Tiger Woods recently stood before the cameras in a relatively small room and before a group of people made up of family, friends, and a contingent of reporters, to offer an apology for his numerous moral transgressions. At times it seemed as though he was truly broken over his repeated indiscretions and at times as though he was staging for the cameras and possibly his sponsors. Since his confession, people have vocalized very strong opinions as to whether they felt his apology was genuine or not. I know that he hurt a lot of people, but the problem I see with holding such strong opinions is that no one is really capable of knowing the depth of his sincerity. If only God can see the heart, then only God can know the intent of his actions that day. What should be of greater concern to Christians is the fact that Tiger intends on turning to his religion of Buddhism for help when the One he needs is Jesus Christ!

This whole matter started me thinking about what it truly means to be "broken" over our sins. Another high profile celebrity once faced a moral scandal and a similar public relations nightmare. His name was King David. After his adulterous affair with Bathsheba, he tried to cover up his sin with more equally deplorable actions that ultimately led to Bathsheba's husband being killed. It wasn't until about a year later that David was confronted by the Prophet Nathan and his sin finally exposed. Following the logic of some opinions I've heard concerning Tiger Woods, you might assert that David was only sorry because he got caught, since he didn't acknowledge his sin willingly. But, the scripture is clear that God accepted David's confession and forgave him his transgressions.

Why was David's confession acceptable to the Lord? Among several things that could be mentioned, it is notable that he was truly broken over his sins. Listen to what he says: "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart—These, O God, You will not despise." (Psalm 51:17)

For a long time I had trouble picturing how this "brokenness" was to be applied to the confession of people's personal sins. My problem was that I thought of a "broken and a contrite heart" like you think of a broken vessel of clay that has been shattered into hundreds of little pieces. But, that's not the "brokenness" God intends us to see in this confession.

Instead of a crushed or shattered vessel, the idea is more that of an animal whose wild nature is broken, like what happens in the taming of a horse. When a horse isn't broken, it tries to throw the rider off its back. But when it reaches the place of brokenness, the horse surrenders to the rider and quits fighting against him so he can be guided wherever the rider wishes to lead him. In a similar way, we know the genuineness of our own confessions when we stop fighting God and surrender to His will.

To only be sorry that you got caught is to be like a "bucking bronco" who refuses to surrender to the control of its rider. God wants us to have "a broken and a contrite heart." That's the place where our self-will dies and His controlling will dominates.

Focus On Christ: 2010

Have you caught the vision for 2010 yet? By now you've already made your New Year's resolutions and hopefully you're off to a good start. But have you fervently prayed about how you can actively pursue a closer relationship with God? How can you grow spiritually in 2010? Who will you reach? With whom will you share the love of Christ? What will you do this year that will have an everlasting effect?

We recently discussed how our vision for 2010 was to "make as many disciples of Christ as we can, as fast as we can, in as many ways as we can, in as many places as we can, for as long as we can." Have you given much thought to how you would help the church to execute this goal? Your help is vital, but first things first.

In order to be effective for Christ we need to focus on Christ. If we aren't careful, our spiritual eyesight can become blurred or even misdirected so that we no longer have a clear view of the Savior. One symptom of this out-of-focus living is arguments between believers over non-essentials, preferences, and secondary issues that are not central to our primary mission. It is only when we become focused on Christ that we can carry out the Great Commission and fulfill our true purpose.

How is your focus? Is it fixed on something that doesn't really matter, something that holds no eternal value? Are there people passing by you every day who are in danger of plunging into the abyss but you are too busy with some non-issue to give them words of eternal life? Or maybe you've been trying to improve your focus, but you need help to make it better. We must bring Christ plainly into view so that our love and devotion will become centered on Him. Unless we make it our highest priority to "... love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind" (Matt. 22:37), we will not be focused on the right things, and our ministries will lack passion and be ineffective.

Just focus on Christ. Allow yourself to be consumed by His sacrificial, overwhelming love. Rest in the assurance of His abounding grace and mercy. Reflect on His many blessings. Praise Him for His promises and provision. When we bask in His glory we will inevitably come to the point where we can no longer hold it in. We will be compelled to share the love of Christ with our neighbors, just as we were commanded to do. In order to make as many disciples of Christ as we can, as fast as we can, in as many ways as we can, in as many places as we can, for as long as we can, we must make sure our focus is on the one who saves!

