The family of Mary

[S-word]

There are only two women by the name Mary who are recorded in the bible as having been at the crucifixion, burial, and empty tomb of Jesus and they are Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Jesus, Joseph, and James the younger of her three biological sons.

Luke does not mention the names of the women at the crucifixion, or at the burial of Jesus, but he does identify the two women by the name Mary, who came to the empty tomb, (Luke 24: 10;) and they are Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James, who Paul tells us, is the brother of the Lord.

Mark identifies the two women at the cross, by the name Mary, as Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James the younger of her three biological sons, and Joseph the elder brother of James. At the burial of Jesus, Mark identifies the two Marys, as being, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph, who we know is a younger brother of Jesus, the firstborn son of Mary.

At the empty tomb of Jesus, Mark makes mention of only Mary Magdalene, who is believed to have been the wife of Rabbi Jesus, as all Rabbi’s in those days were expected to be married, this does not mean that there were not other women there, but only that Mark is not concerned with the other women who were with Mary Magdalene.

It is Matthew who reveals that there were only two women at the crucifixion, the burial, and the empty tomb of Jesus by the name “Mary.� Matthew 27: 56; “Among the women at the cross of Jesus, were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the wife of Zebedee.�

Then in 27: 61; Matthew states that the women who watched the burial of Jesus, were Mary Magdalene and the OTHER Mary, not one of the other Marys, but the only other Mary, who Mark has told us was Mary the mother of Joseph, and as Matthew has already identified the two Marys at the cross, it is obvious that the other Mary that he is referring to, is Mary the mother of James and Joseph. He then says in 28: 1; that at the empty tomb were Mary Magdalene and the OTHER Mary who we now know, is the mother of Jesus.

But it is John who reveals just who they are, John 19: 25; Standing close to Jesus’ cross were his mother and his mother’s sister, (And they are) Mary the wife of Cleophas (Who is the father to James the biological son of Mary and the brother of the Lord) and Mary Magdalene, who is believed to the wife of Jesus and the young sister of Cleophas/Alpheaus.

Matthew 13: 55; “Isn’t he the carpenter’s son? Isn’t Mary his mother, and aren’t James, Joseph, Simeon and Judas his brothers.�

We would expect the risen Jesus to appear to his immediate family first, and this is exactly what we see in scripture. The first to whom the risen Jesus appeared, were the women at the tomb, among whom were Mary his mother, who at that time was married to Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene who is believed by many to be the wife of Rabbi Jesus: it should be noted here that Mary did not recognise him as Jesus until he spoke her name.

The next to whom he appeared, were Cleophas, his mother’s husband and Simon the son of Cleophas as they walked to Emmaus some 11 kilometres from Jerusalem, and again, he was not recognised as Jesus, until Simon his stepbrother saw the manner in which he broke the bread.

Rushing back to Jerusalem, Cleophas found 11 of the 12 disciples who were hiding in a dimly lit and locked room, which would have been opened when Cleophas called to them. The only one of the chosen 12, who was missing that night, was Jude, the other stepbrother of Jesus, “who is also called “Thomas Didymus Jude.� Didymus means “Twin,� whether he had an actual twin, or just held a striking resemblance to someone else, we are not told.

Cleophas, standing at the open door, then says to the 11, which included Simon Peter and Simon the patriot, “He has risen, He appeared to Simon, who had to have been, Simon the son of Cleophas. Just then they saw in the darkness, the form of a man, who they recognised as Jesus.

Why do we seem to know nothing of Joseph the biological son of Mary?

[JehovahsWitness]

Why do we seem to know nothing of Joseph the biological son of Mary?

Tradition has it that Joseph (Jesus stepfather) had died by the time Jesus was executed. This seems a logical conclusion since, had he been living it woudl have been unnecessary to convey care of Mary (his mother) to the Apostle John.

[S-word]

Why do we seem to know nothing of Joseph the biological son of Mary?

Tradition has it that Joseph (Jesus stepfather) had died by the time Jesus was executed. This seems a logical conclusion since, had he been living it woudl have been unnecessary to convey care of Mary (his mother) to the Apostle John.

