Matthew part 2

The New Beginning

The genealogy of Jesus | Matthew 1:1-17

So, what’s in a number?

There are 14 generations from Abraham to David, 14 from David to Babylon, and finally 14 from Babylon to Christ. Now, Matthew is not being literal as we might expect in the 21st century with his genealogy. In fact, Jewish genealogies are notorious for skipping generations. Sometimes they would skip someone because the person was not worth bragging about, but many times it was simply because the ancient Jews would use genealogies as literary devices to support some point they were making. In fact, if you count the names, you will notice that Matthew repeats a couple of names and includes a few women in the counting in order to accomplish this 14-14-14 pattern.

In this case, the number 14 appears to be telling us something. Well, “14” by itself does not mean much in biblical terms, but if we slice it in half, we get 7 which means quite a bit. 7 is the number of perfection being the combination of 3, the heavenly number, and 4, the earthly number. Matthew is showing us that 6 ‘sevens’ occurred before the Advent of Jesus. Jesus is the 7th Seven. He is the perfection of the perfect process by which God has cultivated His nation on Earth. Additionally, being the 7th Seven means that Jesus is the Sabbath rest. Just as the 7th day was to be a day of rest, so too, the 7th year was a rest year, and this pattern culminated in the Year of Jubilee, the end of the 7th set of 7 years. Matthew purposefully places Jesus after this 14-14-14 pattern to tell us He is the beginning of a new creation or reset. He is the embodiment of the Year of Jubilee.

Jesus is the beginning of a new era for God’s people.

The term “sevens” is heavily loaded in prophetic literature. Jeremiah foretold the Israelites would be in exile for 70 years. Daniel received a vision of Israel’s future that involved 70 ‘sevens’. Some have tried to do the math and determine a literal accounting of years, or sevens, in relation to these prophesies, but they miss the point when they do. In fact, some of these prophetic fulfillments depend on which event one is referring to when they reckon the timing. Technically, the Israelites were allowed to return from exile before the 70 year mark, but then it took them quite some time before Jerusalem was up and running.

In each case, God’s point was not a specific number of years (He could have just said the specific number!), it was that a process of perfection had to be completed before a particular task could be done. For the exiled Israelites, it would take an entire generation passing away before God would allow them back—much like the 40 years of wandering killed off the rebellious refugees from Egypt. For Daniel’s vision, God required hundreds of years to accomplish the task of bringing the Messiah in order to prepare not just Israel, but all the nations. Keep in mind, prior to the Roman Empire, the world was a vastly disconnected place. One reason Christianity was able to spread as fast as it did in the first few centuries was the vast network of roads and communications built by the Greeks and Romans.

But back in Matthew 1, we are not reading about the nations or grand cosmic visions. We are seeing a series of names which remind us of the Old Testament stories. We are reminded of how God told Abraham that He would build a nation from Abraham’s seed, and that nation would be as numerous as the stars and be a blessing to all nations. In this first two 7s, we are reminded of how God fulfilled His promise to build a nation by establishing David on the throne. In the next two 7s, we are reminded of how Israel had very few good kings following David, and their rebellion led to Israel’s exile into Babylon. Then, in the last two 7s, we see a list of people that most Christians cannot recall. Some of them are rulers after the Exile, but the fact is even scholars cannot trace the royal lineage any better than Matthew does here. Some speculate the royal line was kept secret in order to avoid them being killed by Israel’s conquerors. Regardless, this list also reminds us that Israel underwent 400 years of silence. For 400 years, God did not raise up a prophet to speak to Israel. God’s work was not done, but it was going to be centuries before the world was ready for the Messiah. (Coincidentally, God did tell David from Israel’s return to the Messiah would be around 490 years—pretty much the exact number of years between Ezra-Nehemiah and Jesus.)

Even when we feel like God is silent, He is still working to fulfill His promises.

And when we consider where Jesus appears in this pattern, we realize Matthew has given us a wonderful message:

Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise to bless all the nations.

Look back at how Matthew begins his gospel. This is “the genealogy (lit. genesis) of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Jesus is the true king of Israel being David’s descendant, and He is the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant. He will bless all the nations. Matthew reinforces Jesus’ purpose to bless the nations by his inclusion of several women in the genealogy. Rahab appears in verse 5, the very same Rahab who hid the Israelite spies in Jericho. The Gentile prostitute who by all accounts should have no part in God’s kingdom has top billing in Jesus’ lineage. Her faith and acts of courage not only helped lead to Israel’s victory over Jericho, it earned her and her family a place in Israel and Jesus’ lineage. This part of the family line is also chronicled in the Book of Ruth who is mentioned in verse 5. And who is Ruth? Why, she is the Moabite, the woman from a cursed clan. The Moabites were cut off from the Hebrews and considered cursed because they worshiped a false god and desecrated Israeli royalty. Just as Rahab should not have had any part of Israel, so too Ruth should not have expected any inheritance in Israel. And yet, here she is, too, in Jesus’ lineage. Ruth’s faithfulness to her mother-in-law led to her redemption, physically by Boaz and spiritually by the Lord, and this in turn led to her bearing a son, Obed.

