JANUARY 16 THE JESUS QUESTIONS Introduction-16: Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#33 (Matthew 1:1 thru 3:17)

 JANUARY  16  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   Introduction-16: Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#33  (Matthew 1:1 thru 3:17)

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer 

JESUS, JESUS, JESUS — there will be a time when “every tongue” will confess that You are LORD! “Every tongue” takes in a lot of territory and is all inclusive of “every” one that has a “tongue” will use it to confess that Jesus is Lord — Mohammed will confess it, Buddha will confess it, and more importantly, each individual personally will confess it  as EACH WILL stand before God!!! It doesn’t get any closer to home than when we see prophesy being fulfilled in our own lives — but there is one small caveat; this confession comes at the “Judgement” and confessing the Name of Jesus is not a “ticket-to-get-into-heaven” phrase — the Bible states that everyone must stand before God and make an account of our actions and thoughts toward God! It is our thoughts and actions while we were living on earth are what will “condemn or commend” us during our “Judgment” in Heaven. Our thoughts and actions while living lead to us being “condemned to” either a burning hell separated from God or will “commend us” to God, to live with God in Heaven for eternity!!!  After “every tongue” has stood trial for the lives we lived while on earth and we are standing before God, KNOWING HE IS GOD, we will accept our reward or punishment (earned for what we did with the Name of Jesus while we were on earth and breathing God’s air) — and before we leave His Presence we will all stand before God in Heaven and receive our rewards/punishments that were established by our actions on earth that declared “JESUS IS THE LORD OF MY LIFE”!!!      AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus so far has been shown to be the Messiah by circumstances of His “Virgin Birth” and through His lineage back to King David. Upon the announcement of His Birth to King Herod, Herod tried to thwart God’s Plan by killing all male children two and under in the City of David, Bethlehem where Jesus was born. Herod, while trying to protect his throne, unwittingly fulfilled yet more prophecies of the Messiah. In the 3rd Chapter of Matthew’s Gospel of Jesus Christ, Jesus Himself begins to demonstrate by His Own Actions that He is the Messiah! Matthew starts Chapter 3 by introducing the “Star Witness” of Jesus Christ — John the Baptist — John himself was the fulfillment of yet another prophecy: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness; prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” (Isaiah 40:3) Matthew writes of John: “In those days [when Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod] John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” (Matthew 3:1-2) Matthew covered enough material about the “Virgin Birth” of Jesus and circumstances that could not have been orchestrated or controlled by Jesus and His disciples that proved that it could not have been a “fabricated” story or any form of “conspiracy” for the “facts” surrounding Jesus were a matter of public record and the “Virgin Birth” was announced by His earthly parents (facing the penalty of death for blasphemy) before He was born, remember also that Mary and Joseph made their confession while Mary was pregnant even though it could