Virgin Conceives Jesus: Evangelists; Isaiah

Virgin pregnant!

The record is very clear. However, in this post on Mary's child, I explore the more tricky "prophet" issue.

WARNING GIVEN - Various bad actors in cyberspace

Sadly, there is a great risk to the integrity of online material. An AI amplified risk.

Our Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) has sounded an alarm. Here it is:

WE can keep children safe from

- batteries.

There are many harms done to children. Some wickedly on purpose. Some are unintentional but still harmful.

When batteries do harm

In Australia, children have suffered serious injuries or died from swallowing button/coin batteries.

Abraham's ... : Jesus then Paul

Can people be offspring of, but not children of, the parent? Although this was not about babies as such, so Jesus once said of Abraham's!

Equality in Marriage: Jesus; Paul (Edited2)

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” (Jesus in Matthew 7:12 NIV).

Live For Ever (Jesus on) [Edited)

Handel’s “Zadok the priest” is a fairly well known music item and has more than one use; for example in football and a wedding. If you listen to where the choir comes in it may sound familiar?

https://youtu.be/3kucFS9Gafk?si=hUUlhB2ioDcwLhdQ

Have you heard the lyrics to that 1727 piece of English coronation music by Handel? I happened this week to hear the musical item and catch the words.

Jesus' Servant Paul, Jew: Hated, Misjudged, Rescued (Edited)

Angry, incoherent crowds seem to be sadly common in our times. In New Testament days Paul often faced such. He was a, or the, most prominent known Jewish follower of Jesus in the period before 70 AD (CE). Paul was the author of a body of letters and was very influential throughout the area from Jerusalem to Athens, and possibly beyond. Paul was tried several times and had to account for himself, as he did to a violent riot....

Justice? Redress Sexual Abuse? (Aust, TAS incl; Etc.)[Edited7]

I have read an item which again raised the topic of justice and redress for those abused under the auspices of church. I posted on this previously when a specific falsehood or miscommunication was told to me. (Better news added 25/07/26)

Justice for the abused?

Jesus and his Apostles - 12 > 11 > ? (edited)

 There are some gaps in knowledge of Jesus' inner band after his resurrection. In the telling after the crucifixion its description was changed.

When is twelve not twelve? Does it matter?

These rock stacks, strangely, are called "The Twelve Apostles". They are a tourist attraction off the coast of Victoria, Australia. (They have their own Marine National Park.). I suppose once there were 12. The ocean has been working on their removal! Itinerant Jesus had a specific band of 12 men.

Judas, Tragic Betrayer of Jesus (revised 2)

A despairing man - Judas, who slipped away from Jesus.

I think that Judas’ sad end of life at a rope's end is fairly well known.. was it necessary? why did he?

Jesus - Suspected; Hunted; Betrayed; Taken (edited)

In Jesus' final week he was often in the Temple. By day (only) he frequented Jerusalem, openly, except for the last night.. What about the other Jerusalem Temple mentions - was there a pattern? Did Jesus visit Jerusalem and its Temple regardless of danger? He would not put God to the test, would he?

Jesus, the Isaiah Scroll, and His Avoidance (revised2)

One day Jesus went back to Nazareth and to the synagogue there.  He read from their Isaiah scroll (amazing example to be seen today). The synagogue time ended with a local Nazareth crowd wanting to eliminate him.

Jesus, the Helpless, and Faith in Jesus (edited)

The word (noun) faith is common enough, is it not? But what does it mean? What did it mean when Jesus used it? What does it mean in relation to Jesus?

Buns, Cross, Hot on (edited 2)

On Hot Cross Buns

Buns, cross, hot on the heels of Christmas fruit pies.

January 2026 arrived local supermarket

Jesus at The Hanukkah (edited)

The light keeps shining in the dark, and darkness has never put it out (John 1:5 CEV).

In a long ago winter, during one Hanukkah*, Jesus was again recorded in the Temple. (He may well have been to many Jerusalem Hanukkah celebrations, as to the other recurring events in his culture.) John here gives us a note of the chronology of Jesus' life.

Jesus and the Temple Donors

The setting (context)

And in the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples,  “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation” (Luke 20:45-47 ESV). Then....

The event

Jesus sat down near the collection box in the Temple and watched as the crowds dropped in their money. Many rich people put in large amounts. Then a poor widow came and dropped in two small coins.[a] Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the others who are making contributions. For they gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on” (Mark 12:41-45 NLT).

What do you think of that brief pericope about the widow? Jesus' words sound odd, do you agree?

For All the So Many Victims (Edited 3)

MARY PUZZLED; JOSEPH CONFUSED ! (Edn 2 revised 4)

Break off quietly ….?  Really? Divorce? What? Why?

Joseph the Carpenter seems to have been a decent man and a kindly one. He faced these troubling questions. But, of course, that is not the beginning...

Below is the core story, as we have it.

NO AI HERE !

I have not used intentionally AI anywhere in this blog. 

If ever I do use it (eg for image creation), I will say so.

I suppose it is possible images I use from Unsplash or Pixabay may include AI, but I have not noted any acknowledgement in the ones I have used.

To J U D G E Not (!); to S E E, and to A C T (Edn2)

This post is untypical of me. I do not discuss here a topic or a passage. It consists essentially of the New Testament (NT) references which are relevant and instructive for the post title but remain in their original text order, not in systematic arrangement. Careful reading may avoid confusion.