Are You Kidding Me?

And Zacharias said to the angel,

"How shall I know this?

For I am an old man,

and my wife is well advanced in years."

Luke 1:18

Sometimes when God speaks to us, He says some pretty incredible things. He makes promises and utters prophecies and reveals people's hearts. But that's the kind of God He has always been, and I expect that's the kind of God He will always be. He is the God of the incredible, the unbelievable, the fantastic, the extraordinary. Frankly, He's also the God of the impossible, but I think He likes that most especially...as I've often said, an impossible situation is just an opportunity for God to show up and show off!

Zacharias was certainly having an incredible moment with his personal communique from God, but he should have realized he was in good company. Think about the incredible things God had asked people to do during the 4000 year history of the Jewish Scriptures.

Noah, build a big boat and load it with animals because rain (which had never happened) is going to destroy the face of the planet and everything on it.

Abraham, pack your bags and leave town, but I'm not telling you where you're going, how long it will take you to get there, and what I want you to do there after you arrive. And by the way, you may be ninety-nine and your wife may be eighty-nine, but by this time next year you're going to be parents!

Happy 80th birthday, Moses. Go down to Egypt where you're a wanted man, dead or alive, and tell ol' Pharaoh to let My people go.

Isaiah, preach in the buff. Jeremiah, preach with a yoke around your neck. Hosea, marry a prostitute. Ezekiel (and this is really one of my favorites) cut off all your hair; cut up a third of it with your sword, throw a third of away with the wind, and burn another third on the fire. And while you're building a fire, cook your food over burning poop. Tie yourself down to the ground, so many days on one side and so many days on the other. When your wife dies, don't you dare cry. That's all.

And those instances don't even begin to scratch the surface of incredible things God told people to do. Now He sends a personal messenger to Zacharias with a fantastic, almost unbelievable message--you're going to have a son, he's going to be great, and he'll minister in the spirit and power of Elijah the prophet to prepare the way of the Lord's coming. I know you're old, and I know you're wife is past her child-bearing years. I know from your standpoint it is impossible, but I'm telling you it's going to happen.

Zacharias questioned the message. He may have even questioned the reality of the situation and the state of his own mind. Was he crazy? Was he hearing things? God is this for real? How do I know what you're telling me is true?

But remember this...if God says it, you can believe it. That settles it.

Born to Greatness

"For he will be great in the sight of the Lord,

and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink.

He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit,

even from his mother's womb.

And he will turn many of the children of Israel

to the Lord their God.

He will also go before Him

in the spirit and power of Elijah,

'to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,'

and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,

to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

Luke 1:15-17

How would you like to be born under such a prophecy? In particular, how would you like living under the pressure that God Himself sent an angel to tell your father that you would be "great" in the sight of the Lord. In a world that expects a lot out of people, that is setting the bar just a little high, don't you think? And yet we are all born with a destiny, the Lord has expectations of us all. The problem is not really that there is a destiny for , but that so many fail to ever even realize there was potential to be fulfilled.

God had little John's life planned in the most infinite and minute detail, including his very conception in life. In little more than three decades, the festival of Pentecost would become so associated with the outpouring of the Holy Ghost on the apostles that two thousand years later seekers of that same experience would be called Pentecostals. But John was also filled with the Holy Ghost at Pentecost; according to scholars and historians who have done all the research and the math, the order of Abijah to which Zacharias belonged was ministering in the temple right around the time of Pentecost, and many affirm that John may have actually been conceived on Pentecost...and he was filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb!

I suppose that John could have rejected the will of God for his life, but I don't really think God was taking any chances with the freewill of man in the eternal plan of redemption. John had an important, and prophesied, role to fulfill in the coming of Messiah. The command on his life was that he refrain from wine and strong drink--anything that would impair his judgment and cause him to lose control of his faculties, even for a moment. He was to be completely under the control of the Holy Ghost, and God chose the most devout of parents to see to it that John was raised correctly.

Not only was John filled with the Spirit from conception and born with the God-given command not to drink alcoholic beverages, but he was also born with a mission. This mission was foretold by the last anointed prophet who preached to Israel...a man supposedly martyred for his message four hundred years before John was born. Malachi's final prophecy had been of the return of Elijah, who would come before the day of judgment to turn father's hearts back to the children back to their fathers. John had great expectations to live up to; now he had big shoes to fill...the shoes of a man who had never died. After stopping the rain for three and a half years through his prayers and calling fire down from heaven on a sacrifice that turned the tide of religious persuasion in his nation, Elijah was taken to heaven in a whirlwind with a chariot of fire. But Malachi promised, Elijah's coming back, and when he comes back, you'll know that judgment is near!

And that was John's message when he started preaching. Repent for the kingdom is at hand. Judgment has started. Prepare for the coming of the Lord. What a terrific message to be burdened with from birth...but as we will see, John did the job right, and he did it well. I think God knew exactly what He was doing when He sent that angel to Zacharias that day in the temple. I think He knew exactly what was going to happen, and what kind of man this child was going to be. I think God knew, and that's why God gave John a big shadow to cast, big shoes to fill, and a big expectation to live up to. He knew John would do it!

And if God places something big upon you, it's only because He knows you will do it too!

Angel Speak

But the angel said to him,

"Do not be afraid, Zacharias,

for your prayer is heard,

and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son,

and you shall call his name John.

