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Scripture Used to Create the Splice Series “The Conception and Birth of Christ”

 

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)

 

Need to catch up first? To read the Splice “The Conception and Birth of Jesus: Part Two”, click here.

 

Galatians 4:4-5

4 But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive our adoption as sons.

 

THE SPLICE

Now in those days ¹ a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a ² census should be taken of the ³ whole empire. This was the first census to take place while ⁴ Quirinius was governing in Syria. And everyone went to his own town to register. So ⁵ Joseph also went up from Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called ⁶ Bethlehem, since he was from the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was ⁷ pledged to him in marriage and was ⁸ expecting a child.

⁹ While they were there in Bethlehem, the time came for her Child to be born. And ¹⁰ she gave birth to her firstborn Son. Joseph called His name Jesus. Mary wrapped Him in ¹¹swaddling cloths and laid Him in a ¹² manger, because there was ¹³ no room for them in the inn.

And there were ¹⁴ shepherds residing in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks by night. Just then ¹⁵ an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for ¹⁶ all the people: Today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord! And this will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying a manger.

And suddenly there appeared with the angel a ¹⁷great multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying:

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests!”

When the angels had left them and ¹⁸ gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the Baby, who was lying in the manger. After they had seen the Child, they spread the message they had received about Him. And all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

The shepherds ²⁰ returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, which was just as the angel had told them.

 

NOTES

 

1 a decree went out: Caesar Augustus sent out more than one decree for taking censuses during his time as emperor of Rome, and we don’t know about each and every one. Unfortunately, this decree mentioned in Luke 2:1 does not give us the information needed to pinpoint Jesus’s birthday. Caesar Augustus was a prolific and pivotal figure in ancient Rome. You can read about him here. (Back)

2 census: The Greek word used in Luke 2:1 for census is apographé and means “enrollment or registration”. It can be extended to imply “taxation” and often does, but it didn’t always mean this. (Back)

 

3 whole empire: Meaning the Roman Empire, which existed from 27 BC to 476 AD (before that, it the Roman Republic). The Roman Empire stretched beyond Rome. It included parts of Europe, Asia and Africa as well. Your local library probably holds a wealth of books that expand on the Roman Empire, if you are interested. (Back)

 

4 Quirinius was governor of Syria: This information is taken from Luke 2:2. There has been a lot of argument on whether or not Quirinius was governor of Syria two different times in his life. The facts are not exhaustive on Quirinius, therefore this possibility must be taken into account. We have no idea who was governor of Syria between 4BC and 1 AD. This is where the idea that Quirinius could have been governor twice, along with the tombstone inscription information. It should also be taken into account that in Luke 2:2, the Greek word used for  first, which is prótos is also translated as the word “before”. Just because our English translators chose to use the word first doesn’t mean they should have. (Back)

 

5 Joseph: Joseph is a bit of a mystery, as he isn’t mentioned directly throughout Jesus’s ministry. Here is what we know: His father’s name was Jacob (Matthew 1:16) and he was descended from King David through Solomon (Matthew 1:6). He was a carpenter (Matthew 13:55) and had his own children with Mary, after Jesus’s birth (Matthew 1:25; Matthew 13:55-56; Mark 6:3). We know that he was a righteous man, meaning justified by God and he was considerate of Mary, where others might not have been (Matthew 1:19). We know that God included Joseph in on plans regarding Jesus and entrusted him with Jesus’s care (Matthew 1:20-25; 2:13-15; 2:19-23). Also, he was still alive when Jesus was twelve (Luke 2:41-51). Some might say that because of the present tense of is (in Greek: eimi) in Matthew 13:55, that Joseph was still alive for at least part of Jesus’s ministry, but we can’t be sure. It is highly probable that Joseph was dead by the time of Jesus’s death on the cross, because Jesus gives John the disciple the responsibility for caring for Mary, from that time on (John 19:26-27). (Back)

