The Ancestors of Jesus the Messiah

Advent Meditations

December 17, 2020

The Ancestors of Jesus the Messiah

This is a record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah,

a descendant of David and of Abraham

Matthew 1:1

Read Matthew 1:1-17

This opening passage of Matthew’s Gospel is so much more than a list of names.

The Greek text begins verse one with the “book of the genesis” of Jesus. In the second passage, beginning at verse 18, when speaking of the birth of Jesus, the Greek text reads the “genesis” of Jesus. The literal meaning of genesis is “beginning.” Matthew understood Jesus as initiating a new creation. Thus, to understand the world, we don’t look to politicians in Washington or to the universities. We look to Jesus who is supreme over all creation. Everything was created through him and for him. Jesus holds all creation together. (see Colossians 1:15-20)

Matthew is considered the most Jewish of the Gospels. In Jewish tradition, only males were included in genealogy, yet Matthew includes four women. And these four women, Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba, all have Gentile connections. Yes, Jesus was beginning a new creation and it was, and is, altogether different than the world Jesus was born into, and the world that exists today.

The genealogy also includes prostitutes, adulterers, murderers, and idolaters. Through these imperfect people, God was able to preserve His promises and prepare the way for His Messiah. May I never, ever forget that nothing is impossible for my God, and that God uses everything in my life for His good of transforming me to become like Jesus. (Romans 8:28-29)   

My Takeaway: The hardest part, for me, of making the life in Christ my way of life is unlearning the ways of my culture and opening myself to God working in me, giving me the desire and the power to do what pleases him. (Philippians 2:13)

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2020 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.