Knowing from scripture that Mary had remarried and had bore James the younger of her three biological sons, to Alpheaus/Cleophas, who had sired two sons to a previous marriage and they were Simeon and Jude, the two stepbrothers of Jesus, we must now ask the question, did Joseph, Mary’s first husband and Father to young Joseph the second son of Mary of whom we know so little, DIE, or was he still alive at the time of the death of Jesus, Mary’s first born son?

If this was the case, and the Joseph of Arimathea, who is believed to be the half-brother of Jesus, who laid the body of his brother in his own family tomb which had never been used, which would suggest that his father was still alive, then we would be faced with the fact that Joseph must have divorced Mary at some period, issuing her with a bill of divorce, a copy of which, would have been kept in the filing systems of the scribes in the Temple, and it would appear that Joseph had raised his son and namesake "Joseph the son of Mary" by himself: this being the reason why so little is known of Joseph the son of Mary.

But if Mary had remarried while her past husband was still alive, which was absolutely legal according to the law of Moses as it is today, she would have been seen to be living in a state of adultery according to the new and controversial teaching of Jesus, which stated that anyone who remarries while their current spouse is still alive, they are committing adultery, and the Jewish authorities would have been right onto him.

This of course, is exactly what we see in scripture. The religious authorities of those days were always looking for ways that they might trap Jesus according to his own teaching and then accuse him to the people, and it was after Jesus had been preaching that if a divorced person remarried while their original spouse was still alive, they were committing adultery, that the hypocritical priests having access to the documents in the Temple, thought that they had the means whereby they could make Jesus appear to the people to have one law for himself and another for everyone else.

Pointing to his mother, who was among the crowd who were listening to the great teacher who was setting Israel on fire, they said to Jesus in their most patronising voice, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the very act of adultery.� (This was according to the new teaching of Jesus) “In our law Moses commanded that such a woman must be stoned to death. Now, what do you say?� They said this in order to trap Jesus and accuse him to the people.

Jesus knew what those hypocrites were up to, those hypocrites who thought nothing of stoning the innocent Stephen to death, were bound by the law of Moses to stone this woman to death if she had indeed been caught in the very act of sexual intercourse with a man other than He, to who she was legally married at that time, which was not the case, as she was guilty of no crime according to the temporal laws of the land.

Jesus turned the tables on them by saying, “He who is without sin may cast the first stone.� Then he bent down and wrote something in the dust, Perhaps he may have written, “As ye judge, so shall ye be judged.� Most men in those days, who had been given by Moses the right to issue their wives with a bill of divorce, had done so and taken younger wives, and according to the new teaching of Jesus would have been as guilty as the woman that they were accusing, and the hypocrites knowing full well that the woman had not broken the Law of Moses and was innocent of any crime according to their own teachings, they were forced to walk away with their tails between their legs, thereby admitting to the people that they were not without sin.

Jesus then turned to his mother and asked, “Is there no one left to condemn you?� No one Lord she answered. “Well then,� said Jesus, “I do not condemn you either. Go, but don’t sin again,� and it was for this reason that the mother of Jesus chose to remain separate from her husband Cleophas and his children, Simeon, Judas, and James the younger: and this is the reason why, on the cross, Jesus entrusted his mother, “Mary the wife of Cleophas,� into the care of his beloved disciple and nephew John.

Her husband Cleophas/Alpheaus and his sons, James, Simeon and Jude, did not abandon Mary, but rather, it was she who abandoned them, in obedience to her firstborn.

It was the custom of the disciples after the death of Jesus, to meet and worship with the mother and family of Jesus. Then after Peter was miraculously released from prison, Peter ran straight to the house where he knew the faithful would be gathered in prayer for his safety, to the House of Mary the Mother of young John, who had been surnamed "MARK," which, according to Young's Analytical Concordance to the Bible, mean, "Hammer, or the Hammerer," and John surnamed "Mark," is associated with young John, who Jesus had surnamed "Son of thunder."