have meant their death — Mary and Joseph had nothing to “gain” from declaring the “Virgin Birth” account and risked being made complete “outcasts” from the Synagogue and their community which was the worst thing that could happen to young Jewish couple so why would they insist that Jesus was the Messiah by virtue of His “Virgin Birth”, and they claimed this truth not according to any less authority than God Himself through the angel Gabriel!!! When John the Baptist comes upon the scene he was “preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” but again this historical fact was part of Jewish history BEFORE Jesus began His earthly ministry — therefore John the Baptist and his “history” is still another “fact” that Jesus and His disciples could not fabricate and is yet another “fact” that can be directly related to prophesy written hundreds of years before Jesus began His public ministry! Of Divine Significance is that the prophecy of Isaiah about the forerunner of the Messiah was written in the 8th Century B.C. and specifically states “the voice of one crying in the wilderness” and “make straight in the desert” and the voice in the desert wilderness was to “prepare the way of the LORD” (Isaiah 40:3) so one must answer some obvious questions such as why would God choose a desert wilderness and not the public square in Jerusalem to announce the arrival of the “Anointed One” and also why would any person randomly or purposefully chose to clothe himself in camel hair, go into the desert wilderness, eat locust and honey, and then preach “repentance” and to declare “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” !?!?!? You can’t make up things like these and present them as facts and not get blown out of the water by the existing authorities, especially if the story includes facts that fly in the face of all tradition and existing laws which could result in that person’s life imprisonment and/or their death?? Matthew’s accounts leave us with two  obvious questions (1) why would a young couple risk death just to claim a “virgin” birth and (2) why would one man go out into the desert and risk his life for some locusts and honey — it makes no sense unless they were driven by a “force” or a power greater than their fear of death!?!? The “obvious” answer is that they are driven by God’s Master Plan and that the Plan itself is more important than “life and death” — God’s Master Plan is about “Eternal Life” in the presence of God Himself and is the only reasonable explanation for all that appears in the Holy Scriptures that establish through prophecy and innocent lives the validity of Jesus being the Messiah!!! Just think on why and when these things occurred to fulfill prophecies in the Scriptures that were written hundreds of year before the events occurred and you will not find a better explanation than prophecy, its giving and fulfillment, is part of God’s Master Plan!!!  The really Good News is that THERE IS A MASTER PLAN for “MANKIND’S SALVATION” and that the ONE that AUTHORED the MASTER PLAN is the CREATOR of ALL and is in CONTROL OF EVERYTHING!!!  When one reads the Bible from the viewpoint that EVERY WORD is DIVINELY INSPIRED and the Holy Bible is GOD’S MASTER PLAN OF REDEMPTION that was already in place “before the foundation of the earth”, then one can see how important it is that we read God’s Word — for indeed His Word is Truth — that’s why His Words are called The Holy Scriptures for only TRUTH IS HOLY!!!

