Day 1 – Matthew 1:1-25 READ BELOW
You may be thinking, “what a crazy way to start the New Testament . . . with a bunch of long, too many-syllable names. If there’s 30 more days of this I’ll have had some good pronunciation practice but reading the New Testament is going to be a drag!” I know how you feel! I remember thinking the same thing the first time I read the first chapter of Matthew over twenty years ago. Actually, I laughed at the name Jehoshaphat because it sounded like “Joe’s-so-fat.” But, over the years, I’ve learned the list of names you read are important because they set the stage for Jesus as he Savior of the world. Everyone was looking for the Savior but no one expected him to be a baby. The list of names reveal the power of God’s work, behind the scenes, to fulfill some big-time promises (also known as prophecies) from the Old Testament (all the writing in the Bible before Jesus). I’ve known a lot of people who read these names and immediately gave up reading the Bible because they didn’t get it. In frustration they say, “hey, this doesn’t read like a love-letter, it reads like a historical genealogy from my history class.” If you feel this way today, my response is similar to how the angel responded to Joseph, “don’t be afraid . . . don’t hesitate to dig-in and read . . . you’ll never be the same.” Joseph was surprised with his new adventure and he got to hold the King of the world. May you, too, be surprised with this new reading adventure . . . soon you’ll hold the truths that are out of this world.
Matthew 1
1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
2 Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judah and his brethren;3 and Judah begat Perez and Zerah of Tamar; and Perez begat Hezron; and Hezron begat Ram;4 and Ram begat Amminadab; and Amminadab begat Nahshon; and Nahshon begat Salmon;5 and Salmon begat Boaz of Rahab; and Boaz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;6 and Jesse begat David the king.
7 and Solomon begat Rehoboam; and Rehoboam begat Abijah; and Abijah begat Asa;8 and Asa begat Jehoshaphat; and Jehoshaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Uzziah;9 and Uzziah begat Jotham; and Jotham begat Ahaz; and Ahaz begat Hezekiah;10 and Hezekiah begat Manasseh; and Manasseh begat Amon; and Amon begat Josiah;11 and Josiah begat Jechoniah and his brethren, at the time of the carrying away to Babylon.
12 And after the carrying away to Babylon, Jechoniah begat Shealtiel; and Shealtiel begat Zerubbabel;13 and Zerubbabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor;14 and Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud;15 and Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob;16 and Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
17 So all the generations from Abraham unto David are fourteen generations; and from David unto the carrying away to Babylon fourteen generations; and from the carrying away to Babylon unto the Christ fourteen generations.
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.20 But when he thought on these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.21 And she shall bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name JESUS; for it is he that shall save his people from their sins.22 Now all this is come to pass, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying,23 Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son,
24 And Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took unto him his wife;25 and knew her not till she had brought forth a son: and he called his name JESUS.
1 comment:
In seminary we spent an entire day on this very section of scripture. Some interesting points:
There are women in this list, which NEVER happened during the times in which this was written. Also interesting are some of the choices for the lineage, Rahab, who was a prostitute, and NOT a Hebrew. Ruth, whom there is a book of the Bible written about, also not a Hebrew. Even within the lineage of Jesus we see that God had been working in the lives of all people, not just His chosen people.
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