Later on, Joseph the Levite who had come from Cyprus in the land of Macedonia, took his half sister Mary, who was the daughter of his Father (Heli) and with young John, who was surnamed "Mark," they moved up into the land of Pamphilia, where today, in the town of Ephesus the ancient grave sites of Mary the mother of Jesus and of John surnamed Mark, can still be visited.

[JehovahsWitness]

Why do we seem to know nothing of Joseph the biological son of Mary?

Tradition has it that Joseph (Jesus stepfather) had died by the time Jesus was executed. This seems a logical conclusion since, had he been living it woudl have been unnecessary to convey care of Mary (his mother) to the Apostle John.

Knowing from scripture that Mary had remarried and had bore James the younger of her three biological sons, to Alpheaus/Cleophas, who had sired two sons to a previous marriage and they were Simeon and Jude, the two stepbrothers of Jesus, we must now ask the question, did Joseph, Mary’s first husband and Father to young Joseph the second son of Mary of whom we know so little, DIE, or was he still alive at the time of the death of Jesus, Mary’s first born son?

If this was the case, and the Joseph of Arimathea, who is believed to be the half-brother of Jesus, who laid the body of his brother in his own family tomb which had never been used, which would suggest that his father was still alive, then we would be faced with the fact that Joseph must have divorced Mary at some period, issuing her with a bill of divorce, a copy of which, would have been kept in the filing systems of the scribes in the Temple, and it would appear that Joseph had raised his son and namesake "Joseph the son of Mary" by himself: this being the reason why so little is known of Joseph the son of Mary.

But if Mary had remarried while her past husband was still alive, which was absolutely legal according to the law of Moses as it is today, she would have been seen to be living in a state of adultery according to the new and controversial teaching of Jesus, which stated that anyone who remarries while their current spouse is still alive, they are committing adultery, and the Jewish authorities would have been right onto him.

This of course, is exactly what we see in scripture. The religious authorities of those days were always looking for ways that they might trap Jesus according to his own teaching and then accuse him to the people, and it was after Jesus had been preaching that if a divorced person remarried while their original spouse was still alive, they were committing adultery, that the hypocritical priests having access to the documents in the Temple, thought that they had the means whereby they could make Jesus appear to the people to have one law for himself and another for everyone else.

Pointing to his mother, who was among the crowd who were listening to the great teacher who was setting Israel on fire, they said to Jesus in their most patronising voice, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the very act of adultery.� (This was according to the new teaching of Jesus) “In our law Moses commanded that such a woman must be stoned to death. Now, what do you say?� They said this in order to trap Jesus and accuse him to the people.

Jesus knew what those hypocrites were up to, those hypocrites who thought nothing of stoning the innocent Stephen to death, were bound by the law of Moses to stone this woman to death if she had indeed been caught in the very act of sexual intercourse with a man other than He, to who she was legally married at that time, which was not the case, as she was guilty of no crime according to the temporal laws of the land.

Jesus turned the tables on them by saying, “He who is without sin may cast the first stone.� Then he bent down and wrote something in the dust, Perhaps he may have written, “As ye judge, so shall ye be judged.� Most men in those days, who had been given by Moses the right to issue their wives with a bill of divorce, had done so and taken younger wives, and according to the new teaching of Jesus would have been as guilty as the woman that they were accusing, and the hypocrites knowing full well that the woman had not broken the Law of Moses and was innocent of any crime according to their own teachings, they were forced to walk away with their tails between their legs, thereby admitting to the people that they were not without sin.

Jesus then turned to his mother and asked, “Is there no one left to condemn you?� No one Lord she answered. “Well then,� said Jesus, “I do not condemn you either. Go, but don’t sin again,� and it was for this reason that the mother of Jesus chose to remain separate from her husband Cleophas and his children, Simeon, Judas, and James the younger: and this is the reason why, on the cross, Jesus entrusted his mother, “Mary the wife of Cleophas,� into the care of his beloved disciple and nephew John.

