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Matthew 1:18-19 (NLT)
18 Now this is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph, her fiance, being a just man, decided to break the engagement quietly, so as not to disgrace her publicly.

DRAWING NOTES:

TIME OF DAY:
Unspecified in the text. I have made it morning.

LIGHTING NOTES:
Sunlight, from above right, illuminates this scene, casting shadows below & to the left of figures & objects.

CHARACTERS PRESENT:
From left to right: Joseph & Mary (with Jesus in womb).

RESEARCH/ADDITIONAL NOTES:
This scene shows Joseph standing back-to-back with his fiancée Mary. She has just told him that she is pregnant, & he is understandable a bit worried & shocked!

This scene is set near Nazareth, which was where Joseph & Mary were living at this time. Although Matthew’s gospel doesn’t tell us this, Luke’s gospel does (see Luke 2:4.) I found a lovely aerial photograph of grasslands near the Golan Heights, Israel, & have used that as reference for my picture. I particularly liked drawing the snow topped mountains, as I haven’t drawn a lot of snow in my pictures, so that is something different!

Here is the scene without the figures of Mary & Joseph.

Background of Matthew 02 – The Nativity SET 02 – Scene 01 – Mary’s miraculous pregnancy

Click on the colour bar below to view/buy this Background:
Background of Matthew 01 – The Nativity SET 02 – Scene 01 – Mary’s miraculous pregnancy

Although the scriptures don’t tell us what reaction Mary got from Joseph (and his family!) when she told him she was miraculously pregnant, I image he was a bit surprised, at the very least, hence his expression in my cartoon! We know from the Bible that Joseph had in mind to quietly break the engagement, so as not to disgrace Mary publicly. From that description I can only assume that initially he didn’t believe her when she told him she was pregnant via the Holy Spirit.

Notice the flint nodules lying on the ground surface, among the lush green grasses & flowers.

Part of the Sea of Galilee can be seen in the left middle distance.