Jesus the Christ, the Son of God,
and his disciples
At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them. And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be conv,rted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.-Matthew 18:1-6***The disciples of Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, were Israelites. Jacob (Israel) and his older fraternal twin brother Esau (Edom) were born to Isaac and Rebekah. Isaac was born to 100-year-old Abraham (Abram the Hebrew) and 90-year-old Sarah (Sarai). Abraham, Sarah, Nahor (Nachor), and Haran were born to Terah. Terah was the great-great-great-great-great-grandson of Arphaxad, and Arphaxad was born to Shem, and Shem was born to Noah the ark builder, and Noah was the great-grandson of Enoch, and Enoch was the great-great-great-grandson of Seth, and Seth was born to 130-year-old Adam and Eve. Adam was the 1st man. The divinely inspired Scriptures of the Holy Bible reveal that the Lord God created the heavens and the earth in the beginning, and on the 6th day the Lord God created Adam, and on the 7th day the Lord God rested and was refreshed. The Lord God formed Adam from the dust of the ground, and the Lord God made Adam's wife Eve, the mother of all living, after taking a part out of Adam. The Lord God blessed them, and gave them commands, and gave Adam commands about the trees in the Garden of Eden. Eve was deceived, and Adam listened to Eve and disobeyed the command of the Lord God. Sin entered into the world through Adam and death entered through sin. Sometime after the Lord God sent Adam out of the Garden of Eden, Cain and Abel were born to Adam and Eve, and sometime after Cain killed Abel, Seth was born. In Padan Aram, Haran, Jacob was married to Leah and Rachel, the daughters of Rebekah's brother Laban the Syrian (Aramean). Shem's son Aram was the forefather of the Arameans. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and daughter Dinah were born to Jacob and Leah. Dan and Naphtali were born to Jacob and Bilhah, Rachel's maidservant. Gad and Asher were born to Jacob and Zilpah, Leah's maidservant. Joseph was the 1st son born to Jacob and Rachel, and Rachel and Joseph were Jacob's favorites. During Jacob's 20th year in Haran, he began journeying home to Canaan with his family, servants, animals, and possessions. Near Bethlehem, Benjamin was born to Jacob and Rachel, and Rachel died. Joseph was 17 years old when his brothers sold him to merchants traveling to Egypt and led Jacob to believe that Joseph was killed by a wild beast, and Joseph was 30 years old when Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, proclaimed him second-in command. Noah's son Ham, and Ham's son Mizraim were the forefathers of the Egyptians. Jacob was 130 years old when he moved with his family from Canaan to Egypt. In Egypt, Jacob proclaimed Manasseh and Ephraim, the sons born to Joseph and his wife Asenath, to be his own sons, and the tribe of Joseph became the tribe of Manasseh and the tribe of Ephraim. Sometime after 147-year-old Jacob died in Egypt, and Jacob's family buried his body in Canaan, the angel Gabriel appeared to elderly, childless Zechariah (Zacharias) the priest and told Zechariah that his prayer was heard, and told him about the conception, birth and purpose of the son who would be born to Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth (Elisabeth). The angel Gabriel told Zechariah to name the child John, and said the birth of John was going to cause rejoicing and gladness, and John would be great in the eyes of the Lord, and would be filled with the Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost) while in Elizabeth's womb, and would bring many Israelites back to the Lord, and prepare people for the Lord. During the 6th month that elderly Elizabeth was carrying John the Baptist in her womb, the Lord God sent the angel Gabriel to Elizabeth's relative Mary, a virgin. The angel Gabriel said Mary was favored with grace, and the Lord was with Mary, and Mary was blessed among women. The angel Gabriel told Mary not to fear, and said Mary had favor with the Lord God, and Mary would give birth to a Son, and Mary was to name the Son Jesus, and Jesus, the Son of the Highest (the Most High), would be conceived of the Holy Spirit in Mary's womb. Joseph was the craftsman pledged to wed Mary. After Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit in Mary's womb when Mary was a virgin, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph when Joseph was asleep and told Joseph, in a dream, not to be afraid to receive Mary as his wife, and explained that the child in Mary's womb was conceived of the Holy Spirit, and Joseph was to name the Son Jesus, and Jesus will save his people from their sins. Months after John the Baptist was born into the tribe of Levi to Zechariah and Elizabeth, Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, was born in Bethlehem into the tribe of Judah to Mary and her husband Joseph when Mary was a virgin. On the 8th day after John the Baptist was born, he was circumcised, and on the 8th day after Jesus the Christ was born, Jesus was circumcised, according to the covenant of circumcision that the Lord God gave Abraham. During the 12th year after John the Baptist and Jesus the Christ were born, Joseph and Mary found Jesus in Jerusalem, in the temple of the Lord, listening, asking, understanding, and answering. The Holy Bible reveals that John the Baptist preached a baptism of repentance for forgiveness of sins and proclaimed the kingdom of heaven has drawn near. Approximately 30 years after John the Baptist and Jesus the Christ were born, Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. Jesus having prayed, the heavens tearing open, the Holy Spirit descended as a dove and lit upon Jesus. The Lord God in heaven audibly acknowledged his Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert wilderness. Jesus fasted 40 days and nights and was tempted. Afterwards, Jesus was tended to by angels, and Jesus went to the area near John the Baptist, and John the Baptist proclaimed Jesus to be the Lamb of God taking away the sin of the world, and testified that Jesus is the Son of God. In Galilee, Jesus told specific Israelite men to follow him, and Jesus began to preach, teach and perform miracles among the Israelites, the treasured and chosen people of the Lord God. People willingly followed Jesus. In Capernaum, Galilee, after Jesus spoke of his flesh, blood, and return to heaven, many disciples stopped walking with Jesus. Before Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot the disciple and apostle, and Jesus was arrested, crucified, buried in a tomb, resurrected, seen by over 500 people, and taken up into up into heaven less than 3 1/2 years after he was baptized, Jesus said:
-Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.-Matthew 5:3...Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.-Matthew 5:10...Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.-Matthew 5:19-20
-Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.-Matthew 7:21
-And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.-Matthew 8:11
-And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.-Matthew 10:7
-Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater that John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.-Matthew 11:11-12
-And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.-Matthew 13:10-11
-Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.-Matthew 19:13-14...Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.-Matthew 19:23-24
-But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.-Matthew 23:13 Click the link below to read more posts in this category: