Page 16 - Florida Sentinel 12-4-20

Called To Be Heir MATTHEW 1:1-6, 16-17; HEBREWS 1:1-5 (KJV)
THE SCRIPTURES
1. The book of the gen- eration of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
2. Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;
3. And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom
begat Aram;
4. And Aram begat
Aminadab; and Ami- nadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon;
5. And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;
6. And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;
16. And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
17. So all the genera- tions from Abraham to David are fourteen gen- erations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen gen- erations.
(HEBREWS 1:1-5)
1. God, who at sundry times and in divers man- ners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
2. Hath in these last days spoken unto us by
his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
3. Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and uphold- ing all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:
4. Being made so much better than the an- gels, as he hath by inher- itance obtained a more excellent name than they.
5. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?
THE LESSON
Matthew was a good choice for recording the ge- nealogy of Jesus. As a former tax collector, he had to be a meticulous record-keeper and a literate person. His records traced the lineage of Jesus from Abraham through David to Joseph the husband of Mary - who was the mother of Jesus Christ.
Luke's genealogy of Jesus is located in Luke 3:23-37. It traces Jesus' blood lineage
all the way back to Adam through Abraham and David. The importance of the two genealogies is to show that Jesus was a descendent of King David because the Mes- siah was prophesied to come from David's line (Jeremiah
23:5-6).
The importance of the covenants associated with Abraham, David, and Jesus cannot be overstated. The ge- nealogy shows that Jesus was a descendant of both Abra- ham and David. He is the ul- timate fulfillment of those covenants.
Another interesting ob- servation is that several women are mentioned in the genealogy who were Gentiles: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and the wife of Urias (Bathsheba). In addition, Tamar had resorted to prostitution to achieve her goals and Bathsheba had be- come David's wife through a sinful plot by David. Their son, Solomon, would become king of Israel.
Some theologians believe the diverse nature of Jesus' genealogy shows that Jesus was the king of all peoples, both Jew and Gentile, and even some with a tainted past.
Through God's promises to Abraham, his descendants would be a blessing to all na- tions (Genesis 22:18). Jesus is the ultimate fulfill- ment of that promise for He is certainly a blessing to all nations.
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