This concludes the seventh chapter of Jesus the Christ.
Matthew 1:18-25
Isaiah 7:14; 9:6 Every time I read Isaiah, I burst out singing songs from the Messiah.
2 Peter 1:20
Genesis 12:3; 18:18; 22:18; 26:4
Acts 3:25
Galatians 3:8
Matthew 9:27; 15:22; 21:9; 20:30-31
Luke 18:38-39
Romans 1:3
2 Timothy 2:8
Acts 2:30; 13:23
Psalm 132:11
Luke 1:32
Matthew 1:23
Joseph married marry right away, thus becoming the adoptive father of her impending offspring. Both Mary and Joseph were of the lineage of David. Thus the prophecy was fulfilled that the Messiah would be born of the house of David. During his lifetime, many acknowledged him as the son (descendent) of David, which was akin to calling him Messiah. Of importance is the fact that the 'kings' of Jesus time were not of the lineage of David, making them alien rulers. If the rightful heirs had been on the throne, Joseph would not have been a carpenter but the crown king. Putting these pieces together makes me wonder if politics were as heavy influencing the execution of Jesus as was jealousy from religious leaders. True of the Savior, Jesus Christ and true of others, most the time we are unaware of the greatness of those before us.
This brings to mind C.S. Lewis' words in The Weight of Glory. "It is a serious thing," says Lewis, "to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no 'ordinary' people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations -- these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit -- immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously -- no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption. And our charity must be a real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinner -- no mere tolerance or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment."
So, liking these ideas to myself, I must refrain from wrong judging and assumptions. What if, just what if, the one standing before me in all their dull ordinariness might be a great one in the sight of God if that one deviates from the current path of sin or ordinariness? OR what might I be if I choose to live up to my potential and allow the atoning grace of the Savior to work in my life? Who are you? Who am I?
