Matthew 3 - Repent for the Kingdom of God is at Hand

LINK: Matthew 3

BACKGROUND

16. John the Baptist prepares the way for Jesus (Matthew 3:1-12, Mark 1:1-8, Luke 3:1-18) 

Matthew tells the story of the Messiah-King. So, he skips from Jesus' infancy to the introduction of Jesus by John the Baptist who was Jesus' relative. 

The rest of this background will include information from all three parallel accounts.

It is the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar, AD 29. Tiberius ruled over the Roman Empire from AD 14 to AD 37 and Pilate was the governor of Judea from AD 26 to AD 36. The reigning Jew over Galilee and Tiberius is Herod Antipas whom we introduced in Matthew 2. His brother, Philip, ruled east of the Jordan from 4 BC to AD 34. Annas was the high priest from AD 6 to AD 15. Caiaphas was his son-in-law and the Romans would install him as high priest from AD 18 to AD 36 even though the Jews continued to recognize Annas.

John has been growing, becoming strong in spirit, and living in the desert until his public appearance in Israel (Luke 1:80). This is that public appearance. As a descendant from the priestly line of Aaron, John could have been a priest, but God wanted him to be His messenger (Malachi 3:1) preaching a very special message in the Judean desert and the country around the Jordan River. His message was direct and to the point:

"Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
Matthew 3:2

We know from our reading of the Old Testament that the concept of a coming kingdom with a reigning king is huge. The idea of repentance before entrance into that kingdom was a new concept for the Jews. They thought that entrance was automatic for them. John said that they needed to "repent." This Greek word metanoéō comes from the base word noéō which means to "perceive, think, know." Repent means to change your opinion, feelings, or purpose from what you thought you always knew. If what you thought you always knew was wrong the word takes on the sense "to regret" (The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament by Kittel). They thought they knew the way into heaven, but John had come to tell them about the real way, and it came via a man who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire.

John the Baptist exhorted his audience to bear fruit in keeping with righteousness. Just being baptized and Abraham's descendants would not give them an "in" with God!  The Luke account goes into more detail about what would give evidence of genuine repentance: generosity, honesty, and contentment. It is interesting to note that all three are tied to money and material possessions.  It is also interesting to note that the Luke account is the only one that proclaims that "all mankind" (not just the Jews) will see God's salvation (Luke 3:6). This is probably because Luke's audience was non-Jewish. 

17. The baptism of Jesus: Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11, Luke 3:21-22

Try this 20-minute recorded Imaginative Contemplation in Matthew 3 and from Contemplative at Home.

Consider a Visio Divina of this painting by Albani:

Francesco Albani. (2023, February 11).
In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_Albani

After John's announcement, Jesus reappears after an 18-year absence from the narrative. Jesus came to "fulfill all righteousness" (Matthew 3:15) by being baptized; but the Law did not require baptism. What did He mean by this statement? Jesus did not need baptism for repentance, but he needed to identify with sinners.

Only Luke's account (Luke 3:21) states that Jesus was praying at His baptism (one could argue that He was always praying because He was always in connection with the Father). God broke into the course of HIS-story when the heavens were opened with the revelation of His Son! Doesn't it sound like Psalm 2:7 and Isaiah 42:1?  WOW!

The Holy Spirit descending like a dove marks a time when all three members of the Godhead: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are mentioned. 

REFLECTION/APPLICATION

It would have been amazing to be there when Jesus was baptized and Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were all present as One. Put yourself in this scene by trying the Loyola Method (Imaginative Contemplation) explained at the end of this post.

The Appendix of this handout has many different types of meditation on Scripture: 

Five Meditations for Cultivating the Abiding Life

Also, don’t forget that "Kingdom/Kingdom of God/Kingdom of Heaven” is a keyword/phrase in the Matthew, Mark, and Luke accounts of the Gospel. By the way, "Kingdom of Heaven” is used exclusively in Matthew but means the same thing as "Kingdom of God."

Ask yourself inductive questions as you encounter this in your reading. 

What is the Kingdom of God? 

