The Genealogy of Jesus

The genealogy of Jesus as recorded by Matthew does not agree with the genealogy of Jesus as recorded by Luke. They are the same from Abraham to David, but Luke goes back to David through his David's son Nathan while Matthew goes back to David through David's son Solomon.

It is difficult to know which provides Mary’s genealogy and which provides Joseph’s. Luke reads, Jesus . . . being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph. . . . (Lk. 3:23b NAS) Perhaps he gives Mary’s lineage because Mary furnished the earthly inheritance of her son. Jesus’ genetic code as a human came through Mary. Through her, he was literally from the seed of David.

Matthew also emphasizes the virgin birth. But perhaps he provides Joseph’s lineage. This is important because Joseph’s family determined Jesus’ birthplace as well as His legal family.

Isaiah prophesied, Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse [David’s father], And a branch from his roots will bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him. (Is. 11:1,2a) Jesus is the son of David and the Son of God. He’s God and man—and He’s our Lord and Savior.

Originally published December 13, 1985.
Picture: Basket of pine cones with antique candlestick. Photo by Solveig.

A Gentile Named Ruth

Ruth was a Mobite. Her Israelite husband broke God’s law by marrying her when he lived in the land of Moab. Then he died, and when his mother Naomi prepared to return to Israel, Ruth must have seriously thought about staying in her homeland. She would surely face rejection and persecution in the land of her husband’s family.

But Ruth was unwilling to separate herself from God’s people. The Bible tells us she clung to Naomi. She said, For wherever you go, I will go; wherever you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. (Ruth 1:16b NKJV)

The young woman born outside of God’s kingdom decided she would chose God by identifying with His people. She journeyed to Israel with Naomi. When she demonstrated great tenderness and love for her mother-in-law, she was accepted in spite her background.

Then, in one of Scripture’s most beautiful love stories, Ruth became the wife of Boaz. Their first son, Obed, became grandfather of King David. And centuries later Jesus descended from the lineage of David.

The outcast named Ruth—the Moabite Gentile—played an important role in the ancestry of Jesus. She was a forerunner of God’s plan to include Gentiles among the people who belong to Him.

Originally published December 14, 1990.

He Brings Revelation

Throughout the Christmas season, everyone will experience specific events that will make up this year’s celebration. Some will become vivid memories—good or bad—that we will carry with us the rest of our lives. They might come through a church or school program, the trauma of shopping, parties, or the individual things we do to prepare for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

Will our memories center on Jesus? Not all—but hopefully many. Without Him, there would be no Christmas. And without a revelation of Him, our memories fall short because we miss the meaning of the event.

Only a few individuals outside the family understood the significance of God's visitation when Jesus was born, but a prophetess named Anna did. She was “of great age. . . .” (Lk. 2:36b) After her husband died when she was still young, she had given herself to prayer. The Bible tells us, She did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. (v. 37)

Then Joseph and Mary brought Jesus into the temple on the day of His dedication, and Anna had a revelation. The Bible tells us, in that instant, she gave thanks to the Lord and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem. (v. 38)

Over the years, Anna had collected many memories as she learned from God's Spirit. All came togeher when she looked at a baby and recognized the future ministry of Jesus. For revelation is built on what we know. Anna recognized Jesus because she already knew Him with her spiritual eyes. When we are ready, He brings revelation.

Originally published December 26, 1986.
Picture: Poinsettia tree, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2008. Photo by Solveig.

God Incarnate

Everyone loves a baby. During the Christmas season, we are especially aware that God sent His Word to us in just such a form.

God sent His Word to Mary through an angel and she responded, Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word. (Lk. 1:38a RSV) Jesus was conceived when Mary opened her heart to receive.

The sweet baby—God Incarnate—came for the express purpose of wooing and winning sinful people. And God continues to send forth His Word through revelation of the person called Jesus. He waits for our response and He rejoices when His truth and life are conceived in the hearts of people who open their hearts to receive.

Originally published December 18, 1981.

The Advent of God's Son

God’s glory is an expression of God’s goodness. Some define His glory as a revelation of His total goodness.

Because Jesus’ life was an expression of God’s nature, He revealed—and continues to reveal—God’s goodness. He revealed His father’s total goodness every moment of every day during His earthly life—when He entered the world as a baby, when He met the needs of individuals and multitudes, when He died on the cross, when He rose from the grave, and when He ascended into heaven.

The prophet Isaiah spoke of Jesus’ when he said, Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. (Is. 60:1,2 NIV)

Today, Jesus continues to embody everything we need to know about the nature of God. The season of Advent is a time for setting our hearts to receive glimpses of God’s glory. It’s time to celebrate the advent of God’s Son.

