UncleBlake

Christians are the salt of the earth in that (in using the preservation analogy) we aren't to go about our lives as lukewarm namby pamby milktoast people. This isn't God's desire for us. We must have the "tang" as was stated in the text. This "tang" may not always set will with people, but it is what motivates, keeps each other on the right path, keeps us in line with God, and makes life what God intended it to be...not the least of which is full of zest and flavour, which He wishes for us to experience.

Persecution is a funny thing. Certainly not to trivialize it, by any means, but as horrible as it is, just as the text says, it means that we have been noticed, heard and perhaps something that God has imparted through us has struck a chord that challenges the intended's "norm". This is something to be happy about. Strangely enough! Jesus said (17 "This is my command. to love one another. If the worlds hates you,18 do not forget that it hated me first." John 15:17-18 MontgomeryNT) If the world hated Jesus for shaking things up, it will surely hate us. The world has wallowed in the mire of it's filth and sin for as long as the bite was taken from the fruit, Satan doesn't want it to change, he thinks he's won. Imagine his surprize when he finds out he hasn't...it doesn't set well with him, ergo persecution! Jesus is the King of Kings, and Lord or Lords, His kingdom is the Kingdom of Heaven, if we are persecuted for His name sake, we then belong to His Kingdom.

People with a pure heart see God because of the purity itself. Purity is the Holiness of God, people without that purity cannot see God because of the corruption that blinds us. It's sort of like when after a heavy snow, it warms a bit, and starts to melt, things get horridly muddy, the windshield of your car becomes caked with mud and dirt. What once was clear has become clouded, you cannot see. We obtain a pure, or clean heart by simply asking God. Putting it all at the feet of Jesus, trusting that He will take care of it all, and relying on the promise He made.

An intenst desire for righteousness puts us at odds with the world, in that the world does not hunger and thirst after this righteousness. It seeks to fill itself with instant gratification, and things that are of a selfish, legalistic nature. This indeed does not lead to righteousness. I believe Jesus was talking about His righteousness. The freedom from the guilt of sin. We are justified by Christ's Blood, washed clean, and judged without sin, and imputed with Christ's righteousness. When we accept that, we are then Justified. We are then promised that we shall be filled. As it says in Romans 3:24 (Romans 3:24 (AMP) [All] are justified and made upright and in right standing with God, freely and gratuitously by His grace (His unmerited favor and mercy), through the redemption which is [provided] in Christ Jesus, ) It is given to us without merit, and given to us freely.

The Gentleness expressed in Matthew 5:5 suggests humility and patience without regret or resentment. Simply put, one can see the stark contrast between that very statement and what the world's ideal is. The world suggests a terribly aggressive approach to life, where it's "dog eat dog", "kill or be killed", "every man for himself". Where as Jesus' Gentleness suggest "Let me help you with that, I would be happy to be of whatever service I can to you". Humility such as this is important because I believe it expresses the message Jesus was explaining to us in the Greatest Commandment"...Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and there is a second, a kin to this...love your neighbour as yourself."

It is necessary for us to experience and be aware of our spiritual poverty before being a Christian because when we are at our worse, God's Mercy is at it's best. 9 But He said to me, My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness. Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me! 2 Cor 12:9 (AMP) We must be broken completely before God can build us back up to reach His fullness. Mourning in a sense is necessary in becoming a Christian in that we create an atmosphere ripe for the Holy Spirit, the Great Comforter to come in and begin His work.

The two parts of the Beatitudes are the "Blessed are..." and the "...For they shall..." Jesus made each a paradox in order to illustrate the virtues of following His teachings. Each parallel the Fruits of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23.

In the passages in Matthew, Jesus is saying that most of His own people didn't recognize Him as the Messiah, but that His message, and His plan of salvation isn't just for them, but for all people. The Wise Men, or Magi, weren't necessarily Hebrew, (all others being Gentiles) therefore He came not just for the Hebrews (Jews) but for the Gentiles as well. The Gospel Mandate is this, that we do not hold back in living it and telling it for all of the world, not just for a select few. Matthew 24:14 says that when the Gospel has reached all nations, then the end will come. All shall have a chance to hear of it. Whether or not they accept it, is up to them, but at least they will have had the chance to hear the Gospel.