JANUARY 15 THE JESUS QUESTIONS Introduction-15: Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#33 (Matthew 1:1 thru 3:17)

 JANUARY 15  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   Introduction-15: Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#33  (Matthew 1:1 thru 3:17)

LIVING FOR JESUS Daily Prayer   

JESUS, today is another day of abundant life that You have provided for us and we know that we deserve death and would still be dead in our sins today were it not for Your Mercy and Grace and Your Great Sacrifice on the cross at Calvary to purchase our Redemption from the punishment of our many iniquities — Lord let us “lean not” on our own understanding but let You Guide our steps and Light our path! Jesus we are so undeserving of the Mercies that You Renew each morning because of who You ARE, You shower us with blessings, so Lord Jesus I offer up that which I have and that simple offering my Lord is my praise and prayers, praise for You and prayers for others, keeping neither for myself for Your Grace is Sufficient for me! Forgive me for all the ways I have failed You, El Shaddai and keep me centered in Your Will!      AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus was not only proven to be the Messiah by the evidence of His Birth to a virgin who had nothing to gain but death by stoning from the Jewish community to which she belonged by claiming God was the Father of her unborn child, Jesus was also linked to the “purpose” of the Messiah by several outside forces that He could not have possibly manipulated as a young Child and certainly Jesus could not have arranged these events while still in His mother’s womb! The purpose of the “Messiah” in both Jewish tradition and today’s Christian viewpoint, is one of “Kingship” which became an issue that pointed to Jesus as the “Anointed One” when the then King of Israel, King Herod, met with the “wise men from the East” that had traveled to Jerusalem and were asking, “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) This inquiry from credible “wise men” that knew of the “birth” of the “King of the Jews” from prophecies of old and had traveled a great distance because they had seen a “sign” in the heavens, came to Jerusalem for they knew that the event had happened in Judea. Again we must note that these are all outside agencies and events that neither Jesus nor His followers could possibly arrange. Matthew recorded and made a note that when “wise men” stood before Herod that they said to King Herod that the child “has been born” which really caught the attention of the then seated king of Judea! Matthew documented Herod’s reaction when the sitting King of Judea heard the wise men declare that the “King of the Jews” had already been born: “When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when [Herod] had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, [Herod] inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. So they said to him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea…’” and then the chief priests and scribes quoted the prophet Micah who wrote, “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a Ruler who will shepherd My people Israel.” (Matthew 2:3-6 and Micah 5:2)  Modern Jews still do not accept that Jesus is the “Messiah” and their main argument is that the “mashiach”  is a human and not God and will be a human leader like King David who will win great battles for Israel and not a “savior” who will save “His people from their sins”. The Judaism concept of “mashiach” is not God Himself becoming flesh but “mashiach” is a human that will become a powerful king and rebuild the temple, re-establish traditional Jewish worship in the re-built temple, and also “mashiach” will establish a government in Jerusalem making it the center of all world government.  Herod however was not concerned about these concepts of the “one born King of the Jews” but Herod was concerned about the “Kingship” of one that had fulfilled prophecy! Herod was concerned enough about his own kingdom in Judea that the sitting King of Judea tried to enlist the services of the wise men in finding the already born “King of the Jews”. But when the wise men were warned by God not to return to Herod, Herod “sent forth soldiers and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under…” (Matthew 2:7-16) This act of Herod reacting to prophecy about “one who has been born King of the Jews” was also prophetic in its execution for the prophet Jeremiah had written beforehand in Jewish Scriptures that there would be “A voice heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”  (Jeremiah 31:15) Matthew also documented that “Divine Intervention” on behalf of Jesus came as an “angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream” after the wise men had bestowed gifts on the “young Child Jesus” and the angel said, “Arise take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt” … thus fulfilling the prophecy by Hosea stating, “Out of Egypt I called My Son” (Hosea 11:1) The simple fact that all these events that came about while Jesus was still a “young Child” are events that are historical facts and had they been fabricated after the crucifixion of Jesus, the “conspiracy” and false claims would have been quickly refuted by the Jewish rulers and the chief priests and scribes living at the time of the death of Jesus — but historical documents do not contain any such records that dispute what Matthew wrote about Jesus — the only records that exist support Jesus as having fulfilled the prophecy of the Messiah according to the prophets of old. So Matthew in the first 3 chapters of his Gospel of Jesus Christ has established as historical fact that Jesus had already by the young age of 2 or 3 years old had already fulfilled 4 major “Messianic Prophecies” written hundreds of years earlier by God’s own prophets and these critical prophecies and their fulfillment could not have been “fabricated” without receiving great criticism from the chief priests and scribes and further, if it were the apostles and disciples of Jesus that had “fabricated” the stories after the death of Jesus, their fabrications would have been exposed by the religious authorities and their fabrications would have resulted in their own deaths! If the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His Divine Truth was simply a fabrication by a few radical followers then the fulfilling of prophecy by Jesus would not be documented so well in the New Testament writings — writings that have been Divinely Protected for thousands of years, all these circumstances surrounding the birth of Jesus only adds credence to the TRUTH that Jesus IS CHRIST!!!  

JANUARY 14 THE JESUS QUESTIONS Introduction-14: Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#33 (Matthew 1:1 thru 3:17)

 JANUARY  14  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   Introduction-14: Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#33  (Matthew 1:1 thru 3:17)

