Jim’s Blog

Jesus’ Ancestors (1:1-17) Part 8 Then there’s the story of Ruth. An entire, but brief, book of the Old Testament tells us about her. A Jewish man, Elimelek (“My God is king”), with his wife Naomi (“Pleasant”), migrate from Bethlehem to the region of Moab because of a famine. In Moab, shortly after, Elimelek dies. […]

Jesus’ Ancestors (1:1-17) Part 7 Judah married Er to a young Canaanite woman named Tamar. Their marriage was short-lived. Er died. So Judah ordered his n ext son, Onan to have sex with Tamar in order “to raise up offspring for your brother.” This was what we know as “levirate marriage” (more on that later). […]

I was just remembering a conversation I had a while back with someone who was always anxious. It was a lifelong burden. Pretty much everything in his life was seen through a worst case scenario lens. And, of course, one can view almost anything in terms of what might go wrong. Worry is the father […]

Jesus’ Ancestors (1:1-17) Part 6 In Ge. 38:1-3 the narrative of Judah and Tamar is written. Judah was the fourth-born to Jacob’s first wife Leah. He was the “father” of the future Isrealites who later took on his name to describe their territory — the southern kingdom of Judah — and their national/ethnic designation: “Jews”. […]

Jesus ‘ Ancestors (1:1-17) Part 5 But before moving on, there is something powerfully ironic in this genealogy. In contradistinction to almost all other Jewish records, Matthew’s includes women! Here are their stories. In Ge. 19:30-38 we read about Lot’s daughters. Lot, Abraham’s nephew had settled in Sodom which at that time was a fertile […]

I drove past a prominent fitness facility recently and thought about the rush to membership that always accompanies the new year with its resolutions to get in shape. By February or March these born again fitness seekers will be supporting the facility with their year-long memberships but not participating. It is ever thus… Reminds me […]

Jesus’ Ancestors (1:1-17) Part Four But the common people, those illiterate, impressionable labourers, farmers, and shop-keepers, also had their say: “Could this be the Son of David?” (Mt. 12: 23) “A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, ‘Lord, Son of David, have mercy o me!’” (Mt. 15:22) Perhaps the ultimate declaration, […]

Jesus’ Ancestors (1:1-17) – Part Three This critical heritage was of huge import to later biblical writers. Listen to Peter, as he speaks to thousands in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2:29-36: “Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here […]

  I have very warm memories of Christmas past. As a child I wasn’t aware of my parents’ poverty. Dad pastored a small Saskatchewan church that provided little compensation. Our house was uninsulated with a dugout dirt basement. In winter we were always cold. And food was never plentiful. But I never heard complaints or […]