So, again ... have you caught the vision for 2010? Do you see how and where you can be used to win souls for Christ? Are you focused on Christ? You have the ability to make an everlasting effect on each soul that you come into contact with. Focus on the eternal. Yield yourself to the Lord and allow Him to use you in whatever capacity He needs.

We've Lost The Culture War

This is an interesting article that should provoke our thinking, even from someone that might disagree with his basic conclusion (that we've lost the culture war). This is no time to retreat from the "culture war," but it is time to be sure we are fighting the good fight at home...first. --David Lemming



"WE'VE LOST THE CULTURE WAR"
by Brannon Howse

We've lost the culture war.

I wish I could tell you otherwise and go happily along with the many Christians who still think we can recapture America, return to our moral and spiritual roots, and revitalize our wayward institutions. But I can't, and someone needs to tell you--loudly and clearly.... We are not going to reclaim the culture in America and return to the days of June and Ward Cleaver. We won't see a majority of the officials in legislative and judicial branches of our government go back to the original intent of America's founding fathers as reflected in the U.S. Constitution and other original documents. We are not going to witness prayer, Bible reading, and posting of the Ten Commandments in public schools again. There will be no drastic decline in divorce, sexually transmitted diseases, abortion, and homosexual "marriage." The United Nations will not be eliminated. The undermining of our national sovereignty and parental authority will not be reversed. And we will not return to unlimited religious freedom.

Please understand that I am not advocating that Christians retreat from the culture.... We must proclaim Christian values based on Scripture regardless of persecution and despite knowing that America...has passed the point of no return morally. Standing firm is our duty, and the results--whatever they may be--belong to God.

The culture war itself has been merely the symptom of a much more profound conflict--a spiritual battle that most Christians don't understand and are ill-equipped to fight. In fact, our losing the culture war is directly tied to the fact that American Christians, churches, Christian colleges, and seminaries have not done an adequate job in understanding what they believe, why they believe it, and proclaiming it from an uncompromising biblical standpoint.... What we must now come to grips with is how to handle the new reality in which we live. The solidly post-Christian culture that Francis Schaeffer warned of more than two decades ago is now here. Conservative commentator Patrick Buchanan describes what has happened:

The European-Christian core of the country that once defined us is shrinking, as Christianity fades, the birth rate falls, and Third World immigration surges. Globalism dissolves the economic bonds, while the cacophony of multiculturalism displaces the old American culture.

The spiritual war rages, and the stakes are much higher because the battle is no longer for our culture but for the souls, hearts, and minds of our [own] children and grandchildren. We must disciple them in biblical truth, or they will be taken spiritual captives.

First Chronicles 12:32 tells us the tribe of Issachar was called wise because they understood the times and knew what God would have them do. In the New Testament, Jesus criticized the liberal religious leaders [Pharisees] of his day for being able to discern the weather but not the times. He chided, "You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, yet you can't interpret the [spiritual and prophetic] signs of the times?" (Matthew 6:3). God desires that His people understand what is happening around them and respond with biblical leadership.

Ephesians 6:12 tells us that "we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." But, take heart, for Jesus Christ has assured us He is building His Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail (Matthew 16:18).... But, as in any battle, there will be casualties. Yet we should not fear those that can only destroy the body. Rather, we should fear the One that [made] our souls.... As Romans 8:37 declares: "In all these things we are triumphantly victorious due to the one who loved us."

Lies have been cleverly packaged in positive, masking terms, but behind them remains a destructive spiritual agenda. If you're ready for this spiritual battle, you'll stand a better chance of keeping the faith, proclaiming the truth, standing firm for your family and its convictions, and enduring till the end. I'm fairly certain our national future is not bright.... [but] this can also be the greatest hour for the proclamation of the gospel if we understand the times and prepare our family and friends.... The Church can still be God's redemptive vessel in the years to come. And since one arm of attack has been directly through the Church, we can at least remove it from our midst if we act wisely and assertively....

