Scripture: St. Matthew 1:1-17 (NKJV)
1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of
Abraham: 2 Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and
his brothers. 3 Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and
Hezron begot Ram. 4 Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon
begot Salmon. 5 Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot
Jesse, 6 and Jesse begot David the king. David the king begot Solomon by her
who had been the wife of Uriah. 7 Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot
Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa. 8 Asa begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram,
and Joram begot Uzziah. 9 Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz
begot Hezekiah. 10 Hezekiah begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot Amon, and Amon begot
Josiah. 11 Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were
carried away to Babylon. 12 And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah
begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel. 13 Zerubbabel begot Abiud,
Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor. 14 Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot
Achim, and Achim begot Eliud. 15 Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Matthan,
and Matthan begot Jacob. 16 And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom
was born Jesus who is called Christ. 17 So all the generations from Abraham to
David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are
fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are
fourteen generations.
Devotion
The genealogy of Jesus Christ emphasizes two important points. The first is
that God keeps His promises. And the second is that His work of our salvation
is a true flesh and blood reality.
Our Lord does not make idle promises, nor does He forget about the promises He
makes. Reflecting on Jesus’ genealogy shows how God guided and protected His
chosen people so that Satan would truly be crushed and defeated. His promise
was made to Adam and Eve after they fell into sin. It was affirmed in Abraham,
whose offspring would make a mighty kingdom and nation. It was further
magnified in King David and the glory that God accomplished through him. All
these things were part of God’s gracious revelation that He would truly deliver
His Son at the proper place and time to bring about the salvation of mankind!
Secondly, the work of our salvation from death and sin is not mere philosophy.
It is not a matter of a fickle deity just changing his mind and saying, “It’s
ok, I changed my mind.” The wages of our sin is death. And rather than be a
liar and go against the order of things He established at creation, He paid the
price of that death Himself. Real people committed real sins throughout
history, and it required real blood and real death. Jesus Christ was true man
with a real lineage and real flesh and blood. So His death was real as well,
which makes our salvation real!
We pray: Lord God, endless thanks and praise be to You on account of Your mercy
shown to us in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Make us always to remember the reality
of our Lord’s life and death, which brings us true forgiveness. Amen.
The Lutheran Herald is a publication of the Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of
North America. These daily devotions are authored by the bishop, pastors, and
deacons of the diocese. Daily posts are provided by The Reverend Jeffrey A.
Ahonen.
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