 

6 Bethlehem: Bethlehem is prophesied to be the birthplace of Jesus in Micah 5:2-5. The name Bethlehem means “house/place of bread” in Greek/Hebrew. Every year at Christmas time, current day Bethlehem has all sorts of festivities and celebrations.  It is important to remember, however, that no matter what any tourist agency tells you, we don’t know when Jesus was born and we don’t know the exact spot of His birth. (Back)

 

7 pledged to him 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)

 

8 expecting a child: It is popular to depict Mary as 9 months pregnant for this journey to Bethlehem. In truth, we have no idea how far along she was in the pregnancy when they started on their trip. Mary and Joseph could have left for Bethlehem anytime between Mary’s third month of pregnancy, when Mary returned from Elizabeth’s house (Luke 1:56), up to the week of the birth of Jesus. Current day Bethlehem and Nazareth are around 90 miles apart, but this does not take into account the common traveling routes of the era or if the Biblical Bethlehem and Nazareth are in the exact same places. But roughly, if Joseph and Mary walked 20 miles a day (the normal amount of walking for travel at that time), the trip took them between 3-5 days. It is highly doubtful that Joseph and Mary walked by themselves. They were probably amongst a caravan of people, as it would have been imprudent in those days to travel alone. See Luke 2:43-45 for an example of the caravan (Greek word: sunodia) idea, also including Mary and Joseph with their relatives and friends. (Back)

 

9 While they were there in Bethlehem: We do not know how long Mary and Joseph were in Bethlehem before Jesus was born. We do not know how long they stayed in Bethlehem after His birth. It’s important to establish what we don’t know as well as what we do know, because there has been much legend and folklore that has developed around Jesus and Christmas. It’s not wrong to celebrate the birth of Christ, but it is important to recognize that it wasn’t given the same attention in the Bible that His death and resurrection was given. All four gospels talk about Jesus’s death and resurrection. Only Luke and Matthew talk about His birth. We know exactly when to commemorate Jesus’s death and celebrate His resurrection. We have no indication as to when Jesus was born. And, although we can celebrate the birth of Jesus as the happy time when the Savior was born into the world to begin His work in the Salvation plan, the date of December 25 can’t be insisted on as a fact around Jesus’s birth. Celebrate His birth how you choose to, when you choose to, if you choose to. (Back)

 

10 she gave birth to her firstborn Son: There has been much speculation as to when Jesus was born. The two biggest clues we are given are in Matthew 2:1 , Luke 1:5 and then in Matthew 2:22. Using Matthew 2:22’s mentioning of Archelaus as the son of Herod and Herod’s death (the death also recorded in Matthew 2:19), we can confirm that the Herod that was king when Jesus was born was Herod the Great. Herod the Great’s date of death is in question, usually thought to have been either in 4 BC or 1 BC. We might look to Luke’s information, in Luke 2:1-2, and take into consideration the date of the census ordered by Caesar Augustus and also when Quirinius governed in Syria. However, that information also can’t be verified, see Notes 1 and 4. There is only one conclusion that we can arrive at: we do not know the day, the month, nor the year of Christ’s birth. (Back)

 

11 swaddling cloths: The practice of wrapping babies in swaddling cloths had a long tradition in Israel, also being mentioned in Ezekiel 16:4. To learn more about modern day swaddling practices, see this YouTube video or read this article. (Back)

 

12 manger: A manger is a feeding trough for cattle. This is why people associate Jesus’s birth with a stable. However, the Bible never mentions a stable.  There is lore on where the manger was located, but we have no confirmation on the location of it or on the structure it was housed in. In current day Bethlehem, the Church of the Nativity has a “traditional” location for Jesus’s birth place. The church is several centuries old and has an interesting history. (Back)

 

