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Lesson 5A – Matthew 1, Luke 1:1–2:20, John 1:1–3. The Divine Birth. What do these acts have in common?. Fasted forty days Healed the sick Multiplied food Walked on water Raised the dead Was scourged and put to death for the truth’s sake. Exodus 34:28 2 Kings 5:10–14 1 Kings 17:10–16
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Lesson 5A – Matthew 1, Luke 1:1–2:20, John 1:1–3 The Divine Birth
What do these acts have in common? • Fasted forty days • Healed the sick • Multiplied food • Walked on water • Raised the dead • Was scourged and put to death for the truth’s sake Exodus 34:28 2 Kings 5:10–14 1 Kings 17:10–16 Matthew 14:25–29 3 Nephi 19:4 Mosiah 17:13, 20 Acts 7:54-60 Were these acts unique to Christ?
Why was Christ different? • Many non-Christian religions feel that Christ was a great prophet. • Even some Christians today start to de-emphasize His divinity, concentrating more on His teachings and lessons. • What 3 events in Christ’s life separate Him from any other prophet that ever lived? • Birth • Atonement • Resurrection • Why is His Birth included in this list? • He was only able to complete the Atonement/Resurrection through His divine birth.
C.S. Lewis “I am trying here to prevent anyone from saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him [Jesus Christ]: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with a man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that option open to us. He did not intend to.”
A Royal Lineage • Let’s turn to Matthew 1. How does Matthew start off his Gospel? • A Genealogy (More a list of heirs) • Where does it start and end? • Abraham -> David -> Joseph (and Mary) • Why? “At the time of the Savior's birth, Israel was ruled by alien monarchs. The rights of the royal Davidic family were unrecognized; and the ruler of the Jews was an appointee of Rome. Had Judah been a free and independent nation, ruled by her rightful sovereign, Joseph the carpenter would have been her crowned king; and his lawful successor to the throne would have been Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” James E. Talmage
A Chosen Mother Luke 1:26-38
Behold the handmaid of the Lord • https://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/an-angel-foretells-christs-birth-to-mary?lang=eng • What did you notice? • What were Mary’s reactions? • Luke 1:30-33 – What was Jesus prophesied to be? • “Son of the Highest” • “throne of his father David” • “reign over the house of Jacob” • “of his kingdom there shall be no end” • Christ was to be King, but not of this world.
The Divine Birth • The birth of the Savior is not just a story we tell at Christmastime. • It is an absolute necessity for Christ to be our Savior • Christ is the actual Son of God and only through this divine inheritance could He atone for our Sins. • Alma 34:11-12 • “Now there is not any man that can sacrifice his own blood which will atone for the sins of another…. therefore there can be nothing which is short of an infinite atonement which will suffice for the sins of the world”
Notebook Ideas • How does an understanding the divinity of Christ as a necessity of the atonement change the way you celebrate His birth? • How can you emulate the example of Mary in your own life? • What do you believe is part of your noble birthright?