And you will have joy and gladness,

and many will rejoice at his birth."

Luke 1:13-14

I didn't do an exhaustive study on angelic appearances, but it seems to me that every angelic appearance I can recall in the Word starts with the exhortation: "Fear not!" Here's this old priest burning incense before the veil that supposedly hides the presence of God from natural eyes. Outside, the people are praying and the priests are worshiping. Inside, Zacharias is offering the ritualistic prayers to God...and "By the way, God, the old lady and I would like to have a son." How many times in his many years of marriage do you think he asked that? And it might seem a little inappropriate for a priest performing prayers for the sake of an entire nation to insert such a personal request, but remember...this was his once-in-a-lifetime chance to do this job. Why not take advantage of it?

And apparently, it paid off!

How many times are we surprised when God, in one way or another, shows up in response to our prayers? Some people talk about angelic appearances like they happen every day, like it is so commonplace that we just expect it to happen. Me, on the other hand, I've walked with the Lord going on thirty-one years (yeah, I was six years old when I gave my life to Christ) and I've never seen an angel.

I saw a demon once, but that's a whole 'nother thing. I heard the audible voice of God once. Both of those incidents were pretty startling; they weren't common place. But I've never seen an angel. I've known lots of people who've seen angels. I've known lots of people who claimed they saw angels walking or standing with me. I've wondered about some of those sightings, but I do believe people can encounter angels. I'm not stupid enough to doubt the angelic presence; I've had too many close calls. I believe the Word teaches that we have angelic guardians stationed in our lives by God to assist and protect us, to watch over and defend us. I do believe that. I've felt the glorious presence of Heaven in my life, be it God or the Holy Ghost or the Hosts of Heaven; I don't really know how to define it.

What I do know is this. In the Bible, when an angel shows up, people pay attention. I did do enough research to find out that this is the only recorded instance in which an angel actually appeared to a priest in the Temple of God. The one time it happens, and it's on Zacharias' watch, and it has a message for him personally, a message which will affect the entire nation of Israel.

"Fear not!" Great advice, I think. People who aren't shaken up by supernatural manifestations of the visible kind have more fortitude than I do. I think I'd be shaking in my shorts.

"Your prayers are answered!" I love it when that happens, and it happens a few times in the Scripture. Someone is asking God for something, and God's messenger shows up to tell you God hears you, and that His answer is thus-and-so. That's when you know your prayers have not been in vain!

"Joy and gladness are coming to you, and everyone will rejoice!" Hurray! That's a whole lot better than other kinds of messages you could receive--like, nothing awaits you but tears, suffering, sorrow and chains, which is what the Spirit kept telling the Apostle Paul those last few free months he had in the Book of Acts. I'd opt for joy and gladness over suffering and sorrow any day.

My advice to you, based on the Bible and not my personal experience, is this: When an angel shows up, pay attention and be ready for anything. Because when God sends a personal messenger, it's serious business.

Once in a Lifetime

So it was that while he was serving as priest before God

in the order of his division, according to the custom of the priesthood,

his lot fell to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.

And the whole multitude of people was praying outside at the hour of incense.

Then and angel of the Lord appeared to him,

standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled and fear fell upon him.

Luke 1:8-13

There were twenty-four divisions of the priesthood, each serving a week at a time twice a year, and all serving during the three annual festivals of Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles. Zacharias was a member of the eighth order, the order of Abijah, and they were apparently doing the first of their two weeks of service in the springtime just before the feast of Pentecost. Each day, incense had to twice be offered on the golden altar before the veil at the time of the morning and evening sacrifices. Lots were cast among the priests for each offering, and a priest was eligible only once. For Zacharias, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Accompanied by four assistants, Zacharias moved through the temple courts to the Bronze Altar on which the daily sacrifices were made. One assistant filled a golden censer with incense, one filled a golden bowl with coals from the altar. Two of the assistants had already been in the sanctuary preparing the seven-branched lampstand and the table of shewbread. As the priestly processional proceeded up the steps into the Holy Place, they struck an instrument which summoned the worshiping priests from all over the temple grounds. As a chorus assembled on the steps of the Beautiful Gate, the first two assistants went first into the sanctuary to retrieve the tools used previously in their cleaning duties. Next the two assistants entered to prepare the golden altar, spreading the coals out and placing the incense to the side. Finally, Zacharias entered and waited for the signal from the presiding priest.

When the signal was given, the assembled worshipers retreated from the inner court and fell on their faces in worship, spreading their hands before the Lord. In the Holy Place, Zacharias offered the incense on the coals, and the thick smoke of the offering ascended up before the veil which had once concealed the presence of God over the Ark of the Covenant. And suddenly, he was not alone. An angel of the Lord suddenly appeared there on the right side of the altar. To Zacharias' knowledge, this had never happened before, and he was troubled and greatly afraid.

Righteousness Counts

There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea,

a certain priest named Zacharias,

of the division of Abijah.

His wife was of the daughters of Aaron,

and her name was Elizabeth.

And they were both righteous before God,

walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren,

and they were both well advanced in years.

Luke 1:5-7

The good news about Jesus Christ actually begins with another event that is related to, but far removed from, the events that will take place in either Nazareth or Bethlehem. With the exception of Matthew's presentation of the genealogy of Jesus and the visit from the magi, the other three evangelists simply jump into the loud and confrontational ministry of John the Baptist, whose preaching at the Jordan River drew multitudes into a time of Spiritual renewal. But Luke wants his readers to understand the background of that story. Who was John the Baptist and why was he so important to the story, other than that he was the voice crying in the wilderness for the world to prepare the way for the coming of their savior? What was John's full place in the story?