Sadly, most [evangelical] Christians are just as clueless as their non-believing fellow citizens as to what is happening. For the most part, the Church has contributed to the loss of the culture war by surrendering--often in ignorance--to the agendas arrayed against it. That's why we're losing many of our churched youth to aberrant philosophies. We're not preparing children to know what they believe, why they believe it, and how to defend their biblical worldview....

The Church in America has had billions of dollars at its disposal in modern times. In theory, this money has been available to fulfill the Great Commission--making disciples of Jesus Christ.... Yet, with all of its monetary resources, the Church has largely failed. Untold billions have been spent on buildings and entertainment rather than establishing Christians in the faith.... Most churches do not care to do [the] work of creating followers of Jesus Christ. They are too concerned about maintaining and growing a club complete with social activities, entertaining programs, and multi-million dollar buildings.

You may think I'm being too harsh, but in fact, I'm being reserved in my criticism. Yes, some churches are led by godly pastors. But from what I've seen of the congregations of America, these faithful churches represent merely a remnant.... The typical evangelical church prefers, rather, to simply provide people with employment, to make those who show up on Sunday morning feel comfortable, and to provide activities for the kids so they stay out of trouble.... There is no interest in teaching "line upon line and precept upon precept." For those godly pastors who are leading, I am thankful, but we also need lay people to fulfill God's calling for their lives. Above all, we need parents to train and prepare their children for [these increasingly "perilous times"].

Herein lies one of our greatest areas of surrender. The Church may not be interested in instructing our kids, but many others "out there" salivate over the opportunity. Humanist and educator Charles Francis Potter, in his book Humanism: A New Religion, understood the prospects for equipping students to know what they believe and why they believe it:

Education is the most powerful ally of Humanism [atheism], and every American public school is a school of Humanism. What can the theistic Sunday Schools, meeting for an hour once a week, and teaching only a fraction of the children, do to stem the tide of a five-day program of humanistic teaching?

If we have lost the culture war, then who has won?

The winners are the people [identified in my new book]--and those who wittingly or unwittingly follow them: Alice Bailey, Helen Schucman, Julius Wellhausen, Soren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, John Dewey, The Frankfurt School, Betty Friedan, William James, Alfred Kinsey, Aldous Huxley, Benjamin Bloom, B. F. Skinner, Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, John Maynard Keynes, Christopher Columbus Langdell, Saul Alinsky, Sigmund Freud, Margaret Sanger, and Roger Baldwin.

What most disturbs me is that these people had the terms of surrender spelled out before we even knew the war was under way. The ideas, beliefs, convictions, and values of these 21 influencers have--whether you know it or not--affected your faith, family, and freedoms.... The transformation of America is happening so fast that each day brings a new revelation of what government, religious, and educational leaders are doing to accomplish their goal of re-making America in very un-American ways.... The speed at which the world is moving toward a "new order" is [simply astonishing.]

The heaviest fighting is yet to come. In the midst of a lost culture, we must stand up for righteousness.... Your first step is to "see to it that no on enslaves you through philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to the Messiah" (Colossians 2:8, ISV).... We must accept that we are past the point of restoring our culture and focus on how to preserve our families. We must evangelize, disciple, and raise up those who can lead the remnant....

[But] how can we win the battle for the hearts and minds if we do not understand or even know the foundational worldviews and philosophies of the opposition? If the culture war is lost, exactly how did we lose it? What are the goals and tactics of the spiritual battle that continues? Where are we going, and how should we prepare for whatever comes next?

*****

These are the questions Brannon answers in Grave Influence: 21 Radicals and Their Worldviews that Rule America from the Grave--This excerpt is from the introduction.

(Brannon Howse is founder and president of Worlview Weekend Conferences. Worldview Weekends brings together many of today's most biblically minded thinkers to teach, encourage, and equip believers for the purpose of evangelism, discipleship, discernment, and apologetics. Brannon is host of the radio talk show, Worldview Matters, in which he discusses current events and spiritual trends impacting the church and our nation. He is one of the few prominent voices doing so from a non-Dominionist, pre-tribulation rapture point of view, and is exceedingly passionate in his mission to help the remnant church "redeem the time, for the days are evil.")

Dr. Albert Mohler writes poignantly about Haiti...

