Thursday, August 31, 2006

The Servant Messiah - 3

Messianic Prophecies - Luke 3: 23-26
Luke stops a moment to contemplate the meaning of the voice of God at the Baptism proclaiming the Servant Messiah. He realizes that this is the culmination of many historical events. One genealogy traces the ancestry of Jesus back to David. The writer can hear the promise of God to the aging king. "When thy days are fulfilled and thou shall sleep with thy father, I will set up thy seed after thee. I will build a house for my name and establish the throne of his kingdom forever." ( II Samuel 23; 6-8) This appeared to be about Solomon, but when this kingdom was destroyed, the promise was transferred to a distant descendant of David. In speaking to His people this promise is confirmed: "for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. And the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, The Mighty God, the Everlasting Father , the Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9;6,7) And again Isaiah refers to the Davidic promise " An there shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, and Branch out of his roots shall bear fruit. And the spirit of God shall be upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might." (Isaiah 11:1,2) Indeed, Messiah was born as a descendant of David.
The author pauses momentarily as he looks at another geneaology going back to Abraham, the father of the nation and the recipient of the covenant promise. " Behold I will make of you a great nation, and through you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." Genesis 17:4-7. He visualizes the plan of God.
The author cannot stop here. He must go all the back to Adam made in the image of God, endowed with special abilities, and a special place at the top of the creation. This same Adam loves the fruit of the tree of evil and destroys his happiness and mars the beauty of the God given Garden.. The significance unfolds from the plight of Adam, to the covenant promise to Abraham, to the building of the great nation under David with the promised Messiah to the fulfillment when the heavens opened and the voice of God proclaimed:"This is my beloved Son, in whom my soul delights."

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home