Friday, December 24, 2010

The Gospel accounts of Jesus' Birth


The Genealogy of Jesus:

This is the genealogy  of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:
  Abraham was the father of Isaac, 
   Isaac the father of Jacob, 
   Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 
  Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, 
   Perez the father of Hezron, 
   Hezron the father of Ram, 
  Ram the father of Amminadab, 
   Amminadab the father of Nahshon, 
   Nahshon the father of Salmon, 
 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, 
   Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, 
   Obed the father of Jesse,  and Jesse the father of King David.
   David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife, 
Solomon the father of Rehoboam, 
   Rehoboam the father of Abijah, 
   Abijah the father of Asa, 
  Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, 
   Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram, 
   Jehoram the father of Uzziah, 
  Uzziah the father of Jotham, 
   Jotham the father of Ahaz, 
   Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 
 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, 
   Manasseh the father of Amon, 
   Amon the father of Josiah, 
 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
 After the exile to Babylon: 
   Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, 
   Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 
 Zerubbabel the father of Abihud, 
   Abihud the father of Eliakim, 
   Eliakim the father of Azor, 
 Azor the father of Zadok, 
   Zadok the father of Akim, 
   Akim the father of Elihud, 
 Elihud the father of Eleazar, 
   Eleazar the father of Matthan, 
   Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.
 Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.

Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son
 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.  But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
----Gospel according to St. Matthew 1:1-25

The Birth of Jesus Foretold
 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went 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. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[b] the Son of God.  Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month.  For no word from God will ever fail.”
 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth
 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea,  where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth.  When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.  In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!  But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?  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 would fulfill his promises to her!”

Mary’s Song

 And Mary said:
   “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,  for he has been mindful 
of 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 proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones 
but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”
Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.
---------Gospel according to St. Luke 1:1-56


The Word Became Flesh
 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe.  He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
------Gospel according to St. John 1:1-18



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Northwest Arkansas, Arkansas, United States
My name is Ignatios Jason Rogers and I was received into the Holy Antiochian Orthodox Church at St. Nicholas in Springdale, AR on Christmas Eve of 2006. I am currently seeking the monastic path and hopefully one day will be able to enter a monastery.

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