Holidays with Jesus #5 by Stacy Duplease of Stories by Stacy

Blog Post #5 of the Holidays with Jesus Series of books

Book #1: Thanksgiving to Christmas
Written: 29 November 2009, Sunday
Posted: 02 December 2009, Wednesday

TODAY: LET’S GET TO KNOW WHO JESUS CAME FROM AND HIS ANCESTRY
One of the ways to get to know people is to know where they came from and who they came from. Even though Jesus was God, He was born from a woman. He was raised by an earthly father and mother as well. Hence, He was fully man.

Even in cases where we try to deny our family heritage, much of who we are can be directly linked to them and what we learned from. Jesus is no exception. It was even more true back then because in those times, and according to His faith, heritage and remembering the past was essential.

Who God chose as the family line for the Savior of the world is important. Who they were, what they did or didn’t do, what God thought of them, etc. is critical for us to know. After all, everything Jesus said and did was meant to be an example for us and to teach us how to live the best lives possible. He came so that we could learn how to live for and worship God on this earth and how to bring Him glory. Therefore, let’s see what example is set for us in his family line.

Please read Matthew 1 below and then let’s start to break it down and look at person by person and what they did or didn’t do in the name of God.

Matthew 1


The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah


1 The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham:


2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.


3 Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram.


4 Ram was the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon.


5 Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse.


6 Jesse was the father of David the king. David was the father of Solomon by Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah.


7 Solomon was the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asa.


8 Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah.


9 Uzziah was the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah.


10 Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, and Amon the father of Josiah.


11 Josiah became the father of Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.


12 After the deportation to Babylon: Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel.


13 Zerubbabel was the father of Abihud, Abihud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor.


14 Azor was the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud.


15 Eliud was the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob.


16 Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.


17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.


Conception and Birth of Jesus


18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.


19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.


20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.


21 "She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."


22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:


23 "BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which translated means, "GOD WITH US."


24 And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife,


25 but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus, (NASB).



(Author’s Note about the NASB: "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.")

REFLECTIVE QUESTIONS
~ Grab your journal/notebook, pen, and a mug of your favorite beverage. Sit back and answer these questions.

1. What names do you recognize?

2. Can you remember what names you recognize did, didn’t do, who they were, and why they’re mentioned in the Bible?

3. How many women are listed above? Who are they? (The answer is 5, as a hint.)

4. Why were the women listed? Any idea? If not, it’s okay. This will be studied later in this study.

5. Why is his heritage important? (Also, his heritage is important because they prove He is the Messiah. There are verses which refer to them. We’ll get into this later as well.

6. What is important about Babylon? (We’ll discuss this later as well.)

7. What do you think Mary thought when she found out she was with child—in an unnatural and abnormal fashion?

8. What would you have thought if you were her and in those circumstances?

9. What do you think Joseph thought when he found out Mary was with child?

10. What would you have thought if you were him?

11. What would you have done if an angel appeared to you?

12. What would you have thought if you discovered you were carrying the Son of God?

13. What kind of pressure would you have felt?

14. What responsibilities would this bring?

15. Would you have believed the angel?

16. What would it be like to carry the Son of God?

17. What would it have been like to give birth to the Son of God?

18. What would this have done to your faith?


By Stacy Duplease
of Stories by Stacy