Luke 3 (The Message, abridged verses) 23-38When Jesus entered public life he was about thirty years old, the son (in public perception) of Joseph, who was— son of Heli, son of Matthat… son of David… son of Boaz… son of Judah, son of Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham… son of Noah… son of Seth, son of Adam, son of God.
The beginning of meditation is study for information. Learning what a Bible verse says, why it was said, and the meaning in the day it was written helps us apply it.
Today I picked one of the more dry texts from the Bible. It’s the genealogy of Jesus from the book of Luke. I’ve edited it to include the most familiar names from the Old Testament. As you read your Bible, look for pieces that tie together. Although each book of the Bible was written independently of the others, they are assembled as a whole for a reason. Discovering the meaning of the whole, begins with identifying connections.
Luke 3 connects Jesus to David. David was a huge part of the life of the Hebrew people. Although he was one king among many, he is heralded above all the others. David appears in 1st and 2nd Samuel. Boaz (found in the book of Ruth) plays a smaller role in the whole of the Bible, but without him Jesus’ lineage ends.
The people of Israel refer to God as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. These three were the pivotal figures in the book of Genesis from Chapter 10 on. Noah also appears in the list. We remember him as the one who saves humanity and all the animal kingdom through his obedience to God.
Finally, the lineage takes us back to the first human and then to God. Jesus’ heritage is tied to all of these hero’s of the faith. Thinking about that, is what it means to meditate on the information of the Bible.
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