It begins with Zacharias and Elizabeth, an old married couple from the hill country of Judea. Zacharias was a Levitical priest, a member of the order of Abijah which ministered in the temple for two weeks in the late spring of the year. Elizabeth was a direct descendant of the high priests of Israel, here said to be of the daughters of Aaron. Those facts will be important when we discuss future chapters. They loved God and they loved each other, but in all the years of their marriage they had not been able to produce a child. It might be interesting to note that Elizabeth might have been all of forty years old when these events begin to take place.

The Bible is replete with examples of flawed, fallen, failing human beings whom God chose to use. Take a look at my presentation of the women in Jesus' family tree for a look at some of them. It is a testament to God's great grace that He used imperfect people to fulfill His plan. But now He was preparing to send Himself, His Son, His very own Flesh into the world to save mankind; not just anybody would do for this job. And not just anybody would do for the job of announcing His arrival. The forerunner had to be of a certain character, which necessitated a certain background. So when God starts to move this time, He looks not for flawed failures or for cracked vessels; He looks for those who have demonstrated themselves faithful and trustworthy to any task.

He found two righteous people, two people who walked in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, two people who were completely blameless. It's one thing to be righteous and perfect and blameless in the eyes of men, but Luke says they were these things in the eyes of God Himself. God picked the best in this instance to bless. The one thing they were lacking that they obviously wanted very badly was a child, and what a child he was about to be!

It just goes to show that God knows how to bless those who are His, completely His.

Gospel Purpose

Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order

a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us,

just as those who from the beginning

were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered to us,

it seemed good to me also,

having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first,

to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus,

that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.

Luke 1:1-4

I didn't realize until I typed out the words just how much information could be gleaned from this seemingly inconsequential introduction to the Gospel of Luke, but considering the remarkable statements he makes, this might be a good time to consider the writing of the four gospels themselves.

Luke was Greek, a physician and native of Antioch, and a convert to Christianity who joined the Apostle Paul's ministry team in about 50 AD in Troas. When Paul was forced to leave Philippi a few weeks later, he left Luke to oversee the fledgling congregation there, and the two were not reunited until 58 AD when Paul was on his way back to Jerusalem following a three-year ministry at Ephesus. It is likely that Luke researched his gospel while Paul was imprisoned in Caesarea from 58 to 60 AD, the only time period during which Luke would have access to Mary the mother of Jesus and other leaders of Judean Christianity who would have been rich sources of information for the historian. Luke was the first of a two-volume account concerning Christ and the origins of Christianity, the second being Acts which was apparently completed about 62 AD before Paul's release from his Roman imprisonment. And he wrote his two volumes in attempt to present the gospel to the very wide audience of the Greco-Roman world.

But Luke's own testimony is that he was neither the first, nor the second person to undertake writing an account of the life of Christ. Writing around 60 AD, he clearly states that "many" had already undertaken the task of writing narratives about the life of Christ, though we obviously don't have that "many" extant today. What we have are Luke and three others--Matthew, Mark and John. John was written late in the First Century specifically to combat the rise of gnosticism in the Church and present Jesus as God in the Flesh, something the gnostics denied; so Luke may have been referring to Matthew and Mark as among the "many" who had already written about Jesus.

The Early Church Father's believed Matthew to be the first of the four gospels, thus its placement in canon as the premier New Testament book. It is said that he first compiled the sayings and teachings of Jesus, then wrote his gospel originally in Aramaic, the language of the Jews. Matthew was a Jew writing to a Jewish audience about their Jewish Messiah, so he continually ties the story of Jesus back to the Old Testament and their Israeli heritage, especially connecting him to the promises and prophecies from God. This was likely in the 40s, and later the gospel was translated into Greek.

Mark was a disciple of Peter, and it was the testimony of the Early Church that he wrote his gospel using as source material narratives already in existence and the preaching of the Apostle Peter while they were in Rome before Peter's arrest and subsequent execution in 66 AD. He told his version of Christ's story with a distinctive Roman flair that emphasized immediacy and brevity, thus his is the shortest of all the gospels. Peter had traveled through Asia Minor in the mid-50s, and had likely come to Rome following that itineration. If he was one of Luke's sources, his gospel would have probably been available by 60 AD when Paul and Luke reached Rome.

Whoever Luke was referring to, be it Matthew and Mark or others whose works are now lost, he said they had taken in hand to set in order a narrative of the things which had been fulfilled through the person and work of Jesus Christ. Those who wrote about Jesus were just like those who had been eyewitnesses to the life of Jesus, of which Luke was not one. There have been suggestions that Luke was among the 70 disciples called and commissioned during the later months of Jesus' ministry to go into all the villages he intended to visit and prepare them for his arrival, but Luke himself says he was not an eyewitness to the life of Jesus. Rather, Luke says the word had been declared to him by those who had been eyewitnesses.

