Posted in Luke, Matthew

Different Genealogies

Posted on by Tom Flaherty

Matthew 1:16 “… and to Jacob was born Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.”

Matthew 1:6 “… and to David was born Solomon…”

Luke 3:23 “And when He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, being supposedly the son of Joseph, the son of Heli…”

Luke 3:31 “… the son of Nathan, the son of David…”

Critics of the gospel accounts of Jesus birth have often pointed out the different genealogies given by Matthew and Luke. How do we reconcile two completely different lists that have nothing in common except for David and Joseph? The answer is quite simple if we look at the goals of the two authors.

Matthew is writing to Jews and wants to present Jesus to them as their king. He traces the lineage of Jesus from Abraham through David and then through David’s son Solomon all the way to Joseph. Joseph was a direct descendant of the kings which means that Jesus Himself is in that line. Matthew tells Joseph’s story – how the angel appeared to him when he was going to divorce Mary; how God spoke to him to flee Bethlehem after the visit of the Magi; and how God spoke to him again when they were in Egypt and it was time to return to Israel. It is only fitting that he gives the genealogy of Joseph which is what he does.

Luke is writing to Greeks and presenting Jesus as the Son of man – the ideal man. He traces the lineage of Jesus from Adam through David and then through David’s son Nathan all the way to Joseph: “the son of Heli.” Luke says Jesus is “supposedly the son of Joseph.” Supposedly, yet he isn’t really; he’s only the son of Mary. Luke tells Mary’s story – how the angel appeared to her and said she would carry the Savior; he tells of her trip to Elizabeth’s and about her famous prayer; and then he tells of the visit of the angels at the birth and how Mary, “pondered these things in her heart.” It is only fitting that Luke would give the genealogy of Mary who is also a descendant of David and that is what he does.

There is no word in Koine Greek for “son-in-law.” If you were describing someone as a son-in-law you would just use the word “son” which is what Luke does here. Joseph’s father was Jacob; his father-in-law, Mary’s father, was Heli. In the Greek, Joseph could be described as being both the son of Jacob and the son of Heli with no contradiction.

Posted in John, Luke, Nehemiah, Psalms

Great Joy

Posted on by Tom Flaherty

“Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy; which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:10-11

The angel made a few things clear to the shepherds on that first Christmas evening. One was that the good news he was proclaiming would bring great joy when it was properly received. Two was that the good news was for everyone who would receive it, not just for the Jews, or for a select remnant, but for “all the people.” Third, although the good news was comprehensive, it was also personal, because the Savior was born, “for you.” They weren’t going to the manger to witness something that was for someone else only, but to see the One born for them.

God doesn’t really give joy away, He only shares it. “In His Presence is fullness of joy…” (Psalm 16:11) You only get joy when you get near God because the joy you feel is His. Jesus said, “These things I have spoken that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:11) We share in His joy when we get close enough to Him to experience it. “The joy of the Lord is your strength…” (Nehemiah 8:10) Not “…joy is your strength”, but God’s joy is your strength. He doesn’t give it away, He invites us into it.

These rabbinic shepherds in Bethlehem were watching over the lambs that would be used in the temple for sacrifice. The blood of these lambs would make it possible for God to be in covenant with sinful people, but it was an imperfect covenant because the sacrifices kept having to be made year after year. The good news announced that first Christmas was that another Lamb was born, a human One, who would take away the sins of the world. Great joy comes from recognizing God loves us, Jesus came for us,  and died to bring us into the very presence of the joyful God.

Let’s believe this Christmas, and let’s get close, so that His joy overflows through us to a world that needs to see God’s smile.

Posted in Luke

Mary’s Faith

Posted on by Tom Flaherty

“Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.” Luke 1:4

When Elizabeth gives this greeting to Mary I think she is contrasting Mary’s faith in the word of the Lord, to her husband’s unbelief. Before we look at the example of Mary’s faith, I want to look at why sometimes it’s hard to believe.  Zacharias asked this question to the angel who appeared to him and said he and his wife were going to have a baby: “How will I know this for certain? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years.” (Luke 1:18) This question led to this response from the angel: “You shall be unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.” (Luke 1:20)

What was behind Zacharias’ unbelief? I think he didn’t want to become vulnerable again by believing, only to have his and his wife’s hopes for a baby go unfulfilled. The great disappointment of their marriage was that they hadn’t been able to have children. How many times had they prayed and believed God for a child? When they were young I bet their hopes were high and their anticipation was great. When it didn’t happen right away I can imagine they had the local rabbi pray for them, as well as anyone else who was close to them, yet in all their longing and all their praying, there was still no child. Every time they heard a baby cry they were reminded that they couldn’t have children. Every time someone else rejoiced over the news that they were pregnant, they were empty inside, even as they offered congratulations. It is easy when our prayers seem to go unanswered to assume they were not heard, and then in an act of self protection from disappointment, harden our hearts. 