Who is in the Kingdom of God?

When did/will the Kingdom of God come? Is it now, in the future, or both? 

Where is the Kingdom of God?

How does one enter the Kingdom of God?

What does the Kingdom of God mean to us personally? 

 Here is my husband's definition:

"The Kingdom of God is the sphere or realm of God's influence.

Theoretically, it is everywhere, 

but God chooses to limit Himself 

because He wants us to choose to be 'in' it."

Let's concentrate on what life in the Kingdom really means in our everyday life! Let's allow Him to bear fruit through us!

Get Totally Involved -The Loyola Method

(Adapted from the “Spiritual Exercises” of Ignatius of Loyola. He was a spiritual director in the 16^th century. The Loyola Method works better when you have a passage that involves a narrative story.)

For more information on the Exercises, go to my website and scroll down to the Ignatian part: Body and Soul Companion.

PART ONE (Preparation)

a. In prayer, ask God for grace to direct your thoughts, words, and actions to service and praise of his Divine Majesty.

b. Read the passage upon which you intend to meditate. Read unhurriedly, but without attempting yet to meditate on the passage. Your goal now is simply to familiarize yourself with the passage.

c. Determine an objective for your meditation time and ask God to help you accomplish it. If the passage you choose, for example, is the account of Jesus’ birth in Luke 2:1–7, your objective may be a sense of awe and humility as you contemplate the mystery of your Savior’s entry into the world.

Usually, this preliminary request is formulated in terms of some emotion you wish God to give you as a result of your meditation. Ignatius Loyola believed that the ultimate purpose of meditation is application (that is, an act of the will) and that the will is motivated primarily by emotion rather than reason.

PART TWO (Meditation)

a. Visualize the scene. In the case of Luke 2:1–7, see in your mind the road from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Is it level, or does it wind through valleys and around hillsides? See Mary, in her ninth month of pregnancy, riding on a donkey, accompanied by Joseph who is perhaps leading an ox. They are going to Bethlehem to pay a tax. What kind of people are they passing on the way? Soldiers? Peasants? Merchants? Other families?

Study in your imagination the place of the Nativity. Is it spacious or cramped? Clean or dirty? Warm or cold? How is it furnished?

b. Assume the role of one of the characters in the passage, or of someone else who might be present. In Luke 2, for example, you could be the hotel’s servant or maid.

c. Now apply your five senses to the scene. Look carefully, watching all the action. Use your ears as you listen in on conversations. Apply your senses of smell and touch. What odors are present? What quality of garments is being worn? Feel the woodwork of the manger. Smell and feel the straw. Apply your sense of taste—is there anything there to eat?

d. Analyze your own feelings as a member of the scene. How do you feel about what is happening? How do you feel about the persons involved? How do you feel about yourself?

PART THREE (Conversation)

Talk to Joseph, Mary, or someone else in the scene. Talk to them about the thoughts that have come to your mind as you have meditated on this passage. Talk to God or to the Lord Jesus.

          This conversation should in most cases lead to some form of action or personal application. (Adapted From Discipleship Journal, Issue 6, 1981)

PRAYER

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for coming to fulfill all righteousness and being righteousness on my behalf. We desire to do Your will, God. Amen. 

Matthew 2 - We Will Find Him

Epiphany Treasure Chest Cake

12. Visitors arrive from eastern lands: 2:1-12

Remember that Matthew was writing to an audience that would have known the Old Testament prophecies, you will find many quoted throughout the book. The prophecy of the birth in Bethlehem in Micah 5:2 is quoted in this section. Bethlehem was 5 miles south of Jerusalem. Contrary to popular lore, the visit of the Magi did not occur at the birth of Christ because Mary and Joseph were in a house (2:11) and Jesus was now called a child (2:9, 11) rather than a newborn infant (2:12) in the original Greek. 

Who were the Magi?

The term is used in Herodotus (1. 101, 132) of a tribe of the Medes who had a priestly function in the Persian Empire; in other classical writers, it is synonymous with priest. Complementing this, Daniel (1:20; 2:27; 5:15) applies the word to a class of ‘wise men’ or astrologers who interpret dreams and messages of the gods.  