LIVING FOR JESUS Daily Prayer    

JESUS, Creator of all things, by whose Hand and Will all things are held together, You are worthy of all Praise, all Glory, all Honor! Lord, to You and You alone will every nation bow and every tongue in every language confess that Jesus is CHRIST! — the Savior of mankind, the King of kings. Lord, I praise You this day, let not the world interfere with our worship of Thee — You Lord, are the Guiding Path, I pray that You part the “Sea of Doubt” and give us the strength and courage to lift up Your Name as we cross on dry land between the walls of worldly distractions built up on every side on our journey to Your Promised Land, especially in this circumstance and at this time of “testing” in America — for it is in these types of circumstances that there is special strength coming from the Throne of Grace, let us receive Your Divine Strength into our lives and into our homes, and Lord Jesus, give everyone someone in their life that they will share Your Love with today.      AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus is being revealed through circumstance and simple fact to be the Messiah and in any court of law there would be enough evidence to sentence Him to a LIFE sentence for being the “Chosen One”. If we could look at His “Birth” certificate we would see that He was born a Jew to Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem in Judea and it could be demonstrated that Jesus was of the lineage of David the former King of Israel therefore making Jesus a Jew that can trace His ancestry all the way back to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But the most compelling evidence was given by His own mother Mary who swore under oath that she had never been with a man and had conceived Her baby boy while still a “virgin” and that she further testified that she was informed by God Himself through His angel Gabriel, that she would carry the “Son of God” in her virgin womb thereby confirming that her “Son” was “The Son of God”! Not needed to convict her but required by law that there be two witnesses, Mary’s husband to which she was betrothed when she became pregnant through “Immaculate Conception” with this “Holy Child”, Joseph took the witness stand and confirmed Mary’s confession that she was carrying the “Son of God” in her virgin womb!!! Joseph testified that he too had been visited by the Angel Gabriel and was informed by God that his betrothed was “with a Child” that had been “conceived by the Holy Spirit”. Jewish law is very strict and had not Joseph withheld his public accusation of worldly infidelity, Mary could have been stoned to death as per Jewish law, so neither she nor Joseph had anything worldly to gain by this outrageous claim of her “Virgin Birth” which declared the “Child” to be born to Mary was indeed the “Son of God” ——— and all this transpired BEFORE the actual “Virgin Birth” so this piece of historical evidence of Christ’s identity was established BEFORE Jesus was even born! To think that all the prophets and the Jewish Holy Scriptures was simply a clever “conspiracy” organized by Jesus and His followers goes against all logic for why in the world would those that wanted Jesus dead be compliant with a plot to make Jesus “God Incarnate” via the “Virgin Birth”?!?!?!?!? There is simply no way that anyone could put together one man’s life to remotely complete more than two or three of the prophecies {{See January 11 this blog}} and certainly not two prophecies of this Divine Significance of a Jewish male born in Bethlehem to a “virgin” — Matthew therefore using Jewish law and Jewish tradition along with confirmation from the Jewish Scriptures documents that this Jesus, born of Mary in Bethlehem must be declared as “The Messiah” and is the Christ, for if their claims were not true, then by Jewish law and tradition the Jewish religious leaders could have killed Mary and Joseph, and Jesus would not have been born — — — BUT, we have a 2000 year old Bible and you know the rest of the story!!! In God’s Great Plan for mankind, each individual must deal with this “Revelation of Jesus Christ” and “work out your own salvation” through the exercise of Your God-given Freewill and decide if your “Faith in God the Father” (though it be a small as a “mustard seed”) can be planted into this fertile soil of God’s GRACE and TRUTH and grow to reach “Heaven” itself!!! God’s simple promise is “I WILL PROVIDE” — and regardless of the “evidence” it still boils down to “FAITH IN GOD THE FATHER” — it is time for everyone by “FAITH IN GOD THE FATHER” to “Repent from sin against HIM” and to reclaim THROUGH BELIEF IN THE SON OF GOD our “Heavenly Inheritance”— “IN GOD WE TRUST”!!!

JANUARY 13 THE JESUS QUESTIONS Introduction-13: Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#33 (Matthew 1:1 thru 3:17)

 JANUARY 13  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   Introduction-13: Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#33  (Matthew 1:1 thru 3:17)

