December 1st

Last year, if you remember, I made a point to post something about Christmas every day in December up until Christmas day. This year I am doing something similar.

Matthew Chapter 1, has 25 verses. I'm going to do a verse a day. Some days it may just be the verse. Some days maybe something a little more creative. But regardless I hope you enjoy it and join with me in celebrating Jesus Christ.

Matthew 1:1

"A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:"

David

I initially was going to do a short summary of David. But David is such a strong and complex character of the Bible, that I can't cover everything and do the stories justice without just copying and pasting them directly onto my blog in full! So instead I decided to just retell my favorite part of the story of David. Specifically, 1 Samuel 20. The story of David and Jonathan's friendship.

The chapter begins with David telling Jonathan that his (Jonathan's) father, Saul, wants to kill him (David). Jonathan finds this hard to believe. He must have been very close to his dad because he said that his dad never does anything without telling him first. But David tells Jonathan that his father knows of their friendship, so of course he couldn't confide about wanting to kill David!

Can you imagine? I mean, think of your best friend. Then think of their mom or dad hating you so much they want to kill you! Who are these crazy people!

Sorry, back to the story. So Jonathan hears what David has to say and it seems like he believes him, but he doesn't want to. With good reason. I mean, that would be alot to take in. So he tells David, "Whatever you want me to do, I'll do for you."

So David comes up with a plan where he is going to skip out on a planned dinner with Jonathan and his dad. If Saul shrugs it off, then great! That means David is wrong and Saul doesn't actually hate him all that much! But if Saul gets ticked off that David is gone, well, then it's apparent that he was planning more than just a 'friendly' get together. Jonathan agrees and adds to the plan by saying that the day after tomorrow he will send out a boy to fetch his arrows. If he says to the boy "Look, the arrows are on this side of you; bring them here," that means that David is safe. That Saul didn't lose his temper. But if Jonathan shouts to the boy "Look the arrows are beyond you," then David needs to get out of there pronto. And I just love verse 23, where Jonathan finishes by saying "And about the matter you and I discussed--remember, the Lord is witness between you and me forever." Doesn't that just make you smile at their loyalty to eachother?

So needless to say, Saul got so mad that David wasn't at dinner 2 nights in a row that he threw his spear at him. Somehow he missed. It says that "Saul hurled his spear at him to kill him" and then the next verse says that Jonathan got up from the table. Boy, Saul missed a sitting target! Sorry, I just find that a little funny.

But seriously, poor Jonathan. He just found out that his father was not who he thought he was. And on top of that, he found out that his father actually did want to kill his best friend.

So Jonathan went out to the field, shot some arrows, and shouted the coded alert to the oblivious boy who he had go fetch his arrows, "Isn't the arrow beyond you?" And he even adds, "Hurry! Go Quickly! Don't Stop!" I just picture him holding back tears so that the boy won't catch on. When the boy does leave with the arrows, David comes out and they both cry together. They "wept together--but David wept the most."

And the chapter ends by Jonathan telling David to "Go in peace, for we have sworn our friendship with each other in the name of the Lord,".

Isn't that just a beautiful story? It's always been a favorite of mine.

Since I really went overboard with that story, I'm not going to elaborate on Abraham (the other, mentioned in the Matthew 1:1) ... yet...