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Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted Isa 53:4 |
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Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Thursday, January 2, 2025
Today's Passage : Today's Passage :The Genealogy of Jesus Christ Bible Verse:Matthew 1:1-17 (ESV) "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ. So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations." Message:
Matthew had good reason to begin his Gospel with this intimidating and tedious passage. It is, first and most important, the genealogy of Jesus. It lists the line of descendants from Abraham down to the birth of Christ. This, Matthew wants us to understand, is Jesus’ royal heritage. Kingship is hereditary, and a king was (and still is) expected to prove a claim to the throne by virtue of his lineage.
The lineage of all Judaism began with Abraham. David, the great king of Jewish history, thus traced his bloodline to Abraham, to demonstrate his credibility as a proper king, one anointed by God. (E.g. Ruth 4:18-22)
Christmas nativity Renaissance
These are the two most important names in the genealogy, and they are stated right at the beginning. In other words, Matthew 1:1 is saying, “Here is proof that Jesus of Nazareth was the proper King of Israel.” Matthew addresses it to all, but it really speaks primarily to Jews who are skeptical of Jesus’ authority.
Roman Judea was not a Western democracy, where a boy could be born to poor farmers and expect to become President. Jesus was a carpenter’s son from the hick town of Nazareth. Thus, when the early disciples called him “King,” outright mockery often resulted.
Jesus lived in a fixed hierarchical society. Every person knew his tribe, his land, and his place by virtue of his birth. Priests, for example, had to be from the tribe of Levi, i.e. descendants of Aaron. Even land ownership required a knowledge of one’s family tree, because the Jews would have “Jubilee Years” in which all land was returned to its original family, meaning the owner had to trace his rights back to the original grant of ownership from God, in the era after Moses. Similarly, the Jews’ meticulous genealogies were needed to sort out land titles after they returned from 70 years of captivity in Babylon.
Matthew describes Christ’s lineage through Joseph to Abraham, whereas Luke 3:23-38 traces His ancestry backwards all the way to Adam. There are many other differences between the genealogies given by Matthew and Luke, beyond the scope of our study. But we do need to understand that Luke’s genealogy had a different purpose than Matthew’s: Luke sought to show the divinity of Jesus.
All these issues would take us a month to discuss. But note that the names in both of them include prophets, kings, apostates, idolaters, prostitutes, adulterers, and even children of incest in the royal line — not much different from a British King’s heritage!
Meditation : Prayer : Oh Lord as I face creation Let me see with eyes made clear By Your promise of salvation, Never to return to fear........Amen |
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