The images streaming in from Haiti look like scenes from Dante's Inferno. The scale of the calamity is unprecedented. In many ways, Haiti has almost ceased to exist.

The earthquake that will forever change that nation came as subterranean plates shifted about six miles under the surface of the earth, along a fault line that had threatened trouble for centuries. But no one saw a quake of this magnitude coming. The 7.0 quake came like a nightmare, with the city of Port-au-Prince crumbling, entire villages collapsing, bodies flying in the air and crushed under mountains of debris. Orphanages, churches, markets, homes, and government buildings all collapsed. Civil government has virtually ceased to function. Without power, communication has been cut off and rescue efforts are seriously hampered. Bodies are piling up, hope is running out, and help, though on the way, will not arrive in time for many victims.

Even as boots are finally hitting the ground and relief efforts are reaching the island, estimates of the death toll range as high as 500,000. Given the mountainous terrain and densely populated villages that had been hanging along the fault line, entire villages may have disappeared. The Western Hemisphere's most impoverished nation has experienced a catastrophe that appears almost apocalyptic.

In truth, it is hard not to describe the earthquake as a disaster of biblical proportions. It certainly looks as if the wrath of God has fallen upon the Caribbean nation. Add to this the fact that Haiti is well known for its history of religious syncretism -- mixing elements of various faiths, including occult practices. The nation is known for voodoo, sorcery, and a Catholic tradition that has been greatly influenced by the occult.

Haiti's history is a catalog of political disasters, one after the other. In one account of the nation's fight for independence from the French in the late 18th century, representatives of the nation are said to have made a pact with the Devil to throw off the French. According to this account, the Haitians considered the French as Catholics and wanted to side with whomever would oppose the French. Thus, some would use that tradition to explain all that has marked the tragedy of Haitian history -- including now the earthquake of January 12, 2010.

Does God hate Haiti? That is the conclusion reached by many, who point to the earthquake as a sign of God's direct and observable judgment.

God does judge the nations -- all of them -- and God will judge the nations. His judgment is perfect and his justice is sure. He rules over all the nations and his sovereign will is demonstrated in the rising and falling of nations and empires and peoples. Every molecule of matter obeys his command, and the earthquakes reveal his reign -- as do the tides of relief and assistance flowing into Haiti right now.

A faithful Christian cannot accept the claim that God is a bystander in world events. The Bible clearly claims the sovereign rule of God over all his creation, all of the time. We have no right to claim that God was surprised by the earthquake in Haiti, or to allow that God could not have prevented it from happening.

God's rule over creation involves both direct and indirect acts, but his rule is constant. The universe, even after the consequences of the Fall, still demonstrates the character of God in all its dimensions, objects, and occurrences. And yet, we have no right to claim that we know why a disaster like the earthquake in Haiti happened at just that place and at just that moment.

The arrogance of human presumption is a real and present danger. We can trace the effects of a drunk driver to a car accident, but we cannot trace the effects of voodoo to an earthquake -- at least not so directly. Will God judge Haiti for its spiritual darkness? Of course. Is the judgment of God something we can claim to understand in this sense -- in the present? No, we are not given that knowledge. Jesus himself warned his disciples against this kind of presumption.

Why did no earthquake shake Nazi Germany? Why did no tsunami swallow up the killing fields of Cambodia? Why did Hurricane Katrina destroy far more evangelical churches than casinos? Why do so many murderous dictators live to old age while many missionaries die young?

Does God hate Haiti? God hates sin, and will punish both individual sinners and nations. But that means that every individual and every nation will be found guilty when measured by the standard of God's perfect righteousness. God does hate sin, but if God merely hated Haiti, there would be no missionaries there; there would be no aid streaming to the nation; there would be no rescue efforts -- there would be no hope.

The earthquake in Haiti, like every other earthly disaster, reminds us that creation groans under the weight of sin and the judgment of God. This is true for every cell in our bodies, even as it is for the crust of the earth at every point on the globe. The entire cosmos awaits the revelation of the glory of the coming Lord. Creation cries out for the hope of the New Creation.

