is at any given moment
without special instruments; so I think we can be reasonably confident that
this star was low enough that there was no mistaking the exact house where
young Jesus was lodged. In other words; this star wasn't a star, rather, it
was a God-given apparition.

Now this is curious. The shepherds were given no guide. They had to
conduct a house to house search for baby Jesus; and their target was
different too. The shepherds went looking for a savior whereas the wise men
were seeking a monarch.

FAQ: How did the wise men know their star was associated with the Jews?

REPLY: Matt 2:12 strongly suggests their entire odyssey was supervised
from start to finish so that when the men spotted the star back home in the
east, they were at the same time informed by God as to its purpose and
urged to pack up and head for the land of Israel; specifically the city of
Jerusalem because that's always been a sort of Washington DC for David's
dynasty.

I think the wise men fully expected to find the young king there because
they didn't inquire as to where he'd be born, rather: where is he that "is
born" because they were sure in their own minds that he was already out
and about even before they left home.

● Matt 2:11 . . On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother
Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their
treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.

The wise men revered Jesus not as a deity, rather, as a Jewish monarch.

"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the
king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying:
Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the
east, and are come to worship him." (Matt 2:1-2)

The Greek word for "worship" in that verse is a very general word depicting
adoration, obeisance, homage, and/or submission relative to one's betters,
superiors, and/or folks we admire; either human or divine.

The gifts they gave Jesus were common trade items of that day, and the
kinds of things we'd expect to be offered a king as tribute. No doubt all three
items came in very handy to finance the family's temporary residence in
Egypt; especially the gold. (Matt 2:13-15)
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Jesus In Bethlehem

● Luke 2:1-6 . .In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census
should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that
took place while Quirinius was governing in Syria.) And everyone went to his
own town to register.

. . .So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to
Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of
David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married
to him and was expecting a child.

The distance from Nazareth, north of Jerusalem, to Bethlehem south of
Jerusalem; is about 68 line-of-sight miles, and roughly 93 road miles.

I don't know why artists always depict Mary traveling those 93 miles on
donkey-back when the mode of transportation isn't mentioned. Personally, I
don't think Joseph and his fiancée traveled to Bethlehem alone anyway, but
rather, in the company of their kin just as they did when Jesus was 12 years
old. (Luke 2:41-45) Seeing as how Mary and Joseph were of the house and
lineage of David, then their kinfolk would've been too.

Mary was in her third trimester and ready to deliver. In her condition, the
padded bed of a wagon makes far more sense than the back of an animal;
and no doubt Joseph's and Mary's relatives pooled their resources and made
sure she was comfortable.

Mr. Quirinius (a.k.a. Cyrenius) is an historical figure. His name is mentioned
in Res Gestae-- The Deeds of Augustus, by Augustus --placing Quirinius as
consul as early as 12 BC.

The Roman historian Tacitus mentions that Quirinius was appointed by
Augustus to be an advisor to his young son Caius Caesar in Armenia.

Although Quirinius wasn't seated as a head of state at this time, he was
actively governing in Syria in a capacity that we today might call a
bureaucrat.

The first century historian Josephus wrote: "Quirinius, a Roman senator who
had gone through other magistracies, and had passed through them all until
he had become consul, was appointed governor of Syria by Caesar and was
given the task of assessing property there and in Judea."

Webster's defines a consul as: an official appointed by a government to
reside in a foreign country to represent the commercial interests of citizens
of the appointing country.

NOTE: It's handy to know something about Quirinius' political status because
critics are fond of using him to challenge the Bible's historical accuracy. They
are correct in that he wasn't a head of State at the time, nevertheless, he
was active in government; and was apparently quite proficient.
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Herod

● Matt 2:7-8 . .Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them
the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said,
"Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report
to me, so that I too may go and worship him.

Well; the visitors might've returned had not God intervened.

● Matt 2:11-12 . . And having been warned in a dream not to go back to
Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

That was likely a safety measure to prevent Herod from knowing where to
find the lad because rulers in that day were typically Machiavellian,
tyrannical, and despotic-- they didn't just crush potential threats to their
power; they utterly annihilated it; and as subsequent events demonstrate,
ol' Herod had neither conscience nor concern for child welfare.

** Saddam Hussein's first order of business upon taking control of Iraq was
to order the executions of some of his closest supporters because they
weren't totally onboard with his ideals. North Korea's Kim Jong-Un is
suspected of ordering the murder of his uncle for similar reasons.

● Matt 2:16a . .Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise
men, was exceeding wroth

There's really nothing in the story to even remotely suggest that the wise
men made a fool out of Herod and/or jeered him. They simply failed to
comply with his wishes; which in his mind wasn't merely refusal of his
request, but a failure to take him seriously.

● Matt 2:16b . . He sent forth, and slew all the children that were in
Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under,
according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.

The Greek word for "coasts" is a mite ambiguous. It technically indicates
borders, but can also indicate regions and/or environs and surrounding
areas.

That verse is commonly appropriated to calculate Jesus' age relative to when
the wise men visited him and his mother. But the verse merely indicates the
passage of time since Herod interviewed the men; which is quite useless for
calculating Jesus' age seeing as how he was already born before the men
even left their country-- how long before they left their country, nobody
knows for sure.

● Matt 2:17-18 . .Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was
fulfilled: "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel
weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no
more." (Jer 31:15)

Ramah was roughly six miles north of Jerusalem, while Bethlehem is roughly
the same distance south in the opposite direction.