LIVING FOR JESUS   Daily Prayer    

JESUS, each sunrise starts a new day in our spiritual journey through life and I pray that You through the Holy Spirit will make my life in each of my new days of walking with the Holy Spirit to be a great witness unto God. Lord, I pray for forgiveness of all my sin, sins known and those that are unknown to me, but known or not, if they grieve the Holy Spirit they dishonor the Father and the Son, so I beg forgiveness for the sake of Holiness. Lord, I desire in my heart to dedicate this temple to the Holy Spirit, to You, and Father God — O Lord Jesus, I am so close to being separated from the world that if it be Thy will, Lord lead me to be totally dependent on You and that I live only to serve You. Take now this prayer as a sacrifice and an offering to You, use my life for the glory of Your Kingdom. Lord I yield to Your will, You are my Lord, my God, my Savior, my Redeemer, and the Prince of Peace.      AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus has been shown by Matthew’s Gospel to be in the line of David and is the One in prophecy known as the Messiah, the Son of David! Matthew drew the lineage from the traditional Jewish doctrine of tracing the family line through the father and listing the birth mother of the offspring. It is Jewish tradition because of the teachings of God found written in Deuteronomy 21:15-17 that the first born male that was also the first issue of his mother’s womb would be granted a special portion of the father’s estate, therefore when Matthew, being a well educated Jew and knowing the prophecies of the Messiah contained in the Holy Scriptures, learned that Jesus was the first born from His mother’s womb and that she swore by the Holy Scriptures that the Child was conceived by the Holy Spirit, thereby making God Himself the Father, then Matthew immediately recognized the prophecy of the “virgin birth” found in Isaiah — “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 put the “virgin birth” prophecy along with the fact that the mother of Jesus gave birth to Him in “Bethlehem” which also fulfilled the prophecy by the prophet Micah “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 old, from everlasting”  (Micah 5:2) and Matthew had two prophecies that pointed to Jesus being the “Chosen One” that was written by God’s prophets about God’s Messiah! Granted, there had been a lot of Jewish males in the line of Judah that had been the “first born” of their mother’s womb and had received the special inheritance from their earthly father but Jesus was the first Jewish male that could claim that His Father was God Himself and He had been “born of a virgin” and that His birth occurred in the “City of David, Bethlehem Ephrathah” !!! — and least we forget, the story of the “virgin birth” of Mary began before she had given birth and in those days she could not have known that she was carrying a male child; therefore her claim that she was told by an angel that she would conceive a child in her virgin womb and give birth to the “Son of God” could have been easily disproved if she had given birth to a daughter!?!? So from a “Spiritual Truth” standpoint, the only way that Mary could “know” that she was giving “virgin birth” to a “Son” was that it had been revealed to her by God Himself!!! Since Matthew was well versed on prophecy he could see the significance of Joseph having to return to Bethlehem to pay his taxes and Mary actually giving birth to her first born in the town of Bethlehem and those two facts alone were enough to raise expectations of the Messiah in the Jewish community but when the story that during her pregnancy Mary rightfully claimed (at the risk of being stoned to death) that God had chosen her to be the mother of the “Son of God”  became known to Matthew he connected the two prophecies (1) the “virgin birth” and (2) the location being “Bethlehem” to the simple fact that Jesus was a firstborn male from Mary’s womb ——— Matthew then simply stated the documented facts surrounding the “birth” of Jesus thereby documenting for everyone that knew prophecy that Jesus had fulfilled two Major Prophecies of the Messiah!!! Matthew then writes first in his Gospel of Jesus Christ that Jesus is the “Son of David” (Matthew 1:1) and follows that historic fact with the “virgin birth” prophecy, thereby the combination of these two longstanding and well-known prophecies establish beyond any doubt that Jesus IS the MESSIAH!!!  The first claims made by Matthew in his Gospel of Jesus Christ should be enough “evidence” for all of us to recognize Jesus as the Messiah but God still wants each individual to search the Scriptures so that we too can through “Faith in God” know the “Joy” of discovering God’s “Messiah” for ourselves!!! There is NO “Evidence” without “Faith in God” that is “proof of God” — however “Faith in God” is all the “proof” a “Believer” needs to know God personally and once we “Believe” then worldly “evidence” is simply used to confirm what the “Believer” through “Faith in God” already KNOWS about Him!!! Once you “Believe” you may claim this Truth of God for yourself: “And [you having] believed in [Me] the LORD, [I WILL] account it [unto you] for righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6) The Scofield Study Bible says: “ God must reckon His own righteousness to man’s account through man’s trust [FAITH] in Him — for mankind is without righteousness of his own.” {{Scofield Study Bible notes on Genesis 15:6}}  The “Good News” keeps getting Better and Better!!!

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!!! 

JANUARY 11 THE JESUS QUESTIONS Introduction-11: Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#33 (Matthew 1:1 thru 3:17)

 JANUARY  11  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   Introduction-11: Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#33  (Matthew 1:1 thru 3:17)

JLIVING FOR JESUS   Daily Prayer    

JESUS, my prayer for the new year is to daily be totally dependent on Your Mercy and Grace to lead me where You will. Lord, I pray that in regard to worldly influences I may have the discernment to see past the world and the deceit of this world to Your Truth and to Trust Your Holy Spirit to take whatever worldly circumstance that I find myself in and use it to witness to Your Great Love — for there is nothing or no one that cannot benefit from Grace which You have provided so abundantly. Keep our hearts and eyes open to those times when we can take the circumstances of the world and use them to witness to your Glory.      AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus has already in the first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew fulfilled more prophecies than any one single person before Him and certainly Jesus has fulfilled more prophecies than anyone that has lived after Him. The Birth, Life, Death by Crucifixion, Burial in a “borrowed” Tomb, and His Glorious Resurrection on the Third Day are predictions fulfilled by Jesus. The fulfilling of specific prophecies of the Messiah by Jesus have been documented by so many independent sources and written down and confirmed in the presence of so many eyewitnesses that there will NEVER be anyone but JESUS that can have the facts of His Life be the PROOF that He is the SON OF GOD. Some obvious supporting facts surrounding Jesus fulfilling the Messianic Prophecies come from the world of mathematics but are not always considered as “proof” (there will always be skeptics). Mathematics became involved because the “claims” that Jesus fulfilled so many prophecies got the attention of the scientific community and several well known mathematicians were asked to apply the science of “probability” to the scriptures. As a result of applying the science of probability to prophecy, the numbers generated from this investigation and sophisticated mathematical calculations produced such outrageous numbers that the numbers were rechecked and recalculated by dozens of sources! One such case resulted in  a conclusion written by the professor emeritus of science at Westmont College in Santa Barbara who had previously served as chairman of the mathematics and astronomy departments at Pasadena City College.  Professor Peter Stoner had done a probability study on 11 general prophecies coming true and wrote that “the probability of these 11 prophecies coming true, if written in human wisdom, is…1 in 5.76 x 10⁵⁹ Needless to say, this is a number beyond the realm of possibility.” Professor Stoner used the following to illustrate the unbelievable number of 1 x 10¹⁷ of one person “accidentally fulfilling” only 8 Messianic prophecies: “Imagine filling the State of Texas knee deep in silver dollars. Include in this huge number one silver dollar with a black check mark on it. Then, turn a blindfolded person loose in this sea of silver dollars. The odds the the first coin he would pick up would be the one with the black check mark are the same as 8 prophecies being fulfilled accidentally in the life of Jesus.” {{See internet article: “Applying the Science of Probability to the Scriptures — Do Statistics Prove the Bible’s Supernatural Origin?” By Dr. David Reagan on the website http://christinprophecy.org}} If we look at just the “odds” from a numerical standpoint of one man “accidentally” fulfilling more than 8 prophecies as being impossible then what is the phrase that would have to be invented for a