Pastor Mike Chat September 28 2024

Saturday September 28
God Loves Names
Luke 3:21; 31-32
23 Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, the son of Heli,
31 the son of Melea, the son of Menan, the son of Mattathah, the son of Nathan, the son of David, 32 the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon,
Matthew 1:5-6
5 Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, 6 and Jesse begot David the king. David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.
Luke 3:23-38 ends this exciting chapter with a list of names! I can remember as a brand-new Christian reading through my Bible for the first few times and starting in the New Testament Book of Matthew, the first thing I had to read was a long list names that I didn’t recognize. I thought, “This is the Bible? How boring is this.” And during my first year as a believer, I also attempted to read through the Old Testament and again, time after time I would come across long list of names, and I thought, “Why would God put all these names in the Bible?”
But over the years I have come to love the names listed in the Bible. The first reason I have fallen in love with the names of the Bible is I believe that God loves the names of people! God loves you and because of that He loves your name! The Bible makes a big deal about the names of God and if you remember in our first chats we studied through about thirty of His names, and found out that actually there are some seven-hundred names, titles, or descriptions of God listed in the Bible. Because God it such a great and awesome God it takes all these names to describe Him to us and honestly that is only the beginning because our God in incomprehensible!
Your name is an identification of who you are and what kind of person you are! People know you by your name. So, these names are very important in the Bible. I have found over the years studying the Bible that behind every name is an amazing story! Behind your name is a story, the story of your life. And behind all the names listed in Matthew’s and Luke’s genealogy is a story that assures us that God is a God who loves people, and He is a sovereign God who is in control of history.
Now there are several things you will notice as you compare the genealogies given in these two Gospels. Matthew's genealogy (Matt. 1:1-17) begins with Abraham and moves forward to Jesus, while Luke's begins with Jesus and moves backward to Adam. Matthew gives us the genealogy of Joseph, the legal foster-father of Jesus. Both genealogies go back to David, but you read in Matthew 1:6, that David was the father of Solomon. In Luke 3:31 you read that David was the father of Nathan. And from there to Joseph the names are different than in Matthew. It is also interesting to note that 1 Chronicles 3:1-9 lists all the sons of King David, and in verse 5, we read that Bathsheba was the mother of both Solomon and Nathan.
So, Luke gives us the genealogy of His mother Mary, while Matthew gives us the genealogy of Joseph. Luke 3:23 can be translated: "When He began His ministry, Jesus was about thirty years old (being supposedly the son of Joseph), the son of Heli [an ancestor of Mary]." Mary herself would not be mentioned because it was unusual for women to be named in the official genealogies, though Matthew names four of them (Matt. 1:3, 5, 16). Now you know the name of Mary’s father, which was Heli. That’s a good question to ask your friends.
By putting the genealogy here, Luke reminded his readers that the Son of God was also the Son of Man, born into this world, identified with the needs and problems of mankind. And, since Joseph and Mary were both in David's line, these genealogies prove that Jesus of Nazareth has the legal right to David's throne (Luke 1:32-33).
The Bible tells the story of God’s love and redemption through the names of people! Luke starts with the “Second Adam”, Jesus, and goes back the “First Adam”. From the sinless Son of Man, to the first man who brought sin into the world. What a unique way to record the coming and going of sixty centuries of time through seventy-five names! But then, God always has had a tender love for people, especially His own, and He likes to write their names into His Book.
Is your name written in His Lamb’s Book of Life?
God bless!

[@houstondeweese6737]

Good message and very educational for me.
Thank you pastor Mike