Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Question:  Why are there two different genealogies for Jesus in Matthew 1 and Luke 3?

Both Matthew 1 and Luke 3 contain genealogies of Jesus. But there is one problem. They are different.  Some point to these differences as evidence of errors in the Bible. However, the Jews were meticulous record keepers, especially in regard to genealogies. It is extremely doubtful that Matthew and Luke could build two entirely contradictory genealogies of the same lineage.

Luke's genealogy starts at Adam and goes to David. Matthew's genealogy starts at Abraham and goes to David. When the two genealogies arrive at David, they split with David's sons: Nathan (Mary's side) and Solomon (Joseph's side).

There are several different explanations for these two genealogies, but most New Testament scholars believe that Luke is recording Mary’s genealogy and Matthew is recording Joseph’s.

These two chapters may at first appear to be contradictory. Actually, however, they complement each other.

The genealogy in Matthew 1 is clearly that of Joseph, Mary's husband. Matthew records it for legal purposes. He is writing to prove to the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah, and the Jews' custom in keeping records is to trace descent through the father. Legally, the Jews of Jesus' day looked on Jesus as a son of Joseph. Also, Joseph's lineage is given to emphasize the fact that Jesus had been born of a virgin. Because of a curse that God placed on one of Joseph's ancestors, Jesus could never sit upon the throne of David if Joseph had been His natural father.

Jechonias, Matthew 1:11-12, called Coniah in Jeremiah 22:24-30, was so evil God cursed him and his descendants, saying, "Write this man down as childless, . . . for none of his descendants shall prosper, sitting on the throne of David, and ruling anymore in Judah" (verse 30). Jeconiah, as his name is spelled in the Old Testament, had children (1 Chronicles 3:17), but he was childless insofar as none of his descendants ruled as king over Judah.

How, then, could Jesus be a descendant of David and qualify to sit on the throne? Enter the genealogy in Luke 3, which is Mary's. According to Jewish usage, Mary's ancestry is given in her husband's name. The original Greek merely says Joseph was "of Heli" or Eli (verse 23). In fact, since Joseph's father is said to be Jacob in Matthew 1:6, Heli is most likely Mary's father. Joseph, then, is his son-in-law.

Unlike Joseph's lineage, there was no block in Mary's genealogy to Jesus sitting on the throne of David. Mary's descent from David comes through his son Nathan, not Solomon or one of David's other children (Luke 3:31). To fulfill His promise to establish David's throne forever, God honored Nathan by making him the ancestor of the promised King who would sit on David's throne throughout eternity (Luke 1:31-33).

But how could Mary transmit David's royal inheritance (the right to the throne) to her Son, since all inheritances had to pass through the male line? According to Israel's law, when a daughter is the only heir, she can inherit her father's possessions and rights if she marries within her own tribe (Numbers 27:1-8; 36:6-8). There is no record that Mary had any brothers to inherit her father's possessions and rights. Thus, Joseph became Heli's heir by marriage to Mary, inheriting the right to rule on David's throne, even over Judah. This right then passed on to Jesus.

Both genealogies had to be recorded to establish Christ's right to rule on David's throne. Joseph's genealogy shows that Christ was a legal descendant of Jeconiah and thus legally could not sit on the throne of David in the nation Judah by inheriting the right solely through Joseph.

Notice that Luke's first three chapters mention Mary eleven times, hence, the genealogy from her.  Tracing a genealogy through the mother’s side is unusual, but so was the virgin birth. One of the most amazing facts about these two accounts is that the genealogies prove the virgin birth!  The curse on Jeconiah's line would have passed on to Christ if He were Joseph's natural son, but He was not!  He was the Son of God the Father, begotten by the Holy Spirit!

Pastor Jeff Frazier

Monday, February 8, 2016

Back in September, over 1,500 of us read through The Story of Jesus--a chronological arrangement of the New Testament Gospel accounts of His life.  Since that time, I have received numerous e-mails and had many conversations with people who are asking questions--questions about the meaning of God’s Word, questions about how to make sense of confusing passages, questions about why Jesus did and said certain things and why He didn’t do or say other things, question about who Jesus really is.

I even had one woman say to me that after reading The Story of Jesus, she felt like she was discovering a Jesus who was completely different from the Jesus she grew up learning about in church.

First of all, let me say that I believe questions are good!  I also believe we (the Christian church) have not always been very helpful to those who question. 

One of the reasons that questions about Jesus, God, and the Bible can feel so unsettling is that we assume that if we have questions, then we must be doubting God, and of course a good Christian should never doubt - right?  

Hmmmmm, well no, actually!