It was appropriate for the Magi to bring gifts to baby Jesus because they knew Him to be a King born to Israel. Altho they may or may not have known the entire significance of that, it was custom to bring gifts of this nature, the finest of what they have, to a King to honour him. They were doing what was considered customary. Again, it is not known if the Magi completely understood the significance of what they were doing, but they did know this was a King born. The extravagance lavished was appropriate in that it signified thier wish to honour the King with thier best. It is most appropriate for us to bring our total selves to the Christ-Child. That is the best we have. By offering ourselves, we are offering all that we have. God wants a relationship with us, and by giving freely of that, we honour God with what He has given us in the first place.

The Magi were paying obeysance to the Messiah. They were indeed convinced that Jesus was the Messiah that was prophesied about. We learn that even tho these were learned men, they still must recongize His Godhead. We emulate this kind of worship by doing the same, altho our customs are not as strict, we still owe respect and honour. Christ is to be first and foremost in our lives. We are to recognize that He is God and as such must occupy the primary place in our lives.

Primarily the Star was a Herald of Jesus' birth. It brought, even if it were by curiosity, those who wished to witness the Birth of the Messiah to where the Baby was born. But more than that, it was the signifier that the Prophecies were about to become fulfilled. As we see in the passage in Numbers, the prophecy then, is fulfilled as the star appears. The star heralds the Magi as to the birth, and compels them to seek the New Born King.

It all is a part of my response, perhaps not all at once, but at one time or another, I think I have felt all of it, experienced it all. I think, maybe, I have been a bit lax in telling others. Evangelizing isn't my strongest suit, but I am working on that, slowly but surely.

The titles given Jesus by the Angel were Saviour, Christ the Lord. Saviour-the deliverer, the Messiah, the long awaited one who will deliver all from the bondage of the slavery of Sin. Christ-the Greek word for annointed (the Annointed One) the Lord- from kuros (supremacy); supreme in authority, i.e. (as noun) controller; by implication Mr. (as a respectful title) :- God, Lord, master, Sir.

Well people do not need a physician. In keeping with what seems to be one of the main themes of Jesus' messege, Shepherds needed Jesus' birth just as much as everyone else. It was also Prophecy, but God wants His people, Jew and Gentile alike to know that He loves them no matter what. No matter what offense has been comitted, Jesus came to obliterate it, and to bring each and everyone to the Father. I think Jesus was born in a stable, with the manger for His bed, to signify the stripping away or the kenoo, to make Hiself accessable to all of Mankind.

There are a number of reasons why the journey must have been difficult for Mary. Firstly, there is the physical aspect of it. As you had stated, Mary was a pregnant Teenager. She must have been at, or near the ninth month ( 4 days journey + Luke 2:7 6 And while they were there, the time came for her delivery, Luke 2:6 (AMP)) That is a given. It would have been Josephs' duty to make sure his wife was protected and in relative comfort, she probably (as is most dipictions) rode a donkey most of the way, the jostling about probably made it all somewhat uncomfortable. Also, I am not so sure it was winter...this is why. The Bible states in Luke 2: 8-17 (specifically verse 8) that there were shepherds watching thier flocks at night. They only time Shepherds stayed out all night in the fields with thier sheep keeping watch were when the sheep were lambing. This was done only in the spring time, much close to our spring, around late April or early May. As for the second part of the question, pleasure is no indication as to God's will in the least, just as pain is no indication of God's will. Neither has anything to do with it. God does not inflict either in accordance with His will. God is not a vengeful God. He does not cause pleasure when we are doing His will, and pain when we are not. Pain is a part of life, pleasure is as well. We are creatures that are created to experience pleasure, to be sure, it is a free gift from God, not a reward. EXTRA CREDIT: In the "argument" :Being a consistant Christian causes more hardships than just going with the flow"; one could indeed argue either point and be correct. The statement is, however, a trick statement. Being a consistant Christian is what, if we are indeed Christians, we are called to do. (Luke12:41). In doing so, and living in the world, indeed we will run up against times and circumstances where we are tempted or even mandated by the world to go against our Christian morals. (Ephesians 4:17). If we go one way, we go against what we are called to do as Christians, thus going against God's will. If we maintain our faith, we go against the norm, society, and possibly even the law, thus causing some potentially serious problems. Done consistantly, that is to say, remaining in our Christian faith consistantly, and going against an ever increasingly evil world; the answer would be yes, most certainly doing so causes more hardships. However, one must look at the consequences of not doing so. I am not talking about worldly consequences, but the eternal consequences. So, in that light, no, it does not.

