7/2/12

And that is the rest of the story....



Sex; every one of us has had questions about it one time or another.  There are many ways of learning about it, some refined and others, well, crude to say the least.  "How did I get here"?(or the equivalent) is one question we all ask as we begin to comprehend the world around us.  I like the explanation above because it couches "an explanation" in modern technological terms that kids from the very tenderest of years can relate to.  But, what about Jesus? Here are a couple of different descriptions....

Matthew, Chapter 1
 1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.  2 Abraham became the father of Isaac. Isaac became the father of Jacob. Jacob became the father of Judah and his brothers. 3 Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar. Perez became the father of Hezron. Hezron became the father of Ram.  4 Ram became the father of Amminadab. Amminadab became the father of Nahshon. Nahshon became the father of Salmon.  5 Salmon became the father of Boaz by Rahab. Boaz became the father of Obed by Ruth. Obed became the father of Jesse.  6 Jesse became the father of King David. David became the father of Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah. 7 Solomon became the father of Rehoboam. Rehoboam became the father of Abijah. Abijah became the father of Asa.  8 Asa became the father of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat became the father of Joram. Joram became the father of Uzziah.  9 Uzziah became the father of Jotham. Jotham became the father of Ahaz. Ahaz became the father of Hezekiah.  10 Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh. Manasseh became the father of Amon. Amon became the father of Josiah. 11 Josiah became the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the exile to Babylon.  12 After the exile to Babylon, Jechoniah became the father of Shealtiel. Shealtiel became the father of Zerubbabel.  13 Zerubbabel became the father of Abiud. Abiud became the father of Eliakim. Eliakim became the father of Azor.  14 Azor became the father of Sadoc. Sadoc became the father of Achim. Achim became the father of Eliud.  15 Eliud became the father of Eleazar. Eleazar became the father of Matthan. Matthan became the father of Jacob.  16 Jacob became the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, from whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.  17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the exile to Babylon fourteen generations; and from the carrying away to Babylon to the Christ, fourteen generations.



  18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was like this; for after his mother, Mary, was engaged to Joseph, before they came together, she was found pregnant by the Holy Spirit.  19 Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, intended to put her away secretly.  20 But when he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take to yourself Mary, your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.  21 She shall bring forth a son. You shall call his name Jesus, for it is he who shall save his people from their sins.”



  22 Now all this has happened, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying,



  23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child,

and shall bring forth a son.





They shall call his name Immanuel;”

which is, being interpreted, “God with us.”





  24 Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took his wife to himself;

  24 Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took his wife to himself;  25 and didn’t know her sexually until she had brought forth her firstborn son. He named him Jesus.

Luke, chapter 3
  23 Jesus himself, when he began to teach, was about thirty years old, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli,  24 the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph,  25 the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai,  26 the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Joseph, the son of Judah, 27 the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri,  28 the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmodam, the son of Er,  29 the son of Jose, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi,  30 the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonan, the son of Eliakim,  31 the son of Melea, the son of Menan, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David,  32 the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon, 33 the son of Amminadab, the son of Aram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah,  34 the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,  35 the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah,  36 the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,  37 the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan,  38 the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

 The Jews saw their lives in terms of 1. The patriarchs (Abraham to David) 2. The Captivity in Babylon and 3. The return from the promised land until the time of the Christ (see verse 17 above).  They needed to know the propriety of his lineage and the supernatural nature of his creation.  They didn't need to know the "how to", for that wouldn't be proper to discuss. The Gentiles however (see the Lucan passage above) just needed to know his line of descent.  Again, no lurid descriptions.  Why?  Because most of the people of ancient times were agrarian by occupation and learned the "how to's" at a very young age.  Anyway, how you got here is not as important as what you will do here.  As for Jesus, he did exactly what "The Christ" was supposed to do; provide a way for humans to deal with their sin problem.  And that, as they say, is the rest of the story....