JANUARY 09 THE JESUS QUESTIONS Introduction-09: Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#33 (Matthew 1:1 thru 3:17)

 JANUARY  09   THE JESUS QUESTIONS   Introduction-09: Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#33  (Matthew 1:1 thru 3:17)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS, Lord and Savior, You are worthy, You alone are to be praised above all names. Lord, our lives simply have no meaning outside Your Salvation, No Hope without Your Cross and Sacrifice, and no Life outside Your Death and only through Your Resurrection can we have Eternal Joy and live forever in Heaven itself! Outside of Your Mighty Deeds the world only offers despair, death, darkness, and no hope of life. Lord Jesus, I pray to always be “In Christ” for outside of Christ there is no “LIGHT” and only “In Christ” will we ever find “True Rest” — Lord Christ Jesus, I dedicate myself to Your service, make me wholly Thine, shape me, mold me, and use me as You Will. Let my life be Yours to eternally remain “In Christ”!!!      AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus has in His Genealogy some very interesting TRUTHS listed that point to both Him being the Messiah and what His “Inheritance” as the Messiah might include! Therefore, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ” (Matthew 1:1) can be used to shine a “Light” on the “Purpose” of the Messiah and also reveal the Divine Character of the God that sent Him to be born of a “virgin” and live a perfect life in order that He might die as “the Lamb of God”. The following comments are taken from two independent sources — the first is a sermon given by Brian Walls on the Genealogy of Jesus Christ taken from Matthew 1:17 presented on 12/28/16 and the second source is an internet article titled “The Origins of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:1-25)” written by Robert L. Deffingbaugh (Copyright 2003 by Community Bible Chapel, Richardson, TX) in which some very interesting information is presented from this Genealogy of Jesus Christ as given by St. Matthew in his efforts to present to the Jewish Community that Jesus IS the Messiah. In the sermon given by Brian Walls, he points out that in the genealogy given by Matthew that in normal Jewish genealogy the inclusion of women was very rare and the inclusion of Gentiles was even less likely to appear in a good Jewish genealogy but the very fact that by Matthew including these women (and them being “gentiles” as well) points to the “TRUTHFULNESS” of the genealogy of Jesus Christ. We must also consider these thoughts from the internet article by Robert Deffingbaugh, who starts his comments on the genealogy of Jesus Christ found in Matthew with a quote from the “Apostle to the Gentiles”, the Apostle Paul — “16 Every scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the person dedicated to God may be capable and equipped for every good work.” (2nd Timothy 3:16-17) As we look at the “inspiration” being from “God” for this genealogy given by St. Matthew then we must trust that God had a “purpose” for the inclusion of these women and not only their inclusion but the “TRUTH” of their lives which God Himself thought was important enough to be included in the Genealogy of His Anointed! I quote Robert Deffingbaugh as he observed about the inclusion in the Genealogy of Jesus Christ of these less-than-reputable women: “One purpose of the first genealogy, then, is to dramatically underscore the truthfulness of God’s Word.” And as Brian Walls pointed out in his sermon, “if you are writing a resume then you usually don’t included such dubious characters in your list of references” for we as fallen creatures succumb to the temptation of burying those shady parts of our pasts because they do not shed a “good light” on our reputation — so for God to make sure these additions are not only included but their “problems” were actually highlighted such as “David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.” (Matthew 1:6) Pastor Walls emphasis is that Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus Christ God reveals the “TRUTH” that David the king was guilty of both adultery and murder, thereby making Jesus a Son of David (who was guilty of murder and adultery) and a Son of Abraham thereby meeting the minimum requirements of the Jewish Messiah. That St. Matthew would include these “revealing facts” listed in the genealogy of Jesus Christ, Robert Deffingbaugh states that these less than flattering facts “dramatically underscore the truthfulness of God’s Word”. Deffingbaugh points out the heart of God in a quote from Fredrick Bruner’s comments on Matthew’s inclusion of these “revealing facts” as Bruner writes: “One gets the impression that Matthew poured over his Old Testament records until he could find the most questionable ancestors of Jesus available in order, in turn, to insert them into his record and so, it seems, to preach the gospel — the gospel, that is, that God can overcome and forgive sin, and can use soiled but repentant persons for His great  purpose in history.”  So when we read the Genealogy of Jesus Christ in God’s Holy Word we must trust that there is always a reason and purpose behind everything that God includes in HIS WORD and they are there for our benefit! Therefore we should let HIS WORD teach us that truly “God so [loves] the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son [Jesus] that whosoever believes in [the Messiah and His Word] shall not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) Simple-Direct-Truthful and this “TRUTH”   can only be found “In Christ”!!!