The Heritage of the King Part 2

 

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. 20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.”
22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
24 Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, 25 and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS.

 

 

Joseph is the foster father of Jesus and we begin with his being espoused or engaged to Mary. Yet there seems to be a problem, although they are engaged and probably had been for some time, meaning that they were separated for each other, Mary is found to be with child!!!!!

 

In their culture there were three relationships that a couple had, the engagement, the espousal, and the betrothal.

 

The Engagement

 

This could take place at any time in the child’s life, because marriage was mainly by arrangement and agreement through the parents. If the circumstances were right, and each family had children around the same time, and the parents agreed on the arrangement, then their children, regardless of age, were engaged to be married at a future date.

 

The Espousal

 

This is the beginning of the point of maturity where the two partied involved could be married. Usually this would be in the early teens, ending at around fifteen or sixteen for the girl. This is like what we know of as engagement today. The man and woman have accepted the agreement of their parents, and each other, and they will set themselves apart for each other. This separation would last for a year as they prepared and planned for their marriage. During this time they are considered married because the only way to break it is through a writ of divorcement

 

The Betrothal

 

The year of espousal is over and now the marriage begins. On the wedding night, the father would take the signs of his daughter’s virginity, the bedcovers, and keep them, in case there was a question as to whether she was actually a virgin or not.

This was something that the father did in order to protect his daughter and it must have happened a lot in order for this practice to be adopted.

 

It is during the espousal period that we find Joseph and Mary in these passages. Now take into consideration that they were separated, physically in order to prepare for their marriage and what has come up causes a great problem.

Mary is with child, she is pregnant!!!

 

We can learn a lot from how Joseph reacts to this situation.

 

Usually we think of Joseph as an older, less important character then Mary and we miss just what kind of person he was.

 

 

He was a moral merciful man

 

Under the Jewish law, this constituted infidelity, or adultery, and Mary could be stoned to death for such a betrayal to her husband. Joseph was in great turmoil. He must have loved her because he begins thinking of how to spare her the embarrassment and possible death.

 

He was a logical man

 

He could have chosen to divorce her publicly and made it well known that he had nothing to do with this child. He could have taken her to the town square and had her stoned to death. Yet he chose to do not the easiest but the right thing. Regardless of what people would whisper and gossip about them

 

He was a dreamer

 

The angel came to him and told him what God was doing. He listened and did as he was bidden. He didn’t just put it away from his mind either, he arose and took her to be his wife

 

 

The virgin birth was as hard to believe then as it has been these days by the scoffers. The enemies of Jesus knew, even when He began His earthly ministry that there were suspicious circumstances surrounding his parents

 

John 8

37 “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. 38 I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.”
39 They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.”
Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. 40 But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. 41 You do the deeds of your father.”
Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God.”
42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.

 

 

 

There were rumors everywhere even that Mary had become pregnant from a Roman soldier, but the record is set straight here in the Gospels. What strength these two precious people of God showed because it could not have been easy. They most assuredly would have been the object of ridicule, whispering, and gossip. All the while knowing the truth that no one would beleive

 

The Heritage of the King Part 1

 

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.

 

 

Jesus Christ is the only One who has a complete history tracing His lineage here on the earth. This particular genealogy traces His lineage back through David and to Abraham, both placing Him as the seed of Abraham and in the kingly line of David through Joseph, His father through marriage. God promised David that someone from his family would reign over Israel FOREVER through his descendants.

 

1 Chronicles 17

God’s Covenant with David

 1 Now it came to pass, when David was dwelling in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the LORD is under tent curtains.”
2 Then Nathan said to David, “Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you.”
3 But it happened that night that the word of God came to Nathan, saying, 4 “Go and tell My servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD: “You shall not build Me a house to dwell in. 5 For I have not dwelt in a house since the time that I brought up Israel, even to this day, but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another. 6 Wherever I have moved about with all Israel, have I ever spoken a word to any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’”’ 7 Now therefore, thus shall you say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: “I took you from the sheepfold, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people Israel. 8 And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have made you a name like the name of the great men who are on the earth. 9 Moreover I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more; nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore, as previously, 10 since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel. Also I will subdue all your enemies. Furthermore I tell you that the LORD will build you a house. 11 And it shall be, when your days are fulfilled, when you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up your seed after you, who will be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. 12 He shall build Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. 13 I will be his Father, and he shall be My son; and I will not take My mercy away from him, as I took it from him who was before you. 14 And I will establish him in My house and in My kingdom forever; and his throne shall be established forever.”’”

