March 20, 2010 (Matthew 1-4, Mark 1, Luke 1-5, John 1)

And now to begin the New Testament. I read quite a bit this am because I've fallen behind as of late. I won't list them all, but these chapters are LOADED with fulfilled prophecies, from the virgin birth of Christ, to Him being sent to Egypt and then called from there, etc., etc., etc. I won't list them all, but I was struck with the prophets predictions and then fulfillment. The other thing that I was struck with again, is the lineage of Jesus. Matthew describes the lineage from Mary. Instead of listing all the people in between, here are the first and the last:

^{Matthew 1:1} This is a record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of David and of Abraham: ² Abraham was the father of Isaac.
Isaac was the father of Jacob.
Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers.

¹⁵ Eliud was the father of Eleazar.
Eleazar was the father of Matthan.
Matthan was the father of Jacob.
¹⁶ Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary.
Mary gave birth to Jesus, who is called the Messiah.

¹⁷ All those listed above include fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the Babylonian exile, and fourteen from the Babylonian exile to the Messiah.

At first I just copied verse 16, but that was confusing because 'Jacob' was listed there as well...it was a different 'Jacob'. I included verse 17 because I was struck by the 'plan' of God - three sets of fourteen generations listed. God has a plan, and it is all according to His time.

And then the lineage of Jesus through Joseph:

^{Luke 3:23} Jesus was about thirty years old when he began his public ministry. Jesus was known as the son of Joseph.
Joseph was the son of Heli.

³⁸ Kenan was the son of Enosh.
Enosh was the son of Seth.
Seth was the son of Adam.
Adam was the son of God.

Pretty fascinating, actually. Joseph was a descendant of Adam, Mary was a descendant of Abraham.

I think my favorite part today was from John. Just one little chapter from John, but so rich in content:

John 1

Prologue: Christ, the Eternal Word

¹ In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
² He existed in the beginning with God.
³ God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
⁴ The Word gave life to everything that was created,
and his life brought light to everyone.
⁵ The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it.

¹⁰ He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. ¹¹ He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. ¹² But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. ¹³ They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

¹⁴ So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

¹⁵ John testified about him when he shouted to the crowds, “This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘Someone is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.’”

¹⁶ From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.

These words are enough. To really grasp their meaning is the truth of the 'gospel' - the good news of Jesus Christ.