And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem (because he was of the house and lineage of David) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Luke 2:1-7
Nine months earlier, the Angel Gabriel had announced to the Virgin Mary that the child she would supernaturally conceive and give birth to was the Son of God.
Jesus is the Son of God
... The angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said:
"Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women".
And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
And the angel said unto her:
"Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end".
Then said Mary unto the angel:
"How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?".
And the angel answered and said unto her:
"The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee, therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God".
Luke 1:26-35
"But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law.
Galatians 4:4
Jesus is God the Son – the second Person of the Holy Trinity (God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit).
At the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist in the Jordan River, God manifested Himself in His Trinity. The Holy Spirit descended like a dove on Jesus, and God the Father proclaimed that Jesus was His Son:
And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water, and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him. And lo a voice from heaven, saying:
"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" .
Matthew 3:16-17
The transfiguration of Jesus in front of three of His disciples again reveals to us His divine nature.
And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them, and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.
Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus:
"Lord, it is good for us to be here, if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles: one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias".
While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said:
"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him".
Matthew 17:1-5
In his second epistle, the apostle Peter recounts the same event:
For when we announced to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, we did not follow cunningly invented fables, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory, when such a voice came to Him from the glorious glory:
"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
This voice we ourselves heard, that it came from heaven, when we were with Him on the holy mountain.
2 Peter 1:16-18
Jesus said:
I and my Father are one...
...Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, thou blasphemest, because I said, I am the Son of God? If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works, that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.
John 10:30, 36-38
Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me, or else believe me for the very works' sake.
John 14:11
The apostle Paul wrote:
For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
Colossians 2:9
And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom, and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent, and the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying:
"Truly this was the Son of God".
Matthew 27:51-54
The Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans:
Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.
Romans 1:3-4
After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples and talked with them for 40 days.
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying:
"All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy GHOST, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen".
Matthew 28:18-20
The apostle John wrote in his first epistle:
Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
1 John 4:15
And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
1 John 5:20
Jesus is God's Word by which all things were created
About 700 years before the birth of Jesus, the prophet Micah recorded a prophecy from God:
And you, Bethlehem Ephratov, although you are small to be among the tribes of Judah, from you will come forth for Me One who will be a ruler in Israel, Whose origin is from the beginning, from eternity.
The book of the prophet Micah 5:2
The Apostle John writes in his Gospel:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. It was with God in the beginning. All these things came to be through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made...
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
The Holy Gospel of John 1:1-3,14
Jesus was born in Bethlehem as a baby, but His existence did not begin with His birth, for He exists in eternity, He is the Only Begotten of the Father!
No one has ever seen God.
The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has manifested Him.
The Holy Gospel of John 1:18
The apostle Paul wrote:
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn before all creation, because by him all things were created that are in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created by him and he is before everything and everything is held together through Him.
Paul's Epistle to the Colossians 1:15-17
Who, being in the form of God, still did not think that he should hold firmly to equality with God, but renounced everything, taking upon Himself the form of a servant and becoming like men, and being found in human form, humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.
The Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Philippians 2:6-7
Jesus is God's promised prophet
In the Old Testament, God promised Moses:
I will raise up for them a prophet from among their brothers, as I have raised you up, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he will speak to them all that I command him. And whoever does not listen to My words, which he will speak in My Name, I will demand an answer from him.
Deuteronomy 18:18-19
From the books of the New Testament we understand that Jesus is the promised prophet through whom God speaks to us and reveals His will to us.
God, who in various partial messages and in many ways spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets, in the end of these days speaks to us by the Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he made the worlds, who, being the brightness of His glory and the imprint of His being, and holding all things by His mighty word, having effected [through Himself] the cleansing of sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
Hebrews 1:1-3
Jesus explained:
I did not speak of Myself, but the Father who sent Me, He gave Me commandment what to say and what to speak. And I know that what He commands is eternal life. Therefore, what I speak, I speak as the Father has told Me.
