a Palestinian Jew…
born of a Virgin in Bethlehem on the West Bank of the Jordan…
wrapped in swaddling clothes, as was the custom of the day…
laid in a feeding trough for animals, otherwise known as a manger…
angels announced his birth to humble shepherds watching over their flocks…
a star guided Persian Magi to a cave, otherwise known as a stable,
over which now sits the Church of the Nativity…
an arduous 1,600 mile journey to honor the newborn “King of the Jews”
uncle Jesus to his brothers’ and sisters’ kids…
great…great uncle Jesus to millions of descendants over two millennia…
from ancient times to eternity’s future, spanning roughly 70 generations…
encompassing every corner of God’s green earth…
many jews, muslims, christians and untold others share the Nazarene’s lineage…
believers and nonbelievers are among his kinfolk…
including saints, thieves, murders, hypocrites, all sinners
the Son of God was a baby, teenager and young adult before starting his ministry…
born into sin and temptation or born a perfect being who could do no sin…
ancient Christian text says Jesus the boy was ever the mischievous one…
molded clay sparrows on the Sabbath – clapped his hands to make them fly away…
the 12 yr old purposely wandered off from his parents, three excruciating days later he is found…
lost his temper with money-changers – struggled when faced with death…
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
the carpenter built his house on solid rock…
walked among the poor, fed the hungry, healed the sick and lame…
the radical teacher reached out to outcasts, sinners and lepers…
gave voice to the voiceless, stripped away the need for wealth and elitism…
love, compassion, forgiveness were his trademark…
cared more about how we treat others than how well we keep a set of rules…
condemned those who feigned righteousness while allowing injustice and evil
the Messiah offered a gift of eternal life…
to kin and non-kin alike willing to follow in his footsteps…
by his sacrifice and grace, a living faith on our part…
not a belief taken off the shelf to be dusted off with a genuflect and a prayer…
satan also believes, his demons fill church pews on Sunday morn…
grace, faith and new covenant teachings are inseparable…
faith without works, works without faith – can’t have one without the other…
convicted of blasphemy in the Sanhedrin by the High Priest…
religious authorities orchestrated a plot to have Jesus killed by the Romans…
they succeeded, temporarily – he died on the cross, was buried in a cave…
three days later angels rolled away the stone – the tomb was empty…
the angels announced ‘he is risen’…
Jesus appeared to many, taught, performed miracles, prepared his disciples…
forty days later Jesus ascended to Heaven, promising to return
the Romans destroyed the Temple in AD70 – the Pharisees picked up the pieces…
a new Judaism, a new religion, reconstructed from the Pharisaic point of view…
Rabbinic Pharisaic Judaism, a faith based on the Talmud…
codified five centuries after the birth of Christianity…
the mother of Jesus declared a harlot – her son condemned to Hell for all eternity…
‘brood of vipers’, Jesus called them, ‘children of the devil who carry out their father’s desires’…
outwardly pious, inwardly wicked – woe to those who neglect justice and mercy…
leviathan primordial sea monsters kill women and children…
too many to be counted in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Iran…
soon to follow in their footsteps – Türkiye, Jordan, Cyprus, the House of Saud …
clear out the riff-raff, make room for Greater Israel…
evil be thou good – a brood of vipers begetting righteous blood shed upon the earth…
the Prince of Peace declared peacemakers to be the children of God…
many of those exterminated carry uncle Jesus’ DNA…