On the sidebar of page 19:
Consider this: Jesus was the only person who was ever born as a result of his own choice. The rest of us were born because someone else made the choice. In fact, Jesus most certainly sat in on the meeting to decide whom His mother was going to be.
Did you know that the name John means "grace"? I didn't! This indicated that "...God is now planning to do a whole new thing. From now on, God's faithful will no longer follow Him out of duty and obligation, but out of desire, which is the essence of grace."
Be honest. On a scale of 1 to 10 (1=lowest amount of obligation; 10=highest), how much of your spiritual walk is out of obligation? I'd say maybe 3!
More about John: "Luke says he lived in the wilderness until he began his ministry at age thirty. Why? Probably to be kept apart from the erroneous teaching of pharisaic Judaism, which permeated Jewish society."
Notice how an engagement was in Jewish life as Matthew refers to Joseph as Mary's __________ in verse 19 before they were married.
epoused
Thoughts for discussion:
1. As Jesus grew, do you think He was ever confronted directly with the false charge of being illegitimate?
I'd never thought about this....I'd say it was possible. I don't know whether or not this was something that was 'discussed' during the day in Jewish society.
2. How would you answer the charge that Jesus was born out of wedlock?
I would say that no, he was not illegitimate. He was not born of 'normal' circumstances, 'normal' labels, etc. don't apply!
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