The Holy Gospel of John 12:49-50
The teaching that you hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me.
The Holy Gospel of John 14:24
In His High Priestly Prayer before being betrayed and crucified, Jesus prayed to God the Father:
I have revealed Your name to the men You gave Me out of the world. They were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they kept Your word. Now they know that everything You gave Me is from You, because the words You gave Me, I gave them to them and they accepted them, and they really know that I came from You, and they believe that You sent Me.. .
I gave them Your word and the world hated them, because they are not of the world, just as I am not of it…
Sanctify them through the truth!
Your Word is truth!
The Holy Gospel of John 17:6-8,14,17
Jesus is the Christ (Messiah, Anointed One)
The Old Testament foretold the coming of a Messiah sent by God.
The Old Testament was written mostly in the ancient Hebrew language and only some parts were written in Aramaic, and the New Testament was written in Koine (Ancient Greek).
The original ancient Hebrew word is Mashiach.
The first Bible translation was made in 250 years before Christ, when the Old Testament was translated into the ancient Greek language. This translation is called the Septuagint. When translating the word Mashiach, the translators used the ancient Greek word Χριστός (Christ). The word is derived from the root hrio, meaning to ceremonially anoint with oil.
In Bulgarian, the Old Testament is translated from the original Old Hebrew language, and the New Testament is translated from the ancient Greek language.
In Bulgarian, the ancient Hebrew word Mashiach is translated as Anointed One or transliterated as Messiah.
The authors of the New Testament used the word Χριστός for God's Anointed One, which in Bulgarian is transliterated as Christ.
In the Old Testament it is said that only the Jewish kings, priests and prophets were anointed.
The anointing was done in a ceremony where they put ointment on their heads.
There is no mention in the New Testament that Jesus received external anointing. The anointing that the prophets and apostles speak of is spiritual, supernatural - through the Holy Spirit.
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and according to his custom he entered the synagogue on a Sabbath day and stood up to read. And they gave Him the book of the prophet Isaiah, and He, opening the book, found the place where it was written:
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set the oppressed at liberty, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord".
And closing the book, He returned it to the minister and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And he began to say to them:
"Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your ears".
The Holy Gospel from Luke 4:16-21
In his conversation with the Samaritan woman, Jesus revealed to her that He is the Christ:
The woman says to Him:
"I know that the Messiah (who is called Christ) will come. He, when he comes, will reveal everything to us".
Jesus says to her:
"I, who speak with you, am the Messiah."
The Holy Gospel from John 4:25-26
And Jesus, coming to the region of Caesarea Philippi, asked His disciples, saying:
"Who do men say the Son of Man is?".
And they said:
"Some say it is John the Baptist, others - Elijah, and others - Jeremiah or one of the prophets".
He tells them:
"But according to what you say, Who am I?".
Simon Peter answered and said:
"You are the Christ, the Son of the living God".
Jesus answered him:
"Blessed are you, Simon, son of John, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven"...
Then he commanded the disciples not to tell anyone that He is [Jesus] the Christ.
The Holy Gospel of Matthew 16:13-17, 20
When questioned by the high priest, Jesus reaffirmed that He is the Christ:
The high priest asked Him again, saying to Him:
"Art thou the Christ, Son of the Blessed?"
And Jesus said:
"I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and walking with the clouds of heaven."
The Holy Gospel of Mark 14:61-62
It is prophesied in the Old Testament:
The kings of the earth are fighting and the rulers are conspiring together against the Lord and against His Anointed...
Psalms 2:2
In the New Testament we read of the fulfillment of prophecy:
For indeed both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, gathered together in that city against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, to accomplish all that Your hand and Your will determined to be done.
Acts 4:27-28
And Jesus performed many other signs before the disciples, which are not recorded in this book. And these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.
The Holy Gospel of John 20:30-31
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves those who are born of Him.
The First Epistle of John 5:1
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