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 Dr. 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 Dr. 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 Dr. 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"