Text Used to Create the Splice Series “The Conception and Birth of Christ”
English translation used: Berean Standard Bible
Matthew 1:18-25 (Greek Text Analysis beginning with Matthew 1:18)
Luke 1:26-56 (Greek Text Analysis beginning with Luke 1:26)
Luke 2:1-20 (Greek Text Analysis beginning with Luke 2:1)
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel
THE SPLICE
This is how the birth of 1 Jesus Christ came about:
In the 2 sixth month, God sent 3 the angel Gabriel to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin 4 pledged in marriage to a man named 5 Joseph, who was of the house of 6 David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. The angel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. So the angel told her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will 7 give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever. 8His kingdom will never end!” “How can this be, ” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel replied, “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. Look, even 9 Elizabeth your relative has conceived a son in her old age, and she who was called barren is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.” “I am 10the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it happen to me according to your word.” Then the angel left her.
Now before Mary and Joseph were married, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because 11 Joseph her husband was 12 a righteous man and was unwilling to 13 disgrace her publicly, he resolved to divorce her quietly. But after he had pondered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him 14 in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to embrace Mary as your wife, for the One conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name 15 Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
16 “Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel” (which means, “God with us”).
When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and embraced Mary as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a Son.
Want to keep reading? To read the Splice “The Conception and Birth of Christ: Part Two”, click here.
NOTES
1 Jesus Christ: Jesus Christ means Jesus the Christ, because Christ is a title and not a surname. Christos is the Greek word for the Hebrew word Messiah. (Back)
2 sixth month: The sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy; she was miraculously pregnant with John the Baptist (see Luke 1:8-25). (Back)
3 the angel Gabriel: This is not the first time Gabriel has been sent by God to give messages to human beings. He was also sent to Daniel (Daniel 8:15-27; Daniel 9:20-27) and Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father (Luke 1:11-20). Gabriel‘s name is a combination of the Hebrew word El (“God”) and the Hebrew word geber (man) means “man of God”. (Back)
4 pledged in marriage: When people became engaged in ancient Israel, they were as good as married and would require a legal divorce to separate. However, they were not married yet, and therefore not living together. To read about the betrothal and marriage practices of ancient Israel, click here. (Back)
5 Joseph: We don’t know much about Joseph. We know his father’s name was Jacob (Matthew 1:16). We know he was an obedient man of God (Matthew 1:19, 20, 21, 25, 39), at least when it was about Jesus. We know he was a descendant of David through the line of Solomon (Matthew 1:7), we know he was still alive when Jesus was twelve (Luke 2:41-42), and we know he was a carpenter by trade (Matthew 13:55). We know he had children of his own with Mary (Matthew 12:46-47, 13:55, Mark 3:31-32, John 7:3-5). And, we might assume that Joseph passed on his carpentry knowledge to Jesus (Jesus was a carpenter before His ministry, see Mark 6:3), but we can’t know that for sure. If Joseph died early on, one of his relatives or a family friend could have taught Jesus carpentry, or at least finished the education that Joseph had started. (Back)
6 David: King David. The name David, probably comes from the Hebrew word dod or dowd and means “well-beloved”. David’s history is recorded in Ruth 4:16-22; 1 Samuel 16:1 – 31:13; all of 2 Samuel, 1 Kings 1:1-2:11; 1 Chronicles 10:14 – 29:30. David was also the author of many of the Psalms in the Bible, the most recognizable being Psalm 23. (Back)
7 give Him the throne of His father David: See 2 Samuel 7:8-17 (and Isaiah 9:7 ) for this promise of God. (Back)
8 His kingdom will never end!: 2 Samuel 7:13, 16 specifically mentions this part of God’s promise to David. (Back)
9 Elizabeth your relative: Elizabeth‘s name in Hebrew means “God is an oath”. You can read about Zacharias and Elizabeth in Luke 1:5-25, 39-80. (Back)
10 the Lord’s servant: The Greek word used here for the word servant is doulé and it means “female slave”. (Back)
11 Joseph her husband: See Note 4. (Back)
12 a righteous man: Righteousness isn’t something that a person accomplishes by themselves, for instance, by being a good person. The Bible says that no one is righteous on their own (Romans 3:10). Any righteousness that is attributed to a person is by God’s grace in granting them the God-given faith to receive it (Romans 1:17) ; it is the faith in Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross (2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Peter 2:24). It is Jesus’s righteousness that is used in the place of the person’s sinful nature (1 Corinthians 1:30). (Back)
13 disgrace her publicly, he resolved to divorce her quietly: Deuteronomy 22:13-30 explains penalties for pre-marital or adulterous relations. Deuteronomy 24:1-4 gives the laws of divorce. Jesus makes clear in Matthew 5:32 that the indecency mentioned as grounds for divorce in Deuteronomy means sexual immorality. The Greek word used for sexual immorality is porneia and it applies to any sexual relations outside of marriage. (Back)
14 in a dream: The Greek word used in Matthew 1:20 for the word dream is onar and it means “a dream during sleep”. It wasn’t a vision like what many of the prophets experienced (such as Obadiah) or a visitation like what Mary experienced. Joseph’s information from God is delivered to him in dreams only, by an unidentified angel of the Lord (Matthew 1:20; 2:13, 19). The magi are also warned in a dream not to return to Herod after seeing Jesus (Matthew 2:12). (Back)
15 Jesus: The name Jesus is Iésous in Greek and Yehoshua in Hebrew. It means “Yahweh is salvation”. (Back)
16 Behold, the virgin will be with child: From Isaiah 7:14. (Back)