All signs point to Jesus: a journey through the book of Matthew, week 1, part 2.

 

Matthew study week 1, part 2. 

I have a confession to make.  One of my few guilty pleasures is binging on the Netflix show, ‘the Crown’.   Yes, I am one of those American cliches absolutely fascinated with the royal family.   I wouldn’t say I obsess over the tabloids, but I do pay attention and besides there is history that comes through in the show that I just find fascinating.  I think the reason I find it so interesting is  that you see these lives who were placed into these high positions not on their own accord by any means. They were born into it.  Yet we soon  learn amidst the gossip and scandal, they are not much different from us mere mortals.  And this is where Matthew begins, with the royal line of Jesus. 

The book of Matthew begins with the genealogy of Jesus.  Whenever I come to a genealogy section in the Bible, my eyes would just glaze over.  So many names and what’s the point anyway?  Well there’s actually some good stuff here. 

Matthew begins introducing the ancestors of Jesus starting with Abraham.  This is in contrast to the gospel of Luke who doesn’t even mention the genealogy of Jesus until the third chapter and traces it all the way back to Adam, the son of God.   I believe Matthew starts this way to display the legal descent of Jesus as the King of Israel. This will become evident as you read further on in this book.   It also supplies us with proof of the prophecies fulfilled. 

God promised Abraham a blessing would come through him a whole world of descendants.  His son, Isaac was a miracle baby much like the son of Mary. 

As verse 17 illustrates, there are fourteen generations between Abraham and David, then fourteen more between David and the Babylonian exile (verses 7-11) and another fourteen generations to the Messiah.   The numerical equivalent for David in Hebrew is 14 so in this way, it stamps the name of David on all 3 generations.   Hmm Someone who really loved to work with numbers must have written this.  It can’t be helped to see that this is another sign that  points to Jesus as the King. 

Under King David, God blessed the Jews into a great nation, but they decided they didn’t need God anymore. From the reign of king David to the Babylonian exile, there were kings who honored God and some who didn’t leading to the fall and destruction of Jerusalem and eventually their exile.  God destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel and sent it to exile in Assyria in 722 BC, and then destroyed the southern kingdom of Judah and sent it into exile in Babylon in 586 BC during the reign of Jeconiah.  King Nebuchadnezzar took the southern tribe of Judah in captivity in Babylon.   Those that are familiar with the Old Testament might recall the curse, God placed on Jeconiah (Jeremiah 22:24-27,30) with no royal descendants.  So how could Jesus come from this line one might ask?   To the throne, NOT the biological son as he was through Joseph.

Jesus was the legal and adopted heir to the throne through Joseph.  He was the real son of David through Mary. And this curse did not fall on Mary or her children since she was not descended from Jeconiah.  There are some sources that interpret this verse not to literally mean Jeconiah won’t have descendants but the they won’t prosper to continue the royal line.  In any case, Jesus is still the adopted legal descendant of King David. 

Let’s take a moment now to talk about the women mentioned in the genealogy. Tamar is a woman who became pregnant by her father in law and gave birth to Perez and Zerah, a product of incest (verse 3, Genesis 38) . Rahab, mother of Boaz  was an Israelite and prostitute who God used to deliver and save people.( verse 5,Joshua 2:1-21)   Ruth who gave birth to Obed was a Moabite known for sexual immorality.  And who can forget the story of David and Bethesda who gave birth to Solomon, a product of adultery and murder (2 Samuel 11)  Talk about scandal!   So why mention these women? Their inclusion in the list shows that Jesus did not come from a spotless heritage.  Moreover, these women mentioned shows God’s grace extending far beyond Israel  to every nation.  A reminder for us that God can lift the lowest and place them at the highest. 

Joseph is a wonderful example of a man of faith. He honored God by not allowing himself to get married to Mary while pregnant and decided to divorce her.  He was also merciful man who decided he would shield her by divorcing her quietly, sparing her the public scandal.  Then when God revealed the truth that Jesus was God’s Son, miraculously conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit , Joseph believed.  He believed! He obeyed God, no questions asked and took Mary as his wife, and cared for Jesus as his foster son.  Dad of the year! 

I always wondered why they had to mention that in verse 25?   Some translations say Joseph did not ‘know her’ until Mary gave birth to Jesus. Others say did not ‘consummate’ while some translations just say it for what it is- Joseph did not have sex with Mary until Jesus was born.   In a line filled with sexual sin, Mary’s pregnancy is kept pure. Joseph withheld his sexual desires to allow God to work.  This is stated as proof that Jesus really was conceived by the Holy Spirit as it states in verse 18. 

Also stating that Joseph waited until after birth of Jesus to consummate the marriage implies that they eventually do have sex.  You know this right? Sorry if I shattered your image of the virgin Mary.    I was brought up to believe this in the Catholic Church but there you have it.  I think the reason why this belief system  claims that she was a Virgin is to assign her as a diety since she was the mother of Jesus.  However, Mary was not without sin. Jesus is the focus here.  To worship Mary or any other created being in the Bible is idolatry.  Some people in these belief systems  pray to Mary and have her petition God on their behalf,  but Jesus told us to pray in his name directly to God the Father.  We learn this further on in this book too.

Let us reflect on how Jesus came into this world a minute.  Jesus came into this world to a virgin mother AND adoptive father. By adoption, Jesus is tied to the royal line of David.  If this is the coming Messiah, the one who was predicted , as it states in verse 21, then this  signifies salvation comes from God not man. 

Jesus anointed by God came to rescue the lost to save people from their sins.  God is always faithful to his word. 

From this line of Jesus, we can conclude then that Jesus is BOTH fully human and fully divine. He is fully human in that he possesses full range of human characteristics. Jesus had a mind and emotions that were human. I think this is why he didn’t come out of the womb already talking proclaiming, ‘I am the son of God!’  We know that since he is fully human is fully able to identify with us. We have a savior that is familiar with our suffering and sorrow.  Jesus is also  fully divine and this will be revealed in the coming chapters.  He heals, controls nature, has authority over sin and death. He is fully divine so he is fully able to identify with God.  It is important to note he as not partly anything.  He is both FULLY human and FULLY divine. I know, my poor little brain can’t handle it either, only God can.  We know that EACH nature is unified. 

So you see, aren’t you glad you did’t just glaze over that genealogy?  So much to learn just in this first chapter. We learned that this promised Messiah comes through the adopted line of King David . He is both human and divine.  When I reflect on what this means for me, I’ve come to know that  I am human created by God.  And I can come to Jesus as an adopted one with my hurts because he understands my pain.  I also see God is faithful to his Word which tells me to trust in God’s promises. 

Questions for Chapter 2

Who were the wise men?   (2:1-12)

What is the significance of the star guiding the Wise Men? 

What confidence can we have about God because of this dream he gave Joseph (2: 13-15) 

Why did God let Herod know about Christ’s birth if He knew it would result in the death of the young babies of Bethlehem? 

 (2:16-18) 

Why did Joseph move his family to Nazareth in the north rather than return to Bethlehem?   (2:19-23) 

What attribute of God is revealed in this chapter?