Scripture Journal

When Mary came back from visiting with Elizabeth and was found to be pregnant, this didn't mean that she came back and had an ultrasound, she was showing that she was pregnant. People would have noticed a difference. Just as in our day I can imagine that when Joseph chose to marry her, many people would have assumed the child to be his. They would have assumed that they had had sexual relations before they where actually married.  How did he get harassed by his peers the way we would today. Was he looked down upon in the community. The scriptural account gives no inclination, but it is not unreasonable that the time of Jesus's conception would have been a hot topic in Nazareth.  

In the Jewish culture of the day a betrothal was as binding as a marriage. Once you were betrothed annulling the betrothal was the same as getting divorced. According to the Law of Moses a man who found that his betrothed wife had been unfaithful to him could give her a writ of divorcement and put her away quietly, or he could bring her before the Judges to be judged for adultery. Joseph was a strict observer of the law, and as such would have been in his right to have her stoned before all the community, instead he chose to let it be done quietly with no accusations. This shows that Joseph not only understood the law of justice, but that of mercy as well. He chose to be merciful and not throw around judgement.

It is interesting to note that in chapter one of Matthew Judah, the son of Jacob, is referred to as Judas. We know the text is referring to Judah because it is through Judah that David and later Christ was born. According to Wikipedia the name Judas is actually the Greek equivalent of the name Judah. This is not uncommon in the scriptures. The Apostle Nathaniel is also called Bartholomew in Matthew. The interesting thing about this change is the new symbolic aspect that is brought to the character of Judas Iscariot. Judas's Hebrew name is Judah. Thus Judah (the person) betrayed the lord to the heads of Judah (the people). Thus Judas's betrayal of the lord can also be viewed as a symbol of the peoples betrayal of their lord.

Chapter one of Mathew begins with the Genealogical line from King David down to Jesus. There are two different genealogy given in the New Testament. One in Matthew and one in Luke. According to the book Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage the genealogy given in Matthew is Jesus's line of legal Succession. So it is a map of what would have happened to the kingship of Judah if David's line had continued to rule. Thus it is not always Jesus's exact genealogy as you would see it on a family tree, sometimes kingship skips from uncle to nephew.

I have chosen to start my scripture journal by studying the New Testament. I will be using the King James Version of the Bible for my study, along with different study guides for reference.