Merry Christmas, Peeps~!
Christmas is not a time of year often celebrated by Japan. Some families have gotten into the Santa gifts and fun gift-giving and dinners. Others spend it not to dissimilarly to Valentine's Day, setting out with one's beloved to view the magical lights and illuminations which brighten the long winter night.
But, as a holiday, a time to relax, a break from life's struggles for a bit of peace and goodwill? Not a thing.
How years has it been since I've had either Christmas Eve or even Christmas Day off from work? Have had no extra personal/ vacation days to use in order to have the Christmas time off.
In fact, this year's quite exciting! A Christmas miracle for sure because our year-end vacation days start...tomorrow! As in December 26th! A truly miraculous event! Usually, I would have another couple of days before the start of my winter vacation. Yet, because of how New Year's Eve and Day fell this year, our vacation days start the day AFTER Christmas! Isn't that wonderful?
This is truly a year of changes and good tidings for me!...
...But, that is not the Christmas miracle I want to discuss.
Alongside the many different changes occurring right now, I have been digging ruthlessly into the Bible. Trying to finally make heads or tails out of history and prophecies buried deep and wondrously inside. I started with my friend with Genesis, reading the text along with Jewish commentary. This commentary reveals many, many things lost in the translation of language and culture, putting the events of that first book into a more historic context in accordance of its timeframe.
Then, as questions began to spring up and overtake my heart and mind, I marathoned through Joshua, the first historical book following the Israelites' Exodus from Egypt. I needed to find out more about how God works through conflicts. But, that book actually revealed more about Genesis than I'd ever thought! Places and people groups I read about in Joshua were first mentioned as sons, descendants, of Cain, Seth, Noah, and many other important figures in Genesis. Even their relationships with the Israelites were laid out by their founding fathers' and sons' relationships and actions.
Although I grew up kind of understanding that these connections existed, this was the first time I saw it for myself. So... What else was I missing? I wondered that deeply as I navigated the many changes coming my way in my own life.
That is why today, as it being Christmas Day, I looked at the story of Mary, mother of Jesus, receiving word of His coming conception and birth. The angel, Gabriel, had come to tell her of this good news.
I would like to be more like Mary. Of course, at first, she was startled and scared by this appearance of an angel, then rather confused by his message considering the prophesized conditions by which Jesus would be formed in her. But, after all the explanation from Gabriel, not only did Mary accept her fate, but bravely and coolly called herself God's servant. Her willingness to follow a scary and confusing path with such grace is... magnificent beyond understanding. Just to say, "Ok, Lord. I am here for You," takes guts, because,...HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THIS!? No one would really believe this at first, if at all!
At the time of this reading, I was loosely following a Christmas Bible study and it begged a few interesting, but overall forgettable questions. But, these questions carried me from Gabriel's announcement to the genealogies of Christ.
Since I was little, the genealogies of Christ, found in Matthew 1 and Luke 3, always were a point of interest to me. Two different genealogies tracing Christ's ancestries through King David and Abraham. What's not cool about that!?
One thing, though, that I have recently learned about Biblical genealogies is that some REALLY cool details lie buried just beneath the surface if you know to look for them. ...
...And that's exactly what I did.
First was the comparison of the genealogies. Without delving too far into the details, simply put is that the genealogies are interwoven with the main differences within King David's descendants. The Matthew genealogy follows the descendants of David's heir to the throne, King Solomon, while the Luke genealogy is traced back through a different son of David, Nathan, who was (most likely) named after David's trusted friend, advisor, and a prophet of God, Nathan the Prophet. Even between Christ and King David, the two genealogies share a couple of ancestors.
Interestingly enough, Joseph, Jesus' earthly father is named as the final descendant of both genealogies despite his father not being the same between the two. There are a couple of theories regarding that, but the most likely explanation is that, due to the Jewish patriarchal traditions, the genealogy in Luke is probably Mary's genealogy, not Joseph.--- This is where understanding Jewish laws and traditions come into play.
During this time, if a man and his wife had no living male heirs, they could adopt a lad into their family. This lad was often a daughter's husband. And, by law, the adopted son would also gain the father's genealogical ancestry, since inheritance and legal practices was deeply tied to this.
