Jesus - The Baby in the Bethlehem Manger (Part 1)

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem (because he was of the house and lineage of David) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Luke 2:1-7

Nine months earlier, the Angel Gabriel had announced to the Virgin Mary that the child she would supernaturally conceive and give birth to was the Son of God.

Jesus is the Son of God

... The angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said:

"Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women".

And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

And the angel said unto her:

"Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end".

Then said Mary unto the angel:

"How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?".

And the angel answered and said unto her:

"The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee, therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God".

Luke 1:26-35

"But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law.

Galatians 4:4

Jesus is God the Son – the second Person of the Holy Trinity (God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit).

At the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist in the Jordan River, God manifested Himself in His Trinity. The Holy Spirit descended like a dove on Jesus, and God the Father proclaimed that Jesus was His Son:

And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water, and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him. And lo a voice from heaven, saying:

"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" .

Matthew 3:16-17

The transfiguration of Jesus in front of three of His disciples again reveals to us His divine nature.

And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them, and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.

Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus:

"Lord, it is good for us to be here, if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles: one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias".

While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said:

"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him".

Matthew 17:1-5

In his second epistle, the apostle Peter recounts the same event:

For when we announced to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, we did not follow cunningly invented fables, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory, when such a voice came to Him from the glorious glory:

"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

This voice we ourselves heard, that it came from heaven, when we were with Him on the holy mountain.

2 Peter 1:16-18

Jesus said:

I and my Father are one...

...Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, thou blasphemest, because I said, I am the Son of God? If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works, that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.

John 10:30, 36-38

Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me, or else believe me for the very works' sake.

John 14:11

The apostle Paul wrote:

For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

Colossians 2:9

And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom, and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent, and the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying:

"Truly this was the Son of God".

Matthew 27:51-54

The Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans:

Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.

Romans 1:3-4

After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples and talked with them for 40 days.

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying:

"All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy GHOST, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen".

Matthew 28:18-20

The apostle John wrote in his first epistle:

Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.

1 John 4:15

And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

1 John 5:20

Jesus is God's Word by which all things were created

About 700 years before the birth of Jesus, the prophet Micah recorded a prophecy from God:

But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

Micah 5:2

The Apostle John writes in his Gospel:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was not any thing made that was made...

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth.

John 1:1-3,14

Jesus was born in Bethlehem as a baby, but His existence did not begin with His birth, for He exists in eternity, He is the Only Begotten of the Father!

No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

John 1:18

The apostle Paul wrote:

Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature, for by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him, and he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

Colossians 1:15-17

Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.

Philippians 2:6-7

Jesus is God's promised prophet

In the Old Testament, God promised Moses:

I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.

Deuteronomy 18:18-19

From the books of the New Testament we understand that Jesus is the promised prophet through whom God speaks to us and reveals His will to us.

God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the world's, Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.

Hebrews 1:1-3

Jesus explained:

For I have not spoken of myself but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that his commandment is life everlasting, whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.

John 12:49-50

... The word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.

John 14:24

I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me, and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me...

I have given them thy word, and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world...

Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

John 17:6-8,14,17

Jesus is the Christ (Messiah, Anointed)

In the Old Testament it is said that only the Jewish kings, priests and prophets were anointed.

The anointing was done in a ceremony where they put ointment on their heads.

There is no mention in the New Testament that Jesus received external anointing. The anointing that the prophets and apostles speak of is spiritual, supernatural - through the Holy Spirit.

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written:

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord."

And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.

Luke 4:16-21

In his conversation with the woman of Samaria, Jesus revealed to her that He is the Christ:

The woman saith unto him:

"I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ. When he is come, he will tell us all things".

Jesus saith unto her:

"I that speak unto thee am he".

John 4:25-26

When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying:

"Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?".

And they said,

"Some say that thou art John the Baptist, some, Elias, and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets".

He saith unto them:

"But whom say ye that I am?

And Simon Peter answered and said:

" Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God".

And Jesus answered and said unto him:

"Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven"...

Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.

Matthew 16:13-17, 20

When questioned by the high priest, Jesus reaffirmed that He is the Christ:

... Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him:

"Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?".

And Jesus said:

"I am, and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven".

Mark 14:61-62

It is prophesied in the Old Testament:

The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed.

Psalms 2:2

In the New Testament we read of the fulfillment of prophecy:

For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.

Acts 4:27-28

And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through his name.

John 20:30-31

Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.

1 John 5:1

The publication uses texts from:

 https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/

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