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Understanding Jesus Lineage: Part One: His Legal Lineage

January 6, 2013
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jesus mary joseph lighted with a candle Stock Photo - 11408014

Matthew’s main prospective centers around the premise that Jesus was the Messiah of the prophecies of the Tenakh or as Christians call it Old Testament. Many of the points that Matthew makes, point out how Jesus fulfilled specifically the Messianic prophecies.The Greek word Christ is Messiah in Hebrew.

In Matthew chapter one, Matthew pointed out Jesus’ genealogy and how it relates to his right to the throne of David. Prophecies said that the Messiah would be of the Son of Abraham,(Matthew 1:1, Genesis 12:1),  that he would be called the Son of David, (Matthew 1:1, Isaiah 11:1-2). That he would come through the royal line of Solomon because God promised David that Solomon would sit on the forever (2 Samuel 7). It is important to note here that this lineage is through Joseph, the adopted father of Jesus. Because God had cursed Jechoniah of the royal line and swore that no seed of his should ever sit on David’s throne, the only way this could be fulfilled was that Jesus, the Son of David through Nathan (another son of David) and Mary to become the legal heir  to David’s throne through Joseph of the kingly line shown here in Matthew. The lineage of Mary is shone in Luke chapter 3:23-38 which goes back to Adam.

Matthew 1:18-20 explicitly points out that Jesus was not Joseph’s biological son. Mary, who was still a virgin was impregnated supernaturally by the Holy Spirit. Joseph knew that he didn’t have sex with Mary and if she was pregnant, he knew that he wasn’t the father. Because he was a good man, he didn’t want to make a public example of Mary, but was planning a private divorce. (Betrothal before consummation was still considered an marriage contract in the Jewish culture of that time.) God (through the angel of the Lord) intervened by coming to Joseph in a dream and explained the situation.

The angel of the Lord explained to Joseph that Mary was pregnant with God’s son. That he was to name the child Jesus: for he would save his people (the Jews) from their sins. He said that this was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14.” Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” In Matthew they use the Greek translation Emmanuel meaning “God with us”.  In other words, Jesus which means God is salvation is God living and dwelling with us.

Joseph listened to the Angel of the Lord. He accepted the responsibility of Mary as his wife. He did not have sexual relations with her until after Jesus was born. Jesus was the legal son of Joseph, even though he was not his biological son.

Are you a Loser?

January 1, 2013
Sanctification
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Happy 2013 everyone! How has the year been treating you so far? If 2012 was not a good year for you, take heart! Just because you think you’re a loser now, doesn’t mean all that cannot change in 2013.

Whenever I think of myself as a loser, I remind myself that in the genealogy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in Matthew Chapter one that there’s a lot of losers, and I’m in good company.

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Look at Abraham. He was living with his parents when God first got hold of him. God told him to leave his father’s house and he didn’t listen right away! Then for years he and his wife tried to have kids and they couldn’t. His wife talked him into getting a surrogate. That didn’t work out either. But when Abraham allowed God to dictate his life. . .

Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn. Jacob fights the angel. Canvas,137 x 116 cm

Look at Jacob. Jacob’s name meant “trickster”. He certainly lived up to his name! He tricked his brother out of his birthright. He stole his brother’s blessing from his father. He tricked his father-in-law out of sheep. But he also learned that you reap what you sow. His father-in-law tricked him into marrying his daughter Leah. Then later a riff developed between his father-in-law and him that made Jacob decide he had to sneak away with his family in the dead of night. Talk about a loser! But when God got hold of Jacob. . .

Rahab images

Look at Rahab. She was a prostitute in Jericho, but when God got hold of her, she became the mother of Boaz.

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How about Ruth? She was a Moabite who married a Jew who died in a foreign land. She and her mother-in-law Naomi went to Israel poor and broken. God got hold of Ruth who married Boaz and they had a son named Jesse.

David the Shepherd Boy. Illustration for Aunt Louisa's Sunday Picture Book, printed in Colours by Kronheim (Frederick Warne, c 1890).

Next came David. He was the seventh son. His family didn’t think he’d amount to much, but God chose him to be king over all Israel.

David’s son Solomon was David’s son after an adulterous affair. Who’d have thought that Solomon would become the wisest and wealthiest king Israel would ever have.

Jesus_mary_joseph : Reenactment of the christmas nativity scene with real people Stock Photo

Joseph was just a carpenter. Mary was just a young girl. But these people who were losers in the eyes of the world were chosen to raise the child who would become the King of the Jews.

cross jesus

Even Jesus, the son of God, was considered a loser in the eyes of the world. According to Isaiah 53:2 it says, “he hath no form nor comeliness and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him”. He died the most horrible agonizing death that humankind could devise. But God didn’t see him as a loser. God saw Jesus as his solution to our problems.

If you see yourself as a loser, you’re in good company! Realize, however,  that God wants to change that! The people in Jesus’ genealogy were no longer losers because God touched their lives. He wants to change your life too. Are you willing to let God touch your life? Spend time with him, get to know him. Read his word, talk to him, listen for his reply. He will change your life.

How has God changed your life?

This year I will be focusing this blog on the four gospels. Today we have covered Matthew chapter 1. Also under my pseudonym Author Cygnet Brown I have written two Christian Historical Novels in The Locket Saga–When God Turned His Head and Soldiers Don’t Cry. I am currently working on the third book in the series: A Coward’s Solace.

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