In those days an order went out from Caesar Augusta to record the whole universe. This was the first recording since Quirinius had ruled Syria. And everyone went to register, each in his own city.
So Joseph also went from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem (because he was of the house and lineage of David), to marry Mary, who was betrothed to him and was not empty. . And when they were there, her days to give birth were fulfilled.
And she gave birth to her firstborn Son, wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
The Holy Gospel of 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 by God to a city of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And when the angel came to her, he said:
"Hail, blessed one! God is with you!
Blessed are you among women!"
And she was very embarrassed by his words and wondered what this greeting would be.
And the angel said:
"Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found God's favor. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a Son, Whom you will call Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end."
And Mary said to the angel:
"How will this be, since I do not know a man?"
And the angel answered:
"The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, for that and the holy One who will be born from you will be called the Son of God."
The Holy Gospel from Luke 1:26-35
When the time was fulfilled, God sent forth His Son, who was born of a woman, born under the law.
Epistle of the Apostle Paul to 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 when Jesus was baptized, he immediately came up out of the water. And behold, the heavens were opened to Him and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on Him.
And behold a voice from heaven saying:
"This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
The Holy Gospel from Matthew 3:16-17
The transfiguration of Jesus in front of three of His disciples again reveals to us His divine nature.
Jesus takes Peter, James, and his brother John and leads them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white like the light.
And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.
And Peter spoke, saying to Jesus:
"Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you want, I will make three tabernacles here:
one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
And while he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. And behold, a voice came out of the cloud, saying:
"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him."
The Holy Gospel from 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.
Second Epistle of the Apostle Peter 1:16-18
Jesus said:
I and the Father are one...
...He whom God sanctified and sent into the world, do you say, you blaspheme, because I said:
"I am the Son of God"?
If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me, but if I do them, even though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me and I in the Father.
The Holy Gospel of John 10:30, 36-38
Believe Me that I am in the Father and that the Father is in Me, or else believe Me because of the works themselves.
The Holy Gospel of John 14:11
The apostle Paul wrote:
For in Him dwells bodily all the fullness of the Godhead.
The Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Colossians 2:9
When Jesus breathed his last on the cross, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, the earth shook, the rocks split open, the graves opened, and many bodies of the dead saints were resurrected (who, coming out of the graves after His resurrection, entered into the holy city and appeared to many). And the centurion and those who were with him guarding Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and all that happened, they were greatly afraid and said:
"Truly this was the Son of God."
The Holy Gospel of Matthew 27:51-54
The Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans:
His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, Who according to the flesh was born of the seed of David, and according to the Spirit of holiness, was declared with power to be the Son of God by the resurrection from the dead.
Epistle of the Apostle Paul to Romans 1:3-4
After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples and talked with them for 40 days.
Jesus approached them and spoke to them, saying:
"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go, therefore, teach all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you and behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the age. Amen."
The Holy Gospel from Matthew 28:18-20
The apostle John wrote in his first epistle:
If anyone confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
The First Epistle of the Apostle John 4:15
We also know that the Son of God came and gave us understanding to know the true God and we are in the true one, that is, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
The First Epistle of the Apostle 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:
And you, Bethlehem Ephratov, although you are small to be among the tribes of Judah, from you will come forth for Me One who will be a ruler in Israel, Whose origin is from the beginning, from eternity.
The book of the prophet 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. It was with God in the beginning. All these things came to be through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made...
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
The Holy Gospel of 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 one has ever seen God.
The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has manifested Him.
The Holy Gospel of John 1:18
The apostle Paul wrote:
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn before all creation, because by him all things were created that are in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created by him and he is before everything and everything is held together through Him.
Paul's Epistle to the Colossians 1:15-17
Who, being in the form of God, still did not think that he should hold firmly to equality with God, but renounced everything, taking upon Himself the form of a servant and becoming like men, and being found in human form, humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.
The Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Philippians 2:6-7
Jesus is God's promised prophet
In the Old Testament, God promised Moses:
I will raise up for them a prophet from among their brothers, as I have raised you up, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he will speak to them all that I command him. And whoever does not listen to My words, which he will speak in My Name, I will demand an answer from 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 in various partial messages and in many ways spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets, in the end of these days speaks to us by the Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he made the worlds, who, being the brightness of His glory and the imprint of His being, and holding all things by His mighty word, having effected [through Himself] the cleansing of sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
Hebrews 1:1-3
Jesus explained:
I did not speak of Myself, but the Father who sent Me, He gave Me commandment what to say and what to speak. And I know that what He commands is eternal life. Therefore, what I speak, I speak as the Father has told Me.
The Holy Gospel of John 12:49-50
The teaching that you hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me.
The Holy Gospel of John 14:24
In His High Priestly Prayer before being betrayed and crucified, Jesus prayed to God the Father:
I have revealed Your name to the men You gave Me out of the world. They were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they kept Your word. Now they know that everything You gave Me is from You, because the words You gave Me, I gave them to them and they accepted them, and they really know that I came from You, and they believe that You sent Me.. .
I gave them Your word and the world hated them, because they are not of the world, just as I am not of it…
Sanctify them through the truth!
Your Word is truth!
The Holy Gospel of John 17:6-8,14,17
Jesus is the Christ (Messiah, Anointed One)
The Old Testament foretold the coming of a Messiah sent by God.
The Old Testament was written mostly in the ancient Hebrew language and only some parts were written in Aramaic, and the New Testament was written in Koine (Ancient Greek).
The original ancient Hebrew word is Mashiach.
The first Bible translation was made in 250 years before Christ, when the Old Testament was translated into the ancient Greek language. This translation is called the Septuagint. When translating the word Mashiach, the translators used the ancient Greek word Χριστός (Christ). The word is derived from the root hrio, meaning to ceremonially anoint with oil.
In Bulgarian, the Old Testament is translated from the original Old Hebrew language, and the New Testament is translated from the ancient Greek language.
In Bulgarian, the ancient Hebrew word Mashiach is translated as Anointed One or transliterated as Messiah.
The authors of the New Testament used the word Χριστός for God's Anointed One, which in Bulgarian is transliterated as Christ.
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 according to his custom he entered the synagogue on a Sabbath day and stood up to read. And they gave Him the book of the prophet Isaiah, and He, opening the book, found the place where it was written:
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set the oppressed at liberty, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord".
And closing the book, He returned it to the minister and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And he began to say to them:
"Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your ears".
The Holy Gospel from Luke 4:16-21
In his conversation with the Samaritan woman, Jesus revealed to her that He is the Christ:
The woman says to Him:
"I know that the Messiah (who is called Christ) will come. He, when he comes, will reveal everything to us".
Jesus says to her:
"I, who speak with you, am the Messiah."
The Holy Gospel from John 4:25-26
And Jesus, coming to the region of Caesarea Philippi, asked His disciples, saying:
"Who do men say the Son of Man is?".
And they said:
"Some say it is John the Baptist, others - Elijah, and others - Jeremiah or one of the prophets".
He tells them:
"But according to what you say, Who am I?".
Simon Peter answered and said:
"You are the Christ, the Son of the living God".
Jesus answered him:
"Blessed are you, Simon, son of John, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven"...
Then he commanded the disciples not to tell anyone that He is [Jesus] the Christ.
The Holy Gospel of Matthew 16:13-17, 20
When questioned by the high priest, Jesus reaffirmed that He is the Christ:
The high priest asked Him again, saying to Him:
"Art thou the Christ, Son of the Blessed?"
And Jesus said:
"I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and walking with the clouds of heaven."
The Holy Gospel of Mark 14:61-62
It is prophesied in the Old Testament:
The kings of the earth are fighting and the rulers are conspiring together against the Lord and against His Anointed...
Psalms 2:2
In the New Testament we read of the fulfillment of prophecy:
For indeed both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, gathered together in that city against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, to accomplish all that Your hand and Your will determined to be done.
Acts 4:27-28
And Jesus performed many other signs before the disciples, which are not recorded in this book. And these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.
The Holy Gospel of John 20:30-31
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves those who are born of Him.
The First Epistle of John 5:1
