IS GOD BEATEN?

The genealogy of Jesus Christ - what a rogues’ gallery that is... flawed patriarchs, then flawed kings, then powerless governors.                                   
A truly tragic saga of Man’s failure!                                                                       

Do you remember how the royal line was all but wiped out, except for a princess hiding her baby nephew Joash for 6 years?   That was a close call but it’s worse now!  
God once promised to King David: “Thy throne shall be established forever”... but then put a curse on the last king!.. that’s Jechonias.                                                 

Has God’s plan of redemption been defeated?  Has He painted Himself into a corner?
There is only one way He can redeem the situation with the promised Messiah...    
God must miraculously stoop into humanity - Himself - as promised 700 years before!... Matthew 1:18-

“Behold a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel...GOD WITH US”

Notice this child is not just without a biological father but...                                                          ‘of the HOLY GHOST’



The angel of the Lord appeared unto him

Who is this Mary? Never mind.  

Joseph may come from cursed royalty but must now step up as a ‘son of David’: firstly to marry Mary as planned and then to name the Child...     


JESUS: “For he shall save His people from their sins”                                     

...with more angelic instructions to come – to be obeyed instantly!

Whoever will honour this new King?.....NEXT
http://guvsdesk.blogspot.com.au/2017/05/one-special-family.html



'...she brought forth her firstborn Son; and he called His Name Jesus.'

Who do You think You are?

What a bold claim...                                                                                          
Jesus not only a son of Abraham and son of David, but He is the Christ or Anointed One!    How can that possibly be?                                                                                       
The last surviving King of Judah was Jeconias (Jeconiah) who was cursed by God and died in Babylon: ‘Write ye this man childless...no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.’

So let’s check out this extraordinary family tree during 2000 years of human history...

• 14 generations during the era of prophets & judges    
• 14 generations during the reign of kings                                                          
• 14 generations during the rule of governors; no ark

Too neat huh?  Matthew (ch1) has chosen to leave out...                                                  

• 3 kings closely related to wicked queen Jezebel                                                
• 2 sons of Josiah – vassals of Babylon

The monster: Manassah



Ah but it’s still a rogues’ gallery... murderers, liars, adulterers, fornicators, idolaters, polygamists, spiritualists....                      

What a sorry tale of Man’s failure!!        

Even the monster Manasses (Manassah) who once sacrificed children and encouraged permanent idolatry!  However after imprisonment in Babylon he repented and was restored to the throne.                                                                  

4 women are ‘ring-ins’: Thamar resorted to prostitution, Rachab was a Canaanite prostitute, Ruth was a Moabitess, and the straying wife of Urias – Bathsheba.     

What amazing divine grace!!                                      
As for Jeconiah, it seems he adopted Salathiel (Shealtiel) father of the first governor Zorobabel (Zerubbabel).

Finally we have the step-father of Jesus – Joseph, a descendant of Solomon, son of David. He marries Mary, a descendant of Nathan, son of David.

Yes, Jesus DOES HAVE LEGAL RIGHT to the throne of David!

“I will overturn, overturn, overturn...until He come whose right it is”


Has God painted Himself into corner?...NEXT
http://guvsdesk.blogspot.com.au/2017/04/is-god-beaten.html

 

JESUS A JEW??

Back to Matthew's Gospel...

The prophet Malachi wrote: “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me” but since then... heaven has been silent for over 400 years! 

Soon two young men will appear on the scene, Yochanan and his cousin Yeshua - that’s John the baptiser announcing Jesus, who will then call Mattityahu to follow Him. 

Here he is... Matthew collecting taxes in Capernaum for the hated Romans but he will obey Jesus instantly and later on record the life of his new Master in ‘the Gospel according to Matthew’.



Mattityahu

Apparently he used an Hebraic dialect of Aramaic, then the language of the Jews, so let’s put on our kippuh and try to read Matthew's account as a Jew would...



Aw, not another boring genealogy!?

“The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” KJV

Ah... many a Jew has opened the B’rit Hadashah (NT) to be shocked and thrilled at finding the Christian’s Jesus is really a Jew!... Is He really the Messiah? (Christ)
Theologians have tried to ‘harmonise’ the 3 synoptic gospel accounts... but God’s Word gives a 4-fold presentation of Jesus Christ, beginning with: ‘the King of the Jews’.  
In fact ‘the Kingdom of Heaven’ is exclusive to Matthew – he uses it ~23 times.

Yup. Matthew lays it right on the line for us folks.
Jesus is The King they’ve been waiting for.    




Did you say ‘Son of David’??                                          
Let’s see if this Jesus really does qualify to be the new King of the Jews...NEXT
http://guvsdesk.blogspot.com.au/2017/04/who-do-you-think-you-are.html
 

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FINALLY...

Ever heard a sermon on this?

“...whatsoever things are true...

honest... just...  pure... lovely... of good report                                                  
– if there be any virtue and if there be any praise                                            
– think on these things.”

Wouldn’t that empty today’s churches quick smart!

So how do Christians ever get adult movies, horror thrillers, porn flicks, gossip magazines, novels... through that filter?

Did you notice how Paul’s letter to the Philippians addressed not only...

• the hearts: “Rejoice!”
• but the minds too!

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee.” Isaiah 26:3

 

NEXT:  Mattityahu                                                                                                                  
Yup, we’re going to open ‘The Gospel according to Matthew’

ON THE SAME PAGE

We opened Paul the prisoner’s letter to the Philippians... and found it’s full of joy!  
But why joy?...  “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.”

Yup, a Christian’s joy is... ‘in Christ Jesus’

So are these Philippians perfect?  Of course not! It seems there’s even a spat between Euodias and Syntyche who should be “ of the same mind in the Lord”.

Have you heard people ‘agree to disagree’ over doctrine?...

In essentials – unity 

In non-essentials – liberty  

In all other – charity



On the same page

It might sound good but let’s see if Paul would buy that one...

“...stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel...”                                                                              

“ being of one accord, of one mind”                                                             

“let us mind the same thing”

So does Paul give us a role model on this? He sure does!...

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who being in the form of God... He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”

Ah, so it takes humility too!... and we have Paul, Timothy and Epaphroditus as examples. Wouldn’t that solve a few problems!...                                                             
“in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves”                     
Then we will ‘shine as lights in the world’, while others... ‘mind earthly things’.

Oh by the way... even the world’s orchestras know to play ‘on the same page’ to give their audience enjoyment. Imagine if they weren't!

NEXT: "Finally....