“For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made
known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were
eyewitnesses of His majesty. For when He received honor and glory from God the
Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, “This
is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased”— and we ourselves heard this
utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. So we
have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention
as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star
arises in your hearts. But know this first of all, that no prophecy of
Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever
made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”
(2 Peter 1:16–21, NASB95)
Peter along with James and John had gone up onto a high
mountain with Jesus for one of those never forget it encounters, as we read in
Matthew 17, and Scripture records what happened next,
“And He [Jesus] was transfigured before them; and His face
shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. And behold,
Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Peter said to Jesus,
“Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles
here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still
speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the
cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to
Him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground and were
terrified. And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Get up, and do
not be afraid.” And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself
alone. As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them,
saying, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.””
(Matthew 17:2–9, NASB95)
In Peter’s last letter he shared something that He had been
forbidden to share until after Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. He shared
about that time when he and James and John saw Jesus in His glory. And He went
on to share that along with seeing Moses and Elijah that they had also heard
the confirmation of God the Father speaking from heaven that Jesus was indeed
His beloved Son. All that they had been told by the prophets and by Jesus
Himself was confirmed at that moment. In response to this Peter added, that the
prophecies of Scripture are true and dependable because they were written by
men moved by the Holy Spirit speaking from God. Peter had no doubts about the
prophecies of God’s Word. He had seen them fulfilled as He had even heard from
God Himself.
Yesterday, after posting what I wrote, Robin and I had a
discussion concerning the genealogy of Mary as opposed to the genealogy of
Joseph. While Joseph was the legal father of Jesus, it was Mary who provided
the blood ties to the lineage of Jesse and David. In Scripture we find two
different genealogies of Jesus. The first is found in Matthew chapter 1 which
records the genealogy through Joseph, where we read in verse 16, “Jacob was the
father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the
Messiah.” Note here that Joseph is referred to as the husband of Mary and that
it was Mary by whom Joseph is born. There is no claim that Joseph “begot” Jesus
or was His birth father, which is consistent with Scripture which declares that
Jesus was conceived by the power of the Most High God through the Holy Spirit.
However, this does not minimize the legal right to the ties of the lineage of
the kings as Jesus became Joseph’s legal heir.
But God did not leave Jesus to become King by a legal
loophole. Rather, He also established that Jesus was of the lineage of Judah,
Jesse, and David by blood as well. We read in Luke 3:23-38 the genealogy of
Jesus in reverse order, and in this account the ancestors from Joseph to David
differ from the record in Matthew. The reason for this is that while Luke
records the genealogy of Joseph, Luke records the genealogy of Mary. In Luke
3:23 we read, “When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years
of age, being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph, the son of Eli,” Matthew
includes women in his genealogical record, but Luke does not. And while it
might seem that there is a contradiction in who might be the father of Joseph,
with one saying Jacob and the other Eli, it is easily explained when Joseph is
seen as the representative male in the lineage, without reference to the
female. In Luke we don’t see Mary, the mother of Jesus mentioned, nor do we see
Eve, the mother of all mankind mentioned either. Rather, we find Eli’s
son-in-law Joseph included as the supposed father of Jesus. Matthew gives us
several key women on one side and Luke gives us the men on the other with both
coming together in Mary and Joseph. One summarizes His legal birthright and the
other establishes His direct lineage, with both coming together declaring Him
to be from the tribe of Judah, the shoot from the stem of Jesse, and the branch
from the root of David. No matter how you look at this, Jesus was and is the
King who was foretold from ages past.
There are those who would love to poke holes in Scripture
and claim there are contradictions, thinking if they can do this then they call
into question the veracity of statements such as Peter and Paul, who wrote in 2
Timothy 3:16 that all Scripture is literally Spirit or God breathed. They attack
Scripture and try to supplant it with their own added or twisted teaching. They
pick and choose what they will believe and what they won’t. Peter warned about
them in the verses that followed the passage above. “But false prophets also
arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you,
who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who
bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their
sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in
their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long
ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.” (2 Peter 2:1–3, NASB95)
It would be so easy to pass over the genealogies, but
digging deeper into the snapshots we have in Scripture of the people mentioned in
these genealogies shows us just how intentional and faithful God is. God’s Word
is also true and dependable. God cannot lie! There may be things that we don’t
completely understand, just as the disciples on the mountain waited to
understand. But in all of these we need to keep before our hearts and minds
that our God is not a liar and He keeps His promises. The prophecies about the
birth of our Savior point to so much more than His ability to predict the
future. They speak to a God who intended the future and is who has proven Himself
fully able to bring it to pass. This is true of the big things upon which
eternity turns and the daily things of our lives (both big and small).
Abraham knew this as we read in Hebrews 6. “For when God
made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore
by Himself, saying, “I will surely bless
you and I will surely multiply you.”
And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. For men swear by one
greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end
of every dispute. In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs
of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so
that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we
who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope
set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and
steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a
forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order
of Melchizedek.” (Hebrews 6:13–20, NASB95)
And Paul based his ministry on it. “Paul, a bond-servant of
God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and
the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, in the hope of
eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago, but at the
proper time manifested, even His word, in the proclamation with which I was
entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior,” (Titus 1:1–3,
NASB95)
Sarah wrote today in “Jesus Calling” about the fiery attacks
on our minds. These attacks can come in a variety of ways, with one of the common
ways having to do with whether or not we matter to God, whether He really does
pay attention to us and has fully accepted us and is pleased with us. As we
reflect on the extent to which our God went to show His love and to prove His
faithfulness we can be encouraged in seeing His promises kept as they prove Him
faithful to continue to do so even for us.
“The law of the Lord
is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; The
commandment of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes; The fear of the Lord
is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired
are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the
honeycomb.” (Psalm 19:7–10, NKJV)
Today in “Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young (12/3)
Do not be surprised by the fiery attacks on your mind. When
you struggle to find Me and to live in My Peace, don’t let discouragement set
in. You are engaged in massive warfare, spiritually speaking. The evil one
abhors your closeness to Me, and his demonic underlings are determined to
destroy our intimacy. When you find yourself in the thick of battle, call upon
My Name: “Jesus, help me!” At that instant, the battle becomes mine; your role
is simply to trust Me as I fight for you.
My Name, properly used, has unlimited Power to bless and
protect. At the end of time, every knee will bow (in heaven, on earth, and
under the earth), when My Name is proclaimed. People who have used “Jesus” as a
shoddy swear word will fall down in terror on that awesome day. But all those
who have drawn near Me through trusting uttering My Name will be filled with
Inexpressible and glorious Joy. This is your great hope, as you await My
return.
Ephesians 6:12. “For our struggle is not against flesh and
blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of
this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly
realms.”
1 Samuel 17:47. “All those gathered here will know that it
is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s….”
Philippians 2:9-10. “Therefore God exalted him to the
highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name
of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth.”
1 Peter 1:8-9. “and though you have not seen Him, you love
Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice
with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your
faith the salvation of your souls.”
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