Luke – Page 141 – I'm Following Jesus

KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Monday, October 02, 2017
Chapters: Matthew 1, Luke 2:1-38
Message: The Faith of Joseph

Hello My Friend,

The Gospel of Matthew was written by Matthew and is written to all believers, as with all four Gospels, each one is addressed to a specific group of people, Mathew is directed to the Jews to teach them that Jesus is their long await Messiah, known as the Son of David. The purpose of the book was to present the ministry of Jesus, stressing His role as King of the Jews. What we are to learn from the book is, the Gospel of Christ is to be preached in all the world until He returns. “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” – Matthew 24:14.

I was at work with a co-worker during the time that there were a lot of hurricanes forming in the Atlantic, a customer came up to us and made a comment about Jose and Maria, saying the next one would be Jesus. We both chuckled for a second, and then my co-worked remarked that Joseph was not Jesus’ father anyway. My friend is a Jehovah’s Witness and even she knew that God is Jesus’ Father. This mans misconception of who Jesus is is like most of the world, they cannot see past the physical standpoint. Yes, to human reasoning it would be logical that Joseph was Jesus’ father, but he is not, and even though God chose the lineage of David to be whom Jesus would descend from, He has only one Father, and that is God Himself. Matthew begins by listing the generations of Judah, including David and Joseph, but the key here is how it is worded.

“The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias; And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel; And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.” – Matthew 1:1,6,12,16-17.

“And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus,” Begat; Bore, Brought into life. If you have a King James Bible you will see that Joseph did not bring Jesus into life, Mary is His mother though. To be a father to a son is of the highest respect to a Jew, so you can image that the father would be quite proud to introduce their son to the world, naturally God would be the same way. When you think about it, can you imagine how Joseph must have felt? Joseph had to have faith also, and to raise a child that was not his own son, but the Son of God Himself, talk about dedication. Joseph had his doubts at first, like everyone else, how could his wife to be be pregnant without her being unfaithful? The he too got a visit from Gabriel.

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.” – Matthew 1:18-20,24-25.

“And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son:” To be blunt, this means that Joseph did not have sex with Mary until after Jesus was born, believe what you will, I for one believe that this is true. There is so much talk about Mary, but rarely do we hear about Joseph, his dedication to his wife, his commitment to her, his raising a child that was not his own, his faithfulness to God. Joseph was a devout and Godly Jew, that means he followed the Law of Moses and even government laws, every year the males had to go to Jerusalem to pay taxes, he took his wife, who was about to give birth at any time, and headed to Jerusalem.

“And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.” – Luke 2:4-7.

“And she brought forth her firstborn son,” Talk about a miracle birth! Mary was holding in her arms, not only the Son of God, but God Himself. One of the hardest things for people to believe is that Mary was a virgin, unbelievers love to discredit this miracle because they refuse to believe that anything that supernatural can occur by an all powerful God. It is easier to believe that life just evolved over billions of years than in a Creator who put His seed inside of a woman and was conceived without sex. God could have came any other way, He could have even sent Jesus any other way, but it was important that He did it this way. Why? Two reasons; One, it fulfilled Scripture, and Two, He had to be conceived of the Spirit because of the fall of man, man being Adam, we are all born under the curse of Adam, meaning the sin nature and death were passed down to all of us, Jesus was not. “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” – Romans 5:12,20-21.

Mary was a little overwhelmed by what was going on, but I imagine Joseph was also, after all, his wife was nursing the Son of God. Both Mary and Joseph did what any other Godly couple would do, they followed the Law of Moses, and raised Jesus according to the Law, including circumcision and the required sacrifices.

“And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb. And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord; (As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;) And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons. And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,” – Luke 2:21-30.

“to present him to the Lord;” While none of this was necessary as Jesus was not the son of man, they did everything according to the Law and it pleased God because they did not take for granted that they were, in fact, taking care of His Son. When Simeon spoke to them they were astonished by what he was saying, after all, no one knew they were raising the Son of God. Jesus, the anointed one, sent from God to be the Saviour of all mankind, became salvation to all who look to Him, Simeon took Jesus up in his arms and believed instantly. No matter who we are, everything we do rises or falls according to our faith. The consolation of Israel, this is also known as the Comforter, the one who would come to give peace of death. I do not care who you are, everyone fears death. However, once we see the Saviour for who He truly is we no longer fear death or hell because we are saved from that. It is the Holy Spirit who teaches us about Jesus, but we must be willing to accept Him by faith. “No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.” – I John 4:12-15.

Jesus Christ Magnified: “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” – Luke 2:11.

Today’s Prayer: God, It is predetermined for man to die once, but You have given us all a choice on whether or not we die a second time, and that is Your Son, Jesus. We understand that only through Him can we be saved from death, hell, and the lake of fire. Thank You for giving us a way to permanent salvation, and for sending Your Son to die for us. As much as we would like to change the fate of all, it is up to each person to make that decision. Lord, lead me and guide me, give me Your power, wisdom, guidance, mercy, and grace to follow Your will and make the choices You want me to make. Open my heart and let Your Word be a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path, let me know Your purpose and understand that everything I go through will work together for good. I ask these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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