Advent Day 19: Genealogy of Jesus

Of late, folks have been using the internet to investigate their ancestries.  I would love to do more of that....if I could devote the time to doing so.  Some of my relatives have done extensive "digging".  Amazingly, we find in the New Testament extensive documentation of Jesus' geneology, and that is what we are going to explore in today's Advent meditation.

If you are a Christian, you probably accept these two truths of Scripture:
1.  Mary of Nazareth was Jesus' biological mother.
2.  Joseph of Nazareth was Jesus' adoptive father,  His legal father in the earthly, governmental sense, with the Holy Spirit being Jesus' true progenitor.

When examining Jesus' genealogy, however, Joseph's role is very important.

One of the qualifications of being Messiah was that the man claiming this title had to have been a descendant of King David, to whom the Davidic Covenant God made.  Look at 2 Samuel 7:16 - - -

Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.

Wow, what a promise!  As usual, however, God didn't fulfill this promise in the way that David (or other descendants in the hundreds of years between then and the time of Jesus' birth) expected.

Have you ever wondered if all the Jewish girls down through the centuries thought that they might be the mother of the Messiah?  If they knew the Old Testament prophecies, then only those who were of the tribe of Judah (David's tribe) would wonder such a thing, because the promise was made specifically to David's ancestral line.

Joseph was a descendant of David, through his son, Solomon.  (Solomon is mentioned in the verses just prior to 2 Sam. 7:16, as being the son through which God would build the first Jewish temple.) How do we know that Joseph was descended from Solomon?

One of the things about which the Jews were fastidious was genealogy.  They kept genealogical records back centuries.  This continued through Jesus' day.  It came to an abrupt bump-in-the-road, however, when the Romans destroyed the Jewish temple in 70 A.D.  The temple had been the grand repository of all Jewish genealogical records, ever since its reconstruction in Nehemiah's day (around 500 B.C., I think....)  But, even before that, the preservation of records (including Torah and other prophetic writings, genealogies, etc.) was very, very important to the Jews.

This is why Matthew and Luke were able to record the genealogical record of Jesus in their gospels...because of this fanatical record-keeping.  Praise the Lord!

Let's look first at Matthew, who recorded the genealogy of Jesus through Joseph.  "So what?", you ask.  Joseph was not Jesus' "baby daddy", as the common vernacular goes.  That is true, biologically. But, Joseph adopted Jesus as a baby, which gave Him all the legal rights of a blood-born son and more.  My pastor pointed out that adoption was highly esteemed by the Jews.  Through Joseph's ancestral line, Jesus could make a legal claim to Messiah.

Joseph was a descendant of King Solomon, as you might expect.  In fact, before hearing yesterday's sermon, I thought that both he and Mary were descendants of Solomon.  That is incorrect.  Matthew was a Jew, writing to Jews to convince them that Jesus is Messiah.  So, he began his gospel by laying out the legal genealogy through Joseph.

After King Solomon came a long procession of kings of Israel.  Not too long after Solomon the people split into two kingdoms, Israel in the north (10 tribes) and Judah in the south (2 tribes - - Judah and Benjamin).  The last Hebrew king in the line-up was Jeconiah, also called Coniah (as a nickname, I guess).  At any rate, he was quite a loser.  During his reign, the Jews were vassals of the Babylonians, led by Nebuchadnezzar.  However, Jeconiah was stinking it up so bad that Nebuchadnezzar decided to take the whole lot of Judah (most of them anyway) into captivity in Babylon.  Jeconiah came to a "bad end".  His eyes were gouged out, after which he was hauled off in chains and disgrace to Babylon. (This is why mamas don't name their baby boys Jeconiah.....)

You see, a curse had been pronounced upon Solomon's kingly line, due to the many Solomonic kings who had done evil in the eyes of the LORD.  This is recorded in Jeremiah 22:24-30 (NIV) - - -

24“As surely as I live,” declares the Lord, “even if you, Jehoiachin^c son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off. 25I will deliver you into the hands of those who want to kill you, those you fear—Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Babylonians.^d 26I will hurl you and the mother who gave you birth into another country, where neither of you was born, and there you both will die. 27You will never come back to the land you long to return to.”