second person to fulfill more prophecies than the first person?!?!? The “odds” that one man could fulfill ALL the Messianic prophecies are so beyond our comprehension that many find it hard to believe it to be humanly possible and choose to believe that all of this “prophecy” stuff and “the Jesus story” is a “fairy tale” — which is still one of the main arguments put forth by skeptics against Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit today and this argument prevents many people from believing! On the other side of the coin others write: “The bottom line is that the fulfillment of Bible prophecy in the life of Jesus proves conclusively that He truly was God in the flesh. It also proves that the Bible is supernatural in origin.”  Many “unbelievers” are the very ones that deny that Jesus is the Son of God and that God Himself exists, yet they refuse to accept as “evidence” the “eyewitness” accounts such as each of the individual Gospels. If we accept simple things that must be true of the Messiah like the Messiah is a Jewish male born to a virgin in Judea and that He would have to be “sacrificed” to make atonement for the sins of His people and not just any “sacrifice” but a unique death-by-crucifixion at the hands of a foreign government then when we look at the simple facts of eyewitness accounts of the life of Jesus who was a Jewish male born in Bethlehem to a virgin and we have records of Jesus Himself starting His ministry by teaching “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” then eyes must be opened to the TRUTH!  Matthew, being an educated Jew met Jesus and then learned everything he could about Jesus and would eventually write the Gospel that would be an eyewitness account to the fulfilling of Jewish prophecy by Jesus. Matthew being a studied and educated Jew himself recognized the significance of the simple facts of the life of Jesus and wrote the Gospel that documented his findings. I can just imagine what Matthew felt like when he started following Jesus and hearing reports from the other apostles about the parents of Jesus and when Matthew traced the genealogy of Jesus back to King David, Matthew knew that there was something special about this first born Jewish male that could trace His genealogy back to King David! But can you imagine how Matthew felt when he learned that the mother of Jesus accounts the details of  how her firstborn son Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirt and that she was a “virgin” when she gave birth to Jesus! Then Mary and Joseph both told of the visit from Gabriel and Gabriel telling them to “call Him Jesus for He will save the people from their sins”!  I can also imagine that Matthew started taking notes and studying the prophecies of the MESSIAH even more seriously because already Jesus had fulfilled the three most basic but difficult prophecies concerning the MESSIAH — for no one can choose where they are born nor whom their parents are much less who the parents of the parents are — secondly there is the “virgin birth” prophecy which no one can choose that their mother be a “virgin” and give birth!  Those ARE IMPOSSIBLE things for man, but that makes the HOLY SCRIPTURE valid when it clearly states, “with man it is impossible but with God, all things are possible.” I am sure that Matthew started writing furiously when he heard Mary and Joseph tell the account of the “virgin birth” and I am sure that God fully intended for Matthew to be the one to write the Gospel and document this “impossibility” of Jesus — for the TRUTH is that indeed it is “impossible” for man to fulfill prophecy, only GOD can fulfill prophecy and only the Son of God could be “virgin born”!!! The first four chapters of Matthew then documents through eyewitness accounts all the simple facts of the Life of Jesus that points to the Divine Truth that Jesus is the Son of God!!!    

