Reflecting God’s Triune nature as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, patterns of three abound
in Scripture. Three women named Mary
were close to Jesus in His earthly ministry, beginning with His mother Mary,
the willing handmaid of the Lord (Luke
1:38). God had orchestrated the details of Mary’s life to fulfill
various Messianic prophecies through her son Jesus, including her genealogy, residence, and betrothal.
Mary’s genealogy (Luke
3:23-38) extends all the way back to God Himself, emphasizing that
Jesus is God’s only begotten Son (John
3:16). It includes three noteworthy ancestors, Adam, Noah, and Enoch, who remind us of God’s love, mercy, and grace.
The disobedience of God’s first son Adam (and his wife Eve)
brought the curse of sin, sorrow and death upon themselves,
the earth and all mankind (Genesis 3:6-19). Had they not rebelled, there would have
been no need for God to send His Son Jesus as the sinless Sacrifice to
reconcile sinful man to Himself (2
Corinthians 5:18-19; Hebrews 2:17), showing His perfect, infinite, self-sacrificing
love (John 3:16; 15:13).
Wickedness continued to increase through the days of Noah,
when God destroyed all the earth’s inhabitants by flood. Yet in His mercy, He saved
the faithful remnant of Noah and his family who loved, believed and obeyed God (Genesis 6-8), just as He continues to save all sinners who
call on His Name in faith (Acts 2:21;
15:11).
Enoch foreshadows God’s grace that awaits all His children
still living when He returns for us at the Rapture. Because Enoch walked with God, God took Enoch to be with Him forever, without experiencing death (Genesis 5:24). Similarly, those
us who are alive and remain will be caught up in our glorified bodies to meet the Lord in the air (1 Corinthians 15:21-58; 1
Thessalonians 4:13-17).
Through these three
ancestors of Jesus Christ, we have the promise that just God must punish sin, yet His
mercy substituted His Son to pay our debt in full (Romans 3:25; 1 John 2:2; 4:10), and His grace gives all who trust Him eternal
life with Him (Romans 3:20-24;
6:23);.
Mary’s lineage also includes three ancestors mentioned in
Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah (Daniel 9:25),
meaning Anointed One or Christ (John 4:25), Who would deliver His people from their sins. That
Messiah was the Seed of Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3; Luke 3:34) and of his son Isaac (Genesis 17:19; 21:12; Luke 3:34; Romans 9:7; Hebrews 11:17-18) Who would
bless all nations (Genesis 22:15-18;
26:1-4; Acts 3:25-26; Galatians 3:8,16), descending through
the line of Isaac’s son, Jacob (Genesis 28:1-15; Luke 3:34).
Three
additional ancestors in Mary’s lineage also point to her Son as being
the promised Messiah, Who would be the Seed of Judah (Jacob’s son; Genesis
49:1,8:12; Luke 3:33),
the Rod from Jesse (Isaiah 11:1; Luke 3:32) and the Light of David (1 Kings 11:36; 2
Chronicles 21:7; Luke 3:31).
Scripture further describes Jesus Christ as the Son (Matthew 1:1; 9:27; 12:23; 15:22, etc.), Seed (2 Samuel 7:12-13; 1 Chronicles 17:11-15), and Root and Offspring of David (Revelation 22:16). He will rule
forever on David’s throne (Luke 1:32)
as the Righteous Branch, King, and The Lord Our Righteousness Who will reign, prosper, and execute judgment and justice in the
earth (Jeremiah 23:5-6; 33:14-15).
Through God’s preordained plan, Mary’s family tree therefore positioned her to give birth to the promised
Messiah, as did her engagement and
her dwelling places. She was
betrothed to Joseph, a humble carpenter who was also in the lineage of David (Matthew 1: 1-16), so that Jesus’
claim to the throne when He comes again cannot be challenged (Luke 1:32-33).
Unlike Mary, who was the biological parent of Jesus, Joseph
was not a blood relation, but was “grafted in” to the holy family by his
marriage to Mary (Matthew 1:16).
To me, this foreshadows God’s love, mercy, and grace in extending His plan of salvation to all people, and not
just to His chosen nation of Israel (Luke
2:30-32), even though all have sinned against Him (Romans 3:23). Regardless of our heritage, all who have been
grafted in to God’s family (Romans 11:17-24)
by their faith in His Son (Ephesians 2:8)
become part of the bride of Christ (Ephesians
5:22-27).
God chose Joseph to be Mary’s betrothed not only because he
was a descendant of David, but for his qualities of compassion, faith, and obedience to God. When Joseph learned of
Mary’s pregnancy, he may have felt rejection,
betrayal, and fear. His compassion for her led him to the just decision to put her away privately, rather than humiliating her publicly or even having
her stoned, as would be required by the laws of Moses (Matthew 1:18-19).
Yet he readily believed what the angel of God told him in a
dream about Mary’s child, Who was conceived
by the Holy Ghost, would be called
Jesus, and would save His people
from their sins (Matthew 1:20-21).
Joseph followed God’s perfect plan by marrying
her, refraining from sexual
relations until after she had given birth, and naming the child Jesus (Matthew
1:24-25).
This was the first of three
dreams in which the angel of God gave him special instructions, and each
time Joseph listened, believed and obeyed (Matthew 2:13-14;19-21),
protecting Jesus by removing Him from danger.
Through Mary’s birthplace,
betrothal to Joseph, and submission to her husband’s direction
as he followed God’s commands, God used the details of her life to carry out three prophecies concerning the
geography of Jesus Christ’s life on earth, involving Nazareth, Bethlehem, and
Egypt.
Mary was from Nazareth (Luke
1:26-27), thus enabling fulfillment of the prophecy that the Messiah would be a called a Nazarene
(Matthew 2:23; Isaiah 11:1).
Before Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph left Nazareth to be taxed in Bethlehem,
city of David, following the decree of Caesar Augustus that everyone should be
taxed in his own city (Luke 2:1-7) This fulfilled the
prophecy that the everlasting Ruler of Israel would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2;
Matthew 2:1-6).
And yet then Mary, Joseph and Jesus
fled to Egypt to escape the
infanticide King Herod had ordered, fearing that the prophesied King of the
Jews, born in Bethlehem, would usurp his power. This fulfilled the third
prophecy concerning places important in Jesus’ early childhood, for He would be
called out of Egypt (Hosea 11:1; Matthew 2:13-15)
to return to live in Nazareth.
One of the most miraculous prophecies concerning Jesus Christ, and proving His divinity, was His virgin birth, also fulfilled by Mary who allowed herself to be used of God in this unique way, as we shall see next time. As we study the details of Messianic prophecy fulfilled by Jesus Christ, may we have no doubt that God is Who He says He is, that He works all things together for good (Romans 8:28); and that His true Word can be trusted as we look forward with sure hope to His second coming!
© 2016 Laurie Collett