For those who feel like God has abandoned them, or feel as though they aren’t worthy to be part of God’s kingdom, I have some fantastic news: you are in great company. The truth is none of us are worthy to be called God’s children, but He loves us anyway. He has a place for us in His kingdom because that is why Jesus came—to bless all nations and redeem them from the grip of sin and death.

The popular understanding of the Gospel has been tainted much like Old Testament Judaism had been tainted in Jesus’ day. God’s blessings have been tied to materialism. Righteousness refers more to someone’s reputation than character. Last, religion is a tool to maintain the societal status quo. None of this is based on God’s design. As we work through Matthew’s Gospel, one of the prevailing themes we will see throughout is God correcting people’s religious misunderstandings through the work of Christ. Right off the bat, we see Matthew reminding readers Israel is prone to misunderstanding and disobedience. The exile occurred because of Israel’s sin, and now the Hebrews will face a permanent exile from God if they do not turn to the Messiah.

All nations, Jew and Gentile, have an opportunity to join the Kingdom of God through Jesus Christ.

The Birth of Jesus | Matthew 1:18-25

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

and they shall call his name Immanuel”

(which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

Matthew 1:18-25

In this last part of Matthew we get the only description of Joseph found in Matthew. The Gospels do not add much either. Some speculate Joseph may have passed away early in Jesus’ life which would explain why we don’t see him later in the story. Luke includes him in the story of Jesus going to synagogue as a young teen, but that’s the last account in the Bible. Regardless, Joseph certainly left a strong impression on the life of the writers because they all describe him the same way. He was a righteous man whose devotion to the Lord cultivated a merciful attitude towards others. When he learns Mary is pregnant, he had every right to parade her through the court system as an adulterer, but instead, he believed a private divorce was better for all. His plan is quickly dashed by a visit from an angel—presumably Gabriel, but Matthew doesn’t name the angel visiting Joseph as Luke names Mary’s angelic visitor.

Matthew is explaining the fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah 7:14. The Messiah would be born of a virgin, and that is what happened. Rumors in Mary’s day persisted about her sudden, and suspicious, pregnancy throughout Jesus’ life. John’s Gospel points out how the Jewish leaders who knew about Jesus’ origins continued to charge Mary of illicit behavior. Matthew knows very well these rumors and uses the beginning of his gospel to remind readers God had promised to bring His Messiah into the world through a miracle, and that is what God did. In fact, God even said the Messiah would be called “Immanuel” which means God with us. Jesus is human in being born to a human mother, but He is also God being conceived by the Holy Spirit.

The Virgin Birth explains how Jesus can be fully man and fully God simultaneously.

The Virgin Birth has been a cornerstone of Christian doctrine for the last 2,000 years. Periodically, and much more often in the last couple hundred years, Christians have had to defend this doctrine. Some groups who claim to be Christian have even capitulated to the skeptical world and deny it themselves. And yet, a plain reading of the text reminds us of the necessity of this doctrine.

God promised a Messiah. This Messiah would fulfill all the prophesies found in the Old Testament including being born to a virgin. Many centuries ago, Jewish rabbis attempted to undermine this doctrine by claiming Christians misunderstood the meaning of Isaiah. “Virgin” was really “young woman” rather than the sexual meaning. Interestingly, even non-Christian Jewish scholars have found ample evidence the interpretation of almah, the word used in Isaiah, could mean “virgin” as well as “young woman”. But what is most interesting is that Matthew pulls from a verse that prior to Jesus did not have a Messianic history.

It is difficult for us to imagine, especially considering Isaiah 7:14 is plastered all over Christmas decorations, but the fact is prior to Christ, the Jewish people understood this prophecy to deal with Isaiah’s time. But if you flip back to Isaiah and read verse 14 in its context, what is fascinating (and a little humorous) is that God gives this Messianic prophecy to a king who did not ask for any sign. King Ahaz is dealing with encroaching armies from Syria and rebels in wider Israel. Isaiah is told by God to go tell Ahaz not to fear the coming war. Then, God tells the king to ask for a sign. King Ahaz doesn’t want to test the Lord by asking for signs. Ahaz is trying to sound like he is full of faith, but the Lord tells Ahaz he is not only wearying his men, he is also wearying God. In other words, the Lord said ask for a sign, so ask for the sign. Since Ahaz doesn’t, God gives him a sign anyway. The sign is 7:18 in which God promises to deal with the encroaching nations and rebellious Israelites by sending the Messiah who is Immanuel. Matthew has used Isaiah 7:14 doubly. It points us to the virgin birth, and it comes from a story about Jerusalem’s leadership missing what God is doing and saying because they are too busy trying to look righteous. Jerusalem’s leaders in Jesus’ day will do the very same thing.

If we continue to do religious things without actually listening to what God is telling us, then we will inevitably miss God’s miraculous interventions.

As we close today, let’s take time to actually listen to God. Most Christians will plow through Matthew 1 so they can hurry up and get to the Nativity scene or Jesus’ teachings, but hopefully today we have seen there is immense wisdom in slowing down to study all of God’s Word. There is also immense wisdom in slowing down to listen to what God has for us. Too often we want to hurry up and get to the next step in our lives, but if we don’t slow down every once in awhile, we will miss out on the amazing blessings God has for us today.