Both Daniel and Herodotus may contribute to the understanding of the Magi of Matthew 2:1-12. Apparently, the Magi were non-Jewish religious astrologers who, from astronomical observations, inferred the birth of a great Jewish king. After inquiring of Jewish authorities, they came to Bethlehem to do homage. Whether ‘the East’ from which they came is Arabia, Babylon, or elsewhere is uncertain. . . 

For Matthew, the Magi’s visit represents the Messiah’s relationship to the Gentile world and is also a fitting introduction to other prophetically significant events of Christ’s infancy. The story is in keeping with the ‘royal’ Messianic expectations of the Jews and with the character of Herod.  

Later Christian traditions regard the Magi as kings (because of Ps. 72:10; Is. 49:7; 60:3?) and number them at three (because of the gifts) or twelve. In the Christian calendar Epiphany, originally associated with Christ’s baptism, reflects the importance of the Magi’s visit for later Christendom. (Wood, D. R. W., & Marshall, I. H. New Bible Dictionary, p. 713)

January 6 is EPIPHANY.  It is the REAL 12th Day of Christmas. Another name for this day is KINGS DAY! Much of Europe give gifts on this day rather than on December 25th. Here is a picture from 2007 of our Epiphany cake with the three purple candles to represent the three magi:

13. Escape to Egypt: 2:13-18

The wise men were warned by God not to return to tell Herod they had found the King of the Jews (Matthew 2:12), and an angel told Joseph to take the Child and flee to Egypt. The Greek word for "child" here indicates he was not an infant at this time because this is a different word from the word used in the birth account. We know that he was under two from 2:16. 

The Massacre of the Innocents by Giotto. 1304-1306, Padua, Italy. 
https://www.wikiart.org/en/giotto/the-massacre-of-the-innocents

The "Massacre of the Innocents" as depicted by the painting (sorry if it is too graphic) is not recorded by the Jewish historian Josephus (A.D. 37 - c.100), but we do know that Herod put several of his children and some of his wives to death.  In fact:

"Emperor Augustus reportedly said it was better to be Herod’s sow than his son, for his sow had a better chance of surviving in a Jewish community. In the Greek language, as in English, there is only one letter difference between the words 'sow' (huos) and 'son' (huios)" (The Bible Knowledge Commentary).

What a cruel Jew! Herod was born about 73 B.C. and reigned in Judah as "king of the Jews" from 40-4 B.C. 

God's intervention saved this Savior from Herod's jealousy! Matthew quotes Hosea 11:1 and Jeremiah 31:5 as Old Testament prophecies of Jesus because his audience is the Jews. 

14. Return to Nazareth: 2:19-23

Herod died in 4 B.C., so an angel appeared to Joseph and told him to go back to the land of Israel. Herod's son, Archelaus ("Herod the Ethnarch"), ruled Judea, Samaria, and Idumea from 4 B.C. to A.D. 6. He had the worst reputation of all the sons and was known for his tyranny (some thought he was insane due to family intermarriages). The region of Galilee that Joseph, Mary, and Jesus went to was ruled by "Herod the tetrarch" or Antipas (Matthew 14:1; Luke 23:7-12) who was a much saner ruler than his brother, but we will see that he was not necessarily a nice guy. 

There is no specific prophecy that says, "He will be a Nazarene," but many scholars believe that Matthew is referring to Isaiah 11:1 because the Hebrew word for "branch"(neṣer) is similar to the consonants in Nazarene. 

Nazareth was in a hilly area of southern Galilee near the crossroads of the great caravan routes, connecting this small town with people from all over the world. The Roman garrison was also housed there. The people of Nazareth were known for their independence. Consequently, many Jews despised them (we will soon learn what Nathanael thought of Nazarenes in John 1:46). 

