JUne 21-25, 2010

Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea, and all the district around the Jordan; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.

Matthew 3:5-6

This week we shift gears in our Journey Through the Word. Our time with Joel ends with great promise; God will set up His rule and reign in Zion and make His home in Jerusalem. It is obvious that Satan believes God’s intent and, to this day, fights to control Jerusalem. Whether you are of the opinion that Jerusalem means “possession of peace,” “foundation of peace,” “city of peace,” or “inhabitant of peace,” it is for certain that only the Prince of Peace will bring peace to its existence. When Messiah sets His throne within her walls, God promises she will never be conquered again.

The promise of mountains dripping sweet wine, hills flowing with milk, and the brooks of Judah flowing with water is a vivid contrast to Joel’s earlier description of a dried up, withered wasteland. Not only is this outpouring on the land; it is poured out on the inhabitants.

And it will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; and you sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions, and even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. Joel 2:28-29

I don’t think it is any coincidence that our introduction of the One who was to come begins with a man who baptizes in the waters of the Jordan. What an amazing reminder that God would cause the land to flow with fresh water. And what a message that this flow begins in the waters of repentance.

As we begin our journey through the New Testament, the first thing we are confronted with is two very different genealogies. At first glance, it would appear that they are both related to Joseph, one going back to Abraham, the other taking us clear back to Adam. But a quick comparison shows these family trees to be quite different. Why is there such discrepancy? The answer is quite simple; one gives us the ancestral line of Joseph, while the other gives us the lineage of Mary. But which one is which?

Matthew’s account gives us some information that identifies his genealogy as the line of Joseph. His ancestry shows the line of David going through Solomon. It clearly says that it went through Jeconiah at the time of the deportation. Not long ago, we learned something very important about the descendants of Jeconiah and their right to the throne of David. Let me jog you memory.

Thus says the Lord, “Write this man down childless, a man who will not prosper in his days; For no man of his descendants will prosper sitting on the throne of David or ruling again in Judah.” Jeremiah 22:30

What a sad commentary! Jeconiah’s line was cut off from any right to David’s throne. As a result, Matthew’s genealogy cannot be the line of Mary, for if it was, Jesus would have been disqualified from being Messiah, the One who will set up His kingdom and rule on David’s throne forever. On the heels of this information, Matthew quickly revealed Jesus’ true Father; that He was born of a virgin by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit.

According to Jewish law, genealogy had to be traced through the line of man. But what if you were wanted to show someone’s lineage through the line of a woman? The answer is that you would have to use the husband’s name. That brings us to another question: How would we know it was the woman’s line and not the man’s if we are using his name? To understand this, we need a quick Hebrew and Greek grammar lesson. In English we would never put the definite article “the” before a proper name. But this is often the case in both Greek and Hebrew. If we were Greek scholars and could read Luke’s genealogy in the Greek text, we would discover that there is the definite article in front of every name with only one exception – the name Joseph! And what would we know? We would know that the name is not actually being used for “the Joseph,” but for his wife Mary. This would be the same if it were written in Hebrew. Obviously, the Jews understood this grammatical code because the Talmud speaks about Mary as the daughter of Heli.

But one may argue that it clearly says in Luke 3:23:

And when He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, being supposedly the son of Joseph, the son of Eli. (Note - Also spelled Heli)

This same verse could be correctly translated in a different way:

And when He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, being (supposedly the son of Joseph) the son of Eli.

As we look at Mary’s lineage, we discover that her line also traces back to David. But this time it does not run through Jeconiah. Her genealogy clearly shows that her Son was truly in the kingly line and had right to the throne. But where did her line divert from that of Josephs? I would encourage you to compare the genealogies and see if you can find the “fork in the road.” Once you do, you might also find it interesting to search out who was the mother of this son of David. What significance is there in this piece of information?

Our journey continues through the pages of Jesus’ young life. We find that His birth quickly touched every class of life. Consider the list with me.

A businessman – the innkeeper

Shepherds – who watched over the sacrificial lambs in the hills of Judea

Magi – royal ambassadors

A King – a worldly leader

Religious teachers – Herod called the chief priests and scribes to obtain information regarding Messiah’s birth

An elderly prophet and a prophetess – who were faithful and looking for the Messiah

I find it interest that the chief priests and scribes had no desire to go with the magi to find the Messiah. They knew where Scripture said He would be born. They certainly knew these magi had been told something. Herod believed it was important enough to get the facts and asked them to return with the information. But the religious leaders were content with what they had, even though God had told them there was more to come. There was no desire to seek a face-to-face encounter with the Messiah. Perhaps they knew He would object to their ways and preferred to keep Him at a distance. They had their form of godliness, what did they need with a true relationship with the Christ?

Anna, the eighty-four year old prophetess is usually given a quick glance, but there’s more to this old woman than meets the casual eye. She actually fulfills a prophecy given by Jacob eons earlier. On our introduction to Anna, we are told that she is from the tribe of Asher. You may recall that before Jacob died, he called his sons together to bless them and tell them what would “befall them in the last days.” To Asher he said:

As for Asher, his food shall be rich, and he shall yield royal dainties. Genesis 49:20

Unlike Simeon who prophesied both the blessing and the cursing Jesus would bring, Anna’s words were only words of thanksgiving and praise. And unlike Simeon who knew his life was over now that he had seen the Messiah, Anna’s declaration of the Messiah King was spoken to all who were looking for His appearing. Her food was rich and she served royal dainties to all who came to the King’s table!

We are covering familiar territory, but I encourage you to keep your eyes and ears open. Sometimes we miss the beauty of the small flowers because the larger ones are more prominent and more easily seen. Let’s see if we can enjoy the finer details in the pages of our journey!