jerusalem built the palace on top of macada. he built another fortress palace. he is respected as the greatest builder but reviled as a paranoid mad man who killed his wife three of the children and the rabbi of the jewish dynasty. in matthew s gospel when the magi followed their star to jerusalem and asked herod where the king of the jews had been born he commanded soldiers to kill all of the babies in bethlehem. the slaughter of the innocent. would mary and joseph felt o oppre oppressed? is i would have in their position. already it would have been a very intimidating place for
systems in jerusalem. he built the fortress palace, and he built where we are now, herodium, another fortress palace. he s respected as israel s greatest builder, but reviled as a paranoid mad man who killed his wife, three of his children and jewish rabbis. in matthew s gospel, when the wise men followed the star and asked herod where the king of the jews has been born, he commands his soldiers to kill all the babies in bethlehem. the slaughter of the innocents. would mary and joseph have felt oppressed in a sense? i would have in their position. already feeling threatened, you know, just from the years of roman rule that this would have been a very intimidating place for them.
the gospel of luke says the angel of god was sent to mary, a virgin that she would have a son through the holy spirit. we visited the church of nunsation. where roman catholics believe the miracle happened. just a few blocks away is saint gabriel s church where the greek orthodox say the enunciation was. and below saint gabriel s is mary s well. the traditional site of nazareth spring, the place where mary and young scblees would have drawn water. i don t think we need to say it was here or there. to be able to affirm something beautiful and wonderful has entered our world. why is the presence of angels in not only mary s life but joseph s life as well? in the first century jews believe that the does mows was filled with demons and angels and the power of god. this is a fact of history.
into the life in god and to the life in christ and to life in the church. god sent forth his son born of a woman. what was the reason for that? we could not find salvation on our own. we could not be freed from our sins on our own. so god enters into our world. for people who have not visited bethlehem, it may be surprising to learn that jesus was born here in a cave, not in a stable. so as we are standing in a natural cave that is made into the soft limestone here, we see first the grotto of the birth, the nativity. and the star marks the place where traditionally mary gave birth to jesus. as we step over to the left, we have the manger, which served as jesus crib, according to luke chapter 2. then the wisemen who came to visit. the languages of the bible
on top of mosada and he built where we are now herrodia another fortress palace. he is respected as israel s greatest builder but reviled as a paranoid mad man who killed his wife, three of his children, and the rabbis of the jewish dynasty. in matthew s gospel when the magi followed their star and asked herrod where the king of the jews has been born, he commands the soldiers to kill all the babies in bethlehem. the slaughter of the innocence. would mary and joseph felt oppressed? i would have in their position. already feeling threatened, you know, just from the years of roman rule that this would have been a very intimidating place for them. why are luke and