Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Matthew 1:1-17.
The book
of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham (Matthew
1:1).
If you were
to attempt to explain the life of the Lord Jesus where would you begin?
Mark begins
with Christ’s baptism by John.
Luke begins
with the birth of the John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, and then
proceeds to describe Christ’s birth in Bethlehem.
John begins
in pre-existence: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God” (John 1:1).
Matthew,
like Luke, also begins with the birth of Christ in Bethlehem, but before he
describes his birth, he provides us with the genealogy of the Lord Jesus
Christ, or his family tree (Matthew 1:1-17).
What
applications can we draw from this genealogy?
First, we see the sovereign plan of God being worked
out in his providence:
At many points along the way it might have seemed that
all hope was lost and that the Lord would never send his Messiah.
So too we may despair in our circumstances, but this
genealogy teaches us not to despair. What we see is so limited. We will never
likely see in this life the fulfillment of all the Lord’s purposes, but we can
trust that his plan is good and that nothing can thwart it.
Psalm 42:11 Why art
thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in
God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my
God.
Second, we see that the Lord works
through the lives of sinful and fallen men to achieve his own ends, whether
they be Jacob, or Judah, or Rachab, or David, etc.
The Puritan exegete Matthew Poole notes, “That it was
no way incongruous, that He who came into the world to die for great sinners,
should be born of some that were such.”
We trust not in the competence or the faithfulness of
his servants, but in the ability and faithfulness of our God.
Third, the end or goal of history is the coming of the
Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the son of Abraham.
This genealogy reminds us that he came in time as a
true man, to redeem sinful men.
This is the way the apostle Paul put it:
Hebrews 2:16 For verily he took not
on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
17 Wherefore in all
things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a
merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make
reconciliation for the sins of the people.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Jeff Riddle
1 comment:
Hi Jeff. Although not a Word Magazine, I thought I would put my 5 cents worth here.
Because the critical Greek text adds two extra instances where "genesis" appears, which were all traditionally translated as "birth" people have simply assumed that genesis means birth. But it is defined as - produced, generated, made to come into being. Gennesis with two nu's means birth, but the critical text drops that nu in 3 places in the NT, specifically Matthew 1:18. This gets technical, but I am sure you will appreciate it.
In Matthew 1:1 the KJV has the book of the "generation" of Jesus Christ, meaning, this is a book about what Jesus Christ generated, produced, or made to come into being i.e. His life, miracles, ministry, death, resurrection, salvation, making of the church, etc.
Because the Revised Version of Westcott and Hort had a marginal note in Matthew 1:1 saying "birth as in verse 18" and also in verse 18 where it reads "The birth of Jesus Christ" it also has the footnote "generation as in verse 1", this has erroneously caused the definition of generation to be redefined as genealogy.
This Matthew 1:1 became: The book of the "genealogy" of Jesus Christ, in many versions including the NKJV. But it is NOT Christ's genealogy, but that of Joseph. Jeconiah in verse 1:11 was told that none of his descendants would sit on the throne of David. Thus it is a huge contradiction that causes issues with Jesus' linage and also attacks the virgin birth. It is not a book of the "genealogy" of Jesus, but a book about what Jesus did - generated, and then the narrative moves on to Joseph and how his line is not related to Jesus because of Jeconiah.
Genesis = generation
Gennesis = birth
Genesis is related to the Hebrew towledoth in Genesis 2:4.
Many bibles have this error. The 1876 Russian has Radoslovie, genealogy, the 1860 Urdu has Nasabnama, genealogy. And most modern versions including the NKJV have genealogy.
The King James correctly has "generation".
Many words with double nu are confused with single nu words.
It looks like an issue that has long been with the church, right back to early times.
Look under the Burgon and Solomon Malan sections of my site for more info...
http://textus-receptus.com/wiki/Matthew_1:1#of_the_generation
Blessings.
Nick Sayers
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