Author Frederich Buechner has written that the opposite of faith is not doubt, but fear.  I think he is quite right.  "Do not fear" (or a variation of that phrase) is the most frequently given command in the Bible, but do you know that in all of the Bible (Old & New Testament) there is not one single command that says “thou shalt not ask questions”?  There are a few places in the New Testament where Jesus tells us not to doubt, but this is always in an effort to help us overcome our questions and doubts, not because our doubts are wrong or sinful.

Perhaps the most famous doubter/questioner in all of the Bible is a fellow we have come to know as “Doubting Thomas”.  How would you like that to be your nickname throughout history?  The story of Thomas is a fascinating one.  He hears from some of the disciples that Jesus has risen from the grave, and he can’t believe it.  Being a very practical man, he says that he needs proof,  But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” (John 20:25)

John tells us that just eight days later, Jesus shows up!  He appears to His disciples and this time, Thomas is in the room.  Now let me ask you a question.  If it were a sin to doubt, then how would you expect Jesus to deal with Thomas?  Rebuke him?  Tell him how wrong he was to question or doubt?  Maybe use him as an example for the other disciples of what not to do?

Let’s look closely at how Jesus actually addresses Thomas...

Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” (John 20:27)

Interesting...no rebuke, no condemnation, no saying “I told you so!”  Jesus does in fact call Thomas to stop doubting, but only after He addresses his very questions and doubts.  Do you see what is happening here?  Jesus meets the doubter at the very place of his doubts.  This is precisely how God wants to deal with all of us who question and doubt.  He wants to grow our faith through the very issue(s) we think are holding us back!

By the way, it is important to see how Thomas responds to this encounter with Jesus.

Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”  (John 20:28) 

Apparently he isn’t a doubter anymore.  Maybe we should stop referring to him as “Doubting Thomas”, and start calling him “Trusting Thomas”!

Over the next couple of weeks, I am going to post some of the questions that I have been asked about Jesus and the Bible, and I will try my best to offer thoughtful answers.  Some of these questions are related to specific details in the Bible; others are more general in nature.  Now, I am certainly no “Bible answer man”, and I will not be able to answer every question.  My hope is that those of you who have questions will be encouraged not to bury your questions, but to keep asking and seeking through them.

Frederich Buechner has also written that “doubts are the ants in the pants of faith.”  Again, I think he is quite right.

Pastor Jeff Frazier

Friday, February 5, 2016

James 5:13-16

Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

To wrap up our series on The Story of Jesus: The Healer, here are some final thoughts:

Several years ago, my father suffered a major stroke (technically a “subarachnoid hemorrhage”). The first doctor who examined him told my brother there was “zero chance of meaningful recovery.” Eventually another doctor revised that prognosis and told us he believed that my father’s condition could be reversed with an appropriate surgical procedure. We authorized the procedure and we prayed. Within 24 hours my father woke up from a coma and within a month he was driving a car and working again. We praised God.

Less than a month later a woman approached me after a worship service and told me that her father had experienced a similar stroke but that, despite their desperate prayers for healing and recovery, he had never regained consciousness. 

I can’t begin to estimate how many times I have been privileged to pray with and for people who are sick. I’ve prayed in hospitals and in homes; for those who want to be restored to physical health and for those who long to be released from this earthly life. Some people that I have prayed with have recovered completely. Some have died. Some got better for a while then got sick again and died. I don’t have any idea how many people I have prayed with God has chosen to heal; and I don’t know why he chose not to heal so many. But I do know that he has invited us to pray for physical healing. James writes:

Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up.

Is James saying that every sick person will get well if we pray following his instruction? Is there special healing power in the oil he talks about? Is this a “prayer formula” that, if followed in detail, will result in physical healing every time? These are good questions.

One of the basic rules for interpreting any particular passage of Scripture is to understand it in the context of God’s word a as whole.

We know, for example, that Jesus did not heal every sick person that he came across. In John 5 he walks through a whole crowd of sick and infirm people and chooses one paralyzed man to speak to and ultimately heal.

We can also assume that those Jesus did heal eventually experienced physical death from some other cause. 

We also know that although every human life is created by God and is precious in his sight, this earthly life pales in comparison to the eternal life that awaits those who die in faith.

The Apostle Paul writes:

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Phil. 1:21

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 2 Cor. 4:17

So I don’t think James is offering a guarantee of physical healing through prayer. But I think he is saying that prayer gives us access to the God who has both the power and authority to heal the sick.

As the creator of all life, God can and does heal. Sometimes he heals through what we would call “natural processes”; the human body’s seemingly natural ability to heal (but which was created by God to do so). Sometimes he heals through the medical sciences, which also are a gift from his hand. Sometimes he heals supernaturally; that is, as a response to prayer that we do not fully comprehend from our human perspective. And sometimes the healing he brings is not physical and temporary (as all physical healing is temporary), but spiritually and eternally.