28 

28Is this man Jehoiachin a despised, broken pot,

an object no one wants?

Why will he and his children be hurled out,

cast into a land they do not know?

29O land, land, land,

hear the word of the Lord!

30This is what the Lord says:

“Record this man as if childless,

a man who will not prosper in his lifetime,

for none of his offspring will prosper,

none will sit on the throne of David

or rule anymore in Judah.”

You may be wondering where the name Jeconiah figures into this passage.  It becomes confusing because kings would often adopt a different name when they assumed the throne, sort of the same way the Roman Catholic popes do after they are named pope....   Jehoiachin and Jeconiah are the same person, son of Jehoiachim, whose name before assuming the throne had been Eliakim.  The point is that Coniah's imprisonment and dethroning ended the line of Hebrew kings temporarily...until the King of Kings and Lord of Lords came on the scene, born in a manger.

Now.
Let's look at Luke's recording of Mary's genealogy, in Luke 3.  Luke was not a Jew. He was a Gentile, writing to persuade Gentiles of the deity of Jesus.  Therefore, he concentrated on the blood that flowed through Jesus' veins, through His mother, Mary.  Jeconiah was the end of the Solomonic kingly line, but not the Davidic kingly line.  Jesus, through Mary, carried the royal bloodline of King David, through his son, Nathan.  We don't know a lot about Nathan, except that he was the older brother of Solomon and that he was the son of Bathsheba.

13After he left Hebron, David took more concubines and wives in Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to him. 14These are the names of the children born to him there: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, 15Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, 16Elishama, Eliada and Eliphelet.

2 Samuel 5:13-16

and these were the children born to him there: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan and Solomon. These four were by Bathsheba daughter of Ammiel.

1 Chronicles 3:5

Now, we've got to get a bit technical here.  There seems to be a contradiction between the genealogies of Luke 3 and Matthew 1.  Both appear to be genealogies of Joseph.  Not true.  The genealogy in Matthew 1 clearly says that Joseph (Jesus' adoptive father) was the son of Jacob.  In Luke 3 the translation of "son of" in verse 23 is ambiguous, and can be interpreted to mean either "son" or "son-in-law".  In fact, the word "son" does not even appear in the original Greek text.  Heli was Mary's father.

So, will there be any other kings of Judah, to sit upon David's throne?  None other than that baby, born in a manger, whose birth we look forward to celebrating this week:  King Jesus.  When you think back to my earlier historical statement - - - that the genealogical records of the Jews were utterly destroyed when the 2nd temple was destroyed in 70 A.D - - - No other Jew making a messianic claim would be able to document his Davidic ancestry.  But, even disregarding that inescapable fact, the Bible is clear that Jesus is the fulfillment of God's promise to David.  When He returns to earth, in God's perfect timing, He will set up His earthly reign, not only over the Jews, but over all mankind.

Hallelujah!

Good morning, Lord!  I rejoice in Your marvelous ways.  Thank you for teaching us through Your holy Word.  In Jesus' name, amen.

Advent Day 18: Blessed is She...

These pictures are from a trip we took 3 years ago to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, near Telluride, Colorado.  The first time I saw the view in the top photo, I lost my breath because of its beauty.  As I took the shot, I noticed this woman  down at the very edge of the chasm, arms raised in worship.  I could certainly understand her reaction that day.

Traditionally, arms are raised to worship God and also to deliver or pronounce a blessing on loved ones. 

"Blessed", "bless", "bless it", "bless you" - - - even that old Southern staple "Bless her heart!"  These are, for the most part so overused they have moved into the realm of meaninglessness.  In fact, the New York Times wrote an article 3 or so years ago, proclaiming that the hashtag #blessed had gone viral on social media! But, what is meant by these terms?  How are they used in Scripture?

Let's look again at the two women in Luke 1:41-48 - - - Elizabeth and Mary. 