Ramah was settled by the people of Rachel's son Benjamin, so that any
weeping done by the mothers in that area would be reckoned, by heritage,
to be Rachel's weeping.

Anyway; what this suggests to me is that the slaughter of the innocents
extended beyond the community of Bethlehem. Were we to set a
draftsman's compass to a radius equal to the distance between Bethlehem
and Jerusalem, and scribe a circle with Jerusalem at the center, it would
yield a pretty good idea of the area covered by Herod's death squads--
roughly 113 square miles.

But Herod's efforts were futile. Jesus wasn't even in the country; Joseph had
moved the child and his mother down into Egypt before all the killing began
(Matt 2:13) and in time, Herod died and his danger to Jesus' survival died
with him. (Matt 2:19-23)
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Mary's Atonements

● Luke 2:22-25 . .And when the days for their purification according to the
law of Moses were completed, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present
him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of The Lord: "Every first-born
male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to The Lord" and to offer a
sacrifice according to what was said in the law of The Lord: "A pair of
turtledoves, or two young pigeons."

The days of purification for a boy baby are a total of 40 days. (Lev 12:1-4)

The dollar-value of Mary's offerings attest to her and Joseph's status as low
income Israelis. (Lev 12:6-8)

Too many Gentiles are quick to assume Mary's offerings prove she was a
sinner; but one of those birds was for Jesus in lieu of the lamb that the law
mandates for redeeming boy babies; so then, if Mary's offering proves she's
a sinner; then by association, the offering for Jesus proves the very same
thing. (Ex 13:11-13)

Joseph's wife brought those offerings for herself and Jesus not because she
and her son were sinners, but primarily because that is what the law of The
Lord requires from Jewish mothers; and it doesn't matter whether a woman
is a sinner or a non sinner nor whether the baby is a sinner or a non-sinner.
It would have been sin for Jesus' mother to disobey that law, and would
have put her baby in jeopardy of its life. She had to bring the birds for her
and Jesus simply because it was the right thing for Jewish mothers to do.

Another case in point of "the right thing to do" is John the Baptist. His
mission was a baptism unto repentance (Matt 3:11). Did Jesus need
repentance? No; but he submitted himself to John's baptism because it was
the right thing to do seeing as John's mission was God-given. (Matt 3:13-15)

This principle is applicable in a number of ways, for instance at Matt 11:28
30 where Jesus said:

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in
heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my
burden is light."

When someone is convinced that Christ came into the world on a special
mission from God, then the right thing for them to do is RSVP Jesus and tell
him, in so many words, that they don't know yet exactly what that rest
might be that he was talking about, but they would like to be in on it just
the same.
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Jesus In Yeshiva

● Luke 2:41-50 . . Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the
Feast of the Passover. And when he became twelve, they went up there
according to the custom of the Feast; and as they were returning, after
spending the full number of days, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem.

. . . But his parents were unaware of it, but supposed him to be in the
caravan, and went a day's journey; and they began looking for him among
their relatives and acquaintances. When they did not find him, they returned
to Jerusalem looking for him.

. . .Then, after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst
of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all
who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

. . .When they saw him, they were astonished; and his mother said to him:
Son, why have you treated us this way? Behold, your father and I have been
anxiously looking for you. And he said to them: Why is it that you were
looking for me? Did you not know that I must be about my Father's
business?

● Luke 2:51 . . . But they did not understand the statement which He had
made to them.

Well; I don't quite understand it either, but one thing I do know is that Jesus
wasn't rebellious: he was micromanaged by a higher power than his parents.

● John 4:34 . . My food, said Jesus, is to do the will of him who sent me

● John 6:38 . . I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but
the will of Him who sent me

● John 8:28 . . I do nothing on my own initiative

● John 8:29 . . He that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me
alone; for I do always those things that please Him.

● John 14:31 . .That the world may know that I love the Father, and as the
Father gave me commandment, even so I do.

NOTE: Other than that one instance of what at first appears to be an
assertion of independence; Jesus was actually a good kid.

● Luke 2:51 . .Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient
to them

Anyway, point being: it's commonly assumed that when the Word of John
1:1-3 came into the world as the flesh of John 1:14, that he came as a
divine child. And it's also commonly assumed that he came with all the
wisdom of God prepackaged in his little baby skull. But no, the Word came
into the world as a Jewish child; and he needed to study his people's religion
just the same as any other kid on the block.

But the Word's flesh had a very large advantage over the other kids. God
equipped Jesus with an unlimited measure of His spirit (Isa 11:1-2 & John
3:34) which made him not only a quick learner, but also an astute learner,
i.e. young Jesus was every Sunday school teacher's dream: a kid that gets
it. (Luke 2:52)
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Mary's Tribal Affiliation

It's sometimes alleged that Jesus' mom was of the tribe of Levi because of
the wording of Luke 1:36 which says:

"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."

Whereas John's mom was of the tribe of Levi (Luke 1:5) Jesus' mom was of
the tribe of Judah. (Luke 1:32, Rom 1:3, and Heb 7:14)

The heads of both those two tribes were Leah's offspring. (Gen 35:23)

Ergo: The women were cousins via a grandmother in common.

** Had Jesus' mom descended from Levi, her little boy would've failed to
qualify as an heir in line for David's throne because all candidates must first
of all be one of Judah's descendants; no exceptions.

● Gen 49:10 . .The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff
from his descendants, until the coming of the one to whom it belongs, the
one whom all nations will obey. (cf. Dan 7:13-14)
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