Her husband Cleophas/Alpheaus and his sons, James, Simeon and Jude, did not abandon Mary, but rather, it was she who abandoned them, in obedience to her firstborn.

It was the custom of the disciples after the death of Jesus, to meet and worship with the mother and family of Jesus. Then after Peter was miraculously released from prison, Peter ran straight to the house where he knew the faithful would be gathered in prayer for his safety, to the House of Mary the Mother of young John, who had been surnamed "MARK," which, according to Young's Analytical Concordance to the Bible, mean, "Hammer, or the Hammerer," and John surnamed "Mark," is associated with young John, who Jesus had surnamed "Son of thunder."

Later on, Joseph the Levite who had come from Cyprus in the land of Macedonia, took his half sister Mary, who was the daughter of his Father (Heli) and with young John, who was surnamed "Mark," they moved up into the land of Pamphilia, where today, in the town of Ephesus the ancient grave sites of Mary the mother of Jesus and of John surnamed Mark, can still be visited.

Where are you GETTING this from?! Please site the scriptures on which you base these conclusions.

Thanks
JW

[S-word]

Why do we seem to know nothing of Joseph the biological son of Mary?

Tradition has it that Joseph (Jesus stepfather) had died by the time Jesus was executed. This seems a logical conclusion since, had he been living it woudl have been unnecessary to convey care of Mary (his mother) to the Apostle John.

Knowing from scripture that Mary had remarried and had bore James the younger of her three biological sons, to Alpheaus/Cleophas, who had sired two sons to a previous marriage and they were Simeon and Jude, the two stepbrothers of Jesus, we must now ask the question, did Joseph, Mary’s first husband and Father to young Joseph the second son of Mary of whom we know so little, DIE, or was he still alive at the time of the death of Jesus, Mary’s first born son?

If this was the case, and the Joseph of Arimathea, who is believed to be the half-brother of Jesus, who laid the body of his brother in his own family tomb which had never been used, which would suggest that his father was still alive, then we would be faced with the fact that Joseph must have divorced Mary at some period, issuing her with a bill of divorce, a copy of which, would have been kept in the filing systems of the scribes in the Temple, and it would appear that Joseph had raised his son and namesake "Joseph the son of Mary" by himself: this being the reason why so little is known of Joseph the son of Mary.

But if Mary had remarried while her past husband was still alive, which was absolutely legal according to the law of Moses as it is today, she would have been seen to be living in a state of adultery according to the new and controversial teaching of Jesus, which stated that anyone who remarries while their current spouse is still alive, they are committing adultery, and the Jewish authorities would have been right onto him.

This of course, is exactly what we see in scripture. The religious authorities of those days were always looking for ways that they might trap Jesus according to his own teaching and then accuse him to the people, and it was after Jesus had been preaching that if a divorced person remarried while their original spouse was still alive, they were committing adultery, that the hypocritical priests having access to the documents in the Temple, thought that they had the means whereby they could make Jesus appear to the people to have one law for himself and another for everyone else.

Pointing to his mother, who was among the crowd who were listening to the great teacher who was setting Israel on fire, they said to Jesus in their most patronising voice, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the very act of adultery.� (This was according to the new teaching of Jesus) “In our law Moses commanded that such a woman must be stoned to death. Now, what do you say?� They said this in order to trap Jesus and accuse him to the people.

Jesus knew what those hypocrites were up to, those hypocrites who thought nothing of stoning the innocent Stephen to death, were bound by the law of Moses to stone this woman to death if she had indeed been caught in the very act of sexual intercourse with a man other than He, to who she was legally married at that time, which was not the case, as she was guilty of no crime according to the temporal laws of the land.

Jesus turned the tables on them by saying, “He who is without sin may cast the first stone.� Then he bent down and wrote something in the dust, Perhaps he may have written, “As ye judge, so shall ye be judged.� Most men in those days, who had been given by Moses the right to issue their wives with a bill of divorce, had done so and taken younger wives, and according to the new teaching of Jesus would have been as guilty as the woman that they were accusing, and the hypocrites knowing full well that the woman had not broken the Law of Moses and was innocent of any crime according to their own teachings, they were forced to walk away with their tails between their legs, thereby admitting to the people that they were not without sin.

