Well are you guys ready for this...I know I am! Before we dive into Matthew Chapter 1, here's a little reminder for how this is going to work. Each day you, on your own, will read a chapter from Matthew. You will then come here to the blog and read the "post" for the day. I will have a brief summary of the chapter and then have some questions for you to answer. Answer those questions on your own in a journal of some sorts. Then each day you must post a comment, not to be cool, but to be involved! My heart is that this would really feel like a Bible study and that we would all be reading each other's comments and feedback to help further our relationship with Christ and with one another!
Take a moment before you go any further to ask Christ to teach you more about Him over the next 28 days so that you will be a better "follower" of Him!
Summary...
The chapter starts off with the record of ancestors of Jesus. The names are tough to read, aren't they? What is so important about all these names and why did Matthew go out of his way to start his book off with them? The Jews were told their Messiah or Savior would come through the line of Abraham and King David...so Matthew traces Jesus back all the way not just to King David but all the way to Abraham to prove Christ is the Messiah!
We then read about the story of Jesus' birth and how it came to be. What always stands out to me in this story is how Mary was a virgin, yet was pregnant with baby Jesus! Think about today, if someone in your school got pregnant how difficult would their life become? I can't imagine what was running through Mary's mind, but she trusted God! She trusted His plan, even though it seemed crazy. Also, you have to think the same for Joseph--this whole thing had to be difficult. In fact we read that Joseph even thought of breaking off his engagement with Mary because she was pregnant, and he didn't want to deal with every thing that came along with that!
Question...
- In your life...do you trust God?
- Has He asked you to do something before that seemed crazy and if so what was it?
- If you were Mary or Joseph what would be some things running through your mind during all of this?
- Imagine Jesus as a baby...take time to really think about that. Our Lord, our King, a little infant! Doing things that babies do...cry, poop, pee, sleep! I want us to get a picture of our Lord, and this is where our study begins. Take time to think about Jesus as a baby, and pray that over the next 27 days He would teach us more and more about Him! I'll talk to you guys tomorrow!
tom
