Today's Reading: Luke 3: 21-38
**For a simple and good way of Daily Devotion method please click this link: Subject Shifting Devotion.pdf.
Please click this link to read Luke 3: 21-38
Bible Study
Today's passage of Jesus' baptism and genealogy is a difficult one to understand. Matthew begins with a list of names from Abraham to Jesus; Luke has a list of names working back from Jesus, through Abraham, to Adam and thence to God himself. The odd thing is that the two lists don't match if you compare that carefully. Even the name of Joseph's father is different. Many learned scholars have struggled to give good answers to this situation but most have admitted defeat.
N.T. Wright says:
Luke, it seems, has come upon a family tree which he presents without comment, simply to declare that Jesus was indeed not only a true Jew but a descendant of David and Zerubbabel-part of the genuinely royal family. He was counted as Joseph's adopted son, which served, it seems, for this purpose. The one link between the family tree and what goes before and comes after is the final phrase: Jesus is the son of God... Perhaps it is best to see the family tree, that, though Jesus is indeed the Messiah of Israel (another meaning of 'son of God'), he is so precisely for the whole world. All creation, the whole human race, will benefit from what he has come to do.
This global scope to God's purposes is in the background as Jesus comes to the Jordan to be baptized by John...Together the baptism story and the family tree tell us where Jesus has come from, who he is, and where he is going. As we make his story our own in our own prayers, and indeed in our own baptism, we too should expect both the fresh energy of the Spirit and the quiet voice which reminds us of God's amazing, affirming love and of the path of vocation which lies ahead.
That's how you have a part in Jesus' baptism and genealogy. That's why you need to praise God for His amazing love to you personally through this big, big picture.
Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passage of scripture we have just read. Offer this time up to Jesus as you listen to him, while listening to "Gabriel's Oboe"
Spiritual Journal
What I heard from Jesus today is: Amazing love of God to you!
What I received today from Jesus is an over pouring of His amazing love through the big picture of Jesus' baptism and genealogy. See all those names and names beyond those names of our own family trees if we have that. They are all connected in a way of the amazing love of God. Our name is just a little name in that huge list of human race and yet we are being loved in a very special way! Let us rejoice in this amazing love!
And, today is a very special day for me to rejoice because today is Michelle's birthday! Happy birthday my dear wife!
Dear Lord Jesus,
Thank you for your amazing love to us. Lead us to be able to share your love to more people and to bring them into your family. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
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Lord I Give You My Heart
Chinese praise song - 愛是不保留 Unreserved Love
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