Key Verse:
A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David,
the son of Abraham:
Matthew 1:1
To be truthful, there isn't much of an inspiring nature to
write about in these two lists of names. We could notice that Matthew's account
only goes back to Abraham while Luke's account goes back to Adam. Perhaps this
is because Luke was a Gentile, and wanted to show that Jesus was the Savior of
the whole world and not just the Jews.
We could point out the discrepancies in the names themselves
between the two lists in Matthew and Luke. That might be interesting, but it
may not be very fruitful for our purposes in this devotional. I believe that
these two lists have three basic purposes for us. The first purpose is to revisit
the foundation that we have already laid for the past 22 days. It shows again
God's preparation for His son's coming to earth as Messiah.
The second reason, I believe, is to establish for us, Jesus'
humanity. The writer of Hebrews puts it this way. "For we do not have a
high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one
who has been tempted in every way, just as we are yet was without sin."
(Hebrews 4:15) Jesus came to earth not only to redeem us, but to identify with
us in every way. He had parents and family!
As we walk with Him through His life on this earth, we will see His
frustrations, His sadness, His friendships and His joys. Everything that you experience in your life,
Jesus has also experienced in one way or another, except for yielding to sin.
Finally, it is believed that these two lists are intended to
demonstrate that Jesus is the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy cited above. Jesus is descended from David, and Matthew’s
gospel emphasizes that to show that Jesus is entitled to be king. Luke’s gospel adds in Jesus’ connection to the
priestly line of the Levites, possibly through Mary. From these we see that the
line of Judah became mixed with the line of Levi so that in one man could be fulfilled
the prophesy of Jeremiah: "For this is what the Lord says: "David
will never fail to have a man to sit on the throne of the House of Israel, nor
will the priests, who are Levites, ever fail to have a man to stand before Me
continually to offer burnt offerings and to present sacrifices." (Jeremiah 33:17)
And again: "I will make the descendants of David my
servant and the Levites who minister before Me as countless as the stars of the
sky and as measureless as the sand on the seashore." (Jeremiah 33:22) How does one man become many again? Fascinating to see that through each believer’s
faith in Jesus we become collectively the vast number of servants spoken of by
Jeremiah. As it says in 1 Peter 2:9, “you are a chosen people, a
royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that
you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his
wonderful light.”
We choose to walk with Him, but He chose to walk with us
long ago, before the foundation of the world. We can only love Him because He
first loved us, (1 John 4:19) and claimed us for His own. (John 15:16) His plan
is intentional and purposeful, not just for Him, but for us as well.
If this were a flight on an airplane, we could imagine that
we are at that point at which the seat belt signs are turned on and the flight
attendant is beginning to speak. "We are now beginning our final descent
to our destination. Please place your
seats and trays in their upright positions and store your carry-ons securely
underneath your seats. I will be coming
through the cabin to collect anything that needs to be disposed of. Thank you." The arrival has begun.
Comments
Post a Comment