Luke was writing his gospel from the perspective of one who had investigated the origins of Christianity and felt well qualified to write a biographical account of Christ's life. His is the most strictly historical and chronological of the gospels, what one might expect from the meticulous pen of a physician, and he himself said it was his goal to present an orderly account. His audience is the Gentile world, but it is directed as a correspondence or dedicated as a work to one Theophilus, whose name meant Lover of God, in hopes that this account would give its reader certainty of the facts which he had formerly been told about Jesus Christ.

That fourth verse really tells us why each of the gospels exist, and we also live--so that we can tell others with clarity of understanding and certainty of fact that Jesus Christ is Lord, and the Man sent from God to save the world.

Fourteen Generations

So all the generations from Abraham to David

are fourteen generations,

from David to the captivity in Babylon

are fourteen generations,

and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ

are fourteen generations.

Matthew 1:17

Why fourteen generations? It would seem that the gospel writer was following a rabbinic teaching method designed to make memorization easier. All one had to remember was three lists of fourteen names...

There are fourteen names from Abraham to David.

Though the next line refers to the names from David to the captivity, including David actually makes for fifteen names. So starting with Solomon and continuing through to Jeconiah, there are fourteen names.

And the final list from the captivity to Christ is fourteen names, but only if Jeconiah is included, in which case, Jeconiah must be counted twice in the genealogy.

Jeconiah was actually the grandson of Josiah, and according to the genealogies in the Chronicles he had no brothers. Additionally, there are apparently some manuscripts which include the name of Jehoiakim, Jeconiah's father, in the second list of names...and it was indeed Jehoiakim's brothers who were actually carried away captive to Babylon. If Jehoiakim is the one inserted and listed in the second list as the fourteenth generation, then his inclusion in the third as the father of Jeconiah would mean there are actually only fourteen names included in the third list.

Is it important? I don't really think so. I don't get into numerology, and I don't know why Matthew emphasized fourteen, fourteen, and fourteen beyond the fact that it was a rabbinic teaching tool. I don't know why he apparently excluded four men from the lineage, but this in itself is also consistent with other Biblical genealogies where not every single generation is listed, and neither are all children from every union. But I do know that what Matthew was really emphasizing was the understood lineage of Jesus Christ through his supposed father Joseph all the way back through the royal house of Israel to the founder of the dynasty, David the King, and from their all the way back to Abraham, the father of their people. Matthew's account is of a distinctly Jewish flavor, therefore he emphasizes the things important to Jews in a manner Jews would understand.

Jesus was the promised King, the anointed one they had been looking for.

Women of Ill-Repute

In a culture that usually ignored the significance of women, that wrote genealogies based on the familial continuance from father to son, Matthew includes five women in his account of the ancestry of Jesus Christ. What is even more extraordinary is that all five women were distinguished by questionable, and sometimes outright sinful, behavior. Let's consider them.

Matthew 1:3--Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar.

Tamar was a Canaanite woman who had married Judah's oldest son Er. Er was a wicked man in the sight of God, and God killed him. According to custom, Er's younger brother Onan married the widow in order to give his childless dead brother an heir. This custom will actually be of great importance when we look at the genealogy in Luke. However, Onan was also a wicked man; instead of impregnating his wife, he engaged in coitus interruptus and spilled his seed on the ground so that she did not conceive an heir for his dead brother. The concept of Leviratic marriage and men providing heirs for their dead brothers by marrying the widow was so honorable in the eyes of God that to refuse was an insult to the Almighty, so God killed Onan. Judah's third son wasn't quite ready for marriage, so Tamar was sent back to her father's house to await her third wedding.

The problem was never with Tamar in the eyes of God; it was with Judah and his wicked sons. Judah himself proves dishonorable when his third son comes of age and he fails to give him Tamar as wife for fear that this son will also die. When Tamar realizes what has happened, she takes matters into her own hands to provide an heir for her dead husband. She goes straight to the owner of the estate--her father-in-law Judah. Only she does so in the garb of a prostitute. Seducing Judah with veiled face, she gets herself pregnant by her dead husband's father to ensure a future for their family.

When Judah finds out that Tamar is pregnant, he wants her stoned for adultery. But when she produces his own staff and signet ring, items she kept in pledge because he had nothing with which to pay her for her conjugal services, as proof of paternity, the hypocrite backs down and takes her into his household, though he never has relations with her again. Through the adulteress and deceptive act of a Canaanite widow posing as a prostitute, the Messianic line was preserved.

Matthew 1:5--Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab.

Salmon was the heir to leadership over the tribe of Judah at the time Joshua led the Children of Israel over Jordan in the conquest of the Promised Land. There are some traditions that he was, with Caleb, one of the spies sent to Jericho, who was subsequently hidden from arrest by the Canaanite prostitute Rahab. When she secreted them away on her roof, she made them promise that when God gave Jericho into their hands, they would spare her life and the lives of those in her household. They promised her that if she hung a scarlet rope in her window, they would see to it that she was preserved. Of course, it was actually God who did the preserving, because when he caused the walls of Jericho to collapse and fall flat, Rahab's house of ill-repute was the only thing left standing, and her family was incorporated into the ranks of the Israelites. Some other traditions also claim she married first Joshua, giving him eight sons who were all prophets, and afterward married Salmon and gave birth to Boaz.

Matthew 1:5--Boaz begot Obed by Ruth.

