JANUARY 12 THE JESUS QUESTIONS Introduction-12: Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#33 (Matthew 1:1 thru 3:17)

JANUARY  12  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   Introduction-12: Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#33  (Matthew 1:1 thru 3:17)

LIVING FOR JESUS   Daily Prayer    

JESUS, You are Unchanging for ever and Forever, for You are the Alpha and the Omega. Lord as I face another day in the world I praise You for the great and mighty work that You accomplish daily in our lives through the Holy Spirit and the extra blessing of the Holy Spirit teaching us how to worship You with our work which is a good witness to Your Great Love. I pray that others will see us living our lives through You Lord Jesus Christ and our daily walk with You will witness to the Abundant Life that comes only from following You and also that they will learn that following You is the most important thing in each individual’s life — not what the owners of the business or our earthly bosses think about our “worship at work” but of major importance is what God Most High thinks of our worship! Jesus, You know our hearts and Lord Jesus help us die daily to our worldly self and let Your Love show though in a mighty WAY!!!      AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus was established in the first chapter of Matthew as the rightful Heir to the Throne of David by His genealogy through King David as spoken by God Himself to Nathan the prophet about David: “I will set up [David’s] seed…I will establish his kingdom…I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever…I will be his Father, and he shall be My son…My mercy shall not depart from him…and [David’s] throne and kingdom will be established forever!” (2 Samuel 7: 12-16) The title “Son of David” to the Jews meant more than human genealogy, it is a MESSIANIC title — therefore when Israel referred to Jesus as the Son of David, they were making reference to the long-awaited Deliverer, the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies. (Matthew 1:1-17) Next, after establishing the “genealogy of Jesus Christ”, Matthew documents the prophesied “virgin birth” of Jesus (Matthew 1:18-25) thus fulfilling the prophecy: “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14) Matthew then moves directly into the conflict that developed with the then earthly king of Israel, King Herod: “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.’” (Matthew 2:1-2) The fact that “wise men” from the East came seeking the “King of the Jews” and declaring that they had “seen His star in the East” is significant in the “universality” of the Jewish Prophecy that the the King of the Jews would be born in Bethlehem of Judea for the prophet Micah had written: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.” (Micah 5:2) Matthew has now demonstrated 3 major prophecies that have been fulfilled by Jesus in just the first chapter and part of the second that put the odds of any one person fulfilling these 3 major prophecies at an astronomical number and almost certainly by mathematical odds that Jesus by (1) His genealogy through David, (2) His “Virgin Birth”, and (3) that  “Virgin Birth” occurring in the town of “Bethlehem” would be sufficient to declare Jesus the Heir to the throne of David and by Jesus fulfilling just these three prophecies that He would have to be declared the “King of the Jews”!!! It is obvious why this news from the wise men declared in the presence of Herod and all the chief priests and scribes in the city of Jerusalem would cause Herod to be “troubled”.  What makes the odds of Jesus being the “King of the Jews” grow exponentially is the fact that even this “trouble” that King Herod felt was itself also in prophecy as Matthew records that when the wise men departed  [from Herod] after “they [had seen] the young Child with Mary His mother” (Matthew 2:11) that “an angel of the Lord appears to Joseph in a dream, saying, ‘Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.’ [Joseph] did as the angel had commanded that yet another prophecy might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet [Hosea], saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.” (Hosea 11:1) When Herod “saw that he was deceived by the wise men…[Herod] sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which [Herod] had determined from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet saying: ‘A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” (Matthew 2:16-17 and Jeremiah 31:15) Matthew now in only two chapters, has Jesus fulfilling prophecies by Isaiah, Micah, Hosea, and Jeremiah! The miracle part of the prophecies is that in order for these prophecies to be fulfilled that the circumstances demanded that (1) “wise men from the East” and (2) the current “king of Judea” be complicit in the fulfilling of prophecy! To me it is significant that God was accomplishing His Plan and literally using Jesus as a Child to cause a Universal Response to His arrival and that speaks plainly to the TRUTH OF GOD that there will be required of every one, in all nations and every generation and every tongue, a Universal Response when Jesus comes again! God’s complete Plan has been written down in His Holy Bible for us to read and comply with — all we have to do is accept the obvious ——— Jesus is the Only Begotten Son of God!!!