ListenDaily – 13 December 2010: Surprises for Christmas! #6
Scripture: Matthew 1:1-17
The Genealogy of Jesus
A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham: Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife, Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram, Jehoram the father of Uzziah, Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon. After the exile to Babylon: Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, Akim the father of Eliud, Eliud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ
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Generations before -- fourteen generations before -- the birth of Christ, came another miraculous birth.
Then God said, "Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.
As with John the Baptist, as with our Lord, we have here a heavenly message, an unexpected child, a name bestowed by God Himself.
The first blessing, a son of a man and a woman, but made possible only by the hand of God. Not only was Isaac born...the nation of Israel was born -- and the lineage to the Messiah was begun. As this child was born, Abraham and Sarah must have looked with such love at this miraculous child, with a promised, but impossible to understand the miracle within him.
God must have also looked with love upon this child -- and on down through the centuries -- through Boaz -- and David -- past Solomon – to another miraculous Child, a second blessing -- a child of a woman, yet the Son of God -- the birth of a new people -- a new church – and on even further to the New Heaven and New Earth.
Questions:
1. Do you ever consider the faith of Abraham and Sarah as part of the Christmas story?
2. Is it important, as we mature in the faith, to look for these connections?
3. Do you ever consider how your individual acts of obedience (or disobedience) may affect the world?
May we obey and trust Him. Jim
"It is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child Himself."
Charles Dickens
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