The Lost
Does Jesus need to be the Messiah?
[An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel, and Salathiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah. So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.] In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'" Now John wore clothing of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. - Matt. [1:1-17],3:1-6
It was important for Matthew to show that Jesus was born of the line of David because that is what the expectation was for the Messiah.
But was all this effort actually working against him, when it came to explaining who Jesus truly was?
For us believers, Jesus is one of the three individual and unique persons of God.
Do we care if he wasn't the Messiah? Or, do we care if he wasn't the version of the Messiah that the Jews expected?
For 2000 years, Christians and Jews have continued to believe what they believe, despite all the preachings and writings and discussions about the Messiah.
Why don't we just drop it?
Do we really think we are going to convince people of other faiths to convert?
The message of Christ is for the lost, those who have abandoned their faith or found themselves totally confused about God and about their purpose in life.
These are the people who need to hear about Jesus.
They don't have preconceived notions about a Messiah, so that isn't very important to them.
What they care about is God's love and the promise of redemption.
Do they want to live forever? Maybe. But not everyone wants that.
When life hands you lemons all the time, living longer is not the first thing you hope for. In fact, many would choose to end it all.
So, why not focus on those people, the ones who have no hope, who have given up on life?
On average, there are 132 suicides per day with men committing suicide almost four times as often as women.
That is one person every 5 and a half minutes.
Someone committed suicide while you are reading this.
Is there anyone more lost and in need of good news than these people?
Maybe we should find a way to go out and find them.
More to come...