I believe Luke is naming these rulers to verify that indeed Jesus the Christ was a Person of History. These rulers are verifiable, and by tracing these rulers, and the events associated with them, validity is added to what Luke is recording.

Joseph's characture can only be that of what it states in the text. He is a righteous man who obeys what God directs him to do. He seems to be a devout Jewish man who believes in the importance of following the direction of God, not man. The significance of Jesus' naming by Joseph is that by doing so, Joseph in effect "adopts" Jesus by semetic law into his (Joseph's) lineage, thus bringing Jesus in line with David. In doing so, Jesus is no of the lineage of David and thus prophecy is fulfilled.

Isaiah's statement to King Ahaz in Prophecy that a Virgin will concieve and His name will be called Immanuel, meaning "God with us", foretold that very thing. I have never heard it any other way than it foretelling the birth of Jesus. As we see in our text (Matthew 1:23) "...Matthew 1:23 (AMP) Behold, the virgin shall become pregnant and give birth to a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel

Jesus's name in the Hebrew (יְהוֹשֻׁעַ‎

As it says in the text, in Matthew 1:19, Joseph was a righteous man, meaning he was one who wanted to do what was right and best for the both of them. He didn't want to go against the law, according to the laws and the social more's of the time, he could not marry Mary and maintain his status socially nor legally seeing the unborn child was not his. Joseph saught the only thing, (not yet knowing who the unborn child was) he could possibly do. Mary's options were even less. Women in those days didn't have equal status to men, and had to remain either in their familial home or in thier husband's home and out of the public eye. Mary could have run away, but as discussed in the lesson her only option was to find work as a house maid or prostitute, and neither would do. She was at a crux where the only thing she could do was rely on God to take care of her.

Growing up in His earthly father's carpentry shoppe, Jesus would have been exposed to being taught the skill of carpentry, working with wood, a solid work ethic, getting things just right, not leaving a job until it's done, and perhaps working on a deadline, fulfilling orders and working to specificiations. Jesus would also have been exposed to Joseph's business dealings with other's and his way of dealing and handling people. Children pick up more than we realize, most often than not, and so much more would it concievable have been for Jesus. Jesus would also have seen first hand what it was like to have to budget time and resources, to care for tools, and inventory.

The Titles that we use to describe Mary are based on these scriptural references. (I am not Catholic, so I cannot speak to any Doctorinal issues that may or may not exist in Catholicism specifically) As I understand it, Mary is Blessed among women in human terms for having been the mother of our Lord. Jesus being fully God and fully man, being born of Mary. thus making Mary "the Mother of God". This in no way makes Mary more Holy than any other human being. We have all fallen short (Romans 3:23). There may be others that disagree with me, and I am certainly not the utmost authority on doctrine. However, this is my opinion that we are indeed hesitant because Mary was human...fully human after all. Indeed Gabriel called her Blessed among women.

I believe Mary's reponse to Gabriel is one of total submission to the will of God! How could it be anything other than that?! As was stated in the text, here Mary was, a peasant girl, certainly not used to visitation by an Angelic creature, let alone one who stands in the presents of the Most High God...I am sure that at that very moment she may not have even understood that very fact. Imagine the utter shock and surprise. Not to mention when Gabriel told her all of the things he did, Mary certainly must have been quite overwhelmed. The Bible doesn't say precisely what her upbringing was like, however, we have a pretty good idea that because of the times, customs etc, she was probably raised to do what she was told, especially when it was God doing the telling, and she certainly wasn't going to question an Angel from God. She indeed was going to submit herself to the will of the Most High God, and do what ever He wanted her to do, feeling very, very blessed to be chosen by God to carry out His plan. God will provide for what ever circumstances may arise. She knew that. If we only respond to God's will with the same trust and faith that Mary did, we soon realize God's Sovreignty as well. God is in control, He will never fail.

The Virgin Conception, Jesus being concieved of the Holy Spirit, means that He is wholly God. Pure and Undefiled. This is also in keeping with the fulfillment of scripture (Isaiah 7:14). It is also central in upholding the theology of the sovereignty of God throughout the entire Bible.