James simply wants us to know that when we are sick we are invited to pray for healing. What an unspeakable privilege of faith; what a wonderful blessing of the gospel!

Pastor Brian Coffey

Thursday, February 4, 2016

Luke 17:11-19

Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.

One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him – and he was a Samaritan.

Many great short stories contain a surprise – that is, an outcome that we don’t see coming, but makes the story memorable.

This brief story, only nine verses in length, actually packs three surprises – each greater than the one before.

The first surprise is that ten lepers are made clean through faith in Jesus. In that day, leprosy was believed to be both some kind of punishment from God and incurable. Yet, these ten afflicted men come to Jesus begging for mercy and go to show themselves to the priests (the only people in that culture who could proclaim them to be clean) trusting only on the word of Jesus. He said so. So they did. And they were healed.

The second surprise is that although ten men were cleansed from the suffering, humiliation, and hopelessness of leprosy, only one returned to thank Jesus. Even Jesus himself seems mildly surprised at the missing nine. “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?” Jesus asked.

The third surprise doesn’t come across nearly as strongly to us as it would have in that time and place. The great surprise is that the man who came to offer his praise and worship was a Samaritan. Most of us have heard or read about the animosity that existed between Jews and Samaritans in Jesus’ day. Samaritans were considered “unclean” by the Jews and therefore were disqualified from worship in the presence of God. So for this Samaritan and former leper to wind up worshiping at the feet of Jesus is a shocker indeed!

What does this tell us about the Samaritan? What does this tell us about Jesus? What can we learn about ourselves?

It tells us the Samaritan no longer cared about the centuries-old prejudice that rendered him unworthy to worship. He was clean, he was overflowing with gratitude, and he worshiped with both humility and unbridled joy.

It tells us Jesus loves us as we are, spiritual leprosy and all, and offers to make us clean again. It tells us Jesus will receive our praise and thanksgiving no matter what labels we have been placed on us by others.

Take time today to return to Jesus the praise and thanksgiving due His name.

Pastor Brian Coffey

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Luke 17:11-19
Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.

Think for just a minute about the last time you were really dirty. Maybe you spent a day cleaning out the attic, or digging up your garden. Whatever you were doing, you probably ended up sweaty, smelly, and just plain dirty.

I remember being on a mission trip in the Dominican Republic with high school students one summer when our primary work was mixing concrete by hand in 95 degree heat. By the end of the day I thought my clothes might walk away by themselves. Since there were no shower facilities, we had to bathe by walking nearly a mile to a river where we lathered up next to curious Dominican women who were washing clothes. It didn’t matter to us that we looked funny or out of place; it just felt so good to be clean!

To be a leper meant to be “unclean.” By the requirements of ancient Jewish law, a leper had to keep a distance from “clean” folks, and whenever coming within earshot, a leper had to cry out, “Unclean! Unclean!” to warn the healthy population of the danger that was approaching. To be a leper, then, meant to feel oneself to be perpetually and publicly dirty, unwelcome, and untouchable. Imagine, then, what it felt like when these men, while on their way to the priests, looked down at the skin of their arms and hands and saw no more lesions or sores! Imagine what it felt like to be clean again!

Notice that Jesus didn’t heal the men right away. He told them to go show themselves to the priests. Think about this for a second. This was a very dangerous proposition. In the Jewish way of doing things, the priests were the very ones who had made the diagnosis of leprosy in the first place. To ask for another audience with the priests and to still be leprous was to risk serious consequences. But they go because Jesus told them to go. They had put their faith in Jesus: lock, stock, and barrel. In other words, their faith led to obedience, and their obedience led to their healing.

There is a lesson in here for us. Have you come to Jesus in all your uncleanness, crying out for his mercy and grace? Have you trusted him completely to make you clean? Have you begun to live out your new identity in obedience and gratitude to him?

Pastor Brian Coffey

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Mark 1:40-42

A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”

Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said, “Be clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.

The movie 42 tells the story of Jackie Robinson breaking the so-called “color barrier” in major league baseball. I enjoy these types of movies because I have always loved baseball history.

The film contains a scene that depicts an incident that happened in 1947 as Robinson was in his first season with the Dodgers and facing withering abuse from many who objected to an African American playing in the big leagues. 

Early that season, the Dodgers were playing the Cincinnati Reds in Cincinnati and fans were jeering at Robinson without mercy. Harold “Pee Wee” Reese, the Dodgers’ captain and Hall of Fame shortstop (a white ballplayer from Kentucky) walked across the baseball diamond from his position at shortstop, approached Robinson (who was playing first base at the time) and put his arm around his shoulder in a public display of friendship. As the story goes, the jeering stopped, Reese returned to his position and the game went on.

That story is related in an odd sort of way to the story of Jesus and the man with leprosy.