13 no room for them in the inn: This information is from Luke 2:7. The Greek word for inn used here is kataluma and means “a lodging place” but doesn’t necessarily mean a “hotel” type dwelling, because that is a different word. Because of the way the Greek sentence reads, we can be sure that at the very least, Mary and Joseph were not given the customary room for lodging, and had to submit to less-than-desirable accommodation, probably in the courtyard with the animals (the most common place where domestic stock was kept) belonging to the host family. (Back)

 

14 shepherds residing in the fields nearby: Shepherds watched the flocks in their care at night because of the threat of wild animals and thieves (see 1 Samuel 17:34-37 for David’s account of protecting a flock). Shepherds were sometimes hired people, and usually not particularly rich or educated. Many times, the shepherds of a family were the younger children, like in David’s case (1 Samuel 16:11-13). It is in keeping with God’s amazing plan to reveal Himself to the not-so-valued in society instead of the “wise” persons of the world (Matthew 11:25). (Back)

 

15 an angel of the Lord stood before them: On Christmas cards, we usually see the angel depicted in the sky above the shepherds, but the Bible doesn’t say the angel is in the sky. The Greek text reads “And an angel of the LORD stood by them”. The Greek word used for stood in Luke 2:9 is ephistémi and it means “to set upon, stand upon, to be present”.  We can only be sure that the angel was presented to the shepherds. (Back)

 

16 all the people: The Greek used here for people is the word laos. This word is important because it is particular in that it means “God’s chosen people”. This wording should be understood in alignment with Matthew 22:14; John 6:44; Romans 8:28-29; 2 Timothy 1:9; 1 Peter 2:9-10, just as examples. (Back)

 

17 great multitude of the heavenly host: The Greek text for Luke 2:13 reads “And suddenly there came with the angel a multitude of host”. The Greek word for host used in this verse is stratia and it means “an army”. Here, it applies to the troops of heaven: the angels. It can also apply to any celestial body such as stars or constellations. (Back)

 

18 gone into heaven: The Greek text in Luke 2:15 says “And it came to pass, as were departing from them into the heaven, the angels, the shepherds were saying…”. The Greek word used for heaven is ouranos and it means the sky/the stars that we can see, as well as the invisible heaven that is God’s abode. It is possible that the angels went up into the sky (like Jesus did in Acts 1:9-11) in order to be taken to God’s heaven. We don’t have a clear indication on what is involved with  “departing into the heaven” and how it takes place. As a side note, the new Jerusalem comes down from heaven to the new earth in Revelation 21:1-2. (Back)

 

19 But Mary treasured up…: The Greek word used for treasured up in Luke 2:19 is suntéreó and it means to “keep close to, to remember, to preserve”. (Back)

 

20 returned, glorifying and praising God: We don’t know exactly where the shepherds “returned” to, but it is most likely that they went back to their flocks in the fields. (Back)

Scripture 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)

 

Need to catch up first? To read the Splice “The Conception and Birth of Jesus: Part One”, click here.

 

Micah 5:2

But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come forth for Me One to be ruler over Israel—One whose origins are of old, from the days of eternity.

 

THE SPLICE

In those days Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the ¹ hill country of Judah, where she entered the home of ² Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby ³ leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was ⁴ filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For as soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord’s word to her will be fulfilled.”

Then ⁵ Mary said:
“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior! For He has looked with favor on the humble state of His servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed. For the Mighty One has done great things for me. Holy is His name. His mercy extends to those who fear Him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who are ⁶ proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has exalted the humble. He has ⁷ filled the hungry with good things, but has ⁸ sent the rich away empty. He has helped His servant Israel, remembering to be merciful, as He promised to ⁹ our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever.”
¹⁰ Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.

 

Want to keep reading? To read the Splice “The Conception and Birth of Christ: Part Three”, click here.