In other words, the earthquake reminds us that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only real message of hope. The cross of Christ declares that Jesus loves Haiti -- and the Haitian people are the objects of his love. Christ would have us show the Haitian nation his love, and share his Gospel. In the midst of this unspeakable tragedy, Christ would have us rush to aid the suffering people of Haiti, and rush to tell the Haitian people of his love, his cross, and salvation in his name alone.

Everything about the tragedy in Haiti points to our need for redemption. This tragedy may lead to a new openness to the Gospel among the Haitian people. That will be to the glory of God. In the meantime, Christ's people must do everything we can to alleviate the suffering, bind up the wounded, and comfort the grieving. If Christ's people are called to do this, how can we say that God hates Haiti?

If you have any doubts about this, take your Bible and turn to John 3:16. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. That is God's message to Haiti.

This is from Dr. Albert Mohler who is president of Southern Seminary in Louisville, KY.

www.albertmohler.com

Don't offend your brother

I recently read this blog by Steve McVey and thought it needed to be read by a larger audience. I am reposting it to my blog in hopes that some will read it that might not have seen it otherwise. Too many legalists want to box you into doing what they say is the right thing by appealing to some believer that might be offended by your actions. While we must demonstrate "love" toward one another, we should not allow ourselves to be controlled by everyone else's opinions. Let's love our "weaker" brethren, but not surrender our freedom in Christ.

Steve McVey Writes:

"I've often heard the teaching that, as Christians, we shouldn’t do anything that might offend somebody. While there is a biblical truth about being an offense that we need to understand, it's also the case that many Christians have been put into bondage by faulty teaching about the passage in the New Testament which speaks about not being a stumbling block for weaker brothers. Some have misrepresented that text and suggested that if anything that you might do could potentially be offensive to somebody else, then you ought not to do it. That’s not at all what the Bible teaches.

"The Scripture does teach that we are to relate to each other on the basis of love. Loving people in the most effective way - that is the key. There is no disputing the fact that the Scripture says that if we have a weaker brother in our lives, who does not understand our freedom in Christ, then because of our love for that brother, we might be wise to be cautious and careful in our behaviors, so as not to offend the person. That’s an act of love, it’s an act of grace toward a weaker brother - someone who’s not strong in grace.

"On the other hand, I think the verse has sometimes been taken to the extreme and taught to mean that if somebody is not going to like something that you do, then you ought not do it. The truth is, to approach the Scripture from that viewpoint, will cause you to go into bondage, because there will be many things in your life that somebody believes you shouldn’t do.

"If you look across the body of Christ, there’s a diverse body of opinion about different things within the church world. Christians differ about music, movies, dress, alcohol, women in ministry, styles of worship...the list goes on and on. Some parts of the Body of Christ get into issues like where we should shop. For instance, I spoke to somebody the other day, who said that they believe that Christians ought not shop at WalMart, because this Christian believed they practice unfair labor practices. That is a conviction that they have. Well, does that mean that I should never shop at WalMart, for fear of offending that person?

"The bottom line is this: To say that you shouldn’t do anything that might offend someone isn't true. You need to relate to every person in love, but recognize that Jesus Himself sometimes offended religious people by the things he chose to do. He healed on the Sabbath. In fact, He said and did many things they didn’t like. So we relate to people from a heart of love, but we don’t allow ourselves to be controlled by public opinion. The Holy Spirit will show us the balance between the two if we truly love people and ask Him to guide us."

One Nation Under God - Jon McNaughton

What joy for the nation whose God is the Lord... (Psalm 33:12)

Catch The Vision!

Homer Hickam was a high school student growing up in the small mining town of Coalwood, W.Va. There were few prospects for young men like him except to follow their father's footsteps into the coal mines. Too small to earn a football scholarship, Homer saw no way out of his predetermined life -- until the soviet satellite Sputnik flew over the October sky and changed everything for him. With the encouragement of his teacher, Miss Riley, Homer embarked on a dream to build and launch his own homemade rockets with the help of his loyal friends. Though Homer's father resisted his son's pursuit, Homer persevered and eventually won the State Science Fair. This accomplishment opened the door for him to go to college and to eventually become a NASA engineer. This true story, later turned into a movie called "October Sky," demonstrates poignantly the power of a dream born in a person's heart.

