Teenside Daily Devotional
3/24/20
Read Matthew 1:1-17.
My tendency whenever I stumble upon a genealogy in Scripture is to skip over it. They are usually just a long list of names that I can barely pronounce. I just want to get to the good stuff, the stories of Jesus and his teachings! However, I realized my mistake the first time that I read through the gospel of Matthew. Once I looked closer, I started to recognize quite a few big names on this list particularly. If you grew up going to VBS, or alternatively have read quite a bit of the Old Testament on your own, many different stories come to mind when you see names like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Ruth, or Solomon. Most of the time, these people are extremely faithful to God and His commands. Yet, there are also many times that they mess up. Scripture lifts them up as great people, their actions being counted to them as righteousness, but these are not perfect people. In Luke’s account of this genealogy, the list begins with Jesus ,instead of Abraham, and proceeds backwards all the way to Adam. In 1 Corinthians 15:45, Paul refers to Adam as the “first man Adam” and Jesus as the “last Adam”. This “first man” was brought into a perfect world, made by a perfect Creator, yet he, along with his wife, sought out sin and brought it into this world. The “last Adam,” Jesus Christ, entered an imperfect world of sin, and, against all odds, remained blameless, white as snow. He was a second chance at humanity being what it was created to be. Jesus was the one thing that none of the people he descended from, none of the people who followed, none of us could be: perfect. And this is the Jesus we will continue to read about throughout Matthew.
Questions:
Read Matthew 1:1-17.
My tendency whenever I stumble upon a genealogy in Scripture is to skip over it. They are usually just a long list of names that I can barely pronounce. I just want to get to the good stuff, the stories of Jesus and his teachings! However, I realized my mistake the first time that I read through the gospel of Matthew. Once I looked closer, I started to recognize quite a few big names on this list particularly. If you grew up going to VBS, or alternatively have read quite a bit of the Old Testament on your own, many different stories come to mind when you see names like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Ruth, or Solomon. Most of the time, these people are extremely faithful to God and His commands. Yet, there are also many times that they mess up. Scripture lifts them up as great people, their actions being counted to them as righteousness, but these are not perfect people. In Luke’s account of this genealogy, the list begins with Jesus ,instead of Abraham, and proceeds backwards all the way to Adam. In 1 Corinthians 15:45, Paul refers to Adam as the “first man Adam” and Jesus as the “last Adam”. This “first man” was brought into a perfect world, made by a perfect Creator, yet he, along with his wife, sought out sin and brought it into this world. The “last Adam,” Jesus Christ, entered an imperfect world of sin, and, against all odds, remained blameless, white as snow. He was a second chance at humanity being what it was created to be. Jesus was the one thing that none of the people he descended from, none of the people who followed, none of us could be: perfect. And this is the Jesus we will continue to read about throughout Matthew.
Questions:
- Notice that when we enter the scene in the lives of these men and women, they are often experiencing challenges. We see a highlight reel of their life including: the good, the bad, and the ugly. However, what stands out in each story is the choice that these men and women make. Will they, amidst uncertainty and hardship, choose to hold fast to God and the promises He’s made to Israel, or will they follow the people of their time and choose to walk away from God’s promises? At this time in your life, which choice seems easier to you? Why?
- A beautiful thing we see in the lineage of Jesus, as presented in Matthew, is the perfectness of Jesus surrounded by the imperfectness of people. Each person, at some point in their story, falls short to show the need for a perfect Savior. However, in addition to this, we also see that God uses imperfect people to advance His kingdom. In this season of life, how can God use you?
- What are some intentional steps you can take to be open to these opportunities?
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