 

NOTES

 

1 hill country of Judah: The hill country of Judah contained a refuge city called Kiriath-arba, a.k.a. Hebron. Refuge cities were for “anyone who kills another unintentionally or accidentally”. A person who was an unintentional killer had this place in Hebron, and 5 other refuge cities, to run to. The person was then kept safe (until their trial before the assembly) from avengers of the dead person. It is unknown which town John the Baptist’s parents, Zacharias and Elizabeth, lived in, but these 6 refuge cities, as well as 42 other cities amongst the tribes, belonged to the Levites (Levites did not have their own tribal land in Israel but lived scattered throughout the other tribes); Zacharias was a Levite. See Numbers 35:6-28; Deuteronomy 4:41-43; 10:8-9; 18:1-8; 19:1-10; Joshua 20 and 21; Luke 1:5. (Back)

 

2 Zacharias and Elizabeth: You can read about Zacharias and Elizabeth in Luke 1:5-25; 57-80. (Back)

 

3 leaped in her womb: From Luke 1:41. The Greek word used here for leaped is skirtaó and it means to “leap for joy”. (Back)

 

4 filled with the Holy Spirit: Being filled with the Holy Spirit is something that all true believers in God and in His Christ have (Romans 8:9). Having the Helper (some English translations say Advocate), as Jesus calls Him in John 14:16, enables the person to actually believe the truths of God, as the Spirit teaches them (John 14:26; 16:13). He enables the believer to follow the truth and Laws of God (Ezekiel 36:26-27), which is completely against human nature (Galatians 5:17-25). He convicts the world concerning sin, righteousness and judgment through the believer (John 16:7-11), as displayed in Acts several times (Acts 2; Acts 9:17-28 as examples), speaking with boldness (Acts 4:31) about the things of God, and it even enables one to accept an unjust death on behalf of Christ (Acts 7:54-60). In short, being filled with the Holy Spirit is a gift of God to the believer (Acts 2:38) , and enables the person to do the things God wants them to do. The fruit of this gift of the Holy Spirit is described in Galatians 5:22-23. (Back)

 

5 Mary said: This beautiful declaration of the awesomeness of God brings to mind Hannah’s prayer to God after the birth of her son, Samuel, in 1 Samuel 2:1-10. (Back)

 

6 proud in the thoughts of their hearts: Pride is a sin and not of God. See Psalm 10:2-4; Proverbs 8:13; 21:4; 1 Peter 5:5; 1 John 2:16. (Back)

 

7 filled the hungry with good things: That is, righteousness (Matthew 5:6). Jesus is the fulfillment of this, see John 6:31-35. (Back)

 

8 sent the rich away empty: Jesus said it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to be saved (Matthew 19:21-24; Mark 10:21-25). This is because the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:6-11). Evil is not of God (Psalm 107:1, Isaiah 5:20; 2 Timothy 4:18). In Luke 12:15-21 Jesus warns about accumulating worldly wealth and ignoring the wealth of God. (Back)

 

9 our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever: This promise was made over the prophesy of another miracle baby, Isaac, in Genesis 17:7-22. (Back)

 

10 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months: The Bible says that Mary went to Elizabeth, in a hurry (Luke 1:39), in the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy (Luke 1:36); therefore, it seems that Mary stayed to help her out (Elizabeth was elderly, see Luke 1:7) for those last three months and probably left after Elizabeth had given birth. The Bible doesn’t state that Mary helped with the birth of John, so it’s conjecture. But what we do know is that Mary did stay for three months (Luke 1:56). That means Mary, who would now be 3 months pregnant when she went home to Nazareth, did not hide herself from her neighbors during the most showy parts of her pregnancy. The Bible doesn’t mention if Mary was bombarded with rumors and gossip, though. (Back)

Scripture 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)

 

Isaiah 7:14

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) and 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 obedience involved 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. See Revelation 21:1-22:5 to understand this everlasting kingdom (as best as we humanly can, 1 Corinthians 2:9-11). (Back)

 

9 Elizabeth your relative: The name Elizabeth 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 regarding the marriage practices back then. (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)