...and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.42In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”

Mary’s Song

46And Mary said:

“My soul glorifies the Lord

47and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

48for he has been mindful

of the humble state of his servant.

From now on all generations will call me blessed,

49for the Mighty One has done great things for me—

holy is his name.

Both of them claimed to be "blessed by God".  What does that mean, in their contexts, and in ours?

When Luke interviewed Elizabeth for his gospel, she reported to him that she had called Mary "blessed" (vs. 42).  This particular form of the Greek word used for "blessed" here is "eulogemene", which means "to be well-spoken of by another". You might recognize that our English word "eulogy" derives from this same Greek word.  The dictionary defines "blessed" as "divinely favored" or "consecrated".  "Consecrated" means "designated for a holy purpose".

So, Elizabeth and Mary were both proclaiming that God had favored them by fulfilling His holy purposes through them.  

They were both ordinary women of the day who loved God.  They were not rich or prominent.  They were typical, godly Jewish women - - - one in middle age or later, and the other in her early teens.

Do you realize that, if you are a Christian, a disciple of Jesus Christ, then you too are blessed? 

"But I don't feel blessed", you say.

Sometimes, our feelings or our circumstances can lead us into unbelief, error...a pit.  Let's look at the truth, presented in Scripture.

• We are blessed with salvation through Jesus Christ.
• We are blessed with the indwelling in our hearts of the Holy Spirit.
• We are blessed with purpose, God's calling to each of us, according to the unique spiritual gifts and talents He has given us. "Consecration"
• We are blessed with everything we need.  (I didn't say "want"; God is not Santa Claus.)
• We are blessed with the many promises of God.  

Elizabeth made the following statement to Mary:
"Blessed is she who has believed the Lord would fulfill His promises to her." (vs. 45)

Listen to this powerful truth:  the promises of God transcend current circumstances and feelings.
Faith.  Belief.  Trust.  Rest.  Do you struggle with believing the promises of God?  Do you really believe that He is good....all the time?  Do you believe that He is at work behind the scenes, even when you can't see it?

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:28 (NASB)

Oh Blessed One!  Oh Child, consecrated, "called according to His purpose"!
Maybe, like me, you need to remind yourself of God's precious promises to you.  Here is a link that may bring you comfort today.  Go here and read about just a few of His many precious promises to His children.

http://www.intouch.org/you/article-archive/content/topic/god_s_precious_promises_article#.VJQIH8AAJA

Let's agree together this morning, this day, that our God is greater than all our blind stumbling around in the dark, our frantic groping for peace in the midst of severe pain.  Let's affirm that He will be faithful - - - that He who called you out of the pit of sin and eternal damnation LOVES YOU and WILL keep His promises to you. Let's hold on with everything we've got to the beautiful truth - - - that He does not change.  His word is eternal. 

Fellow Believers - - - we don't have to "feel it" to believe it!

Ah Lord God!  I declare that You are the Most High, the God of Angel Armies, and that what you promise, you will do.  Just as you fulfilled Your promise of a Messiah, prophesied in Genesis, through Isaiah, Micah, Zechariah and elsewhere, you will fulfill your promises to Your children. Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I will praise You! (Psalm 63:3)  In Jesus' name, that Name which is above every name, that Name at which every knee will eventually bow, amen.

Advent Day 17: Most Fortunate Woman on Earth

Why Mary?  Why Elizabeth?  Why not someone else?  Why not you?
Our Advent text for today is Luke 1:39-56.  Here it is in The Message version:

39-45 Mary didn’t waste a minute. She got up and traveled to a town in Judah in the hill country, straight to Zachariah’s house, and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby in her womb leaped. She was filled with the Holy Spirit, and sang out exuberantly,

You’re so blessed among women,

    and the babe in your womb, also blessed!

And why am I so blessed that

    the mother of my Lord visits me?

The moment the sound of your

    greeting entered my ears,

The babe in my womb

    skipped like a lamb for sheer joy.

Blessed woman, who believed what God said,

    believed every word would come true!

46-55 And Mary said,

I’m bursting with God-news;

    I’m dancing the song of my Savior God.

