Jesus cures a leper. A centurion asks Jesus to cure his servant. Jesus asks to see the servant, but the centurion says he believes Jesus can cure him without seeing him, which Jesus does. The centurion says he knows Jesus can do this because his subordinates are obedient to him so he knows disease is subordinate to Jesus.
Jesus proceeds to cast out demons and heal the sick. He tells his followers that all things come second to obedience to his call. If Jesus and your father both call you, you heed Jesus' call. He calms a storm that is upsetting the boat Jesus and his disciples are on. Finally, in one of his most famous feats, two "demoniacs" approach him and beg that Jesus cast the demons out of them. Jesus does so, sending the demons to a herd of pigs, which proceed to jump off a cliff.
Asimov is still back on Mary, I told you there would be a lag. When I finish this, I'll try to come back and synch these all up. In any event, he discusses Matthew's description of Mary being a virgin at Jesus' conception, noting a passage in Isaiah 7:14. However, Isaiah was written in Hebrew and the word he uses refers in general to a young woman, virgin or not. There are no other references to a virgin birth in the rest of the NT. Asimov notes there are many virgin births in mythology that may have influenced Matthew's account.
Further, the genealogy in Matthew has Joseph the direct line of David, not Mary, so David's blood does not flow in Jesus' veins as he is the product of Mary and the Holy Ghost, not Joseph. Asimov notes that some Christians have a "tradition" that Mary is of David's line as well, but it is not described by Matthew. Hmmm.
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