Welcome my friends to another installment of the Life and Teachings of Jesus. Pull up a chair and enjoy this story, possibly the greatest one ever told. Enjoy the story!
Love: Zuma

BIRTH AND INFANCY OF JESUS

GABRIEL'S ANNOUNCEMENT TO MARY
One evening about sundown, before Joseph had returned home, Gabriel appeared to Mary by the side of a low stone table and, after she had recovered her composure, said: "I come at the bidding of one who is my Master and whom you shall love and nurture. To you, Mary, I bring glad tidings when I announce that the conception within you is ordained by heaven, and that in due time you will become the mother of a son; you shall call him Joshua, and he shall inaugurate the kingdom of heaven on earth and among men. Speak not of this matter save to Joseph and to Elizabeth, your kinswoman, to whom I have also appeared, and who shall presently also bear a son, whose name shall be John, and who will prepare the way for the message of deliverance which your son shall proclaim to men with great power and deep conviction. And doubt not my word, Mary, for this home has been chosen as the mortal habitat of the child of destiny. My benediction rests upon you, the power of the Most Highs will strengthen you, and the Lord of all the earth shall overshadow you."

Mary pondered this visitation secretly in her heart for many weeks until of a certainty she knew she was with child, before she dared to disclose these unusual events to her husband. When Joseph heard all about this, although he had great confidence in Mary, he was much troubled and could not sleep for many nights. At first Joseph had doubts about the Gabriel visitation. Then when he became well-nigh persuaded that Mary had really heard the voice and beheld the form of the divine messenger, he was torn in mind as he pondered how such things could be. How could the offspring of human beings be a child of divine destiny? Never could Joseph reconcile these conflicting ideas until, after several weeks of thought, both he and Mary reached the conclusion that they had been chosen to become the parents of the Messiah, though it had hardly been the Jewish concept that the expected deliverer was to be of divine nature. Upon arriving at this momentous conclusion, Mary hastened to depart for a visit with Elizabeth.

Upon her return, Mary went to visit her parents, Joachim and Hannah. Her two brothers and two sisters, as well as her parents, were always very skeptical about the divine mission of Jesus, though, of course, at this time they knew nothing of the Gabriel visitation. But Mary did confide to her sister Salome that she thought her son was destined to become a great teacher.

Gabriel's announcement to Mary was made the day following the conception of Jesus and was the only event of supernatural occurrence connected with her entire experience of carrying and bearing the child of promise.

JOSEPH'S DREAM
Joseph did not become reconciled to the idea that Mary was to become the mother of an extraordinary child until after he had experienced a very impressive dream. In this dream a brilliant celestial messenger appeared to him and, among other things, said: "Joseph, I appear by command of Him who now reigns on high, and I am directed to instruct you concerning the son whom Mary shall bear, and who shall become a great light in the world. In him will be life, and his life shall become the light of mankind. He shall first come to his own people, but they will hardly receive him; but to as many as shall receive him to them will he reveal that they are the children of God." After this experience Joseph never again wholly doubted Mary's story of Gabriel's visit and of the promise that the unborn child was to become a divine messenger to the world.
In all these visitations nothing was said about the house of David. Nothing was ever intimated about Jesus' becoming a "deliverer of the Jews," not even that he was to be the long-expected Messiah. Jesus was not such a Messiah as the Jews had anticipated, but he was the world's deliverer. His mission was to all races and peoples, not to any one group.

Joseph was not of the line of King David. Mary had more of the Davidic ancestry than Joseph. True, Joseph did go to the City of David, Bethlehem, to be registered for the Roman census, but that was because, six generations previously, Joseph's paternal ancestor of that generation, being an orphan, was adopted by one Zadoc, who was a direct descendant of David; hence was Joseph also accounted as of the "house of David."

Most of the so-called Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament were made to apply to Jesus long after his life had been lived on earth. For centuries the Hebrew prophets had proclaimed the coming of a deliverer, and these promises had been construed by successive generations as referring to a new Jewish ruler who would sit upon the throne of David and, by the reputed miraculous methods of Moses, proceed to establish the Jews in Palestine as a powerful nation, free from all foreign domination. Again, many figurative passages found throughout the Hebrew scriptures were subsequently misapplied to the life mission of Jesus. Many Old Testament sayings were so distorted as to appear to fit some episode of the Master's earth life. Jesus himself onetime publicly denied any connection with the royal house of David. Even the passage, "a maiden shall bear a son," was made to read, "a virgin shall bear a son." This was also true of the many genealogies of both Joseph and Mary which were constructed subsequent to Michael's career on earth. Many of these lineages contain much of the Master's ancestry, but on the whole they are not genuine and may not be depended upon as factual. The early followers of Jesus all too often succumbed to the temptation to make all the olden prophetic utterances appear to find fulfillment in the life of their Lord and Master.

Thanks, Zuma. It was an interesting read.

Max

My dearest Max:

Thank you for your kind words. It is so uplifting to hear kind words on this fourm. So many of those who post here spout either embittered materialism or blind fundementalism. So many fail to realize that truth can be found from so many sources, from the whole human race even.

I rarely follow up on these posts, even to refute Mr Grey who seems to have decided that I must be Al! And why not? He is allowed to have his opinions on these matters. It is unfortunate though, that only his opinion matters to him, for I believe that if he could only soften his ways, he could be a great beacon of light to this troubled world.

But anyways, thanks for reading. I have made a promise to myself to publish the entire life and teachings of Jesus, so get ready for an entertaining ride!

Zuma

Hi Al,

Regardless of which DRESS you wear -- you are still preaching NEW AGE false teaching -- which is totally opposite of what the Bible, the REAL Bible, teaches.

And posting over sized graphics does not make your New Age religion any less dark.

Jesus Christ was the Son of God; He was not Michael the archangel.

And, of course, we all should expect to see Max/Skeptik/Cookey, et al, supporting your anti-Jesus Christ religion. After all, he and all his atheist Friends want nothing more than to see true Christianity denied -- and the darkness of false teaching uplifted.

Sorry, my Friend -- you are still preaching New Age rhetoric; regardless of your DRESS.

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill

We love you Bill!

DIFFERENT DRESSES -- SAME OLD AL -- SAME OLD NEW AGE MESSAGE!

Bill, where is the "anti-Jesus" rant coming from? Where did any of these posts come out in opposition to Jesus?

quote:

Originally posted by zippadeedoodah:
Bill, where is the "anti-Jesus" rant coming from? Where did any of these posts come out in opposition to Jesus?

Hi Zip,

Thank you for asking; maybe others have the same question.

The Urantia Book Society teaches that Jesus is a created being, that He is really Michael the archangel. This is the same thing the Jehovah's Witnesses teach -- and it is cultic teaching. If you had really read Al/ZumaGirl's posts you would have seen him refer to Jesus as Michael a number of times.

Jesus Christ is not a created being; He is the preexisting God; God the Son. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1).

Anyone or any organization which teaches anything else, that teaches that Jesus is a created being -- is a cult.

And, Al's Urantia Book Society teaches other things which make it a New Age religion.

This is why I will always be warning folks about the Urantia Book that Al is sharing on the Forum. I will always be standing in the door.

If Al, or any of his feminine alter egos, want to discuss other issues on the Religion Forum; I will dialogue with him or them. But, if it is New Age religion they are selling -- sorry, not buying.

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill

Certain ommentaries refer to "The Commander of the Host of God" in the OT as a spiritual incarnation of Jesus prior to his mortal existence. What's the difference? One might posit that either Michael was somehow turned into Jesus; on the other hand, perhaps Jesus was there already and was incarnated as Michael. A sort of "chicken or egg" thing.