Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1920-09-30
Sabbath School
Lesson
Golden Text: Thou shalt call his
name Jesus; for 1t Is He that shall
save His people from their sins.
for Oct. srd., 1890, Matt. Ia

| the sacrifice or ttlmSelI. Nearly the
whole of his narrative of the life OF
Jesus is taken up with the first OF
these only after He has been finally
rejected by His own as their King
is it that Matthew tells of His SON.
of-Abraham character. in the closing
chapters.
1t is most essential that you get
i this purpose and viewpoint of Mat
thew clearly in your mind; for it is
only in the light of 1t that you can
properly understand the lessons of
the next six months. 1t would be
we'll for you to read the gospel mar
rative over and over again until you
see how Matthew is telling of the
birth of the King, och. u the flight
and return of the King Och. y the
herald and the Inauguration OF the
king och. 81 the testing of the King,
tCh. - the manifests of the King,
| och. s, 6, y the credentials of the
King. och. s, 81 etc. 1t is the King
of the Jews of whom Matthew is
always speaking, for Jesus is never
called the King of the church. Keep
| in mind, therefore, the Jewish color
| ing throughout; although there. are
principles which are of universal ap-
plication.
The Generation of the King
1t is fitting that Matthew should,
at the outset, show the right OF
Jesus to the throne of David; So he
gives the genealogy in three sets
(2xO generations; from David TO
Babylonian captivity, fourteen ext
generations; and from Babylonian
captivity to the Christ, fourteen (2x)
generations. These numbers are
most signiticant-two being the num-
Der of incarnations, and seven the
number of spiritual perfection, in
the Bible. The promises to Abraham
concerned the blessings of the cove
nant to come through his seed; those
to David were of the establishment
of His kingdom and the permanency
the captivity that these began to be
realized in the Christ. And, Jesus, the
son of David and son of Abraham,
was the only one in whom they could
be fulfilled. For the one to sit on the
throne must be a lineal descendant
descendant of Jeconiah, the last in
the direct line of descent from David.
See Jeremiah's prophecy concerning
him Ger. VS.. 22-23). Joseph, his de-
scendant, would have inherited the
throne; his legal, but not actual Son,
who has David's blood in His veins
through His mother, Mary, is the
only one who has right to that
throne of David. Matthew's geneal-
ogy, therefore, establishes His right
to the throne. But notice that Mat
thew distinctly describes Him as the
ers were begotten; but when he
comes to Joseph he does not say
Joseph begat Jesus; Oh, no; He was
the only begotten Son of God. 1t
is: Jacob begat Joseph the husband
of Mary, of whom was born Jesus,
who is ndl1p6 Christ TnCnnh
only his legal father, by virtue of
his marriage to Mary, while Joseph
came from David through Solomon.
The Birth of the King
Luke got from Mary's own lips
The details of the birth of her first
born Son; but Matthew just tells us
Joseph's story. Imagine his chagrin,
his grief, his distress, of mind when
he learned that the maiden that was
10 be his wife was with a child. The
fornication should be stoned to death,
Joseph wanted to spare Mary, so he
had determined to give her a writ
OF enforcement privately, but in a
dream God spoke to him, cleared her
character, and told him that the son
Jesus is the Greek form for He
should deliver His people from their
sins. What wonderful memories did
| that name awaken in a pious Jew
How significant the two names with
which the King begins-Jesus and
U.S. But of this later
Now al! of this. Matthew records
because it was in fulflment Of
prophecy. In trying to make the
Jews believe that Jesus of Nazareth
was the Messiah of prophecy he
quotes the old testament forty-nine
| times (7x7) and shows how the in
cidents in His life were but the full
filment of what their own prophets
had foretold of the Messiah. In
y WHICH record His genealogy, His
birth, His flight and return. all are
in fulfilment of prophecy. We have
already seen how His genealogy
made him the rightful heir to the
| throneDas the Magi said, He was
was also in fulflment of prophecy
for Isaiah had foretold that a Virgin
should bring forth son. Some
stumble over this now. but His vir-
gin birth is not as great a miracle
necessitates the other. A Scientist
has recently made sea urchin's egg
fertile by artificial stimulation. Is
It anything to be wondered at that
COD who made the human oyum
CGuld also make It. fertile by some
STIMULUS about which we know moth
ing? on, no, the virgin birth is not
hard to believe; it was necessarv
to the sinless life of Jesus
The Flight and Return of the King
!, The visit of the wise men from
prophecy being uncovered, for inouirv
on their part developed the fact that
the King of the Jews was to be born
IN bethlehem of Judah. according to
the Prophet Micah; and there guided
BY the star they found the infant
Ayc
was interested, but for another rea-
son. And when he found he had teen
ouped by the wise men he ordered ev-
cry boy there under two years of
age to be slain. Did it ever occur to
you 1. how the devil was ever trying to
aestroy Jesus? His life was threat
ened in Mary's womb, for: she only
escaped death by stoning by the ac-
'on of Joseph, who shared her re-
preach with her. On the perilous
journey to Bethlehem his life was
gam threatened. Now, Herod's bru-
Joseph been warned in a dream and
! escaped to Egypt. There was not
day but that the devil would have
destroyed Him if he could have done
so. And this was all because of His
|, owe for me and for you
His return was another fulfIment
of prophecy, for Matthew Identifies
the King with His people when by
the direction of the spirit he quotes
Hosea 14:1, "Out of Egypt have l
called my SON."
The Name Of the King
Probably the thing that interests
US most, however, is the naming of
the King. Jesus and Emmanuel.
What Wonderous memories must
have been recalled to the minds of
pious Jews by the names. Joshua
the First (for this is the Hebrew of
the Greek Jesus, or vice versa) had
brought them deliverance from the
Canaanites, had driven their enemies
out before them on to victory.
Joshua the Second had been associat-
ed with Zerubbabel in rebuilding the
temple after the Babylonian captivi-
ty. Neither had given them the rest
promised to this people of God. But
now another is to be born and His
| name shall be called Jesus, for it is
He that shall save His people from
their sins" But the Virgins son was
4