Monday, June 28, 2021

Matthew 1 Devotional Bible Study by Steve Wilson

Matthew 1


This is the genealogy[a] of Jesus the Messiah[b] the son of David, the son of Abraham:

Abraham was the father of Isaac,

Isaac the father of Jacob,

Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,

Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,

Perez the father of Hezron,

Hezron the father of Ram,

Ram the father of Amminadab,

Amminadab the father of Nahshon,

Nahshon the father of Salmon,

Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,

Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,

Obed the father of Jesse,

and Jesse the father of King David.

David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,

Solomon the father of Rehoboam,

Rehoboam the father of Abijah,

Abijah the father of Asa,

Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,

Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,

Jehoram the father of Uzziah,

Uzziah the father of Jotham,

Jotham the father of Ahaz,

Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,

10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,

Manasseh the father of Amon,

Amon the father of Josiah,

11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah[c] and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.

12 After the exile to Babylon:

Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,

Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,

13 Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,

Abihud the father of Eliakim,

Eliakim the father of Azor,

14 Azor the father of Zadok,

Zadok the father of Akim,

Akim the father of Elihud,

15 Elihud the father of Eleazar,

Eleazar the father of Matthan,

Matthan the father of Jacob,

16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.

17 Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.

Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son

18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about[d]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet[e] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[f] because he will save his people from their sins.”

22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”[g] (which means “God with us”).

24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 1:1 Or is an account of the origin
  2. Matthew 1:1 Or Jesus Christ. Messiah (Hebrew) and Christ (Greek) both mean Anointed One; also in verse 18.
  3. Matthew 1:11 That is, Jehoiachin; also in verse 12
  4. Matthew 1:18 Or The origin of Jesus the Messiah was like this
  5. Matthew 1:19 Or was a righteous man and
  6. Matthew 1:21 Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua, which means the Lord saves.
  7. Matthew 1:23 Isaiah 7:14

 

Who?

As you read through the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1:1-17 (and yes, you should read it), what names do you recognize?

 

There are people whom we remember fondly from the Old Testament as being strong in the faith - Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Ruth and Boaz, King David, and King Josiah.

 

Then there are people who are a little more infamous - Tamar (who tricked her father-in-law into impregnating her by pretending to be a prostitute), Rahab the prostitute (who actually was a prostitute and betrayed her native city of Jericho),  and Bathsheba (named here only as the woman formerly known as Uriah's wife).

 

And, of course, you know about Eliakim in verse 13, right? (Not to be confused with Eliud in verses 14-15.)

 

Oh, you've never heard of Eliakim or Eliud? That's because the Bible never tells us anything about them other than their names. You see, the genealogy of Jesus shows us that God can use anyone to accomplish His purposes. To bring about the birth of Jesus, God used the famous faithful, the infamous, and the unknown, otherwise important people down through the generations.

 

Fortunately, you and I will probably not be counted among the famous faithful (who wants the pressure of being famous anyway?), or the infamous (yes, we sin, but no one is writing stories about us). Instead, we will gladly be counted among the unimportant in the grand scheme of things. The gladly unimportant whom God gladly uses.

 

He used Eliakim and Eliud to help bring the Savior into the world! How can God use you, oh, ye of little importance?

 

 

Like Adopted Father, Like Adopted Son

Matthew 1:19

Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

 

This is one of my favorite verses in Scripture. Joseph has just found out that Mary, his fiancé, is pregnant. Not believing her story of "No, really, Joseph, God miraculously made me pregnant," he can only feel betrayed, hurt, disappointed, and angry.

 

But he's also merciful. He doesn't want to call her out to public disgrace or punishment. He has every right to do so, both legally and morally, but he knows that if he makes a scene about breaking off the engagement, Mary will live in disgrace. Under Old Testament Law, she could have been stoned for having sex before marriage (since no one else would believe her virgin birth story either), but because the Romans were ruling Israel, the Jews were not allowed to administer the death penalty. Instead, Mary would get off "easy" by being a public outcast, a woman that no respectable Israelite would associate with, much less agree to marry.

 

So Joseph is graceful in minimizing Mary's disgrace by breaking off the engagement quietly.

 

But then, after the angel appears to him, Joseph agrees to go through with the engagement. What would this have meant for him?

 

It means that (again, because not many people would believe their story about how Mary got pregnant) most people would assume that Joseph had sex with Mary before their wedding. Now, instead of Mary living in disgrace, Joseph would be. He would take Mary's disgrace on himself and bear the brunt of their supposed indiscretion publicly.

 

And isn't that what Jesus did? He grew up to take our disgrace on Himself when He bore the guilt of our sins on the cross.

 

I can't help but wonder if Jesus didn't remember seeing Joseph taking the shame for his family as He grew up . I can't help but wonder if God didn't place Jesus in Joseph's hands to look up to and learn the lesson of sacrificing for someone else.

 


How is God wanting to use Joseph's example to inspire you to take someone else's disgrace on yourself? What sacrifices can you make personally to help lift the burden of shame or guilt from someone else?

 

 

 

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