Just like individuals need dreams, so churches must dream, as well. Every congregation should be asking questions like, "How can we more effectively reach people before Christ returns? What can we do to make an eternal difference in our community? What is the best way to connect people to Christ's purpose for their lives? How can we assist people in becoming devoted disciples of Jesus?" While these aren't the only questions they need to ask, they are central questions to their mission as a church.

Our staff and I have been asking these types of questions for the past year, searching the scripture for God's design for His church, and planning how to be instruments in His hands to accomplish His "vision." Our motivation is solely that we want to see God glorified through people coming to Christ who will know Him intimately, follow Him faithfully, and exalt Him passionately. And what has come from these discussions and periods of prayer has led us to adopt as our theme for 2010, "Catch The Vision." We want you to see what God has been showing us as we prepare for this New Year of ministry in the Tri-State.

As you might imagine, whenever you are following a "vision" that is born out of God's design for His church, there is inevitably some change that needs to take place. This will not be "change for change-sake," but it involves prayerfully orchestrated adjustments that we believe will improve our outreach to our community and provide for future growth in our church. In part, this involves minor alterations to our Sunday morning service times that will allow room in our auditorium for new people to attend, multiplying the number of small group Bible studies that will enable us to reach out further into our community, as well as some new ventures in introducing people to Christ through servant evangelism. While this is not the totality of our discussions and planning, we believe that these specific changes are essential to our mission for the New Year.

I recognize that all of us have preferences as to the way we like things to be done at church, but should we allow our preferences (traditions) to keep people out of Heaven? Or should we allow tradition to trump the truth? Someone has poignantly said, "It is one thing to have a preference; it is another to demand that one's preferences be honored above the needs of those without Christ." But that is exactly what too many Christians will do in the quest to remain true to their traditions or preferences.

There's a funny little story that illustrates comically what I'm trying to say and it goes like this...

"God gave the new pastor an idea about their church's future. So, he excitedly presented it at the monthly board meeting. After giving his most impassioned plea and really 'selling' the idea, the board voted down the pastor's proposed changes 12-1. The chairman of the board looked at the pastor and said, 'Well pastor, it looks like you've been out voted and since time is up for the evening, will you please close in prayer.' The pastor, not wanting to give up on what he felt God was leading him to do lifted up his hands to heaven and prayed, 'Lord - I know my brothers here do not have the same vision you have given me. Please help them to see that this is not MY vision, but YOUR vision!' At that exact moment, a lightning bolt struck the meeting room table, splitting it in two and knocking all the board members to the floor. As the dust cleared, the pastor looked at the chairman and said - 'So, what do you think about that?' He responded, dusting himself off, 'Well, I guess that makes it 12 votes to 2!'"

That story would be even funnier if it weren't so close to the experience of too many churches. I, nor any member of my staff, would never be so presumptuous as to say that we have a direct revelation from God about every aspect of our ministry expansion for 2010. However, I do believe that God has directed us to reach this Tri-State with the Gospel of Christ and make disciples of all men. In as much as we oppose change solely on the basis that we don't want our comfort zone disturbed or our tradition altered, then we may well be resisting God's purposes for LMBC.

Ask God to help you "Catch the Vision" of what He wants to do through this fellowship in 2010 and commit yourself to trying new things for the sake of people's lives being changed for His glory.

We Wish You A Merry Christmas

Celebrating Christmas

Just so you will know...

A new Rasmussen Reports^™ national telephone survey found that 66 percent of Americans celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday and another 20 percent celebrate the event as a secular holiday.

Of those who celebrate Christmas, 81 percent believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God sent to earth to die for our sins and 72 percent say Jesus was born to a virgin.

Among all Americans, whether they celebrate Christmas or not, 82 percent say the person known to history as Jesus Christ actually walked the earth 2,000 years ago. Only three percent say he did not and 15 percent aren't sure.

Last year at this time, 64 percent of Americans said they planned to celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday, while 27 percent planned to celebrate in a secular fashion.

Also, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports^™ survey, 81 percent of adults who celebrate Christmas agree that decorating their tree is a fun experience. Just a "Scroogelike" nine percent (9%) say the tradition is an unpleasant chore, while eight percent (8%) rate it somewhere in between. Women enjoy decorating the tree slightly more than men and young adults consider it more fun than their elders.