Let’s look at Mary’s faith. She was convinced of God’s love and mercy toward her. (Luke 1:50) She believed that God’s word was true and that it would be fulfilled even if she couldn’t understand how God would do it. (Luke 1:34) She refused to believe that God only did things in the past, but was confident He was present, powerful, and active in her day, wanting to extend His mighty arm for the humble and to fill the desperate with good things from His generous heart. (Luke 1:51; 53) She also had a tender heart that was ready to believe whatever the Lord might speak to her.

Where are you at? Have you hardened your heart because life isn’t working out the way you hoped? Maybe the Lord wants to do something wonderful for you and is waiting for you to soften your heart again.

Posted in Galatians

Redemption!

Posted on by Tom Flaherty

“But when the set time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.” Galatians 4:4-5

To redeem something means to bring it back from its broken or ruined state by restoring it.  After our sin, God could have started over, but He chose instead to redeem.

A few years ago we had our VW Passat fixed from a problem it had with overheating.  The first time I drove it after the “fix” was to a place about an hour away where it promptly broke down.  We had it towed from there to a local mechanic who told me the engine was destroyed, and said  he wouldn’t even work on it.  We then had it towed back to our mechanic in Madison.

After running tests on it, our mechanic explained what had happened, and owned their mistake.  He said that he learned in his analysis that there was a catch underneath this specific engine that collected waste, and at some point it had become too much. When the engine was idling it looked fine, so they thought the problem was solved, but when I drove it away the waste was carried back up into the engine and caused the irreparable damage.

It was a 2003 model, so the book value wasn’t much.  He said something like this to me: “I could give you a check for $2,000, and you could put that toward a different vehicle, or you could buy a new engine (at a much reduced cost) and I would put it in for free.”

It would have been easy to take his check, but I still saw a lot of value in that old car.  I chose redemption instead of starting over.  So did God, and it wasn’t cheap.  At just the right time in history, Jesus was born so He could die on a cross and pay for our redemption.  The Son became a Savior, so we could become the very children of God.

This is the “good news of great joy!”

Posted in Luke

Preparation

Posted on by Tom Flaherty

“And you, my son, will be called the prophet of the most High, because you will prepare the way for the Lord.” Luke 1:76

There had been no prophet in Israel for 400 years.  Maybe Zechariah was a picture of all Israel when he refused to believe the angel who said he had come to promise a child in response to his prayers.  Maybe he was discouraged and had given up on those prayers from long ago when he and his wife were young?

We don’t know, but we do know that the judgment for not believing was silence that lasted the whole nine months of Elizabeth’s pregnancy. The text above records some of the first words he spoke when God loosened his tongue at his son’s (John the Baptist) birth.

When the silence was broken, Luke tells us, “Awe fell upon the whole neighborhood, and the news of what had happened spread throughout the Judean hills.  Everyone who heard about it reflected on these events and asked, ‘What will this child turn out to be?’” (Luke 1:65-66)

God uses silence in our lives to produce a longing for Him.  Are there prayers you have given up on?  Don’t interpret delay as God’s absence or disinterest; He is planning something bigger that is not just for us, but also for those we influence.  John the Baptist’s birth was part of preparing hearts for Jesus.  “God is doing something,” was the feeling in the air.  “We may not know what, but He is moving.”  God is wanting to prepare us in this time for something more than what man is doing or not doing.

Lift your eyes higher than politicians, higher than family, and higher than your own fears and failures.  God is alive and He is wanting to pour out His Spirit in this hour if only we will ask and prepare for Him. (Luke 11:13)

Let’s plan on having the best Christmas ever because we’ve asked God to break through the commercialism and cynicism of our day to reveal Jesus afresh to waiting hearts.  “Let every heart prepare Him room.”