God took one good look at me, and look what happened—

    I’m the most fortunate woman on earth!

What God has done for me will never be forgotten,

    the God whose very name is holy, set apart from all others.

His mercy flows in wave after wave

    on those who are in awe before him.

He bared his arm and showed his strength,

    scattered the bluffing braggarts.

He knocked tyrants off their high horses,

    pulled victims out of the mud.

The starving poor sat down to a banquet;

    the callous rich were left out in the cold.

He embraced his chosen child, Israel;

    he remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high.

It’s exactly what he promised,

    beginning with Abraham and right up to now.

56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months and then went back to her own home.

It is tempting to read these passages and wonder why God chose these women for these roles.  The Almighty's ways are past our understanding.  Truly, wondering such things is to some extent a distraction; Luke does not reveal all.  We can look at these women and draw some conclusions, being careful not to read into the text things that are not there.  We will do that in more depth in tomorrow's post.  But, here is the take-away for today.

God chose these women to fulfill His purposes because He knows all and because He created them for these.  But don't miss this:  He was able to work through them because in both cases their responses were submission and worship. Each of them could have responded to her calling so differently!

Do you feel special?  In God's eyes, you are!
"Oh, you don't know....I am the worst of sinners", you say.
And, I say to you:
God created you with all of your gifts and your struggles to glorify Him.  The question is: will you?
We admire Elizabeth and Mary and marvel at the roles that they were given, but don't you understand that they could have refused to give God glory in their situations?

I read a quote on FB (Facebook) yesterday that was sobering....and true.  Here it is:
"You cannot save everyone.  Some people are going to destroy themselves no matter how much you try to help them."  Bryant McGill
There's a whole blog post in that quote, but I mention it here to emphasize that God has given each of us free will.

So, let's focus on our own callings today and ponder not only the callings of Elizabeth and Mary, but their responses.   Their answers were "yes".   That's why it is tempting to say they were the most fortunate women on earth.  When each of us embraces the calling God gives us, we are most fortunate, most blessed as well!

What is God calling you to today?  Is He asking you to do something difficult, out of your comfort zone, something that requires..... faith?  Glory be!  Is He asking you to "walk by faith", to trust Him when you cannot "see"?  Imagine that.... ;)

What will be your answer?  
Say "YES", and like Mary, "don't waste a minute"!

"Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are." 

1 John 3:1

Oh my precious Lord....sometimes I find it hard to breathe.  Sometimes, your calling seems "too much", and I have to just force myself to "breathe out, breathe in".  At those times, I'm reminded to take great big gulps of You, to ask Your Holy Spirit to fill me "to the uttermost".  Help every single one of us no matter what our circumstances to "breathe" You in today, and to embrace the love You have for us today by responding as Elizabeth and Mary did . . . by magnifying You, giving You the glory.... saying, "YES!"  In Jesus' name, amen.

Advent, Day 16: A Meandering Pig-Trail

Most of us like to be linear people when it comes to progress, right?  We desire that things move along smoothly in a straight line, to a beautiful conclusion.  No setbacks, no problems, no aggravation.

Life, however, even the Christian life, especially the Christian life, is not that way.  God knew it would not be.  And, that's okay.

How can we have peace with this ongoing roller coaster, this struggle?  Why does God allow this?  As I referenced in a post or two back - - one of the newer Christmas songs puts it like this:  what a strange way to save the world!  Indeed.  It all seems backwards at times.

The resplendent walk is not a linear walk, because ours is not a linear faith. 

The Bible calls Jesus "the author and finisher of our faith".  So, let's look at His example (Hebrews 12:1b-3) - - -

"Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us,

Keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the Source and Perfecter of our faith,

Who for the JOY that lay before Him endured the cross,

And despised the shame

And has sat down at the right hand of God's throne.

Consider Him, who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself,

So that you won't grow weary and lose heart."

God Himself, pours Himself into a human body, with all it's problems and restrictions, to make the way of redemption for us.  How backward is THAT?  John Piper calls this "God's Most Successful Setback".  In the same manner, our problems and trials are "divinely appointed setbacks" (Piper), which will always look and feel like failure.

