DR. TALBOT’ BIBLICAL RECORD Q. Why do Mark and John give no human ancestry of Christ, and no re cord of His nativity? A. Primarily Mark is presenting the Lord Jesus as the faithful Servant of Jehovah; his key verse is Mark 10:45: “ For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” And who asks for the genea logy or for the story of the birth of a servant? If a man came to mow your lawn, you would not ask him for his ancestry. If he came, however, to ask for the hand of your daughter in marriage, you would want to know these things. Matthew presents Christ as the Heir to David’s throne, and the Covenant- Heir to Abraham’s land—Palestine. Hence Matthew traces Christ’s genea logy back to David and Abraham. Mark gives no genealogy because he is presenting Christ as a Servant, and no one asks for the genealogy of a servant. Luke presents Christ as the perfect Son of Man, whose genealogy is trac ed back beyond Adam to God; for the body of the Lord Jesus was not only real and human; it was a body that God had prepared. (See Heb. 10:5.) John is writing to prove that Jesus of Nazareth always was and ever shajll be the eternal Son of God. His purpose is stated in John SO:30, 31. And who would presume to say that, as eternal God, our Lord had a be ginning? As the eternal Word of God (see John 1:1-14), He is the Creator of all things; He has neither begin ning nor ending. Hence the opening verses of this Gospel link Him with eternity and the eternal God. Let it be remembered that all four of the evangelists proved all of these things: that Jesus was the King of Israel, the faithful Servant of Jehovah, the perfect Son of Man, and the eter nal Son of God.
Some have used the transfiguration experience of Christ, as recorded in Matt. 17:1-13; Mark 9:2-13; Luke 9:26-38, as proof that we shall recog nize one another when we reach heaven in our glorified bodies. The argument is that the three disciples on the mount of transfiguration recog nized Moses and Elijah. Now Moses represented the dead in Christ who shall be raised; Elijah represented those who will remain until the rap ture and be called away to heaven without dying. Surely there is some support here for this teaching. Others quote I Cor. 13:12: “ For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” Their argument is that this Scripture teaches that we shall know one another when we are in our glorified bodies. There are many questions that are asked in this connection; but where the Scriptures are silent, we must be silent. One question frequently raised is this: “ If we are conscious of the presence of our loved ones who are enjoying the glory and bliss of heav en, shall we be conscious of the ab sence of those of our friends and rela tives who are suffering the sorrows of the second death?” And again, we hear the question: “ If a saved individ ual leaves this earth as a babe or a little child, will that person have the body of an adult in the resurrection?” While these questions last named are not answered in the Bible, yet we do know that “ sorrow and sighing will flee away . . . and God shall wipe away all tears.” We like to think that God has need for little children in heaven; and that we shall see them there as little ones with their glorified bodies. Yet we would not substitute our personal wishes, guesses, or ideas for the Word of God. And we may be assured that, if it will add to our bliss to recognize our love ones in heaven, most certainly our Heavenly Father will permit us to do so.
STRONG DRINK Q. Was the wine the Lord made at the marriage in Cana of Galilee fer mented? A . Luke 1:15 sheds light upon the question you ask. This verse concerns John the Baptist, and it reads: “ For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink.” You have a difference here between “ wine” and “ strong drink.” The wine would be unfermented; the strong drink fermented. Some may take issue with this explanation; and I do not profess to know just what the wine at the marriage feast was like. This I do know, that our sinless Saviour, who throughout His inspired Word warns against the use of intoxicating liquor, would have no part in creating a thing that would cause one of His creatures to sin! Moreover, He states plainly through Paul in Rom. 14:21 what the Chris tian’s attitude should be toward doubtful things: “ It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.” We should abstain, not only from wine, but also from anything that causes the weak brother to stumble. RECOGNITION IN HEAVEN Q. Shall we recognize our loved ones in heaven? (EDITOR'S NOTE: Because of the interest in this question which was recently discussed in THE KING'S BUSINESS, we are printing a more detailed answer on the subject by Dr. Talbot.) A . We know One whom we are going to recognize in heaven. The divine truth concerning this blessed reality and glorious experience is found in I John 3:2: “ Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” Here we learn that we are going to be like Christ, and that we shall see Him as He is.
THE KING'S BUSINESS
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