With this knowledge in hand, it is likely that Mary's parents had no male heirs of their own and had adopted Joseph, her husband, into the family as their own, making Mary's genealogies legally his, too. This is important because HE has the 'heir assumed' from the line of David's royal son, King Solomon. His bloodline is the genealogy found at the beginning of Matthew.
This makes Joseph just as important as Mary the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies, since the prophesized Messiah and King was expected through Solomon's line.
Mary's genealogy traces her bloodline back to Adam, which is important in proving Christ was not only the prophesized king of Israel, but the Savior of all mankind, having a bloodline straight through Abraham, Noah, and the blessed son of Adam, Seth. (Seth is oft the forgotten son of Adam and Eve since he was born after big brother Cain murdered his other brother, Abel.)
...But, something caught my eye.
In the expanse of Genesis, the final story is of Joseph and his technicolored coat. Now Joseph came from a LARGE family, very broken and LARGE family. He had 10 big brothers who hated him and plotted to kill him over their jealousy of him. He was the beloved son of their father for...reasons stemming from his father's broken past.
Continuing on...
As Joseph, having been thrown into a deep pit, waited, his brothers discussed how to kill him. Then, ...one brother, by the name of Judah, came up with an idea.
"Why don't we just sell him and make some money from it?" Oh...the saving greed.
This Judah was listed in Jesus' genealogies- both- of- them. Now, Judah's brother, Joseph, is the most famous of all the brothers! Why wasn't Jesus born through him!?
This is where things got magical for me.
Delving deeper into Joseph's brothers, I quickly found that...that last part of Genesis I never quite read contained prophecies and blessings (or curses for some) for the brothers. This was decades later, after Joseph was sold to Egyptians and rose to be the righthand man of the Pharaoh himself! After the famine that drove his brothers to search for food in Egypt. After Joseph learned that he had a little brother, Benjamin! These blessings that Joseph's brothers received explain their connection to Christ's genealogies.
Judah was not the firstborn son, not even the second- or thirdborn son. He was the fourth son in the family. Fourth sons weren't particularly blessed, but his big brothers had made some poor, poor choices. The oldest son, Reuben...had made such a bad choice that his blessings and inheritance (double inheritance it would have been in that era!) were never given. The next two sons, in anger, sought out violence against another people group, changing any blessings they would have received into curses. Judah was the first son to rise up, seek repentance, have a change of heart, and lead his brothers like the head of the household. And so, his blessings were that of strength and royalty, which he did receive through his descendants.
...Something to note about the name "Judah". When translated into Greek, it becomes "Judas". Much like the patriarch of Jesus, Christ's companion and disciple, Judas Iscariot sold someone important to him- Christ himself.
Many parts of Joseph's story is paralleled in Christ, including being betrayed and sold off by someone close to them, both traitors sharing the same name. But, Judah saw past his sins and repented, an example of what we, humans, are to do in Christ' name. Befitting example from one of Christ' ancestors.
But, Judas Iscariot was consumed by his own horror and darkness, which led directly to his swift death. A perfect example of what sin unchecked will do to us.
Two Genealogies.
Two Judahs.
Two connections to Christ.
Two sides of the same coin.
And,... two paths we are given: repent or be consumed by sin.
I had never seen Christ' story in this light before. Whether you regard the Bible as truth or fiction, that right there is incredible story writing. And to think that is just one of the hundreds of parallels, prophecies, regarding Christ's life.
Recently, I have been wondering why the Bible is not taught in story-writing courses. Even when you consider it literature, it has every complex plot mechanic writers yearn to write themselves! Layers upon layers of foreshadowing, followed by the big reveal of the Prophesized One, then the afterwords commentary (that most people would skip in a novel). This is one- big- series of adventures, love, danger, vengeance, and repentance.
"So, what? It's just fantasy! A myth! Fiction!"
Perhaps. But, think about it this way-
- People spent time to write a generational story of hope and forgiveness to give others a life worth living.
Why should we despise such a story?
Merry Christmas, everyone!
And, later, peeps~!