A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”

Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said, “Be clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.

It’s easy to read this story and see only the miracle of the man being healed from leprosy. And, of course, it is a story about healing. But it’s also more than that. It’s a story about compassion. 

In Jesus’ day leprosy was seen as a dangerous and highly contagious disease. It was also seen as a kind of curse. The religious law of the day required those infected with the disease to be quarantined from the general population. Lepers were considered to be not only contagious, but spiritually “unclean” as well and were prohibited from worshiping in the temple. If a “clean” person came into contact with a leper, he or she also became unclean and had to go through a rigorous cleansing process.

But, in his compassion, Jesus completely ignores all those religious rules. He reached out and touched a leprous man. And the man was healed.

Did Jesus have to touch the man to heal him? No. Jesus healed other people without touching them and sometimes without even being near them. But he touched this man.

Why?

Perhaps Jesus touched the man in order to demonstrate to the man that, even though a leper, he was still touchable. Perhaps he chose to touch the man as a tangible demonstration of God’s love. Maybe Jesus’ main point was to show those watching that genuine compassion was more important than religious rules. I think it was likely for all the above reasons and probably even a few more that I have missed.

This beautiful story makes me think about the “untouchable” people in my world. Who are the people that, for one reason or another, we tend to regard as contagious or repulsive in some way?

While it might be a bit dangerous to do so, here’s a short list of those we tend to treat as “lepers” in that we prefer not to come into contact with them – or even be near them.

Those convicted of crimes.

Those addicted to drugs or alcohol.

Those who suffer from mental illness.

Those who are homeless.

Those who identify themselves as homosexual.

Okay, I think you get the point. The truth is I could go on and on and still never mention the kind of person that you, personally, tend to see as “untouchable.”

In 1947, Jackie Robinson would have been considered untouchable by someone from Pee Wee Reese’s background just because of his race. But that didn’t matter to Reese.

And in Jesus day, a leper was considered untouchable in Jewish culture. But that didn’t matter to Jesus.

So what is it that shouldn’t matter to us?

What is it that shouldn’t matter to you?

Who are the people around you that you tend to regard as untouchable but are actually those that Jesus wants to touch through you?

Pastor Brian Coffey

Monday, February 1, 2016

1 John 1:7-9

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

One year for Christmas, I received a new white dress shirt from my wife. Now I already had a white dress shirt that I wore every now and then on Sundays, but over time even a white shirt fades a little, so I was happy to get a nice, crisp, clean new white dress shirt!

I made sure to wear that new white shirt the very first Sunday after Christmas; and I have to say it looked pretty sharp along with my new Christmas sweater! But somewhere during the morning, I took a pen out of my coat pocket, made some notes, then put it back in my shirt pocket….but without the cap back on the pen. 

When I got home after church, I took off my jacket and saw the huge ink stain on my brand new white dress shirt. With much chagrin I showed my ruined new shirt to my wife. She immediately applied every stain-removal product at her disposal and sent it through the washer at least a couple of times. But, alas, she couldn’t get the stain completely out.

I could still wear my new shirt, but only with a sweater or jacket that hides the stain.

There is a very obvious illustration in my stained dress shirt, and I’m sure you can see it. We are like the shirt and sin is the stain--and we are all stained. The question is: How do we get the stain out?

In 1 John we read:

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

Back to my stained shirt for a moment. My wife was able to get most of that stain out; enough, at least, so that I could continue to wear the shirt so long as I cover the remnant of the stain. I think that’s how we sometimes think about the forgiveness of Christ. We know that he forgives us, but we struggle to feel completely forgiven. In a sense we still feel stained; we still carry remnants of our sin with us, and we work hard to hide those stains because we do not feel cleansed.

What if my wife had at her disposal a cleaning product that could not only completely remove the ink stain, but restore the very fabric of the shirt to its pristine original condition? What if there was a cleaning product that not only removed the stain, restored the fabric, but caused me to forget that the stain ever even occurred in the first place? Now that’s a good cleaning product!

That’s what the blood of Christ does! The Greek word translated “purify” in 1 John 1:7 is katharitzo (from which we get our English word, “catharsis”) and it means to cleanse from all impurity. It’s the word used to describe what the leper asks Jesus to do for him in Matthew 8:

“Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said, “be clean.”

This is the kind of cleansing that God promised through the prophet Isaiah:

Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow… Isaiah 1:18

See that? Not kind off white, not mostly white, but white as snow. God is telling us that by the blood of Jesus the stain of our sin is not somewhat removed, not mostly removed, but it is completely removed! 

In Hebrews 8:12 we read:

“For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

So why hang on to remnants of that which God no longer remembers? 

The old hymn writer said it well:

What can wash away my sin? 

Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

Pastor Brian Coffey