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)

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"