Confrontation in Nazareth (5)

 

“When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph (Luke 3:23)…the son of David (3:31)…the son of Abraham (3:34)…the son of Noah (3:36)…the son of Enoch (3:37)…the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God (3:38).”

 

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12 – 13).

 

We have two ancestries, two family trees. We are descended from two genealogical lines. One once was and is no more, yet in a sense still is. The other once was not, though in a sense has always been, and now is forever and ever.

 

The first ancestry is from the earth, earthy; the second is from heaven (1 Cor. 15:47 – 49). In the past we bore the image of our first genealogy, now we are bearing the image of our second and lasting genealogy (2 Cor. 3:17 – 18).

 

If we are confused and uncertain about our genealogy, we will be confused about our identity, if we are confused about our identity, we will be confused about our nature, if we are confused about our nature, we will be a confused and unstable people.

 

The Father’s approbation, His declaration, “This is My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased,” must reign over us, must live within us, must permeate our hearts and minds, and must be our confession in Christ Jesus.

 

People “supposed” that Jesus was the son of Joseph, but Joseph and Mary knew better, as do we. Jesus did not deny a relationship with Joseph, but it was not the relationship that most others thought it was – in once sense it was more, in another sense not quite the same. I will not write that it was “less” than people thought, because who can measure the love and affection and trust that was in this holy family? There was a depth and a mystery that surpasses the experience of common humanity, and yet it embraces common humanity and gives us hope.

 

We all once traced our ancestry back to Adam, but now those in Christ trace their beginning to the One who is the Beginning, who is the Last Adam and the Second Man. We do not forget that we were once in Adam, we are mindful that we have had an experience common with all of humanity, but we also confess that this is in the past and that in Christ Jesus we have been raised to newness of life (Ephesians 2:1 – 10).

 

Our shared experience with humanity ought to give us compassion and a desire to share Christ with others, to share His love and mercy and grace and joy and salvation. Our shared experience with Christ ought to cause us to lay our lives down for our brothers and sisters, and for the people of the world (1 John 3:16; John 3:16; John 17:18; 20:21).

 

Just as people supposed that Joseph was Jesus’ father, people will suppose that our fathers are our fathers in the primary sense of the word “father.” However, in Christ our Father God has brought us into Himself, and whatever fatherhood we may have been the recipients of was a fatherhood held in trust on behalf of Father God. For some of us, this trust was a wonderful experience, for some of us it may have been mundane, for others of us the trust that the Father placed in our earthly fathers was profaned and violated.

 

Some of these latter relationships have been healed in Christ, for others…there is no reconciliation and the pain lingers…we can but trust God in these matters. If we have been unfaithful parents, there is forgiveness in Christ; if we have been unfaithful children, there is forgiveness in Christ. We can ask God to help us be blessings to others, even if such opportunities within our own earthly families have passed us by.

 

Our Father is bringing many sons and daughters to glory through His Firstborn Son, Jesus Christ (Hebrews 2:10 – 13; Romans 8:29 – 30). No matter what we may hear in the wilderness of temptation, and no matter what may be said in the synagogue of Nazareth, we must hold fast to our confession that God is our Father and Jesus Christ is our Elder Brother, and that the Holy Spirit has given us the very life of God, making us new creations in Christ.

 

When the Father says, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well – pleased,” He sees not only the Firstborn Son, but all His sons and daughters. He sees not only the Head of the Body, but the entire Body of His Son.

 

I wrote above that we have two ancestries, two family trees. We are descended from two genealogical lines. One once was and is no more, yet in a sense still is. The other once was not, though in a sense has always been, and now is forever and ever.

 

The first ancestry is that of Adam, through Jesus Christ and His Cross we have been removed from Adam and placed in Christ (Romans 5:12 – 6:11; Galatians 2:20). We no longer trace our genealogy back to Adam and the fall from God’s glory into sin and death. Yet, we do not deny our past experience and we use it to build bridges to others through sympathy and testimony – but we do not, we must simply not, find our identity in our past life of sin and death, we must not deny Christ Jesus and His glorious and perfect work of salvation.

 

Our genealogy in Christ Jesus is now our amazing ancestry, and in a sense it has always been, for our Father has known us before the world was formed (Eph. 1:4 – 5; 1 Peter 1:1 – 5; Rom. 8:29 – 30; Rev. 13:8; 17:8). This ancestry defines who we are in Christ, who we shall ever be in Christ, and who we have always actually been in Christ. In this sense, we can trace our genealogy to the Throne Room before the ages, for the seed of God is the Life within us (1 Peter 1:23; John 3:1 – 8; 1 John 3:9).

 

Yes, we indeed may have lived in the pig pen, but now we have “come to ourselves” and realized that we have always been the children of our Father, let us arise and go to His House and eat His Food, living at His holy Table (Luke 15:17).

 

Let us also bring others with us on our journey home, declaring His Name to our brothers and sisters (Hebrews 2:12).