REFLECTION 

This chapter from The Promise by Michael Card has gone through my head all day:

Melchior sat brooding in his chamber, impatiently turning the yellowed parchment leaves of one of his obscure and valuable manuscripts. He was one of the chief magi of the Persian king. His reputation for wisdom and scholarship were well deserved, his grasp of the literature of all the world's religions was vast.

According to the laws of Persia, he had to be present at sacred functions to utter cryptic and sacred words known only to the elder and elite of his august group. Young "searchers" would come to him to seek out the deepest and most esoteric truths.

Melchior was a wise man. And yet . . .

As he slowly looked up, the parchment slipped from his long fingers and fell in a heap on the stone floor.

His servant, Aziel, spoke up, "Master, need I remind you to take care with the parchments?"

Melchior was silent.

Aziel collected the parchment leaves from the floor and returned them to their proper place on one of the long shelves that lined three walls of the room. Behind his heavy-lidded eyes Melchior was deep within himself, pacing up and down as it were. Searching. Wondering. The tormented habit of a lifetime. He was startled by a soft knocking on the door.

From outside, a youthful voice called, "Master Melchior, are you receiving visitors?"

"Come," he replied.

Into the room slipped a tall young man dressed in a turban and the long-flowing robes of the son of a vizier [a high-ranking political (and sometimes religious) advisor].

"Would it be better if I came back tomorrow?" the young man asked respectfully.

"No, Caspar. Come in," Melchior replied, his impatience hidden beneath a tired, conciliatory tone. "What would you like to discuss today" Zoroastrian doctrine perhaps? Astrology?"

"There is but one question on my mind today, Master. Tell me -- in your own heart, from your own experience -- what is wisdom?"

Studying the old master's face, Caspar went on. "I have seen that wisdom is not the same as knowledge. I know simple men who are wise and knowledgeable men who are fools. The one thing I do know about wisdom -- the only thing I know -- is that I desire it above all else. Beyond riches. Even beyond the love of a woman. And yet I don't really know what it is I desire, or why this desire consumes me the way it does."

Melchior was lost in reverie again. The young man's question had sent him on another journey inside himself. Caspar knew to wait in silence, for the old man was a long time in answering.

When he spoke again, Melchior's voice seems weaker, "Your question comes as an answer to me, young one." He was whispering, as much to himself as to Caspar. "Your dilemma has given me a key to unlock my own prison. All my life I have sought wisdom. I have pondered the material world and the stars. I have observed mankind and sought to follow the twists and turns of his mind. Today, as I approach four-score, I realized that all my study has taught me that I know nothing. I have done nothing. Like you, all I am left with is the hunger."

Caspar was dazed. "Then what shall we do with our burden, this intolerable hunger for wisdom?"

"What can we do but wait?" Melchior responded. "We will pray to God -- if a god exists, or if he listens or even cares."

Yet the tone of the old man's voice held little hope. And there was a heavy resignation in it which hinted to Caspar that they might never find their hearts' desire.

"Go, you have nothing more to learn from me," said Melchior sadly. "Come back if you find some answer. And I will come to you if I find one."

Caspar stepped out into the night. He looked up into the night. He looked up into a black sky, so much like the way he was feeling inside. Not a single star out tonight, he thought woefully.

The star first appeared, high in the western sky, four months later. It hung there next to Jupiter, the wandering star of the kind, in a constellation the magi called "the house of the Hebrews." Caspar ran, out of breath, straight to the house of Melchior.

Entering, he stared, dumbfounded. The furnishings, as well as the hundreds of manuscripts were gone. He wondered if Melchior had fallen out of favor with the king. There in the main study he found the magi at his window, gazing up into the early evening sky. His eyes were transfixed on the star.

"What does it mean, master?" asked Caspar.

"It is Jacob's star," Melchior whispered. "The Jews have a prophecy, uttered by a disreputable member of our own society -- Balaam was his name. It seems he was summoned by the king. . ."

"Yes, yes, I know the story," Caspar interrupted, barely able to control impatience. "But what does it . . ."

"A star will rise out of Jacob, a scepter out of Israel." Melchior pronounced the words slowly.

"What does it mean!"

