The Bible Study Podcast, episode 409. Today, the Bible Study podcast continues the study of Matthew

with the Christmas story.

Welcome to the Bible study podcast. I'm your host, Chris Christensen. We're going to go into Matthew 1, starting in verse 18 today, and this is Matthew's version of the Christmas story. Now, it's not going to be necessarily the more familiar version, which is Luke's account, which talks about Mary and talks about shepherds. But this one starts with Joseph. As we had Joseph's lineage here at the beginning of Matthew 1,

so we have Joseph's version of the Christmas story, which is a little less Peanuts' Christmas

special version, because basically Joseph's version, or Matthew's version, is a scandal.

And it starts like this.

This is how the birth of Jesus, the Messiah, came about.

His mother, Mary, was pledged to be married to Joseph.

But before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.

Because Joseph, her husband, was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, and said Joseph, son of David,

do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

She will give birth to a son,

and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet. The Virgin will

conceive and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel, which means God with us.

When Joseph woke up, he did with the angel of the Lord had commanded him, and took Mary home

as his wife, but he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son, and he gave

him the name, Jesus.

So we have in the Christmas story, as we combine the three gospels, the synoptic gospels,

the Matthew Mark and Luke, different points of view, different pieces of the story.

And we have two births.

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