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.

Happy Christmas

Joseph, Mary & Jesus, Bethlehem, etc

We find Jesus' birth and infancy firmly connected to Bethlehem in Judea

Mary & Joseph; Nazareth c7 BC

Just before the current era, we meet a remarkable woman, or lass, in ancient Nazareth...

Jesus' Infancy

What do the accounts from Luke and Matthew look like when compared? How do they overlap, etc? I have created a table based on the account from Luke. Some common suppositions and accepted images are unsupported...

Mary

Jesus' mother was named Mary. Despite the interest of the Gospel writers in the role of women in the Christ-event, references to this Mary are actually sparse, apart, naturally, from the “birth narratives”. This final NT mention has her in Jerusalem during the waiting period between Jesus’ death and resurrection and his sending of his replacement (the Holy Spirit).