0 SAB Matthew 1

Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 7:19

Trivia: What did Jesus say you should do when you see the abomination of desolation in the holy place?

Matthew

CHAPTER 1

The genealogy of Jesus Joseph
1:1-17, Cf. Lk 3:23-38

1The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

2 Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;

The genealogy Jesus, the son of David. [1]

3 And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;

4 And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon;

Judas was the father of Phares of Thamar. [2]

5 And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;

Salmon was the father of Booz of Rachab. [3]

Booz was the father of Obed of Ruth. [4]

6 And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;

7 And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa;

The genealogy of David [5]

David was the father of Solomon "of her that had been the wife of Urias." [6]

8 And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias;

Joram was the father of Ozias. [7]

9 And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias;

10 And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias;

Ozias was the father of Joatham. [8]

11 And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon:

Josias was the father of Jechonias. [9]

12 And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel and Salathiel begat Zorobabel;

13 And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor;

14 And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud;

15 And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob;

Jechonias was the father of Salathiel [10] and Salathiel was the father of Zorobabel. [11]

16 And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

Jacob was the father of Joseph. [12]

17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.

There were 14 generations from David until the Babylonian captivity. [13]
The birth of Jesus
1:18-25, Cf. Lk 2:1-7

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.

When Mary was engaged to Joseph, she was impregnated by the Holy Ghost. [14]

19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.

Joseph, being a just man [15], decided to quietly put Mary away.

20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

An angel appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying,

Go ahead and marry her. The Holy Ghost got her pregnant. [16]

She will have a baby boy.

Name him Jesus [17], because he'll save his people from their sins. [18]

22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,

23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

All this was done to fulfill the prophecy [19], saying,

A virgin will conceive and have a son named Emanuel.

24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:

When Joseph woke up from his sleep, he took Mary as his wife.

25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.:

He didn't have sex with her until Jesus was born. [20]
VegetableEMPEROR10 months ago

I find Mary's story in this chapter to be incredibly sad.

She's espoused (an archaic word for "married") to Joseph, but before the two of them can consummate the bond, the Holy Ghost swoops in and beats him to the punch. Joseph seemingly presumes she was either raped to pregnancy or cheated on him with another man. However, being a decent man, rather than announce it publicly to shame her, he keeps what he's found out between he and Mary.

...but then he has a dream soon afterward. Therein, an angel tells him to marry his poor defiled Mary (though he was already espoused to her...) because the Holy Ghost was the one who got her pregnant. Further humiliating Joseph, the angel reveals that her child will be a boy. 'One more thing, call the kid "Jesus" because he's going to be the greatest example of sacrificial atonement for the rest of eternity.'

'Oh, and Joseph, this was the plan all along... sorry we didn't confer with you sooner, but we figured you wouldn't support the rape of your wife. Have fun raising someone else's son!'

Joseph, despite the news, marries his wife (?) when he wakes up. He avoids pregnancy sex with her, probably because that's a bit creepy. Mary says nothing during this entire situation.

A great portion of the Christian faith relies on the virgin birth of Jesus to be factually accurate. If this is so, then it's a despicable thing to hang one's religious beliefs on. The resurrection is already suspect enough, but the plight of Mary here is sickening.

(So much for the apologists' claims that the New Testament is 'better' than the Old.)

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