Who Was Jesus' Grandfather?

Few aspects of the Bible seem less relevant to daily life than genealogies. Yet for Gospel writers Matthew and Luke, they were absolutely essential for understanding Jesus.

Genealogies fulfilled multiple purposes in the ancient world. Society was organized around kinship patterns, so every family needed lists that described their ancestral pedigree. Such family trees determined a person's social relationships. For instance, two families planning the marriage of their children would compare family lines to check kinship ties to ensure the two were "compatible." And rulers used genealogies to justify their power, rank, and status.

So why are the genealogical trees in Matthew and Luke so different? Matthew begins his Gospel with Jesus' genealogy, while Luke places it, strangely, between Jesus' baptism and temptation. Matthew has an ascending list, moving from Abraham up to Jesus, while Luke has a descending list, moving from Jesus down to Adam. Matthew's list is partial; Luke's is complete. And most significantly, while the two lists are virtually identical from Abraham to David, they diverge greatly from David to Jesus.

Several solutions have been proposed to explain the differences. Martin Luther said that Matthew gives Joseph's line and Luke Mary's line. Others, such as Tertullian, reversed this. Yet the explanation fails in both directions, because the Gospels clearly state that they are listing Joseph's line (Matt. 1:16; Luke 3:23). Julius Africanus proposed that Matthew follows Jesus' natural descent and Luke his legal descent. Neither Gospel indicates such an approach, though, and it is best to allow the authors to speak for themselves.

A Closer Look

Examining each genealogy closely reveals the authors' different purposes. Matthew's list resembles those used by rulers to justify their rank and status, and by families to determine connections to a common ancestor. Matthew arranges his genealogy into three groups of 14 names each. In Jewish gematria—a kind of numerology stemming from the fact that letters of the Hebrew alphabet were also numbers—names have numerical value. The three consonants for David add up to 14. So Matthew underscores Jesus' kingly ancestry by working in groups of David, or 14.

Matthew portrays Jesus as the long-awaited Savior whose pedigree demonstrates his claim to be the Son of David and royal Messiah. Another unique feature of his genealogy is the presence of four women—Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba. Each had a scandalous aspect of her life, thus paving the way for Mary as an unwed mother. And all were (or were married to) Gentiles, foreshadowing the Gentile mission so important in Matthew's gospel.

Luke, on the other hand, begins his genealogy with "the son, so it was thought, of Joseph" (3:23), and concludes with "the son of God" (3:38). At Jesus' baptism, God declares Jesus "my Son" (3:22), and Jesus' temptation begins with Satan recognizing him as "the Son of God" (4:3). Placed between Jesus' baptism and temptation, Luke's genealogy is meant to proclaim that Jesus is, indeed, God's only Son.

Luke does not group the names like Matthew does but provides a simple succession of ancestors. The list contains many more common names (some of which we know nothing about) and seems to underscore Jesus' humanity as well as his divine sonship. Moreover, by going all the way back to Adam (the ancestor of all humanity), Luke maintains a universal thrust, emphasizing that Jesus came for all mankind. The list ends with Adam, and then Luke moves into the story of Jesus' encounter with Satan in the wilderness, in which Jesus rises above temptation as Adam did not. The message is clear: In Jesus, all human beings find their sins overcome.

Are there difficulties in reconciling the genealogies? Can they be harmonized? The answer in both cases is yes. Matthew's and Luke's lists stem largely from Old Testament genealogies (see Gen. 10-11 and 1 Chron. 1-3) and Jewish sources, and the differences between the names occur largely because each evangelist was selective in whom he included.

After Nathan in Luke's account and after Zerubbabel in Matthew's, no names adhere to other biblical passages, but few doubt that both lists are following traditional sources. We may never know whether Jesus' paternal grandfather through Joseph was Jacob (Matt. 1:15) or Heli (Luke 3:23b), and it could well be that they were brothers, with Heli the uncle and legal line of Jesus and Jacob the physical line. Either way, each genealogy reveals something about Jesus.

Grant Osborne is professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois.