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This verse is taken from:
Luke 2. 1-7
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“search the scriptures” John 5:39
The firstborn in a Jewish family held a position of great honour and dignity. Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob. He is described as Jacob’s might, the beginning of his strength, ‘the excellency of dignity and the excellency of power’, Gen. 49. 3. Sadly, if you read on to verse 4 you will find that Reuben did not live up to the position that he had as the firstborn.
The firstborn had the right to inherit all the material and spiritual possessions of his father; it was his birthright, Gen. 25. 32. Jacob took advantage of Esau’s exhaustion and bought his birthright from him for a bowl of pottage. Neither son really had a perception of what the birthright and firstborn represented. Jacob completed his fraudulent act in chapter 27 by pretending to be Esau when his old father Isaac was handing out the blessing.
The firstborn was the member of the family who took responsibility when the judgement of God was to fall on the homes where the spilt blood of the lamb was not on the doorpost and the lintels, Exod. 11. 5.
Our Lord Jesus Christ was the firstborn of Mary. She was a virgin girl, pure and unsullied and the child she would bear was conceived in her of the Holy Ghost. Never before had she carried a child in her womb; He was her firstborn.
The Lord had every right to inherit all the material and spiritual blessings of the house of Joseph yet it would be clear that He brought blessing to that home instead of taking it.
As the firstborn, the Saviour would have carried responsibility within the home. He did this well as He worked in the carpenter’s shop and was ultimately known as the carpenter. With at least four brothers and two sisters, the responsibility must have been onerous, but it would appear that the Lord provided for them all.
As previously stated, the firstborn in Israel had a position of dignity and respect. How well the Lord would have filled this role! His dignity and nobility is unsurpassed, unlike Jacob and Reuben. He brought honour to the position of the firstborn.
If our Lord lived like this so should we!
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