By the Incarnation of Jesus we mean that He was made man by the overshadowing
power of the Holy Ghost; and He was born of the Virgin Mary. (Luke
1:35).
Jesus Christ is both true God and true man. He is true
God means that He is the true and only Son of God, the Father. He
is true man means that He is the Son of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and has
a soul and body like ours. There are therefore
two natures in Jesus:
the nature of God because He is God, and
the nature of man because He became man.
We believe that there is but one Person in Jesus Christ, the
Second Divine Person of the Blessed Trinity. Jesus is God from eternity;
He became man in time.
The Blessed Virgin Mary is truly the Mother of God because the same
Divine Person who is the Son of God is her Son. “And the angel
being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee;
blessed art thou among women.” (Luke 1:28).
The Bible tells us that St. Joseph was the spouse of the Virgin Mary,
and the foster-father of the Child Jesus. (Luke 2:49).
The Son of God became man in order to suffer and die for us. (Matt.
1:21). As God He could neither suffer nor die.
Jesus was born in a stable at Bethlehem some two thousand years ago.
The world celebrates this event on Christmas Day, December 25. An
angel of the Lord announced the birth of the Child Jesus to shepherds,
who were watching their sheep. Hearing the glad news, the shepherds
said to one another: “Let us go over to Bethlehem, and let us see this
word that is come to pass.” (Luke 2:15).
Not long after Jesus was born, wise men came from the East, asking:
“Where is He that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in
the east, and are come to adore Him.”
(Matt. 2:2). The wise men
found the Child at Bethlehem: “Falling down, they adored Him; and opening
their treasures, they offered Him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”
(Matt. 2:11). When the new-born Redeemer was eight days old He
was circumcised, and was called “Jesus” (Luke 2:21).
When He was forty days old His Mother offered Him to God in the Temple,
as was commanded by the laws of the Jews. (Luke 2:22). When
Herod, the King of Judea, heard that the promised Redeemer was born at
Bethlehem, and that the wise men from the East called Him “King of the
Jews,” he became very jealous. In his jealousy he ordered all the
boys of Bethlehem within the age of two years, to be murdered. (Matt.2:2-6).
But at this very same time, an angel of the Lord appeared to St. Joseph
in sleep and told him to take the Child and His Mother and hasten into
Egypt. (Matt.2:13). After Herod’s death Mary and Joseph returned
from their exile in Egypt and made their home at Nazareth. (Matt. 2:19-23).
When Jesus was twelve years old He went with Mary and Joseph to Jerusalem
to keep the Jewish Feast of the Passover. On the way home He was
lost for three days. On the third day Mary and Joseph found Him in
the Temple at Jerusalem in the midst of the teachers of the Jews.
These men were astonished at His wisdom, His questions, and His answers.
When Mary asked Jesus: “Son, why hast Thou done so to us?”
He answered: “Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”
(Luke 2:48, 49). He meant His Heavenly Father’s business. Jesus
then returned to Nazareth with Mary and Joseph and was subject to them.
After this event we hear nothing more of Him until He begins His
public life at the age of thirty.
When Jesus was thirty years old, He went to John the Baptist at the
river Jordan to be baptized. (Matt. 3:13). John was preparing the
way of the Lord. Jesus allowed Himself to be baptized to give us
a good example. After His baptism Jesus went into the desert for
forty days and forty nights to pray and fast, and to prepare Himself for
His public life. In the desert He was tempted by the devil
(Matt. 4). From the beginning of His public life, Jesus began to
teach and gather disciples about Himself. From His disciples He chose
twelve Apostles. (Mark 3:13-19). The word Apostle means messenger.
The twelve Apostles whom Jesus chose were: Peter, Andrew, James,
John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the Less, Simon the Zealot,
Jude, and Judas Iscariot.
(Luke 6:13-16). Jesus went about teaching
for three years. He often spoke to large gatherings of people, as
in the case of the miraculous multiplication of the loaves. (John 6).
He taught everything that we must believe, hope for, and do in order to
be saved. “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life.” (John
14:6).
Jesus proved His mission as Teacher:
1) By the holiness of His life
2) By His miracles
3) By His prophecies.
Proof of the holiness of Jesus’ life:
1) The traitor Judas confessed
that he had shed “innocent blood.” (Matt.27:4).
2) Pontius Pilate could find no
cause in Christ. (John 18:38).
3) Christ Himself challenged the
Jews: “Which of you shall convince (that is, convict)
Me of Sin?" (John 8:46).
The chief miracles of Jesus:
1) He changed water into wine
(John 2:1-11)
2)He stilled the storm and wind
(Matt. 8:23-27)
3) He fed over five thousand people
with five loaves and two fish (John 6:1-14)
4) He healed the sick (Mark 2:1-12)
5) He raised the dead to life.
(John 11).
The chief prophecies of Jesus:
1) He foretold the betrayal of
Judas (Matt. 26:21)
2) He foretold the denial of Peter
(Luke 22:34)
3) He foretold His Resurrection
from the dead (Matt. 26:61)
4) He foretold His Ascension into
Heaven (John 20:17)
5) He foretold the Descent of
the Holy Ghost. (John 14:26).
That the Jewish people acclaimed Jesus as a great Teacher can
be seen from His triumphant entry into Jerusalem shortly before His Passion
and death. (Mark 11:1-10). We celebrate this event on Palm Sunday.
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