Today's Passage - Luke 3:23-30

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Luke 3:23-30   "Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry.  He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph, the son of Heli, 24the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melki, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph..."   This excerpt from the genealogy of Jesus describes the state of the nation of Judah after their exile.  The exile was the darkest period in Jewish history.  Back then, the Jewish people had two important questions: First, why did these things happen to us?  Aren't we God's chosen people?  Isn't God's temple in our midst?  Why were we exiled to a gentile nation to become slaves?  The author of the Books of Kings attempted to address one question - why did the exile happen?  In the 1 and 2 Kings, no matter how great the kings appeared to be, the author also recorded the sins they committed.  Although the Jews were the chosen people, the sins that their kings committed pushed God to punish the nation.  Compared to how King David is portrayed in the Chronicles and Kings, you will find two distinct perspectives on David, because Kings recorded his sin.  Even King David sinned against God, so God's fury had to come upon the nation of Judah, and ultimately exiled them to Babylon.   The second question from the Israelites was: Although we are in exile now, do we still have hope?  The books of Chronicles are trying to address this question.  Author's response was that: yes, we still have hope!  When he described King David and King Solomon, he seemed to be looking forward to Messiah.  David and Solomon had become the great kings that everyone looked up to and wanted to follow.  1 and 2 Chronicles explained that the hope for Israel actually lies in God Himself.  The hope for human beings is not in the change of environment, but rather in Lord Jesus Christ.  The genealogy of Jesus once again proved that He is the Messiah that God had promised to send.  We need to welcome salvation from God in our daily life, and also welcome the authority of Jesus in our life.  No matter what circumstance we encounter, even if we are in exile, or in a period of darkness, we still have hope because of Jesus Christ.  This is the important message from this excerpt of the genealogy.       Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord, I thank you because even though the time of exile is dark, in Jesus Christ we can have hope.  I ask that you place t he hope for salvation among brothers and sisters, so that no matter what circumstance we are facing, you will let us know that our hope is not in the circumstance, but only in you.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!