Posted in John, Romans

The Condition of Mercy

Posted on by Tom Flaherty

“I will have mercy on those I have mercy…” Romans 9:15

There is a tradition of theology that believes there is no condition human beings can meet to receive God’s mercy.  They believe that before time, God sovereignly chose those who He would have mercy on.  These are the elect and believe in Jesus only because God chose them to believe in Jesus.  Paul’s argument in Romans 9 is key to this theology: “It does not depend on man who runs or wills, but on God who has mercy.” (Romans 9:16)

Although I have many friends in this tradition, I disagree with their interpretation of the argument Paul is making in Romans 9.  I believe Paul is using dynamite to blow up the present Jewish thinking before laying down God’s provision for mercy.

The Jews are certain that God has to give mercy to those who are seeking to follow the law.  Paul makes it clear that God doesn’t have to give mercy to anyone.  He is the Potter and we are the clay, and the clay doesn’t have the right to question the Potter about what he’s making.  Even if God arbitrarily chooses to make some of us objects of His mercy, and others objects of His wrath, we would have no “right” to question Him.  God decides who He has mercy on, not us.

So who does He choose?  Paul comes to his point: “So the Gentiles who weren’t seeking to be right with God, found Him.  Why?  Because of faith.  While the Jews who were seeking to be right with God, didn’t find Him.  Why?  Because they sought Him by works instead of by faith.  They stumbled over the great rock in their path.  God warned them of this in the Scriptures when He said,  ‘Behold, I place a stone in Zion that makes people stumble, a rock that makes them fall.  But anyone who believes in Him will never be disgraced.’” (Romans 9:30-33)

God is not arbitrary!  He sent Jesus to die for the world, and anyone who believes in Him will receive the mercy of God and eternal life. (John 3:16)  Those who reject Him will stumble over the One who was sent for them.  The whole argument Paul makes doesn’t conclude until the end of chapter 11 where He gives God’s heart one more time: “For God has imprisoned everyone in disobedience so He could have mercy on everyone.” (Romans 11:32)

Jesus didn’t just die for the elect; He died for everyone!  If we meet His condition for mercy we can be assured that we are one of those He chooses.

Posted in Ephesians

Receiving God’s Love

Posted on by Tom Flaherty

“For this reason I pray to the Father… that your roots will go down into God’s love and keep you strong.  And may you have the power to understand… how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is.” Ephesians 3:14; 17

A few years ago I had the privilege of doing a youth retreat in another city.  During a session I called a young woman out and asked her name, then gave her this word: “When Samuel went to the house of Jesse to anoint one of his sons as king, Jesse had overlooked his son, David.  David wasn’t even invited to the feast.  But God’s eye was on David; God saw him and God wants you to know that He sees you.”  Later that night, after I preached, I invited any who wanted to drink of the Spirit to come up and receive prayer.  This young woman came up and when I prayed the Holy Spirit touched her in a dramatic way as He was touching many others.

 I didn’t know what God was doing in her until the pastor of that church was driving me back to the airport on Monday morning.  He told me that she had told her mom on the way to church (we were back from the retreat by then) that she had a new peace and felt different.  Her mom shared this with the pastor because to her this was a miracle. She had sent her daughter on this retreat out of desperation.

This girl had grown up in a single parent home and had become wild and agitated all the time.  There was nothing the mom who loved her could do to help.  Others had tried to help, but it didn’t seem to change anything.  Yet God saw her.  God spoke to her.  God touched her and that changed everything.

 Maybe you’ve been overlooked by people and have felt small and rejected.  Please know God’s loving eye is on you.  Why not open up your heart again and ask Him to speak to you and touch you in a new way?

Posted in Hebrews, Mark, Matthew, Revelation

Wake Up!

Posted on by Tom Flaherty

“You have a reputation of being alive but you are dead.  Wake up!… Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly.  Repent and turn to Me again.  If you don’t wake up, I will come to you suddenly, as unexpected as a thief.” Revelation 3:1-3

 The Christian life is a long journey at night.  God has ordained that we would have to choose Him in a world of moral darkness that is opposed to the gospel, so that those who choose Him in the dark will never reject Him in eternity when we see Him in the light.  But we have to stay awake!