Boaz was a wealthy land owner, the leading citizen of Bethlehem and in the direct line of Judah's leading elders. Ruth was the Moabitess widow of his cousin Mahlon, whose family had left Bethlehem for Moab in the time of famine. Mahlon had died without heirs, as had his brother Chilion, and no one was left to carry on the name of their father Elimelech, a member of Judah's nobility, and inherit his estate. There were two near-kinsman who had the right to redeem Elimelech's land and marry the widow Ruth, but neither showed any inclination to do either. So shrewd Naomi sent Ruth to Boaz's barley fields with a plan, again taking matters into her own hand in a way that would preserve the Messianic lineage.

All through the harvest, Ruth had gleaned unharvested barley behind the reapers. Boaz took notice of her and asked her identity, and when he heard that she was the widow of his near relative and that she was also caring for her widowed mother-in-law, he took an interest in her. He asked her to glean only in his fields, invited her to eat with him and his reapers, offered her bread and parched grain from his own hand, allowed her to drink from his own water pots, let her rest in his own house, and when she went back to her gleaning, he made sure the reapers left her handfuls of grain on purpose. He was willing to do all this, but not take her as wife.

So at the behest of her mother-in-law, Ruth cleaned herself up and put on some perfume, then slipped down to where Boaz was celebrating a good harvest. When he had eaten his fill, and drank to his own contentment, he went happily to sleep behind his pile of grain, and there Ruth joined him. The Bible says she came softly and uncovered his feet, and lay down there, but some commentators believe this might be a polite euphemism for something else--that as Boaz slept off his drunkenness, Ruth actually disrobed him and covered him up with her own cloak. When he awoke with a woman next to him and her robes spread over him, he found himself in a very compromised position. When he asked who she was, she revealed her identity to him and then suggested that he needed to marry her now that they had been together. Boaz did the honorable thing.

Matthew 1:6--David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.

Bathsheba was the wife of one of David's closest friends, the daughter of another, and the granddaughter of one of his most trusted advisers. But her name has become so recognizably connected to one of the most shameful scenes in Scripture that the gospel writer simply referred to her by her dead husband's name. She was a beautiful Jewess who had married a foreigner, and when her king called, she answered. Peeping David had seen her from his rooftop while she bathed, and it wasn't the first glance that caused so much trouble as the second glance. He asked who she was and invited her for dinner; it was the least he could do for one of his closest friends who was at that very moment engaged in a terrific battle for the conquest of a foreign power. Bathsheba stayed for breakfast, and when the evidence of their little tryst proved problematic, David launched a massive cover up that involved deception, drunken debauchery, and finally murder. One night's passion, one foolish choice, one carnally minded man and a woman who cooperated, nearly brought down a dynasty. David lost four sons and a daughter, too many friends in peacetime and war, and his own self-respect. But in the end, God turned it for good because Bathsheba's second son was the greatest king Israel ever knew and also became an ancestor of Jesus Christ.

Matthew 1:16--And Jacob begot Joseph, the husband of Mary,

of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.

The fifth and final woman named in Matthew's genealogical account was Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. It is important to note here that the Gospel's portray her as a pure and righteous girl, a virgin who had never been with a man, who was overshadowed and impregnated by the power of the Holy Ghost. This is a foundational doctrine of the Christian faith, and one that I absolutely believe. But the culture in which Mary and Joseph lived would have seen her pregnancy is something a little less miraculous, and a little more mischievous--and deserving of either ostracism or death.

From the perspective of her neighbors, either Mary had fornicated with someone besides Joseph, violating their marriage covenant and the Law, an act punishable by death, or Mary and Joseph had come together intimately before it was socially acceptable, though not unheard of for betrothed couples, which might have resulted in them being community pariahs. Regardless of what we know her to be, those around her probably did not think so highly of her at the time. Joseph himself considered making a public example of her, but preferred to divorce her quietly and send her away. Only an angelic messenger would prevent that.

But what Joseph really did was take Mary as his wife and claim Jesus as his child, thereby taking her shame upon himself, all so that the Son of God would have a proper place in the world He came to save.

And all of this just goes to show that Jesus, the descendant of kings and sinners, and women of questionable reputation, came to bring grace to us all!

The Begats

I spent a large portion of my childhood studying the begats. I don't know why, but all those lists of names that connected father to son from generation to generation fascinated me. That being said, it should come as no surprise that the hobby in which I developed a lifelong interest was climbing my family tree; I often joke that I do it to knock the nuts out. Anyway, Biblical genealogies intrigue me.

It might be prudent at this juncture to explain that the word begat means became the father of. We find a 17-verse passage in Matthew chapter one that uses that same word over and over and over again as the writer gives us a rundown of Jesus ancestors all the way back to Abraham. It may be just a list of hard-to-pronounce names to some people, but I believe if you have an understanding of the begats, it will give you a solid outline of Biblical history from the Beginning all the way through to the Birth of Christ. Let me show you.

We enter the life of Abraham in Genesis 12, when he was a seventy-five year old idol worshiper in Ur of the Chaldees. God calls Abraham out of that place to a land that God Himself will show him and give him as an inheritance for his children and theirs forever. At that point, Abraham had no children, but that's an important part of the wonderful story. If you are familiar with the Bible, you know the stories that the name of Abraham will evoke in your memory.

Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. Verse 2 gives us the entire book of Genesis, and the origin of the Jewish people.

Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, Hezron begot Ram, Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, Nahshon begot Salmon. Verses 3 & 4 give us the entire story of Israel's wilderness journey from Egypt to Canaan, as many of these men were tribal leaders who assisted Moses and Joshua during the 40 year wandering around Mount Sinai. Their story is told in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king. Verse 5 covers the books of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth, bridging the historical period from the Conquest to the Kingdom.

David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah. David is arguably one of the most prominent and memorable figures in the Old Testament, and this brief mention in Verse 6 of his name, his position, and the mother of his son reminds us all of the failure that nearly destroyed him. But it also shows how God can take a bad situation and turn it around for good!

Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa. Asa begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah. Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah. Hezekiah begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot Amon, and Amon begot Josiah. Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon. Eleven verses and the names of fourteen kings cover most of the rest of the historical Old Testament--the Kings and Chronicles--as well as most of the prophets. When you know who these kings were, you know what happened during Israel's kingdom period.

And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel. Here in Verse 12 we have one of the main characters of the return from Babylon covered by Ezra and Nehemiah and their contemporary prophets. Zerubbabel is a unifying personage in the narrative, and also in the genealogies, especially when we look at Luke 3. He is also the last person on this list whose story is actually told until Joseph, Mary and Jesus.

The obscurity of the next list of names is the perfect picture of that 400 year dark period from the closing verse of Malachi to the opening verse of the Gospels in which there was no prophetic Word from God to His people. Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor. Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot eliud. Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob. And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

Family History

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ,

the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.

Matthew 1:1

More than any of the other evangelists, Matthew's account of the greatest story ever told really makes the connection between the Old Covenant and New. Matthew was a Jewish apostle writing to a Jewish audience about the Jewish Messiah, so of course he would pay more attention to the fulfillment of prophecy. Of course he would focus on connecting Jesus to the Law and the Prophets. Of course he would lay out his message like an Old Testament narrative. But if you're not familiar with the history contained in the Bible, you might not notice it.

For instance, do you realize that the Bible could be considered the family history of Jesus and His ancestry? All 39 books of the Old Testament deal in one way or another with the Jewish people, Jesus' people, or with their near cousins. Many of the main characters portrayed in the narrative accounts of the Old Testament are in Jesus' direct lineage, and have a major impact on the events laying the foundation for and leading up to the birth of Christ.

Matthew's introduction mirrors the divinely inspired transitional device used in the book of Genesis to tell the story of man's beginnings and Israel's origins. Whereas John paralleled Genesis 1:1 with "In the beginning..." Matthew moves past the Genesis prologue to the unfolding story that begins with "This is the history (generations) of the heavens and the earth when they were created..." found in Genesis 2:4. Consider these other passage headings:

Genesis 5:1--This is the book of the genealogy of Adam.

Genesis 10:1--This is the genealogy of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Genesis 11:10--This is the genealogy of Shem.

Genesis 25:12--Now this is the genealogy of Ishmael, Abraham's son.

Genesis 25:19--This is the genealogy of Isaac, Abraham's son.

Genesis 36:1--Now this is the genealogy of Esau, who is Edom.

Genesis 37:2--This is the history of Jacob.

Continuing to use that transitional literary form, Matthew bridges the gap from Genesis to Jesus with his simple statement: The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham. In fact, I believe if one has an understanding of Matthew 1 and the genealogical list of Jesus' ancestors, one will also have an understanding of the entire Old Testament and also of the Gospel. And when Matthew identifies Jesus as the Son of David and of Abraham, he is tying the arrival of the Messiah back to two of the foundational Messianic prophecies--one being that in Abraham, all the nations of the earth would be blessed; and the other being that David would always have an heir to sit upon his throne.

Jesus was the fulfillment of all those Old Testament prophecies and promises, and the crowning achievement of 4000 years of human history and genealogy. This is His story.

Seeing God

No one has seen God at any time.

The only begotten Son,

who is in the bosom of the Father,

He has declared Him.

John 1:18

This seems to be another theme in John's gospel, but really extends into the heart of every person. We want to see God. We want to view His visible presence, hear His audible voice, feel His tangible touch. We want to know God, we want to believe in God, and we think seeing will help us with both of those. Unfortunately, the Bible is clear--no one was seen God and lived.

I suppose this means no one has seen God in all His divine glory. I mean, Adam and Eve walked with Him in Eden. Abraham washed His feet and fed Him. Jacob wrestled with Him. Moses met with Him on Sinai, and was then shut up by the hand of God into a cleft in the rock while God's glory passed in front of Him and God's voice called His own name. Moses actually glowed from the experience. Moses, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Paul, Stephen, John...these all saw Him seated on His throne. But in all actuality, no one has truly seen with their eyes the entirety of all there is to God, and certainly not all of His glory. As God told Moses, if you saw me, it would kill you.

Even at the end of His earthly ministry, Jesus was still being asked by His disciples, "Show us the Father." What He said to them was this--if you have seen me, you have seen the Father, for I and the Father are one. Jesus was the only begotten Son of God the Father, and when John was writing his gospel, he knew exactly where Jesus was--returned to the bosom of the Father from whence He first came. Jesus had gone back to be one with the Father.

But while Jesus was here, He declared the Father to His disciples, to His people, and the world. Do you want to know God? Do you want to believe in God? You don't have to see Him to experience Him. Just get to know Jesus, and in knowing Him, you will also know the Father, for they two are One!