 

From that time forward, a descendant of David through Solomon’s branch would sit on the throne as King of Israel – but 400 or so years later, around the time of the Babylonian captivity this line of kings had become so evil and wicked that God had endured enough and He cursed the royal line declaring that no son of the present king would ever reign over Israel again

 

Jeremiah 22

 

24 “As I live,” says the LORD, “though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet on My right hand, yet I would pluck you off; 25 and I will give you into the hand of those who seek your life, and into the hand of those whose face you fear—the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the hand of the Chaldeans. 26 So I will cast you out, and your mother who bore you, into another country where you were not born; and there you shall die. 27 But to the land to which they desire to return, there they shall not return.
       28 “ Is this man Coniah a despised, broken idol—
      A vessel in which is no pleasure?
      Why are they cast out, he and his descendants,
      And cast into a land which they do not know?
       29 O earth, earth, earth,
      Hear the word of the LORD!
       30 Thus says the LORD:

      ‘ Write this man down as childless,
      A man who shall not prosper in his days;
      For none of his descendants shall prosper,
      Sitting on the throne of David,
      And ruling anymore in Judah.’”

 

Joseph was in this line of dethroned kings that come out of Judah, which places Jesus physically in the line of Judah even if it is from marriage

 

And it proves that God has always had a different idea

 

25 ‘Now to you, O profane, wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come, whose iniquity shall end, 26 thus says the Lord GOD:

Ezekiel 21

      “ Remove the turban, and take off the crown;
      Nothing shall remain the same.
      Exalt the humble, and humble the exalted.
       27 Overthrown, overthrown,
      I will make it overthrown!
      It shall be no longer,
      Until He comes whose right it is,
      And I will give it to Him.”’

 

This declaration comes to pass from the appearance of Gabriel to Mary before our Saviors birth

 

Luke 1

 

30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”

 

And this will come to pass in the future physically with the return of Jesus Christ

 

Matthew 25:31 (New King James Version)

  
31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.

 

Zechariah 14 

4 And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives,
      Which faces Jerusalem on the east.
      And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two,
      From east to west,
      Making a very large valley;
      Half of the mountain shall move toward the north
      And half of it toward the south.
       5 Then you shall flee through My mountain valley,
      For the mountain valley shall reach to Azal.
      Yes, you shall flee
      As you fled from the earthquake
      In the days of Uzziah king of Judah.

      Thus the LORD my God will come,
      And all the saints with You.
       6 It shall come to pass in that day
      That there will be no light;
      The lights will diminish.
       7 It shall be one day
      Which is known to the LORD—
      Neither day nor night.
      But at evening time it shall happen
      That it will be light.
       8 And in that day it shall be
      That living waters shall flow from Jerusalem,
      Half of them toward the eastern sea
      And half of them toward the western sea;
      In both summer and winter it shall occur.
       9 And the LORD shall be King over all the earth.
      In that day it shall be—

      “ The LORD is one,”
      And His name one.

 

But how do we tie Jesus Christ physically to Joseph and Mary?

 

Some say that we can tie Jesus to Mary through the book of Luke Chapter 3. This particular genealogy traces the kingly line through Nathan, another son of David, and it goes past Abraham and reaches back to Adam

 

Luke 3

 

23 Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, the son of Heli, 24 the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Janna, the son of Joseph, 25 the son of Mattathiah, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, 26 the son of Maath, the son of Mattathiah, the son of Semei, the son of Joseph, the son of Judah, 27 the son of Joannas, 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 Mattathah, 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 Ram, 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 Mahalalel, the son of Cainan, 38 the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

 

Jesus Christ is King of Kings

 

He is fully God – He is deity

He is fully man – He is the God-Man, He is flesh and blood

He is the King of Kings

 

Although Jesus grew just like any other baby, He is the only exception that ever existed

He was different. He was not genetically related to either Mary or Joseph.

How do we know?

 

Jesus Christ is sinless and both of his parents were under sin

 

Jesus Christ was a special creation, just like Adam, born with no physical mother or father although He had to be born under the Law as a Man

 

Galatians 4

 

 

4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

Philippians 2

 

5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

 

Hebrews 5

 

So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him:

      “ You are My Son,
      Today I have begotten You.”

6 As He also says in another place:

      “ You are a priest forever
      According to the order of Melchizedek”;

   

 7 who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, 8 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. 9 And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, 10 called by God as High Priest “according to the order of Melchizedek,” 11 of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.

Hebrews 6

19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, 20 where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

 

Hebrews 7

 1 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated “king of righteousness,” and then also king of Salem, meaning “king of peace,” 3 without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.
4 Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. 5 And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham; 6 but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better. 8 Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives. 9 Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, 10 for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.

Need for a New Priesthood

   
11 Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron? 12 For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law. 13 For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has officiated at the altar.
14 For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood. 15 And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest 16 who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. 17 For He testifies:

      “ You are a priest forever
      According to the order of Melchizedek.”

   
18 For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, 19 for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is thebringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.

Greatness of the New Priest

   
20 And inasmuch as He was not made priest without an oath 21 (for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him:

      “ The LORD has sworn
      And will not relent,

      ‘ You are a priest forever
      According to the order of Melchizedek’”),

 

Just like the first Adam, Jesus had no physical mother or father, only God,  thus no sin nature, no inherited sin, no sinful flesh.

 

He was absolutely pure and without sin

 

Without blemish or spot

 

John 1:29

 

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

 

Jesus Christ is God

 

He is fully God

 

He is the Son of God

He is the Image of God

He is the Form of God

He is equal with God

He is God in the flesh