Realizations Upon Reading

Mary and Elisabeth-  © 2015 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.

Mary, Elisabeth and the Line of David

The Gospel According to St Matthew starts with the genealogy from Abraham through Joseph. These are names of people whose stories are in the bible and we know their stories. A few stories in here stand out to me, the first is the realization after reading this chapter many times over the years that this is the line of Joseph. It is a amazing line going back to Abraham, and while Joseph is not blood related to Jesus he is still his father. He raised Jesus, taught him his trade.  Reading this genealogy also made me wonder about Mary's line I don't recall that Marys line was ever discussed but I would hazard a guess that to be married to Joseph her line goes back to Abraham as well.  We know from Luke that Mary and Elisabeth were cousins, hence John the Baptist was a cousin of Jesus. There are great lessons in obedience and faith that we can discuss involving Mary, Joseph, Elisabeth and Zacharias.  Zacharias is especially interesting in his crisis of faith after speaking directly to the angel Gabriel! 

All Things Work to the Glory of God

As interesting as the discussion of Zacharias and faith is, a second realization occurred to me while reading the genealogy of Joseph, and its the thought that has consumed me since reading it.

Matthew 1:6 And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;

We have all heard this story - David saw Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11) became enamored of her, lies with her, and arranges for her husband to be killed in battle. The child of this union is King Solomon who built the Temple, who is known as the wisest king, who furthered the line and went down to Joseph. 

The scriptures don't tell us a whole lot about Mary and Joseph, but this line (Matt 1:19) is so telling the more you think of it 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.

Joseph would be within his legal rights to take this public, to state how he had been wronged by his bride to be. But even before the angel appeared to him he was noted as a just man and did not want to take the issue public, after the angel appeared to him he took Mary as his wife, and knew her not until she gave birth. Then he raised that child as his own.

Our Heavenly Father took Davids sins of adultery, lust, and murder and used them to bring forth King Solomon, the Temple of Jerusalem, and the man who raised the Son of God as his own. To me that is proof of all things working to the glory of God.

King David and the Lessons of Atonement

King David and the Lessons of Atonement

King David lived a righteous life for most of his life, however only one man lived a perfect life and that man was a decedent of David, not David himself. David had been home from the wars for over a year and one day while on the roof of his house sees a beautiful woman bathing in her own house. Asking after her he finds out that she is the wife of one of his soldiers. David has her brought to him and "lays with her".  There is no record of her attempting to refuse him, so we do not know how much responsibility  she bears in this. Bath-sheba becomes pregnant and David sends for her husband Uriah who after reporting to David won't even go home because the others are still in the field. David sends him back to battle and orders him sent to the fiercest fighting that he should be killed in battle, and he is. After the period of mourning he takes Bath-sheba as his wife. It is after this that the prophet Nathan comes to David, and brings him to his senses with the story of the rich man and the poor man.

When Nathan brought David to his senses, David confessed his wrong doings and admitted his sin, Nathan told him that the consequence would be the death of the child conceived in sin,  he prayed and fasted for 7 days that the child would be saved. After the death of the child he rose and bathed and comforted Bath-sheba and ate. The sin is past, no matter how it came to be he and Bath-sheba are married now and the sin is forgiven.
David followed a path that is no different than what we do in atonement today. 1) Have a godly sorrow for the sin - David was angry at the injustice and wanted the man punished
2) Abandon the sin completely - make restitution as far as possible - The Lord decreed the death of the child conceived before David and Bath-sheba were married would be the restitution. David pleaded for the child's life for 7 days but that was the restitution. A man's life cannot be restored.
3) Confess to the proper authority. - King David was the highest authority, the Lord already knew as did Nathan the prophet.
David spent 7 days in prayer and fasting becoming right with God and attempting to save the life of his child. When the Lord took the child he went to his wife and comforted her and they went on with life. The final step, when forgiveness is granted you go forward and do your best to stay on the correct path. David was given his son Solomon.