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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy
word.
After the exile to Babylon: Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel the father of Abihud, Abihud the
father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok
the father of Akim, Akim the father of Elihud, Elihud the father of Eleazar,
Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the
father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is
called the Messiah.
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.
Matthew 1:12-17
He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph, the son of
Heli, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melki, the son of Jannai,
the son of Joseph, the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum,
the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias,
the son of Semein, the son of Josek, the son of Joda, the son of Joanan, the
son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel,
the son of Neri, the son of Melki, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of
Elmadam, the son of Er, the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of
Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Simeon, the son of
Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, the son of
Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of
David, the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon,
the son of Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram, the son of Hezron,
the son of Perez, the son of Judah, the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son
of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, the son of Serug, the son of
Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, the son of Cainan, the
son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, the son
of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel, the
son of Kenan, the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of
God.
Luke 3:23b-38
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be
to God.
Today, we finish our look at the family tree of Jesus,
looking at the third of three 14 generation segments. You’ll recall that the
first segment began with Abraham and ended with David; segment 2 picked back up
with David and took us to the beginning of the Babylonian exile.
What happened after the exile was over?
We see how the documentation of Jesus’ genealogy resumes
there and traces all the way to His coming. Look again at these verses here:
After the exile to
Babylon: Jeconiah was the father of
Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,
Abihud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, Azor the father of
Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, Akim the father of Elihud, Elihud the father
of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, and
Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of
Jesus who is called the Messiah.
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. Matthew 1:12-17
Of interest here is the use of the name Jeconiah as a
search of Judah’s kings will not yield this name.
So who was Jeconiah?
We find out when we look at the first mention of his son,
Shealtiel:
The descendants of
Jehoiachin the captive:
Shealtiel his son,
Malkiram, Pedaiah, Shenazzar, Jekamiah, Hoshama and Nedabiah. 1 Chronicles 3:17-18
If Shealtiel was the son of Jehoiachin (as stated in 1
Chronicles 3:17) and Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel (as stated in our
scripture passage today), then we know that Jehoiachin and Jeconiah were one in
the same person, the next to last king of Judah before the fall of Jerusalem
(Zedekiah would be the last (2 Kings 24). Jehoiachin would be imprisoned in
Babylon for 37 of the 70 captivity years but the scriptures tell us he was
released from prison and was given a regular allowance and a place of honor at
the table of King Awel-Marduk (2 Kings 25:27-30).
Note where Jehoiachin’s son, Shealtiel, fathered
Zerubbabel who as we saw in the latter books of the Old Testament, became Judah’s
first governor after the Persian king, Cyrus the Great, allowed the Israelites
to return to their homeland. You may recall that Zerubbabel played a prominent
role in leading God’s people toward rebuilding His holy temple in Jerusalem.
After Zerubbabel, we find a string of men who are not
mentioned as having any other significance except for the fact that they were
in the lineage of Jesus. And why would they need any other honor than that?
Those men included:
Abihud, Eliakim, Azor, Zadok, Akim, Elihud, Eleazar,
Matthan, and Jacob.
Now, raise your hand if you knew already that Jacob was
the name of Joseph’s father. I’ll admit that if I knew it, I had forgotten it.
You see, we get so wrapped up in the Jesus story that we lose sight that Jesus
had a grandfather and his name was Jacob. Unfortunately, this truth gets lost
in translation as we celebrate the holy virgin conception and birth, our
attention centered fully on Joseph, Mary, and, of course, Jesus the Messiah who
is where the family tree ends.
What we find through looking at an ancestry that is too
easily glossed over when we study the Gospels is that there is a lot of
substance in the back story of Jesus, substance grounded in the stories of
those who are in the line. I hope that this series has been a rich examination
of who is in Jesus’ heritage but before I close, there is one more thing we
need to look at. For Matthew isn’t the only Gospel writer who takes time to
list the genealogy of Jesus. Look at these words from Luke:
He was the son, so
it was thought, of Joseph, the son of Heli, the son of Matthat, the son of
Levi, the son of Melki, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, the son of
Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of
Naggai, the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of
Josek, the son of Joda, the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of
Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, the son of Melki, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of
Elmadam, the son of Er, the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of
Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Simeon, the son of
Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, the son of
Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of
David, the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon,
the son of Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram, the son of Hezron,
the son of Perez, the son of Judah, the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son
of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, the son of Serug, the son of
Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, the son of Cainan, the
son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, the son
of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel, the
son of Kenan, the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of
God. Luke 3:23b-38
Can you recognize an immediate difference between the two
lineages?
Matthew worked from Abraham to Jesus, moving forward in
time. On the other hand, Luke began his list with Jesus and worked back, not
just to Abraham but all the way to God Himself via Adam. You may also notice a
lot of disparity between Jesus and David in Luke’s account of the genealogy. It’s
widely believed this is because Luke traced Jesus’ ancestry through Mary’s side
while Matthew as we know went through Joseph. It’s an interesting contrast and
comparison but one we should embrace because it does offer a richer
understanding of Jesus’ earthly family roots.
In the end translation, God believed the bloodlines of
Jesus were important enough to appear in these two accounts. And if it’s
important to God, it should be equally important to us.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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