Jesus then turned to his mother and asked, “Is there no one left to condemn you?� No one Lord she answered. “Well then,� said Jesus, “I do not condemn you either. Go, but don’t sin again,� and it was for this reason that the mother of Jesus chose to remain separate from her husband Cleophas and his children, Simeon, Judas, and James the younger: and this is the reason why, on the cross, Jesus entrusted his mother, “Mary the wife of Cleophas,� into the care of his beloved disciple and nephew John.

Her husband Cleophas/Alpheaus and his sons, James, Simeon and Jude, did not abandon Mary, but rather, it was she who abandoned them, in obedience to her firstborn.

It was the custom of the disciples after the death of Jesus, to meet and worship with the mother and family of Jesus. Then after Peter was miraculously released from prison, Peter ran straight to the house where he knew the faithful would be gathered in prayer for his safety, to the House of Mary the Mother of young John, who had been surnamed "MARK," which, according to Young's Analytical Concordance to the Bible, mean, "Hammer, or the Hammerer," and John surnamed "Mark," is associated with young John, who Jesus had surnamed "Son of thunder."

Later on, Joseph the Levite who had come from Cyprus in the land of Macedonia, took his half sister Mary, who was the daughter of his Father (Heli) and with young John, who was surnamed "Mark," they moved up into the land of Pamphilia, where today, in the town of Ephesus the ancient grave sites of Mary the mother of Jesus and of John surnamed Mark, can still be visited.

Where are you GETTING this from?! Please site the scriptures on which you base these conclusions.

Thanks
JW

The bible is such a condensed story there is no room for useless trivia, we have a brother of Jesus who is named Joseph, and that is about all we know of him, that he is one of the three biological sons of Mary. So when we read that Mary the mother of Jesus, was married to Cleophas, who is also called Alpheaus and is the biological father of James the younger, who is that apostle, who Paul refers to as the brother of the Lord, then we must accept that this is James the younger, who is the Son of Mary the mother of Jesus her firstborn child, and if her second husband is the father of her youngest son James, then we must assume that Joseph is younger than Jesus, but older than James the younger of Mary's sons.

We now must ask, who is the Father of Joseph? We can be confindent that it was not the half brother to Mary, who was Joseph the Levite, who was sired by Heli the father of Mary, and according to Luke, was believed by the people to have been the biological father of Jesus, so we are led to the conclusion that he had to be the son and namesake of his Father, Joseph the son of Jacob from the tribe of Judah.

Now then, owing to the fact that James the younger, was the son of Mary and Cleophas/Alpheaus, and that he was a mature adult when Jesus began his ministry, then we can assume that Mary was legally married to him when Jesus was a young lad, he may have been the father of jesus who searched for three days with Mary before finding Jesus in the temple, who said to his mother, "Why did you have to search for me? surely you knew I had to be in my father's house, which utterly gob smacked his parents, who knew who his real father was, they just didn't understand what the young boy was on about, but Mary kept these things in her memory.

But Joseph the younger brother to Jesus still eludes us. And why did Mary remarry, had Joseph from the tribe of Judah divorced her, or had he died.

Then we read what would appear to be useless trivia. What has the fact, that some mysterious Joseph from the town of Arimathea, (A town in the district that Joseph the son of Jacob, wanted to reside in when they returned from Egypt, but was too afraid because the cruel son of Herod the Great was ruling there) claimed the body of Jesus and laid it in his own FAMILY tomb?

Why bother to state that it was the family tomb of Joseph? That fact doesn't appear to be relevant to anything, but then to continue and say that it was his FAMILY tomb, that had never been used, we ask, is the bible here, suggesting that the family tomb in which the body of Jesus was laid, was the tomb of his brother and his first adopted father, and as that family tomb had never been used, we are forced to ask, "is the spirit revealing that Joseph the first husband of Mary was still alive?"

