Posted on 12/25/2010 8:36:52 AM PST by jmaroneps37
1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled.
2 This was the first enrollment, when Quirin’i-us was governor of Syria.
3 And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city.
4 And Joseph also went up 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,
5 to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.
6 And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered.
7 And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
8 And in that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.
10 And the angel said to them, “Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people;
11 for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!”
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16 And they went with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
17 And when they saw it they made known the saying which had been told them concerning this child;
18 and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.
19 But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.
20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
Merry Christmas, and peace on earth to men of goodwill. Let us spend the day in peace and joy and be the children He wants us to be.
These questions never seem to asked.
I never noticed that “ABC” was sewn to Linus’ blanket.
Very good questions, which I am sure wil be answered in time
That’s a good question. OR did they assume that the family and Child were murdered by Herod’s troops who were sent to kill the children under 2 years of age.
I don’t believe the memory ever faded. How could it possibly fade??
Very good points. The murderous event of the purge may have eclipsed any hope created by the incarnation. After all, Joseph took Mary and the child Jesus into exile in Egypt, so they just apparently disappeared.
Kind of like a seed being buried for a long period of dormancy. People forget.
Israel is in the Northern Hemisphere as we are. So, were the shepherds in their fields at night on December 25 of that year? Probably was April or May in actuality.
I think Dec 25 is as likely if not more likely than any other calculated date:
http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=119886
I saw an interesting program on one of the channels about whether the stories from Luke and Matthew were true. It talked about the Christ star that was seen by the Maji. They tried to scientifically decipher what that star could have been.
Chinese records showed no record of any supernova appearances during that time. Comets were ruled out as signs of death - not signs of birth. Alignments of planets and stars were studied as well. But it was the historical implications that led one person to a theory that to me is entirely plausible.
First of all, the people of that area (Judea/Palestine) had no interest in astronomy and celestial showings. So the Biblical account was entirely derived from the mindset of foreigners (the maji). It stipulated that they were probably from Babylon and had come to Judea because they were fully knowledgeable in Messianic prophesies because of their extended contact with the Jews after their conquest of Jerusalem.
This person discovered a coin out of Syria or Babylon that was dated around 27 AD which had an image of Aries looking back over its shoulder at a bright star. So this person studied the constellation Aries during that time and looked for something out of the ordinary. One object stood out as the sign. Jupiter (the Zeus star or king star) was eclipsed by the edge of a thin crescent moon in the middle of Aries during that period. He dated it April 17, 3 B.C. It makes sense to me.
It was also pointed out during the program that in Luke’s account, shepherds were tending their flocks during the night. The only time shepherds would do that is during the Spring.
Did you notice at what point Linus lets go of that security blanket?
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