Originally published November 29, 1991.
Picture: Karen's garden, Winona, MN, 2009. Photo by Solveig.

Immanuel . . . God With Us

Few people would say Christianity is an inferior religion. Of all world religions, it alone presents a God who reaches down to provide a way of salvation. Other religions demand sacrifices from their followers. Christians, however, believe Jesus came as God in the flesh to be the sacrifice. The Baby in the manger is unique and worthy of worship because He is Immanuel . . . God with us. (Mt. 1:23b)

So people err when they try to identify Christianity as one of several valid religions. Scripture claims it is exclusive: Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? (I Jn. 2:22a NKJV) Christianity cannot accept the possibility that other religions have vital truth to offer because the other religions have nothing that pays the pentalty for sin. If the beliefs of Christianity are compromised, the teaching is no longer Christian.

Jesus did more than live a good life. He is God. He existed as God before the creation of our world. He came to earth as God in the flesh so He could pay the penalty for our sin. This is the message of Christmas. Immanuel . . . God with us.

Originally published December 9, 1988.

Coming Into View

During the liturgical season of Advent, all Christendom prepares for the advent or coming of the baby Jesus. The word Advent literally means, coming into place or coming into view.

Yet we appreciate the full impact of Jesus’ advent only by looking at His ministry. For when this itinerant carpenter began to reveal His identity, the world responded, No one ever spoke the way this man does. (Jn. 7:46 NIV)

One day during Jesus’ early ministry, As he walked along he saw Levi [Matthew], son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector's booth. (Mk. 2:14a NIV) Jesus said, Follow me, and Matthew did. (v. 14c) He even accepted a new name.

Jesus is still revealing His identity by coming into view. He continues to reveal Himself to people, and He comes to us that we might come to Him. His invitation, Follow me, is still open.

Originally published November 26, 1982.
Picture: Homemade Christmas log. Photo by Solveig.

Become Human Again?

Someone once said that God became flesh—came to earth as a baby—so people can truly become human again. That might seem like a strange idea. But because we are sinners, our humanity or human-ness often falls short of what it should be. Jesus came to change that.

Jesus lived His entire life in perfect harmony with Father God the way God intended all people to live. Through His perfect life and His death, Jesus brings us life. When the angel appeared to Joseph in a dream, the angel said, And she [ Mary] will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. (Mt. 1:21 NKJV)

When we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we receive a portion of His life—as much of Him as we can accept by faith. Our fallen human nature is always a disappointment. When we look at Him and His life in faith, we reach out to grasp a higher, more complete life ourselves. God’s power in us can overrule our baser instincts. He changes people who follow Him into people who are more fully human.

Originally published December 18, 1992.

It Lasts Forever

Many of us probably feasted on traditional turkey dinners with all the trimmings on Thanksgiving Day, and now we are eating leftovers.

Some may also have used Thanksgiving Day as a time to think of material blessings—and to be thankful for them. And now we can be thankful for leftovers!

Life would be tough without God's blessings—including necessities, leftovers, and even some of our luxuries. But there is another blessing we should remember during the Thanksgiving season: In his great mercy he [God] has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (I Pet. 1:3b NIV)

This blessing is more important than food, shelter, clothing—or any of the less vital, but enjoyable benefits of comfortable living. Although the new birth cannot be touched or seen, it will last forever.

God gives the new birth as a spiritual feast to all who come to Him, and we never grow tired of it as we do with physical food. There will always be enough to satisfy us over and over. The new birth is an eternal blessing that offers consistent hope and joy, an inheritance can never perish, spoil or fade. . . . (v. 4a) It comes to us directly from God—and will be with us when other blessings fail.

Originally published Novemer 25, 1988.

Picture: Potted plant on deck, 2008. Photo by Solveig.

We Receive to Give

After celebrating Thanksgiving Day, it is a good idea to remember that genuine thankfulness goes beyond simple gratitude. If we are truly thankful, we will take another step. We will move from receiving to giving.

Using an agricultural metaphor, Paul wrote to the Corinthians that if farmers are unwilling to be generous when planting seed, they will not receive an abundant harvest. He who sows (or plants) sparingly will also reap (or receive) sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. (II Cor. 9:6 NKJV)

Paul’s subject was not planting and harvesting crops but giving. He goes on to explain that when people give, God provides abundant grace. The more we receive, the more we have to give—and the more we give, the more we receive.

Giving and receiving do not always seem to directly correspond, but giving and blessings do. And God actually gives to His people so they can, in turn, receive His blessing by giving to others.

Originally published November 23, 1989.

