Carolyn E. Jacobs

When I was a child, my mind wandered during the sermon. (Shocker.) Looking at the crucifix, I wondered about the “INRI” hanging above Jesus. What I know now but didn’t know then is that it stands for IESVS NAZARENVS REX IVDÆORVM. Jesus, the Nazarene, King of the Jews. Now Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written: “JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” John 19:19 Pilate wrote the inscription in Jewish Aramaic, Latin, and Greek for all to see. That rankled the chief priests. They told Pilate to change it to, “He says he is King of the Jews.” Pilate refused. Why?…

The LORD has a harsh rebuke for King Jeconiah in Jeremiah 22. “As I live,” declares the LORD, “even though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were a signet ring on My right hand, yet I would pull you off; and I will give you over into the hand of those who are seeking your life, yes, into the hand of those whom you dread, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. I will hurl you and your mother who bore you into another country where you were not born, and there you will die. But as for the…

Now if you do a Bible-in-a-year reading plan, when you get to 1 Chronicles, you probably do quite a bit of skimming. I know I do. Names, names, names. “I’ll take Jewish genealogy for $1000, Alex.” “Ding – Father of Gera” “Buzz – Who is Bela?” “That’s right!” (I Chron 8:3) No, you’re not going to see that as a Jeopardy clue. But you think we like to poke around and dig up secrets on ancestry.com? The Jews knew their ancestry. Take a look at the first 9 chapters of 1 Chronicles. 9 chapters of names. It’s all genealogy, from Adam – the first man, to Abraham, to Jacob, and…

Matthew gives the genealogy of David’s royal line, establishing Jesus as the legal heir to David’s throne. Jesus fulfills Isaiah’s prophecy. For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us: And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of his government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this. Isaiah 9:6-7…

Through Jeremiah, the Lord said to write Coniah (Jeconiah) down as childless. For no man of his descendants will prosper Sitting on the throne of David Or ruling again in Judah. (See Jeremiah 22:24-30) Yet we know from Isaiah 9, the throne of David is “forevermore.” How can we reconcile this? Ancestry.com, of course. The first chapter of Matthew establishes Jesus’s legal right to the throne of David. He traces Jesus’s lineage, from Abraham, through David, to Joseph. This passage is affectionately known as the “begats.” Here’s the twist. Joseph, husband of Mary, didn’t beget Jesus. Legally, Jesus was Joseph’s son and heir. But the Father was Jesus’s father. No one saw that coming. But…