JANUARY 10 THE JESUS QUESTIONS Introduction-10: Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#33 (Matthew 1:1 thru 3:17)

 JANUARY  10  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   Introduction-10: Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#33  (Matthew 1:1 thru 3:17)

LIVING FOR JESUS Daily Prayer    

JESUS, as we enter the new year we realize that the “Good News” is that we have another year and our complete future in which we can spend our lives in Your Presence each and every day! With Great Hope and Expectation we can look forward to a year with the KING of kings and LORD of lords! If it be Your Will for us, I pray that You grant Your servants the Grace and Mercy of another year that we will get to spend with the One that is Worthy and has given us this Divine Advice and Promise: “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5) and as God Promised His people through Moses as they were being delivered by the Mighty Hand of God from their bondage in Egypt and were about to face unknown enemies on their way to the “Promised Land”: “Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of [your enemies]; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes before you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6) I can’t think of a better way to begin a new year than to know that it is God Himself that is going before us and His Divine Promise will lead us safely through!      AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus has been introduced by St. Matthew in his Gospel of Christ Jesus in such a manner that Jesus is first revealed as the Messiah by (1) <<Matthew 1:1-17>> “the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ” (Matthew 1:1) and this genealogy also establishes Jesus to be “the Son of David” and “the Son of Abraham” thereby fulfilling the minimum requirement for the long awaited and highly anticipated Messiah, who in Jewish eschatology is a future Jewish king from the Davidic line. It is interesting to note that in addition to Jesus being the “Son of Abraham” in this genealogy given by Matthew that in the ancestry of Jesus the line of Abraham extends back in Jewish history through Shem who was the son of Noah. The Holy Scriptures record: “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. And Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.” (Genesis 8-10) The fact that the Holy Scriptures includes Noah in the line of the Messiah is paramount to understanding the “Purpose” of the Messiah and God’s “Intent” in sending Jesus to earth to be born at that particular time into this particular family. A monumental clue exists here in the introduction and genealogy of Noah, that the Holy Scriptures record of the time of Noah: “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.” (Genesis 6:11) Everyone even vaguely familiar with the Bible can tell you the story of the flood and of Noah’s ark and how God made it rain 40 days and 40 nights but not many can quote what God spoke directly to Noah as to the reason Noah was to build the ark for God: “So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, ‘The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.’” (Genesis 6:12-13) Remember Matthew is writing to Israel and all Israel had been reading the Book of Moses for generations upon generations and they would have understood from reading Matthew’s genealogy that Jesus had in His ancestry King David, Abraham, and Noah thereby linking Jesus directly to men whom God had called out individually to lead the nation Israel in a Divine Way!!! These individual men in the same family line can also trace their ancestry back to the first man that God created with His Own Hands and became a “human being” when God used His Own Breath to Breathe Life into, Adam — thereby making Jesus the “Son of Man” as well as being the “Son of God”. The Hebrew word for “begot” that is found in all genealogy in the Holy Scriptures does not just mean “only” in reference to being the “son of” but is best rendered as “became an ancestor of” thereby the Biblical word for “son” is the equivalent of our English word “descendant” so by tracing the genealogy of Jesus through King David and Abraham, Matthew also demonstrates that not only is Jesus from the family line God has chosen to raise up leaders for Israel but Matthew also through the genealogy of Jesus demonstrates that Jesus is of the line that God announced would bring forth the Messiah and is also the family that can trace its lineage back to Adam, making Jesus eligible to be the Messiah, the Son of God AND the Son of Man! The continuing genealogy of Matthew also reveals Jesus is the Messiah by (2) <<Matthew 1:18-25>> His “virgin birth” as prophetically written over 700 years before by the prophet Isaiah “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 11:1,Isaiah 7:14, & Numbers 24:7,8a,16-17a) (3) <<Matthew 2:1 - 2:23>> Prophecies fulfilled by Herod about the Messiah’s birth being in “Bethlehem” - the city of David  (Isaiah 40:3, Jeremiah 31:15, Hosea 11:1, & Micah 5:2) and finally (4) <<Mathew 3:1-17>> The testimony of John the Baptist the “forerunner of the Messiah” who was preaching “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand…” (Matthew 3:2) and was baptizing in the Jordan all those that went out to him in the wilderness to hear his message of “Repentance” and “were baptized by him in the Jordan confessing their sins…” (Matthew 3:6) and when John saw Jesus he proclaimed that Jesus was the One that John had been sent by the Holy Spirit to “prepare the way of the Lord”. (Matthew 3:3) John also said when he saw Jesus coming to him in the Jordan, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) and finally  (5) Jesus is proven to be the Messiah by the way He Lived and what He Taught others as the Holy Scriptures record in <<Matthew 4:1 - Matthew 28:20>> that Jesus is the Messiah by virtue of His Lifestyle, the Lessons and Parables Jesus Taught, and with His Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection which when taken altogether “is sufficient evidence” that Jesus IS THE MESSIAH, GOD’s ANOINTED, GOD’s ONLY BEGOTTEN SON”!  Therefore, we find in the Gospel of Matthew enough evidence and eyewitness testimonies to prove in any modern court, that Jesus IS the “rightful Heir to His Father’s Kingdom” ——— but it is as true today as it was when Jesus walked the earth that each of us must view the “evidence” through the filter of our personal “FAITH” and provide the final “verdict” for ourselves with an honest answer for the single most important Question you will ever be asked ——— for one day you will stand in His Presence and Jesus will ask you face-to-face  — “But who do you say that I am.” (Mark 8:29)