 Presumption put the church at Sardis asleep.  They had a reputation of being alive, probably gained by past experiences of life and reflected by a doctrine of life, yet in reality, they had become dead.  Like the foolish virgins (See Matthew 25) they presumed that the oil they received at the beginning would be enough, so they didn’t bother to keep their relationship with God fresh.

 America is one of the most dangerous places in the world spiritually.  I’ve had missionaries tell me that they are glad they don’t live here because life is so easy and busy in America that they find it difficult to stay spiritually awake.  On the mission field they sense their absolute dependence on God’s protection and provision so it’s easy to trust Him day by day, but here they find the urgency to seek Him is lacking.

 The enemy seeks to put the church to sleep by the cares, worries, and pleasures of this life. (Mark 4:19)  Do you have a strategy to stay awake?  When I drive at night I make sure there is a passenger to help keep me from dozing off.  I believe God has given the church to be that spiritual passenger for each of us. (Hebrews 10:24-25).  There’s something about gathering together and hearing the word of God that reminds us of who we are, who God is, and of what’s truly important.  Are you part of a group where someone regularly asks you if you’re still awake?

Posted in Proverbs

Having Godly Sex

Posted on by Tom Flaherty

“Rejoice in the wife of your youth.  She is a loving deer, a graceful doe.  Let her breasts satisfy you always.  May you always be exhilarated by her love.”  Proverbs 5:18

 As a young husband filled with sexual desire I felt like my sexuality was in opposition to my relationship with God.  I often thought that if I was neutered I would be able to serve God better.  Then one day I read Proverbs 5:18 and my thinking began to change.  This passage is about exciting, passionate sex with no reference to having children.  I worshipped Him that day.  God is so good He even wants me to have an exhilarating sex life!

 How do we have godly sex?  First we have to wash our minds of all the ways the enemy has perverted sex and damaged the human race through its abuse.  For many, “godly sex,” is an oxymoron.  “God may allow sex because He wants us to procreate, but He probably looks the other way when we’re engaged in it because it’s beneath Him.”  Wrong!  God created sexuality and sex, just like He created taste buds.  He wanted us to look forward to meals and have our hearts filled with thanksgiving at the pleasure of eating when we are hungry.  He is the Author of pleasure.

 God created sexuality and sex because He wanted there to be regular celebrations of the intimacy we have in marriage.  Intimacy comes by the lifelong commitment of “leaving father and mother” to be joined to one another.  It’s not easy for two broken, sinful people to be committed for a lifetime to love one another, so God placed a hidden pleasure in the union.  Godly sex strengthens the union and makes faithfulness more than our duty; He wants it to be our delight.

Posted in 2Corinthians, Ephesians

The Call to Sexual Purity

Posted on by Tom Flaherty

“For I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God himself. I promised you as a pure bride to one husband—Christ.  But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent.” 2Corinthians 11:2-3

 Why has God given us sexual desire and attraction to the opposite sex and then commanded that we control that desire and attraction to save it only for our present or future spouse?  To get to the why of sexual purity we have to go back to why God made sex in the first place.  When we understand what it pictures we will more easily be able to accept and even delight in His call to sexual purity.

 In the text above, Paul says we are called to be the bride of Christ and have only eyes for Him; pure and undivided in our devotion.  In Ephesians 5:31-32 he says: “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.  This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.”  So marriage was created to speak of this higher relationship with Christ and human beings.

 The two become one not by intercourse but by this “leaving” all others, and this “joining” to only one another.  The two becoming one flesh, sexual intercourse, consummates and celebrates that shared devotion to only one another.  Why did God make sex fun?  Why did he give us desires that are fulfilled in this act of passion?  Because it represents the spiritual pleasure available to us in our union with Christ.  There is fullness of joy in His presence.  But our union to Him is not based on spiritual pleasure, but on His devotion to us and our singular devotion to Him.  Spiritual pleasures make it easier to stay devoted to Him, and it strengthens our resolve.  It makes our relationship more than a duty; He is our delight.

 God created sex within marriage to sweeten our commitment to our spouse, so they wouldn’t be our duty, but our delight. Our singular commitment to them pictures for all the world to see our commitment to Christ who left His Father’s home, took on flesh, died and rose again, just so we could be His forever.