les

in verse 17 we are introduced to the Christ meaning the anointed one in verse 21 jesus the name chosen for this baby concieved under such extraordinary means is explained as the one who would s ave his people from their sin jesus means the LORD saves verse 23 scripture says His birth would fulfill what was said through the prophet (isaiah7:14) immanuel means God with us.i think the name jesus was given to both mary and joseph so they would understand its importance and to confirm to joseph that this was trully as God had decided and made known to him through the angel and that mary indeed was carrying a child unlike all others concieved of GOD's own spirit

mary had very little options .at this point in time women were totally dependent on men for survival,. marriage was the way to a secure future unfortunately being pregnant and not yet married was a crime punishable by death (stoning) or being shunned by all family and society. since women had no careers then all that would be available for someone so disgraced would be servanthood or prostitution.the shame and stigma attached to this transgression was total. joseph being a righteous man must have desired to act in keeping with the law especially as it must have seemed to him that he had been made a fool off by his promised bride.but even if his pride and honor was attacked he still cared enough for mary to consider the disgrace she would face. so he decided to spare her the dishonor and just put her aside gently on other pretext by releasing her through a quiet divorce. i would say joseph was most gracious inspite of the circumstances he faced and tempered justice with love

as a carpenters son Jesus would have been exposed to different people who came to place their orders from joseph and all the situations that may have involved greatfull and not so satisfied costumers .from joseph he must have learned the discipline of preparing for a task and all the attention to detail in exsecuting the projects to be accomplished, the hard work and perseverance to complete the task at hand and accuracy in every detail .he must have learned every skill necessary to be a master craftsman and the satisfaction of a job well done inspite of the hard work required

Mary is blessed among women for the beautiful purpose God called her to she was the vessel He chose to hold His Son and raise Him to maturity through her we recieved our savior yet we must always remember although she found favor and was assigned this role in history she is still human whereas Jesus was before anything created ever was and will always be above and beyond anyone or anything created regardless the great accomplishments of some personalities we are all way beneath our creator savior and King.it will never be taken away from her that she was the mother of Jesus Christ blessed is she for that honor but He already was even before He came and was born a man through mary

at great risk to herself mary accepted Gods will for her life at that time a pregnancy out of wedlock was punishable by death yet mary trusted God to do what He proposd for her and to protect her . to submit and be willing inspite of great danger and inconvenience to herself was trully remarkable .she had a trully submisssive and accepting heart open to Gods will at any cost

the virgin conception teaches us that Jesus was of the same nature as God that He was concieved by the work of the spirit unlike any of us He was Holy from the start and a Son of the Most High God Begotten and not made his incarnation allowed Him to take on a human nature but still Loose nothing of His divine nature being born he was man able to identify with us in all things human but He was also trully God able to deal with God the Father in the same capacity; as of the same essence! He came from heaven we are of the earth yet He came to us

mary did not doubt that what the angel said would come to pass she just didnt understand how. when the angel explained that God would do this she accepted the angels message and agreed to the role assigned by God to her ....she had a faith and heart that accepted and believed even when she did not understand and it appeared impossible to her human reasoning whereas zechariah doubted the angels messsage as to his and elizabeths ability to concieve a child. he allowed the circumstance of their age to disbelieve Gods power to overide what is natural and accomplish what he willed and proclaimed .he forgot all things are possible with God nothing is impossible with Him

that mary would have a son that she should name Him Jesus that He would be great and be called the Son of the Most High The Lord God would give Him davids throne He would rule over jacobs house foreverand His kingdom will never end

am les from cebu in the philippines am married 31 years have 4 children recieved Jesus 14 years ago and am excited to start with this study hello to you all!!!!!