Thanksgiving to God

Although Thanksgiving Day originated with Christians who depended on God for survival, many Americans today overlook Christian aspects of the holiday. A day full of food and football are the often the plan.

Scripture helps us look beyond our natural inclinations because it lifts us beyond our natural mindset—and the psalms are a good place to start in Scripture. The settings of the psalms are varied—and they differ greatly from both the Pilgrim’s setting and our setting. But they have power to change the focus of our hearts.

Many of the psalms emphasize God’s provision. Psalm 65 begins with, Praise is awaiting You, O God, in Zion . . . O You who hear prayer. . . . (v. 1a,2a NKJV) Then, Your paths drip with abundance. (v. 11b)

If we do not know He listens to prayer, there’s a good chance we miss out on much of God’s abundance. Today is a day to offer thanksgiving to God—and to believe He hears.

Originally published November 20, 1992.
Picture: Como Park Convervatory, St. Paul, MN, 2009. Photo by Solveig.

The Humble Shall Hear

Thanksgiving originated as a harvest festival—as a day when the early Pilgrims offered thanks to God for the year’s crop. Their very lives depended on full storehouses, so we can imagine their gratitude was heart-felt. They knew they were vulnerable—and that they could not provide for their needs without God’s help.

In United States today, we can be thankful for a multitude of blessings on Thanksgiving Day. Because it is a national holiday, we might focus on historic aspects of the celebration. The vital connection of the Pilgrims to God reminds us that, after a certain amount of struggle, the early leaders made a decision to offer freedom of religious expression for both the minorities and the majority.

But do we remember that true thankfulness contains an element of humility? Thankfulness means we are grateful to someone for providing what we did not provide on our own. It looks to the One who helps us when we cannot help ourselves. David was king and a poet whose wrote many songs of thanksgiving. He wrote in one of his songs, I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord, the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. (Ps. 34:1-2 KJV)

This Thanksgiving, remember to thank God for His blessings. We need them.

Originally published November 22, 1985.

Final Gathering

Much of Old Testament life revolved around feasts. The Hebrew people observed not only Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, but other sacred gatherings as well. There was the Firstfruits or Feast of Weeks, the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles. All but one—the Day of Atonement—were celebrations. Each has a New Testament application. For example, Jesus is our Passover Lamb.

The culmination of all the celebrations was the Feast of Tabernacles. When the people converged on Jerusalem from all parts of Israel, they lived in makeshift booths for eight days.

In some ways, this amazing event can be compared to our Thanksgiving Day celebrations. It was a feast after the final fall harvest. But Biblical scholars also link this Feast to the Second Coming of Christ—the event that will signal the final gathering of God’s people.

When Jesus spoke about the final gathering, He spoke about those who were called to live with Him eternally. He said, many . . . will try to enter and will not be able to. (Lk. 13:24b NIV) Nevertheless, People will come from easy and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. (v. 29)

Originally published August 30, 1985.
Picture: Como Park Conservatory, St. Paul, 2009. Photo by Solveig.

He Works for Good

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God. . . . Rom 8:28a KJV)

Some have used this verse to support the idea that every event or happening must be God’s will because it is for good. The verse does not say that. It says, all things work together for good.

Many evil things have happened in our fallen world—abuse, war, accidental death, crippling disease, distortion of personalities. None can be considered God’s handiwork. Human tragedy is never the will of God.

But the verse is a promise. When evil things do enter our lives—regardless of how difficult they may be—God can somehow bring them together so they work for our benefit if we look to Him and trust Him. They can even bring victory in the face of defeat or despair.

God is the great Creator. When tragedy strikes, He is at work—just as He is at work at any other time. No circumstance is so terrible that it is beyond His creative touch. He will even use it for good.

Originally published February 19, 1983.

His Gift to Us

Both general sins, the kind committed by people as a whole, and specific sins, the kind committed by an individual, can be overwhelming.

We're often plagued by one of two problems when dealing with our overwhelming sinful nature. We might refuse to acknowledge the sin because the thought is too much for us—so we do not accept God's gift of salvation. Or we might be overcome by guilt because the sin seems so awful that it cannot be forgiven—so we do not accept God's gift of salvation.

A psalmist looked at our dilemma differently. He wrote, If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness. . . . (Ps. 130:3,4a NIV)

The psalmist was not downcast or dismayed when he reflected on his sinful state because he looked beyond himself and directed his attention to the One who can provide a solution. He affirmed the nature of God, because God, not people, holds the key. The psalmist recognized that, with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. (v. 7b)

God clearly states in His Word—including the Old Testament—that salvation for forgiveness from sin is a gift that He provides. Our sinful nature is real and fearsome—but God’s solution is big enough to take care of it.

