I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.

Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)

After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’