No More Rules

For the law was given through Moses,

but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

John 1:17

In Eden, God gave Adam and Eve one rule to follow--don't eat the fruit. They ate the fruit, thereby causing the fall of mankind from perfection to imperfection, from sinlessness to sinfulness. Through their sin, all became sinful; and through that sinfulness, all proved themselves sinners.

Skip ahead 2500 years.

At Sinai, God gave Moses ten commandments for Israel to follow--pretty simple stuff like:

• Don't Worship Other Gods,
• Don't Worship Idols,
• Don't Work on the Sabbath,
• Don't Blaspheme,
• Don't Disobey Your Parents,
• Don't Steal,
• Don't Kill,
• Don't Commit Adultery,
• Don't Lie,
• Don't Covet

The Children of Israel spent the next forty years demonstrating their ability to break each and every one of those simple commandments and dying as a result. The Bible says all those who passed through the Red Sea and walked under the Cloud and the Fire died and their bodies littered the wilderness. Successive generations were little better, living under a Law they could not possibly live up to because of their sinful nature that turned all of them into sinners. They spent lifetimes offering endless sacrifices to make up for the sins, appeasing God with the blood of bulls and goats and rams and lambs and heifers and doves. And that was just for their secret sins, the ones no one knew about. The public sins were supposed to result in death, though I can't think of a single Old Testament story of people being put to death for breaking the Law after they entered Canaan. If I'm wrong on that, please correct me.


We can only assume that people were actually put to death according to the Law. It's not really until we get to the New Testament where we see capital punishment being inflicted (or at least attempted) for breaking the commandments. At least twice the Jews tried to stone Jesus for blasphemy. A sinful woman was almost stoned in the presence of Jesus for adultery. Stephen and Paul were both stoned to death for blasphemy. And Jesus was tried and crucified for it.


So skip forward from the Law 1500 years.


The Law was given through Moses, and it condemned people for their sins. They proved they could not live up to its high standard of holiness and they were apparently giving their lives for their own sin, or spending their lives in continual sacrifice for them. They needed help; we needed help. So God sent Jesus Christ. No more rules and regulations to follow for salvation; only one instruction--Only Believe.


This simple invitation fulfilled all the requirements of 2500 years of lawlessness and 1500 years of futility in following the Law. For though the Law was given through Moses, the truth that gave eternal life came through Jesus Christ. The Law was given through Moses and brought death, but the grace that gave eternal life came through Jesus Christ. It is that truth in which we are to believe, that grace in which we are to trust. And it is that same grace that gives us the power and ability to live by the truth.

What We Have Received

And of His fullness we have all received,

and grace for grace.

John 1:16

He was full of grace and truth, and of His fullness we have all received.

I think truth is pretty self-explanatory, but there are some who seem to struggle with the concept. Some think truth is arbitrary, situational, or relative. Some think deception is okay under the right set of circumstances, and some treat lying as a way of life. But Jesus Christ is the foundation of truth, and he is not arbitrary, situational or relative. He is what is, and that is truth. He will even later say of Himself, "I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me (the TRUTH)." Jesus was full of truth.

But I think grace is not so simply understood for many people.

Grace is the undeserved, unearned, and unmerited favor of God, given freely to a person's life in order to bring them into right relationship with God. It involves joy and love and blessings, all the wonderful gifts given liberally to God's people. But grace is also strength and power and ability, all of which come from God as the eternal source of everything we need. Jesus was full of grace.

Through Christ, we have received the fullness of God's grace and truth, the two things we need most that reconcile us to Himself, but I know a lot of people who have problems with receiving free gifts, gifts without strings or conditions or attachments. God's truth was offered to us at the ultimate cost to Himself, and grace was freely given when we had nothing to pay; you couldn't buy those kinds of gifts anyway. But people who struggle with the liberality of God want to make salvation much harder than it really is. Some want to make it about what we do, or how much we do. But the Bible says that salvation comes to us by grace through our own faith in Jesus Christ. So what makes it easy for us to accept grace? Is it not grace itself?

By receiving the fullness of Christ into our own lives, we receive grace (power, ability) to receive grace (unmerited favor and blessing). And that is what is truly amazing about grace!

Self-Awareness

John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying,

"This was He of whom I said,

'He who comes after me is preferred before me,

for He was before me.'"

John 1:15

The prologue of John's gospels assumes facts not yet in evidence, chronologically. It requires a passing familiarity with the rest of the gospels, in which we will soon find the account of an old man burning incense in the temple, three angelic appearances, and a couple of miraculous births. The first of these was John, who was a forerunner of the second, which was Jesus. This John, most commonly known as John the Baptist, has already been identified by the gospel writer John as one who was sent from God to bear witness to the Light that was Jesus Christ. And bear witness is exactly what John the Baptist did.


He bore witness of the Word become flesh, crying out in a loud voice (and as a rather loud and demonstrative preacher, I appreciate that about him), "This is the One I was talking about!" John's public ministry was all about preparing his culture to receive its Christ. He came preaching repentance and baptism as a public confession of sin and profession of faith. And He came talking about the One who was coming.


John had a perfectly clear understanding of who he was and why he was here. His self-awareness was completely wrapped up in the identity of the Coming One, the promised and prophesied Christ. He understood his place in the story--the forerunner, the one who comes first to tell of the one coming after. He lived and breathed to serve this purpose, and he had no ill-conceived concept of self-importance. He had no desire to elevate himself. He was there to point to the Messiah.