This would be the reason why James the younger of Mary's three sons, is always placed before Joseph the second born, because he had been alienated from the family of Mary when His father had divorced her and raised young Joseph himself, in the town of Arimathea.

Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph, who was the mother of Jesus, who followed him everywhere after he had began preaching that if a divirced person remarried while their original spouce was still alive, the were commiting adultery, and in obedience to her son, she ceased all relations with Cleophas/Alpheaus, her legal husband according to the law of the land, and his three sons, James the younger of Mary's sons, and the other two sons of Cleophas/Alpheaus, who were Simon and Judas.

[JehovahsWitness]

Can you site your SCRIPTURES please.

I need to check your references. Thanks.

(please note that these names were very common which is why the mention of A) the individuals father b) place of origin are essential to identifying them)

[S-word]

Can you site your SCRIPTURES please.

I need to check your references. Thanks.

(please note that these names were very common which is why the mention of A) the individuals father b) place of origin are essential to identifying them)

If you were in the slightest familiar with the word of God, you would not need to ask fro the scriptures that refer to the truth that has been revealed to you. But when I have more time available to me, I will return and point them out for you.

Mean while, you would be well advised to read God's word and be guided by your indwelling spirit and not by those under who you are currently studying.

Let the Lord reveal to you, who the father of David's two sisters, Abigail and Zeruiah is. Also, ask him to reveal to you, who is the eighth son of Jesse, who is not recorded in 1st Chronicles 2: 13; where it is said that Jesse had seven sons, whereas 1st Samuel 17 : 12; it is written that Jesse had eight sons, and we know that the eighth un-named son of Jesse is older that David, from the fact, that in 1st Samuel 16: 6 to 12; Jesse presented seven of his sons to Samuel in order of their ages, before David, who was the youngest of the eight.

Perhaps the Lord may even reveal to you the name of David's older brother, who is not recorded in the genealogy of Jesse.

[JehovahsWitness]

Can you site your SCRIPTURES please.

I need to check your references. Thanks.

(please note that these names were very common which is why the mention of A) the individuals father b) place of origin are essential to identifying them)

If you were in the slightest familiar with the word of God, you would not need to ask fro the scriptures that refer to the truth that has been revealed to you. But when I have more time available to me, I will return and point them out for you.

Mean while, you would be well advised to read God's word and be guided by your indwelling spirit and not by those under who you are currently studying.

Let the Lord reveal to you, who the father of David's two sisters, Abigail and Zeruiah is. Also, ask him to reveal to you, who is the eighth son of Jesse, who is not recorded in 1st Chronicles 2: 13; where it is said that Jesse had seven sons, whereas 1st Samuel 17 : 12; it is written that Jesse had eight sons, and we know that the eighth un-named son of Jesse is older that David, from the fact, that in 1st Samuel 16: 6 to 12; Jesse presented seven of his sons to Samuel in order of their ages, before David, who was the youngest of the eight.

Perhaps the Lord may even reveal to you the name of David's older brother, who is not recorded in the genealogy of Jesse.

It is precisely because I am very familiar with the bible that I asked for your references. The bible writers themselsves often sited their sources and more often than said exactly who they were quoting when they did. This is because they WERE men of faith for whom this was not a difficult request.

May I suggest you pray to your God for the holy spirit to help you to meet their most excellent standard and he release you from your cut and post handicap devoid of reason, a trait of Satan (the father of the lie) .

I will pray for you,

JW

[S-word]

Can you site your SCRIPTURES please.

I need to check your references. Thanks.

(please note that these names were very common which is why the mention of A) the individuals father b) place of origin are essential to identifying them)

If you were in the slightest familiar with the word of God, you would not need to ask fro the scriptures that refer to the truth that has been revealed to you. But when I have more time available to me, I will return and point them out for you.

Mean while, you would be well advised to read God's word and be guided by your indwelling spirit and not by those under who you are currently studying.