"It means that I have been an arrogant fool, young one. I have boasted all my life of being a seeker of truth -- I, always me. When I saw that star I knew in an instant what it meant." Melchior sounded so forlorn that Caspar feared the star's meaning was something evil.

"That star is an invitation. You see, Wisdom is seeking us. And He has sent that star as an invitation to come to Him, yes Him."

Then the old man's entire frame shuddered, as a tear glided haltingly down his cheek and was lost in his beard. "All my life He has been seeking me. He is the one who has given to me and to you our hunger for Him. And now this star is a precious gift. I have sold all that I have for the journey and for gold to offer when I meet Him. I believe He must be a great King. Tonight I leave. I shall probably never return, never see you again, Caspar."

Behind the old man's words there was an awareness of his great age and the length of the journey. Evidently, he had accepted the fact that he would most likely die before he could return home again. At the same time his face shone with a peace that had never been there before, as if he had already found all that he had been looking for -- his deepest longing already filled.

Caspar slipped up close behind him. He reached out and placed a hand on Melchior's boney shoulder, realizing that this was the first time they had ever touched. Together they stood before the open window gazing up intently at the star that was so bright it cast their shadows back onto the cool stone floor.

When it seemed that Melchior already knew what Caspar was going to say, the young man whispered, "Tonight, we leave." (The Promise: A Celebration of Christ's Birth by Michael Card, p. 32-36)

(This book is a favorite Christmas devotional book of mine.) 

APPLICATION

"That star is an invitation. 

You see, Wisdom is seeking us. 

And He has sent that star 

as an invitation to come to Him, 

yes Him."

If you are reading this according to the schedule, I hope you have time to enjoy an Epiphany Celebration today. Maybe you might bake a "Treasure Chest Cake" and light three candles in honor of the Magi (purple for royalty although we do not think they were kings). Read Matthew 2:1-11 and sing this verse of the song "What Child is This?”

So bring Him incense, gold and myrrh,

Come, peasant, king, to own him:

The King of kings salvation brings,

Let loving hearts enthrone Him.

This, this is Christ the King,

Whom shepherds guard and angels sing,

Haste, haste to bring Him laud,

The babe, the Son of Mary.  

Then sing "We Three Kings" and talk about gifts you can bring to the King!

PRAYER

I pray the prayer below will be your prayer for the New Year!

Lord, we would be seekers of you. We would be the ones who embrace your Wisdom. but it is you who have sought and found us. It is your Wisdom that has embraced us. It is you who begin and finish it all. It is only you. 

"All who seek me find me," your Word says. But are we not seekers because we have already been found first by you? And do we not find you because it is you who have first loved us? 

Then seek us, O Lord, until we are completely found. And draw us close with Your love until we find You forever. (The Promise, p. 37)

Matthew 1 - Jesus Genealogy and Joseph

Rose window on the south end of transept arm, St. Denis Cathedral, St. Denis, France. The stained glass depicts the Tree of Jesse (ancestors of Christ from Jesse onwards) in the Art Nouveau style. From Wikimedia Commons

I wanted to give a "heads-up" that you can also read the integrated Gospels chronologically on the Gospel Harmony Book Club blog.

LINK: Matthew 1 

BIBLE STORYTELLING

I am including links to 3-5 minute stories that I made that relate to these stories. They are great to tell everyone!

Prophet Bridge from the Old to the New Testament: audio and transcript

Angels to Mary and Joseph: audio and transcript

The number at the beginning of this section is the number for a chronological order of events in the life of Jesus. Here is a list of all the events:

250 Events in the Life of Christ 

3. The record of Jesus' ancestors: Matthew 1:1-17, Luke 3:23-38

Matthew was a Jewish tax collector, and he wrote this gospel for a Jewish audience that awaited the Messiah who was to be the "son of David, the son of Abraham." That is why this genealogy is the first thing you read in the book of Matthew. This is very significant!

Matthew traces the legal or royal ancestry of the Messiah through Joseph, Jesus' legal (if not biological) father.  The beginning point is Abraham.

