Editor's note: Enjoy this Advent devotion from Rabbi Jason Sobel's Transformed by the Messiah.
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Respond with Faith, Not Fear
In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by Adonai into a town in the Galilee named Natzeret [Nazareth] and to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Miriam [Mary]. And coming to her, the angel said, “Shalom [Peace], favored one! Adonai is with you.” But at the message, she was perplexed and kept wondering what kind of greeting this might be. The angel spoke to her, “Do not be afraid, Miriam, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will become pregnant and give birth to a Son, and you shall call His name Yeshua. He will be great and will be called Ben-Elyon [Son of the Most High]. Adonai Elohim [the Lord God] will give Him the throne of David, His father. He shall reign over the house of Jacob for all eternity, and His Kingdom will be without end.” — Luke 1:26–33
Mary, (Miriam, in Hebrew) was living in the small village of Nazareth when her life forever changed. Not because she was engaged to be married at the age of thirteen or fourteen — that was normal for their culture — but because an angel appeared to her and told her that she would conceive supernaturally and bear a Son.
Can you imagine her shock? Besides being troubled and very afraid by the angel’s appearance, Mary knew she was a virgin. How could there be a baby? She also knew the law of the land that meant she would live in disgrace the rest of her days. Yet the angel had called her favored.
Genealogy and the Number Fourteen
Many people use ancestry apps to discover their genealogy and heritage. These online services offer many details and documents of past generations, such as ethnicity, geographic history, and of course the family tree. In much the same way, we can look at the Bible to discover the heritage as well as the historical and spiritual significance of the genealogy of Jesus, and of His parents, Joseph and Mary, in the gospels of Matthew and Luke.
But first, we must recognize that the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1 is different from the one in Luke 3:23–38. Why is this? What’s the difference between them? Though it’s not obvious, I believe that Matthew’s gospel tells us Joseph’s ancestry (Jesus’ legal father), while Luke’s genealogy points to Mary’s line (His blood relative).
One of the exciting things about Matthew’s account — of Joseph, I believe — is that it centers around three sets of fourteen generations with every set pointing to, and finding fulfillment in, Jesus. Why fourteen? Numbers are significant in the Scriptures, and Hebrew is alphanumeric. In Hebrew, we write numbers using letters. In addition, every word has a numerical value. So it’s significant that these three sets of fourteen generations are recorded:
- From Abraham to David (Matthew 1:1–6)
- From David until the Babylonian exile (Matthew 1:6–11)
- From the Babylonian exile until the Messiah (Matthew 1:12–17)
Do you wonder why the Holy Spirit, through Matthew in 1:17, chose to emphasize the number fourteen?
The numerical value of the Hebrew letters in the name David is fourteen. It’s broken down this way: ד (dalet, 4) + ו (vav, 6) + ד (dalet, 4) = 14. The three sets of fourteen generations in Matthew’s genealogy of the Messiah point to and reinforce a detail that is integral to the gospel itself: Yeshua is the Son of “David” (14), the promised Messiah — the Mashiach — that God Himself spoke of in 2 Samuel 7:16.
The number fourteen is also directly connected to the gospel message of salvation. The Hebrew word for “hand,” yad, also has a numerical value of fourteen. Scripture repeatedly states that God brought Israel out of Egypt with a yad hazakah, “a mighty hand.” (For example, see Deuteronomy 5:15.)
Yeshua is the Son of David, the promised Messiah who is the Hand that redeems God’s people from slavery to sin.
Of course, there’s more, but we need to shift from basic addition onto multiplication. Hidden in Matthew’s three sets of fourteen generations we discover God’s plan not only to rescue us from bondage but to bring us into the fullness of His promises. How?
- 42 = 3 × 14
The number forty-two isn’t commonly mentioned when Bible teachers discuss numerology. But take a look at the story in Numbers about when God rescued Israel from Egypt and led them on a journey toward the promised land. There were forty-two stages to their exodus that point to and find their culmination in the birth of the Messiah Yeshua, the One who leads all who place their faith in Him. Scripture says, “Moses recorded the stages of their journeys at Adonai’s command” (Numbers 33:2). What follows is a detailed listing of each one of those “stages,” or stops (encampments).
This is the sort of reading we might be tempted to skim, but if you listed all of them, you’d see all forty-two stops. There are no accidents with God! Then the forty-¬two names in the Matthean genealogy symbolize the stages of humanity’s journey from slavery to sin to true freedom by the gracious work of Yeshua, the Son of David.1 He is the final stop on our redemptive journey.
Four Women
Let’s look at another aspect of Matthew’s genealogy that is unique and interesting. Even though in the first century it was rare to involve women in a genealogy — even Jesus’ genealogy in Luke that points to His mother Mary’s bloodline doesn’t actually name her — Matthew’s account includes four women. What point is Matthew trying to emphasize by incorporating Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba? And why these four? Because they have one thing in common: They’re all Gentiles.
I believe what Matthew is trying to show is that it takes both Jewish people and Gentiles to birth the promised line of the Messiah. He couldn’t come through the Jewish people alone, because the promise to Abraham was that he would be “the father of a multitude of nations” (Genesis 17:4). So, whether you are Jewish or Gentile, the good news is that you can partake of the promises that God made to Abraham and Sarah — all found in the one and only Messiah. As the apostle and rabbi Paul wrote in Galatians 3:8–9,
The Scriptures, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, proclaimed the Good News to Abraham in advance, saying, ‘All the nations shall be blessed through you.’ So then, the faithful are blessed along with Abraham, the faithful one.
- Paul’s writing shows us oneness is the kingdom. This unity is what the Messiah ultimately came to do and will do when He comes again.
Mary, Yeshua’s Mother, and the Divine Breath
Let’s go back to Mary and the shock she must have felt about the revelation from the angel Gabriel. Think about her response,
How can this be? — Luke 1:34
Two other biblical characters’ reactions were very different from Mary’s when an angel told them they would conceive supernaturally. One was Sarah, the matriarch and wife of Abraham. She laughed when God told her that she would conceive a child in her old age (Genesis 18:12). The other was Zechariah, who became the father of John the Immerser — John the Baptist. Luke 1:18 tells us he questioned the angel’s message regarding the future birth of his son. The response? The angel made him “unable to speak” (v. 22 ESV). Zechariah became mute.
Sarah laughed and doubted. Zechariah feared and questioned.
What did Mary do? She didn’t respond out of fear. Instead, even though she was very young, she responded with great faith.
When we don’t fully understand life’s challenges or circumstances, we can look to Mary’s example and respond not by fear but by faith, leaning on the power of the Holy Spirit, the Divine Breath, to sustain us.
1. Michael D. Guinan, “Davidic Covenant,” in The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, ed. David Noel Freedman (Doubleday, 1992), 69.
Excerpted with permission from Transformed by the Messiah by Rabbi Jason Sobel, copyright Rabbi Jason Sobel.
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Your Turn
Let’s respond to God’s calling like Mary… in faith! What is God whispering to you right now? Is it scary? Confusing? A big stretch for you? Respond in faith! ~ Devotionals Daily