And of his relationship to the Messiah, he said, "He will come after me, but he is preferred before me." In other words, He is more important than I am. And the reason He is preferred first is because He existed first. He is now and always has been the eternally existent Christ, the Son of God and second member of the triune Godhead. He was, after all, in the beginning with God, and He was God. John understood that this made the One who was coming greater than he himself.


We also need to understand who we are in Christ. I believe everything that I am needs to based upon my relationship with Christ, and that He must be preferred before Me. He is most important; He must take pre-imminence; He must be first priority in my life. That is the order of things. I am here to bear witness of Him, that He is coming, and that He may come after me, but He is always preferred before me!

God in the Flesh

And the Word became flesh

and dwelt among us,

and we beheld His glory,

the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,

full of grace and truth.

John 1:14

And now we're back to the Word, the Word who was in the beginning, who was with God, who was God, and through whom all things were made--the living, moving, being, breathing, spoken, written, everlasting Word of God. The fourth evangelist who called Him the Word also called him life and light, the Light of men. He has not yet named Him, though we already know Who He is. And now the evangelist gives us something else to think about. The Word became flesh.

In the old mythologies, the gods sometimes assumed human form, not becoming human but pretending to be human in order to deceive humanity. In some world religions, God was first a man then became a god. In others, God could never be a man. And in some ways of thinking, there is no God except man. But the One True God is unique above all in that He was always God; He became a man, yet still remained God. The Divine took on flesh, Himself becoming what He wanted to save. The Creator became the creation. The Word of God became flesh, the very flesh, body and blood of God.

God singled off a portion of Himself, a portion that was completely Him, completely Divine, all knowing, all powerful, all present, and that portion of Himself He made the fullness of the Godhead bodily--the physical manifestation and representation of God to humanity in a manner they could understand. He became like them. One of the apostles would say of this apportionment, "He who knew no sin became sin for us," for we in our fleshly state are fallen and sinful by nature. He became like us. He took on flesh, though His flesh was perfect and unsoiled by the sin nature, because it was flesh that needed to suffer for sin's sake. It was flesh that needed to be tried and punished for the sins of all humankind. It was flesh that needed to die so that we would not have to. And the only One worthy to die as a sinless sacrifice had to be God in the flesh. The apostle would also write that though He shared the glory of God, he exchanged that glory for the inglorious form of man, and a servant at that, humbling himself in obedience even to the point of death on the cross. The apostle also wrote that He was tempted and tested in every way that we are, and yet did not sin, not even once. He was God in the flesh.

He dwelt among us, was John's testimony, and we saw His glory, His excellence, His Divine nature manifested in the flesh. It was a glory no man could share, for God the Word, the Flesh, was unique in being the only begotten of the Father. Believing in Him, as we have discussed with previous verses, brings us into the family as adopted sons and daughters, but the only begotten of the Father, the only natural Son if you must think of it that way, shared a glory with God that none other can have. Through His supernatural birth, His sinless life, His miracles, His messages, His manner, through His sacrificial death on the cross He revealed the glorious existence of the One True God, and He did so as God in the flesh who dwelt among men.

God wants to be known. He wants His people to see Him and know Him, to hear Him and to smell Him, to sense and perceive Him, to handle Him and understand Him as He reveals Himself to them. He revealed Himself through the Word, and then He revealed Himself in person, that we might behold His glory, which is full of grace and truth.

Grace is the only thing we will ever truly need to have, and truth is the only thing we will ever really need to know. And both of these wonderful gifts were given to us when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

Born by God's Will

But to those who received Him,

to them He gave the right to become children of God,

to those who believe in His name:

who were born,

not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man,

but of God.

John 1:12-13

People choose to have children. Well, most of the time, anyway. Of course, there are always the surprise children, or the uh-oh children, but even the ones that come unexpectedly do not get here without someone having a passing understanding of how babies are made. Even when people adopt, they are doing so by their own will, exercising their right to choose.

In the world, we have a very naturalistic way of looking at the birth of babies. Babies are the result of two tiny, single cells joining together in a natural act to create a new single cell that quickly divides into two cells, which rapidly begin to divide, multiplying exponentially. And here's a random thought while we're on the subject of math. Did you ever realize that the arrival of a baby defies math? Think of it like this. Conception as a mathematical formula is 1 + 1 = 1, which when divided in half produces not two halves, but two wholes. Gestation as a mathematical formula is 1 = 2. Delivery is the culmination, in which 1 + 1 = 3. I'm no mathematician, but that's how things occur in real life.

And the climax of a pregnancy is a messy process, though I cannot speak from experience, having never been present at the birth of a child. There is blood involved, as I understand. It's how babies get here.

But not so with the children of God. Those who receive Christ and believe in Christ, are born--in fact born again, not of corruptible seed, but by the incorruptible seed of the Word of God. And they are not born in blood. They are not born because two people got together and performed any physical act to produce them. They are not born because any person exercised an act of the will in which a baby was produced. The children of God are born completely by the will of God: God doing the choosing, the conceiving, the gestating, and the delivery!

Though there is choosing involved in the heart of the individual--choosing to receive, choosing to believe--the real decision is made in the heart of God, who chose to save us through His only begotten son, that we who believe in Him could become the adopted sons and daughters of God. And I love the way John expresses this act in his first epistle: Behold, what manner of love the Father has given unto us, that we should be called the children of God!