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)

LIVING 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/mathematical 

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,

“the probability of these 11 prophecies coming true, if written in

 human wisdom, is…1 in 5.76 x 10^59. 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 other scholars 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 of Matthew 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 divulged the detailed accounts 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 

their separate visits from the angel Gabriel 

and Gabriel telling each of 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 Matthew 

realized that 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 5 Reveals: 

(Reveal 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 

(Reveal 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) 

(Reveal 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) 

(Reveal 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  

(Reveal 5) <<Matthew 4:1 - Matthew 28:20>> 

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)