Word for Wednesday
So also Christ glorified not Himself to be made an high priest; but He that said unto Him, Thou art My Son, to day have I begotten Thee. Hebrews 5:5
What would you say are the most boring parts of the Bible? Many people will point to those different places that contain genealogy lists, such as the genealogy of the Lord Jesus in Matthew 1 and Luke 3. Some of it can be pretty ponderous; for example, the bulk of the first nine chapters of 1 Chronicles is genealogy listings. What could possibly be more boring than 1 Chronicles 8:36-38, which says ‘And Ahaz begat Jehoadah; and Jehoadah begat Alemeth, and Azmaveth, and Zimri; and Zimri begat Moza, and Moza begat Binea: Rapha [was] his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son: and Azel had six sons, whose names [are] these, Azrikam, Bocheru, and Ishmael, and Sheariah, and Obadiah, and Hanan. All these [were] the sons of Azel’? They look so tedious, with all of those ‘begats’ some will say. Actually, those ‘begats’ can be fairly exciting if you dig deeply enough. Those ‘begats’ are important. In those lists, the word ‘begat’ simply means ‘fathered a son and named him’. In all of those cases, a son came into being because of the actions of the father. But our text today is obviously speaking of something different, because it is speaking of Christ, and we know that there was never a point of time when He came into being. So why does our text speak of Christ as being begotten? And does it matter?
Our text is actually quoting from Psalm 2:7, which says ‘Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee’. The most famous use of the word ‘begotten’ is in John 3:16, which most of us can recite by heart. That verse would seem a bit empty without the word ‘begotten’, but we rarely think about what it means. When you and I were begotten, we came into the world. It’s the same with the Lord Jesus. The difference is that when we were begotten, we began our existence. But when the Lord Jesus was begotten, He was sent by His father from Heaven into this world to save sinners like you and me. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved (John 3:17).
What a wonderful word ‘begotten’ is when it refers to the Lord Jesus! It tells us that the Son of God became the Son of man, that He stooped from the glories of Heaven to become a human being, that He might die for us. Did you thank the Father today for sending His only begotten Son? – Jim MacIntosh