Alright, we're going to move beyond the Geneology of Matthew 1 in this post, but first just another thought on the 14, 14, and 14 Matthew presents. The first 14 is the rise of Israel, the mercy and forgiveness of God. The second 14 is the subsequent fall of Israel and pictures God's justice and demands. I mentioned those in my last post. But for the last 14, I think we could see a playing out of another rise of Israel. The Israelites return to the land of Judah. And we have the coming of Christ. God's plan succeeds.
OK, let's move past the geneology.
Matthew 1
The Birth of Jesus the Messiah
18 This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement[a] quietly.20 As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus,[b] for he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:
23 “Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
She will give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel,[c]
which means ‘God is with us.’”
24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. 25 But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.
- Matthew 1:19 Greek to divorce her.
- Matthew 1:21 Jesus means “The L
ord saves.” - Matthew 1:23 Isa 7:14; 8:8, 10 (Greek version).
Let's move on to the work of the Holy Spirit. What does the Holy Spirit do? He really isn't much of a focus here. Really, the Holy Spirit does what the Holy Spirit does. He stands to the side and points us to Jesus. The Holy Spirit actually makes Mary pregnant with Jesus. Basically, He puts Jesus in Mary. Isn't this what the Holy Spirit does for us today? He puts Jesus in us. That's the picture we have the Holy Spirit throughout. He stands quietly aside, prefering less of the limelight, but actually puts Jesus, the central character, in the center. What a great picture.
So, looking at the geneology and what Matthew has written, God the Father brings Jesus to us through all of history and the workings of His people. The Holy Spirit puts Jesus in us, in this case through making Mary pregnant with a physical embodiment of Jesus, but He also does the same with us today. So what is Jesus?
It is great what happens here. This whole thing, all of history, was put into motion so that God could bless all people, so that He could save us. So, what name does the angel tell Joseph to give this baby that is inside Mary? "Jesus." Except that, when the angel spoke it, it would have said, "Name the baby The LORD saves".
Look at that in context. Instead of saying, "You are to name him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins", the angel would have said, "You are to him The LORD saves, for He will save His people from their sins." Wow! The angel isn't just saying Jesus will save the people, the angel is saying that this baby, Yahweh, God, will save people from their sins. The angel is saying this baby is Yahweh! Jesus is Yahweh!
Now, I know to us this is obvious. We know Christ was somehow God and man at once, but Matthew is arguing this with Jews. He's making a statement from the beginning of his writing. He's saying, God lined up all these things in history to bring us to this point, the Holy Spirit made Mary pregnant, and Jesus is here to save us.
So, what is Jesus?
He is Immanuel. God with us. The Father brings Jesus to us. The Spirit puts Jesus in us. And Jesus is God with us.
So, I think that's it. That's what we've spent days upon days looking at in Matthew 1, a chapter I've never spent longer than a half hour on. It's full of stuff! I can't imagine what the rest of Matthew is going to be like.
Thanks for sticking with this, those of you who have. Maybe this stuff was a bit heavy for a blog, but I needed to do it to remind myself and stick it in my mind to stay. It only took the equivalent of a ten-page paper to play it all out!
Have a great Christmas with the idea in mind that God brought Jesus to us, planned it and carried it out, put Jesus in us, and lived with us! Merry Christmas!
Later guys,
Matt
3 comments:
i have some remarks coming...im interested in knowing where you are learning all of this stuff
Well, a lot of it is from our devos time here are the office. We have a great mix of people, some who went to Bible colleges, some who are great thinkers. It's a great mix of ideas.
People who know the Greek well, people who've read tons of Systematic Theology books. People who have spent their lives reading God's Word. People who have spent their lives loving God's Word. I'm just trying to soak up as much of it while I can.
niiiceee
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