If you have been part of the Bible Book Club Old Testament readings, this genealogy will contain many familiar names. One example is Ruth, our family reads the book of Ruth for our Jesse Tree Christmas devotional (see REFLECTION and APPLICATION below), and we review that Ruth, a Gentile, was the great-grandmother of King David and King David was Jesus' grandfather times 28 greats!

It was common for generations to be left out as Matthew did when he arranged the genealogy in groups of 14 ("son of" can mean son or descendant). 

It should be noted that Jews have never questioned the lineage of Jesus.

It is also interesting to note that five women are mentioned in Matthew's genealogy: Tamar (Genesis 18:15-30), Rahab (Joshua 2:1-24, 6:21-25), Ruth (Ruth 1:1-19; 4:13-17), Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11), Mary (Luke 1:26-38). You can read backgrounds about them in a group of previous Bible Book Club posts HERE.

Genealogy of Jesus according to Matthew through Joseph's Line

Abraham Isaac Jacob Judah & Tamar Pharez Hezron Ram

Amminadab Nahshon Salmon & Rahab Boaz & Ruth Obed Jesse David & Wife of Uriah

Solomon Rehoboam Abijam Asa Jehosaphat Jehoram Uzziah

Jotham Ahaz Hezekiah Manasseh Amon Josiah Jeconiah -  CAPTIVITY

Shealtiel Zerubbabel Abiud Eliakim Azor Zadok Achim

Eliud Eleazar Matthan Jacob Joseph & Mary * Jesus

from "Genealogy of Jesus" at Wikipedia.org

8. An angel appears to Joseph: Matthew 1:18-25

Listen to the wonderful Imaginative Contemplation of this passage from Prayer as You Go.

In Hebrew custom, the marriage contract was negotiated between parents, and the woman continued to live with her parents and the man with his parents for a year so the bride could demonstrate her purity. If she got pregnant, she was considered impure, and the marriage contract could be annulled. 

Mary and Joseph were in this waiting period, and Mary became pregnant. What was Joseph to think? He must have been an exceptional man because he wanted to kindly break the contract secretly. If he had done it publicly, Mary might have been subject to stoning (Deuteronomy 22:23-24). 

As we have seen with Mary and Zechariah, angels have a way of making all things clear, and this angel did that for Joseph. The angel declared a Scarlet Thread of Redemption verse from a prophet who proclaimed God's eternal plan 700 years before:

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14) which translated means "God with us." (Matthew 1:23)

(Let those words wash over you, dear reader. If you have time, join YEAR TWO of the Bible Book Club. In that year, you will read through all the prophets, and they are FULL of prophecies like the one above!  It is so fun to tie the Old Testament and New Testament together in one big Christmas bow!)

Remember, Matthew was writing to Jews. So, they would know about this Old Testament prophecy about Immanuel.  But let's do a little bit more of an Old Testament word study since most of us are Gentiles!

עִמָּנוֵּל (˓immānûēl). With us is God. This proper name occurs twice. It is the name to be given to the child to be born of the virgin (Isa 7:14). Isaiah addresses Judah’s king, of Davidic lineage, as Immanuel (8:8). The prophet also gives the meaning and application of the name by stressing that, in spite of what a disobedient king does, God will be with his covenant people (Isa 8:10). 

The name Immanuel gives expression to the truth God had expressed in various ways to his covenant people in times previous to Isaiah. He had specifically said that he would be God to Abraham and his seed (Gen 17:7). He would go with Jacob (Gen 28:15) and Moses (Ex 3:12). God identified with his people saying he had taken them to be his possession (Ex 19:5–6). The angel of his name would go with and guard his people (Ex 23:20. 24). To Joshua the word came, “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you” (Josh 1:5). To David God said, “I have been with you” (II Sam 7:9). 

Solomon earnestly prayed that the Lord would be with him and Israel as he had been with David (I Kgs 8:57). By various visible means, i.e. cloud, pillar of fire, and the ark of the covenant the Lord confirmed his word. He was with his people [emphasis mine]. He led, upheld, and blessed them. 

