Do you Know Jesus.doc1
Do you Know Jesus? (Matthew 1)
I was preparing for finials this week and there are questions and then there are questions. Do you know what I mean? As I took an exam in OB I started to think about this weeks lessons. Maybe it was because it all has to do with the birth of Jesus or just because God was at work in my soul. Well I have a question for you today.
Do you know Jesus?
Just like the test I took this week this question has many views to it. Sometimes it is easy to cross out the wrong answers and come up with the right one. But sometimes this will not work. Pretend you are in this situation. My point is the answer is not always clear. But Matthew is answering the question.
He choose to open his book with who Jesus really was. He wanted to answer the question of do you know who Jesus is? He wanted to answer it for the Jews. I think you will agree some questions such as this one require a much deeper look.
Do you know Jesus?
Keeping in mind the MC test:
Don’t pick the letter C on this test. Here is letter C: Yes I know Jesus, he is God’s son. I forgot to point out one little part to this test that will always get you. “pick the best answer”.
You see C is a good choice but not the best one.
Matthew answers the question through out the 1 chapter. Matthew refers to a decent line which describes who Jesus was. To the writer of this book it is essential the reader knows who Jesus is.
I was speaking on the phone with a friend the other night and my guts got twisted and so I sat down and started to look to see if I could see who Jesus was. Have you done that?
Matthew wants us to explore who Jesus is beyond any doubt. In vv 1-17 Matthew explains the genealogy of Jesus. I am not going to explain the genealogy of Christ. However there are a few points worth making.
1. The genealogy follows the male side.
2. There are 3 groups of 14 generations noted, may be because easy to remember or it symbolized the 3 covenants with man. (the first group is Abrahamic covenant the Davidic, and the New covenant)
The final point I will make on this section is this: the genealogy of Jesus announces the fact that the One with whom this book is concerned is in deed the true Messiah.
Do you know Jesus?
In v 23 Matthew recites a verse from Iisiah 7:14.
“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Emanuel, which means God is with us.”
This verse explains Jesus from a view of a prophet. It says a lot and lets nothing out and includes some answers to our question. The importance of the virgin birth can not be overemphasized. In order for Jesus to be allowed to pay for our sin and bring salvation he must meet a few prerequisites.
I.
One requirement is Jesus could only be born of a human. “Will give birth” indicates Jesus was born of a female human. Being born from a human would make one full of sin, except Jesus was sinless because he was conceived by the Holy Sprit.
II.
A second requirement was he must be divine. Jesus had God as his father which resulted in his divinity. The result was his conception was not by natural but supernatural means!
III
But I left out the third point. The most important point of all. According to Heb. 7:25-26 Jesus must be fully Human. I really like this Human part!!!
Human. What does it mean. According to my medical dic. It means to be a member of the genus Homo sapiens! Notice it is not a member of reptiles and fish and snakes or of trees. It says human.
A member of my family your family and all who you know. Today we place so much emphasis on genetic code and genes. Jesus had the same human genes you have and had the same chance to die at birth catch a cold or flu he was human.
The virgin birth satisfies three requirements. I make Jesus human, divine, and sinless.
In living and suffering as a human person, Jesus sympathizes with our weaknesses. As the divine son of God, he has the power to deliver us from sin’s bondage and Satan’s power. God became human for us………………………….
Why did God want so close to us? Why did he become incarnate?
As I read in John 1 I noticed something. John says nothing about angles, sheep, Mary, Joseph, wisemen, shepherds and flocks, or host of angles. Luke is the only book which has the traditional story we here so often. So lets skip this book because we need to know who Jesus is.
One class I has was called theater incarnate. We discussed John 1. But you don’t need to be in a class to see John 1 is a hard one to read. One thing is for sure, John and for the most part Matthew skip the side show that took place when Jesus came.
The incarnation is the result of God’s desire. It is not meant to be understood.
Story of bible scholar.
Jesus was given a name by an angel. Emanuel or God with us!
You see God’s biggest agenda is to be with you. That is why he chose to be human, not something else. He choose to be you! Way back in Genesis we are told about how God searched for Adam. He asked Adam where are you? He knew Adam had sinned but he still wished to be with him.
What God had longed for since Adam and Eve sinned was realized in Jesus as he walked with his deciples, as they became his people and as he became their God.
The question do you know Jesus is just as important as Does God know you. God has searched for you, he has looked for you, he walks in the Garden today and calls you by name. Longing to here you and to know he is God to you!!!
Matthew doesn’t want to miss telling the Jews who Jesus really is. He wants to prove he knows Jesus. SO we to might want to prove we know who Jesus is. The soul reason jesus came to earth was so God could be with his people! “In the beginning the work became flesh”.
Do you know the word Jesus?
There is really much more to the question then you thought isn’t there? In living and suffering as a human person, Jesus sympathizes with our weaknesses.
He is Emanuel, he is king, he is lord, and he is God!
He has the power to deliver us from sins’ power and bondage. Do you know Jesus? If you don’t please find him. I promise you, you will have a Christmas like non other. A Christmas just like the first one. You will know Jesus!!!