The world looks at us and draws all kinds of erroneous conclusions.  Here are some of them:
1.  "Those people are too good, and I can't be one of them.  I just don't have it in me."
2.  "Those people claim to be so good, but look at what one of them did!  Such a spectacular fall!  What's that all about? I want no part of that."
3.  "Those people are crazy to govern their lives by a mere book.  They have a distorted view of reality."
And, their reactions range from hostility to indifference to ridicule.

No wonder!  This path, this "race" as Paul put it doesn't seem to make sense.  It is more like a meandering pig trail through the woods, really.  Sometimes we get disoriented and wander off. Sometimes, we step into a mole hole and twist our ankle.  Sometimes a branch flies into our face and pokes us in the eye. Sometimes it is uphill.  Sometimes it is gloriously downhill.

Why did God do things this way, engineer our redemption in such a strange fashion?
He did it so that He would get the glory, and the worship and the praise, and not us.
There are two diametrically opposing principles in Scripture and in life.  They are rebellion/pride versus submission/worship.  If you will recall, the former was the original sin of Satan's, and Eve's and Adam's....and ours.  When our race, our path becomes too linear, what is our fleshly reaction? We tend to exalt ourselves and take on the glory that does not belong to us.  We tend to stop walking by faith and instead start trusting in our own power.  This serves to move us away from God, to estrange us from Him, because it is sin.  It is the bedrock of our sin nature, which is covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, but which is ever with us as long as we live in these mortal bodies.

Glory and worship and praise are His, and only His.   As a result, He allows the natural consequences of our sin nature to train us for future glory  (Hebrews 11:12).  The reaction He desires from us in all circumstances is the submission of our will to His, our worship.

If you have ever learned to ride a bike you may have a memory similar to this.  You fell a few times, and your mama or daddy encouraged you to try again.  Then, they ran a distance across the yard and said, "Keep your eyes on me.  Don't look down.  Keep your eyes on me and pedal toward me."  And, you did.  By focusing on your loving parent, you successfully pedaled your way toward him or her. Do you remember that joy?!

This is what Hebrews 12:2 is urging us to do, to keep our eyes on Jesus, when our progress is linear and when it is not.  Jesus kept His eyes on His Father and on "the joy that lay before Him"!

Let's follow His beautiful example as we walk....resplendent!

Dear Father God, my prayer is that when people look at me that they say, "What a wonderful Savior she serves!"  So often, my sin nature wars tremendously against your Holy Spirit, who lives in me. More times than I would like, I wander off the path of righteousness.  I am so grateful for your forgiveness and restoration.  Thank you for going after and rescuing me, over and over again, for being both the Author and the Completer of my faith.  In Jesus' name, amen.

Advent, 3rd Sunday: Pink Candle

Today, churches who share together the Advent wreaths rites light the pink candle on this, the third Sunday in Advent.  Why is it pink?  There is more than one traditional answer, but one of the most common is that it symbolizes joy - - joy that Jesus is almost here.

Joy is an opposite of disappointment.  Have you been disappointed in any aspect of your Advent season thus far?
About 9 days ago, we had a record December snowfall in my part of Georgia.  8 days ago I was supposed to attend my favorite symphony concert of the year.  Due to the forecasted road conditions at the time I was to be returning home, my party and I did not deem it safe to travel those icy roads.  So, regrettably, I called the box office and turned in my tickets.  Talk about being disappointed?  I literally grieved missing this concert!  It just "makes" Christmas for me!  I don't often cry, but last weekend I cried.

A few days later I called the box office again and they agreed to transform my missed tickets into tickets for last night's "similar" Christmas performance.  So, I gathered up most of my original party, added in one interloper (lol!  you know who you are!), and headed down for the concert.  While it was not the one I had originally longed to see, it was delightful.  There were still a few logistical "concerns" along the way, but we all got to enjoy this wonderful blend of styles (classical, jazz, gospel) presented by high schoolers through senior citizens, celebrating the Christmas season.  I truly enjoyed it!  God had redeemed my disappointment in this situation, and I am grateful.

