Opened Scriptures Bible Studies

Matthew 2:11-12  And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.  12  And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.  We may think of the Christmas story in terms of baby Jesus lying in a manger at Bethlehem, however, there is much more substance to the birth of Christ that we must take note of. In our last post, we followed the journey of the three wise men from the vicinity of Babylon all the way to Jerusalem, seeking the Christ child. When they found Jesus and Mary, they worshiped the Christ child. The text says that they "worshiped Him" not Mary. They gave lavish gifts to Jesus and were warned by God to return to Babylon using a different route. Remember, that King Herod had devious, murderous intentions when...

We continue to follow the Christmas story and the birth of Christ as recorded in Matthew's gospel. We learned about the virgin birth of Christ and about the name Jesus being given by God. We learned about Jesus the bread of life come down from heaven being born in Bethlehem, the city of bread. We learned about a special star God gave as a sign that Messiah was born and of the wise men from the east who came seeking to worship the Christ child. Matthew 2:1-2  Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,  2  Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.  We learned who the wise men were and noted their connections with Daniel the prophet in ancient times. These men connected Daniel's visions of Messiah with the Old Testament prophets such as Amos, Micah and Isaiah. Thus, they were watching for a unique star to...

Matthew chapter fourteen contains the account of John the Baptist's execution by wicked King Herod Antipas. This was followed by the record of Jesus feeding 5,000 men in addition to women and children. All four gospels record this miracle of Christ. It helps to look at the context provided by John, Luke and Mark as it relates to Jesus feeding the 5,000. Before feeding the 5,000 Jesus' disciples returned from preaching the gospel. Mark 6:30-33  And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught.  31  And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.  32  And they departed into a desert place by ship privately.  33  And the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and outwent them, and came together unto him....

We are looking at the Christmas story, primarily from the gospel of Matthew. We want to know what happened when Jesus was born and why God became a man. We want to take note of the details because most have heard the account of Jesus' birth, and we can often read over what God wants us to know about His Son's birth. Matthew already told us how Mary was impregnated by the Holy Spirit of God and how the angel of the Lord spoke to Joseph. We noted that Joseph truly loved Mary and was a man of great integrity. The angel of the Lord even told Joseph what name to use for the Son that would be born. His name would be called Jesus, literally meaning Jehovah saves. We are not yet looking into Luke's record of Christ's birth but the wise men were not the first ones to seek Jesus. That honor belonged to simple shepherds in the country near Bethlehem. A host of angels filled the night sky with dazzling light and announced that Christ the savior was born and that they could find Him...