Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  Day 51

February 20;      Matthew 1:25;       1/260(IV);        ‘Mary’

Matthew 1:25 and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS.

The Lord Jesus was conceived in the womb of Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Joseph, was a good man and intended to quietly ‘divorce’ Mary.  Back then, in that culture, when a couple was engaged, a divorce was needed to break the engagement.  In a dream an angel told Joseph that Mary’s pregnancy was supernatural and what Mary must have told Joseph was true.  Thus satisfied, Joseph stood by the side of Mary, when neighbors must have accused Mary of immorality.  Joseph, according to this verse did not have sexual relations with Mary, it is called ‘know her’ in this verse until after the Lord Jesus was born. This verse goes on to teach that Joseph and Mary did have sexual relations after the birth of Jesus and that she had other sons and daughters (Matthew 12:46, etc.).  Mary was not divine.  She was a mortal woman.  Her greatness was the fact that she had the faith to believe that by the power of the Holy Spirit, she, a virgin, could conceive the Lord Jesus, who is the Son of God.  The Word of God is what we follow, not the religious teachings of men.  You have to have other ‘books’ added to the official Word of God, to be taught that Mary was divine.  That is dangerous.  The Lord Jesus loved His mother dearly.  On the cross, Jesus, in the midst of not only pain, but taking the sins of humanity, took time to tell the Apostle John to care for His mother.  In the upper room, Mary was with the Apostles worshiping the Lord.  She was baptized in the Holy Spirit there.  The Word protects us.