Have you ever had someone grab a fleshy portion of your body and then just pinch it as hard as they can?  Once a toddler member of my family bit the back of my upper arm;  I guess she just thought it looked tasty! Surely does hurt, doesn't it?

Disappointment is similar.  It's not an all-out tragedy of epic proportions, but it hurts, sometimes for a while.

Perhaps because expectations are higher, disappointments seem to get magnified at the holidays.

• You didn't get that part in the Christmas play.
• Someone else was invited to a special event, "in your place".
• You got a pink, fuzzy Snuggie as a gift.
• Your loved ones chose to spend Christmas Eve, your family's special traditional time, with the in-laws.

None of these events are earth-shattering or life-changing.  But, they ache like a bad bruise.

At the root of disappointment is a loss of control.  Things don't turn out like we wanted them to. Surely we need to do our best, plan, be organized, be responsible.  When we do so and yet are disappointed, it is like a slap across the face.  We are once again confronted with the reminder:  our control is an illusion; only God is in control.

"My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the Lord.  "And my ways are far beyond anything you can imagine."

Isaiah 55:8

What is the antidote to disappointment, then?

What a lot of us do is to shove down our disappointment and pretend nothing is wrong.  That can be useful to an extent; most people don't want to see an Eeyore (the eternally downcast, ever-gloomy donkey from Winnie the Pooh).  But, it's not useful in the long run.

If we don't adjust our hearts and attitudes, disappointment can morph into restlessness, anger and bitterness.  Those are not useful at all.

What is more healing is to pour out our heart to trusted friends and to God.  Our friends can be used by God to counsel us and to give us comfort.  And, God can handle our angst.   It's okay to cry, to grieve, to rant, even, to God in prayer.

"He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust."

Ultimately, though, we need to do as the Wise Men did, as recorded in Matthew 2:11.  (By the way, Matthew is the only gospel writer who records this event, and most theologians believe it happened when Jesus was a toddler, not a newborn.  Matthew has this habit of sometimes presenting events out of chronological order.)

They entered the house and saw the child in the arms of Mary, his mother. Overcome, they kneeled and worshiped him. Then they opened their luggage and presented gifts: gold, frankincense, myrrh.

We need to set aside our disappointment and kneel in the presence of the King, offering back to Him the gifts He has given us.

Most of our disappointments have to do with other people, don't they?  Often, they center around those we love the most.  Have you ever been asked to lay at the feet of the King those you love the most?  I have, and frankly, I don't like it!  In fact, submitting my will to His is not "one of my favorite things".  My old sinful nature just rears up and resists!

Part of submitting our disappointment to Him can involve changing our focus.  Ok, so your plans have changed.  God had other plans; trust them.  How can you shift your focus to serve Him in other ways.  This resplendent walk is all about glorifying Him, you know, as opposed to pleasing ourselves.  If this "unfortunate" reality has inserted itself into your Advent, as (quite honestly) it has mine, let's take the steps listed here to "turn it around" for His glory.  Ask Him to change your heart, to take away your disappointment and to show you how you can worship Him in this season, starting this day and leading all the way through to the New Year!  He will.  Remember, when we give ourselves more fully to Him, we are never ultimately, forever disappointed. 

 Scripture reassures us, “No one who trusts God like this—heart and soul—will ever regret it.”

Romans 10:11

The Message

  

Dear Father, some of us are going through terrible disappointment this holiday season.  Please help us get through it.  Although these admonitions of mine sound easy, they're not.  Submitting our will to Yours and keeping our joy about it is hard.  We so ridiculously believe that we know best.  It's laughable!  I'm sure you laugh at our preconceived plans sometimes.  Have pity on us, dear Lord and bind up our broken hearts.  Bandage our bruises and wounds.  Pour your healing oil over us and wrap us in your arms of love.  Tell us again that it will be okay and that You have a plan in this situation that is better than we could even dream at this moment.  We bow before the King in worship and offer our gifts to You.  In Jesus' name, amen.