The Different Beginnings of Jesus in the Gospels: John’s Jesus

The beginning of John’s Jesus is very different from those of Mark, Luke and Matthew. John’s Jesus is not introduced as a man from Galilee or the son of Mary and the Holy Spirit. One word describes John’s Jesus:

For those who know how to use the BHC Greek-English Transliterator, take a moment to transliterate this word (if you haven’t downloaded your FREE BHC Transliterator click here to get it and learn how to transliterate Greek words).

Click here to continue reading this blog.

What does “Peace on Earth and Good Will Toward Men” Mean?

Suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

Glory to God in the highest,

Peace on earth and good will toward men.

The message of the angels to the shepherds in Luke’s account is one of the most powerful messages in the New Testament. It has been memorized by children for centuries and touched the hearts of millions who long for – “peace on earth and good will toward men.”  It is a message that hearts understand, regardless of the doctrines lodged in the minds.

The message announces that peace on earth and good will toward men will come through the baby – the future Savior and Anointed One – but not in the way that most people have been taught to expect.

What if all 2,000,000,000 Christians understood the real message of the real Jesus and did what that Jesus did and taught? What would happen?

Read the complete article at -- http://therealyesua.blogspot.com/2013/12/peace-on-earth-and-good-will-toward-men.html

The Different Beginnings of Jesus in the Gospels: Matthew’s Account

This is third Gospel account of the beginnings of Jesus. We are examining them in chronological order – Mark, Luke, Matthew and John.

David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah. Solomon begot Rehoboam . . . And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called the Anointed One. (1:6-7)

If you read Luke’s account, I bet you immediately saw a major difference in Matthew’s genealogy. In Luke, Joseph was from the line of Nathan, but in Matthew he is from Solomon’s line. Matthew’s Joseph is a party to David’s covenant, which descendants of Nathan were not. Read complete blog at -- http://fromonejesus.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-different-beginnings-of-jesus-in_22.html

Getting Acquainted with Ancient Manuscripts of the New Testament

Parts of the New Testament have been preserved in more manuscripts than any other ancient work, having over 5,800 complete or fragmented Greek manuscripts, 10,000 Latin manuscripts and 9,300 manuscripts in various other ancient languages including Syriac, Slavic, Gothic, Ethiopic, Coptic and Armenian. The dates of these manuscripts range from c. 125 CE (the John Rylands manuscript, P52; oldest copy of John fragments) to the introduction of printing in Germany in the 15th century. The vast majority of these manuscripts date after the 10th century.[i]

I am going to use the first two verse in Mark chapter 1 to show you what we see when we compare some of those ancient manuscripts.

Mark 1:1

Each of the following symbols is a Greek manuscript that has this verse. The number in parenthesis is the date the manuscript was copied.

Group 1

א¹ (4^th) B (4^th) D (5^th) L (8^th) W (4-5^th) Γ (10^th)

These manuscripts have the Greek words that are translated:

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Group 2

A (5^th) K (9^th) P (6^th) Δ (9^th)

These manuscripts have the Greek words that are translated:

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Group 3

Manuscript 1241 (12^th) has the Greek words that are translated:

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of Lord.

Mark 1:2a

Group 1

א  (4^th) B (4^th) L (8^th) Δ (9^th) 33 (10^th) 565 (9^th)

These manuscripts have the Greek words that are translated:

As it is written in Isaiah the Prophet . . .

Group 2

A (5^th) K (9^th) P (6^th) Γ (10^th)

These manuscripts have the Greek words that are translated:

As it is written in the prophets . . .

After the words that appear in Group 1 or Group 2, the following quotes appear:

Quote 1

“Behold, I send My messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.”

Quote 2

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’”

Quote 1 is from Malachi 3:1 and Quote 2 is from Isaiah 40:3. The older manuscripts of Mark attributed both quotes to Isaiah. Later scribes recognized the error and changed the text of Mark from “Isaiah the prophet” to “the prophets.”

Take a moment to glace over the online list of New Testament Greek manuscripts – CLICK HERE. Look up some of the above manuscripts and you will find out more about them.

It’s always good to know which manuscripts you English translation was made from. Keep in mind that most of them were discovered in the late 19^th and 20^th centuries. So, translations made before that did not have access to those we have today.

Shalom & Be Empowered!

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[i] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_manuscript#New_Testament_manuscripts