Originally published January 14, 1983.
Picture: Como Park Conservatory, St. Paul, 2009. Photo by Solveig.

An Exciting Interruption

Interruptions are breaks in the flow or action. Sometimes interruptions are disturbing, but sometimes they are delightful. In fact, interruptions can even be catalysts or sparks for revelation or whatever God has at the moment.

It is only reasonable that many exciting interruptions occurred in the life of Jesus—because He Himself is the most exciting interruption of all times. God entered the ebb and flow of human life and changed both individuals and history.

On one occasion, Jesus was on the way to heal the daughter of a ruler in the synagogue named Jairus. Jairus had sought Jesus, saying, My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come. . . . (Mk. 5:23b NKJV)

The ministry of Jesus was popular at the time—but the huge crowds that followed Him often milled about with no concern for people who were lost in the crowd and seemed insignificant. One such person was a woman afflicted by a flow of blood for twelve years. (v. 25b) No one paid attention to her or her need. The only way she could receive from God was to press forward—to interrupt Jesus when He was on His way to do something that others thought was more important.

Jesus did go with Jairus to heal the little girl—He raised her from the dead. That was important. But first He responded to the woman and the interruption she imposed. He said, Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction. (v. 34)

Originally published May 1, 1992.

Again and Again

Jesus comes again!—and not only in the future when He returns at the close of the Age. Then He will make a final gathering of His people unto Himself. But He also comes presently—again and again and again—into everyday life. He comes into every situation where He is welcome, and He brings His life with Him.

Many parables tell us to eagerly look for Jesus—to anticipate His coming. If we limit out interpretation of these passages to the Second Coming of Christ we might miss the joy of His entry into our daily lives.

Jesus said, Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. (Lk. 12:35,36 NKJV)

We want to be ready for the second coming of Christ. But we also want to be ready to welcome Him today. If we continually welcome Him into our present lives, we will welcome Him at any point in our future. Look for Jesus. He is coming!

Originally published May 10, 1991.
Picture: Como Park Conservatory, St. Paul, 2009. Photo by Solveig.

Ask Me of Things to Come

Depression is a common malady in today’s society. Many people have lost their sense self worth—they fight chronic battles with fatigue and hopelessness—even despair.

There may be physical causes for depression. But perhaps we struggle as a group—as a society—because we resist God. Isaiah said, Woe to him who strives with His maker . . . Shall the clay say to him who forms it, “What are you making?” (Is. 45:9a & c NKJV)

If we fight against God, we must find our personal value or purpose in something else. We can turn to humanism. But even the most talented people eventually run out of self to discover—and then they must look for escape in things of the flesh or in another spiritual reality.

God, on the other hand, offers infinite value to each individual. If we trust Him, we discover He has good plans for us, and He offers a destiny.

God wants us to seek Him. He said, Ask me of things to come . . . I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth; I did not say to the seed of Jacob, “Seek Me in vain. . . .” (v. 11b,19a)

Originally published March 15, 1991.

The Eternal Sacrifice

We never tire of hearing good things about someone we love. And we never tire of hearing a person we love tell us they love us in return. Such messages are choice messages.

Likewise, we never tire of hearing a choice Word regarding Jesus. He is the great love message of all time. The book of Hebrews says, Christ came as High Priest . . . Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all. . . . (Heb. 9:11a,12a NKJV)

Jesus made it possible to approach God! Only the high priests could enter the Most Holy Place of the Temple where God's Pesence dwelled. And the high priest entered only once a year with a blood sacrifice. Jesus changed that when He gave Himself—the eternal Blood Sacrifice for all people.

Originally published August 31, 1990.
Picture: Como Park Conservatory, St. Paul, 2009. Photo by Solveig

Unique Identities

We reason that if everyone becomes Christ-like, everyone would become the same. But the God who created a physical world with seemingly infinite variety expresses Himself through variety in all of creation—including people.

Three beings in the form of men appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre. . . . (Gen 18:1b NIV) One was the Lord; the others were angels. Each was a separate manifestation of God’s nature.

This is also true of Biblical heroes. As they followed God—allowed Him to form them in His image—they did not become clones of one another. Each stands out as an individual because God ignited their unique abilities.

We might be searching for an identity—be struggling to develop. When we strive on our own to be unique, we almost always end up conforming to the latest trends. But if we follow Christ, we becomes expressions of His nature—with His infinite capacity for variety. The more we yield to Him, the more He reveals our unique identity—the unique creation He had in mind when He fashioned us.

Originally published September 7, 1984.