By Ray Luck
Pastor, Oak Grove Baptist Church, Athens
Focal Passage: Matthew 1:18-25
If you watch television any at all you most likely have seen the commercial advertising ancestry.com. The company specializes in helping people trace their ancestors in order to discover their roots. The gospel according to Matthew leaves no doubt as to the earthly lineage of Jesus Christ. He begins in chapter 1, verse 1 with these words, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Then beginning with Abraham he begins to trace Jesus’ lineage all the way to Joseph the husband of Mary the mother of Jesus. There was a total of 42 generations from Abraham to Jesus.
Following the genealogy listing in verses 1-17 Matthew then proceeds to tell how Jesus’ birth was announced to Mary and Joseph followed by a brief word about His birth in verse 25. Luke is the gospel writer who goes into the most detail about Jesus’ birth and the events surrounding it. Luke 1:26 reads, “Now the sixth month the Angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.” [Read more…]