Isaiah, speaking to Ahaz, assured him that the faithful covenant God was present as he had been and as he would be in the incarnate Son to be born of the virgin. Thus the past, present, and future intimate relationship of God’s presence with his people is summed up in the name Immanuel. (Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, p. 677)

I don't know about you, but that makes my heart sing: 

GOD IS WITH US! 

Praise God that Joseph "did as the angel of the Lord commanded" (1:24).

REFLECTION

Genealogies may seem boring to some, but once you understand why they are there, it is quite exciting! To really understand the phenomenal thing about Jesus and The Scarlet Thread of Redemption, it is important to know His lineage. 

Every Christmas we do a "Jesse Tree" reading of Scripture where we trace the line of Jesus all the way back to Creation! Do you see Jesse (#13) in the genealogy above?

Here is a little more about the history of the Jesse tree:

In the old days, in the front of any family Bible, a record was kept of that family's history: the marriages, the children born of those marriages, the marriages and offspring of those children. Over the course of generations, those fading, spidery lines spread outwards like branches and twigs from a single trunk. That is why we call such a record a "family tree." 

Similarly, there would have been in any number of churches, a "Jesse tree" -- a depiction of Jesus' family tree in wood, or stone, or stained glass (see picture above). Church garments might even have been embroidered with a tree. 

Even thousands of years ago, when the stories of the Old Testament were first told, families were pictured as trees branching out from a single trunk.

"A shoot will spring from the stock of Jesse, and from his roots a bud will blossom." said the prophet Isaiah in the Bible (Isaiah 11:1-5), foretelling the birth of Jesus. It is this verse which gave rise to the tradition of Jesse trees in churches. 

Jesse trees were the Bible-storybooks of unlettered people. A priest could point to the figures or symbols, and tell the stories of those Old Testament kings, prophets, heroines, warriors. And the tree itself served to show how the New Testament grew out of the Old Testament; how, for Christians, the birth of Jesus was not just a beginning, but a completion. He was the flowering of a tree planted long before, by God's own design. By tracing his earthly ancestry back to King David and beyond, it was easy, too, to see Jesus as a real historical figure.  

That forest of ancient Jesse trees fashioned in the Middle Ages is long gone. Puritan vandals of the seventeenth century, in their attempt to destroy "graven images," smashed the heads from saints, the wings from angels, the figures from Jesse trees. No tree survives undamaged.

But in recent times, a new tradition has grown up -- a new strain of Jesse tree "grown" at home. Still planted for the sake of its stories, symbols are added day by day during the season of Advent, and day by day the old stories are retold, culminating in the stories of the first Christmas. (The Jesse Tree by Geraldine McCaughrean, p. 9)

We love our "grown at home" version that we have done since Christmas 1997 when my kids were three and five. Even though both my kids are adults, they still love to read (or recall) each story (when they are home) and put the corresponding "ornament" on the tree. And this does not have to be for only those of you with children at home. It is for anyone, no matter what age. 

Here is a picture of ours:

APPLICATION

You might like to start your own Jesse Tree tradition next December 1. The whole month of November in YEAR THREE of the Bible Book Club is devoted to making your own Jesse Tree. But you can start anytime by going to the posts here:

The Jesse Tree (They are in reverse order so click on the calendar.)

I have also put all the posts in a downloadable devotional, so you don't have to read them in reverse order: 

The Jesse Tree Devotional

Here is a link to a handout with just the Scripture readings and activities for the family that can be tucked in your Bible for easy reference. I adapted it from an anonymous source several years ago. 

Jesse Tree Readings

Also, two of the women I have discipled have made really fancy Jesse Trees. One has pockets for the reading and the symbol for each day. If you want to contact these people, message me at Body and Soul Companion. 

Another possible application would be to ponder that God is with you! I find Immanuel Journaling really helpful for fully experiencing Him with me.

PRAYER

Lord, thank You for sending Jesus at just the right time in history to fulfill Your sovereign plan of salvation for the whole earth. Amen