Let the Lord reveal to you, who the father of David's two sisters, Abigail and Zeruiah is. Also, ask him to reveal to you, who is the eighth son of Jesse, who is not recorded in 1st Chronicles 2: 13; where it is said that Jesse had seven sons, whereas 1st Samuel 17 : 12; it is written that Jesse had eight sons, and we know that the eighth un-named son of Jesse is older that David, from the fact, that in 1st Samuel 16: 6 to 12; Jesse presented seven of his sons to Samuel in order of their ages, before David, who was the youngest of the eight.

Perhaps the Lord may even reveal to you the name of David's older brother, who is not recorded in the genealogy of Jesse.

It is precisely because I am very familiar with the bible that I asked for your references. The bible writers themselsves often sited their sources and more often than said exactly who they were quoting when they did. This is because they WERE men of faith for whom this was not a difficult request.

May I suggest you pray to your God for the holy spirit to help you to meet their most excellent standard and he release you from your cut and post handicap devoid of reason, a trait of Satan (the father of the lie) .

I will pray for you,

JW

Either you do not have the spirit to guide you through the Holy scriptues and reveal to you, that which is not written there in plain sight, but that which has been hidden within the stories. I see, that you have not found the name of Jess's eighth son, who is older than David, I will pray to the teacher to guide you into all truth.

Tell me, who do your teachers say, is the woman who was caught in adultery, in John 8: 3; and do you really believe that if that woman had been caught in the cot, having sexual intercourse with a man to whom she was not legally married, would not have been stoned to death by the guardians of the law of Moses, who murdered the poor ignorant and innocent Stephen by having him stoned to death.

No! she was only caught in the act of Adultry, according to new and controversial teaching of Jesus, that if a divorcee remarried while their previous spouse was still alive, they were living in the very act of commiting adultery.

Do you know if Joseph, the first husband of Mary had died, or if he had divorced Mary? Remember, he had originally thought to put her away privately, and undoubtedly would have, had it not been for the intervention of the angel in his dream, when he first found out that she had fallen pregnant, while she was in the town near Jerusalem, where many of the family and friends of her aged aunty Elizabeth, had gathered there to rejoice, in that which they saw as a minor miracle, that she should finally fall pregnant in her old age.

Arimathea, is a town in the locality in which Joseph the first husband of Mary wanted to reside when they had returned from Egypt, but was too afraid to live there at that time, because the cruel and ruthless Herod Archelaus, who had succedded his father Herod the Great, was ruling in Judaea. Just a little piece of trivia, that would appear to have no relevance to the story of Jesus.

Why would Joseph, from the town of Arimathea, take possession of the body of Jesus and lay it in his own FAMILY tomb? Is the spirit trying to reveal to you here, one of the many, many hidden mysteries in God's word? And why add to this piece of seemingly unrelated trivia, that the FAMILY tomb of Joseph had never been used? Are we to assume that none from the immediate family of that particular Joseph, had died at the time of the death of Jesus, whose body was placed in the FAMILY tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, who, like Joseph the brother of Jesus, we seem to have no other information.

The poor ignorant and innocent Stephen, why did they stone him to death? Was it because of his ignorace to the truth as revealed in scripture?

Did you Know that "Thomas is Tam'ue in Aramaic," and "Tam'ue means Twin, Thomas Jude, the son of Alpheaus and the half brother to James the younger, who according to Paul is the brother of the Lord, in art, is depicted with a carpenter's rule and square. Did he follow in the trade of his father? was he also the son of the carpenter?

In "The Acts of Thomas, sometime called by its full name, "The Acts of Judas Thomas," 2nd-3rd century CE, "The Apostles cast lots as to where they should go, and to Judas Thomas, fell India. Thomas was taken to King Goddophares the ruler of Indo-Pathian Kingdom as an architect and carpenter by Habban.�

[Keef]

It is precisely because I am very familiar with the bible that I asked for your references. The bible writers themselsves often sited their sources and more often than said exactly who they were quoting when they did. This is because they WERE men of faith for whom this was not a difficult request.

I fear you are banging your head against a brick wall here. What is being quoted is not from the Bible as you and I know it.