Advent 1 - Christmas Through The Eyes Of Matthew - Matthew 1:1-17

 


Wow!  Found this great chart of Jesus' genealogy and the split to show the difference between Matthew's record and Luke's record.  A vacation post as we are in Colorado with Child #2 and his family.  What a great week it is turning out to be for a late Thanksgiving and early Christmas with them.  Thanksmas or Thristmas or Christgiving or Chranksgiving!

I am excited about diving deeper into Matthew 1 & 2 for the Advent season.  Last year we went through Luke & 2.  We start with Jesus' genealogy in Matthew 1:1-17.  Matthew makes a very bold claim in the very first verse.  My rendition is, "I am going to set the record straight of the genesis of the One who saves, named Jesus, and Him as the Anointed One of God, the Messiah, the Son of God who fulfills the Davidic Covenant and the Abrahamic Covenant!"  A tall order to fill.

Matthew gets his audience's attention by adding in 5 women, 4 named directly and 1 referred to.  What it does is make his audience refer back to the history surrounding where these women are mentioned.  It also highlights other nations involved in the genealogy of Jesus.  Tamar, the daughter-in-law of Judah, who was likely a Canaanite, Rahab the harlot was a Gentile of Jericho, Ruth was a Moabite, and Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, was married to a Hittite.  The usually excluded are included in Matthew's record.  The one that Jesus called to follow Him from his tax collector's booth could identify as one of the "excluded" of society.

Matthew didn't erase history (what had already happened).  

Matthew didn't modify history (for better or for worse than it actually was).  

Matthew makes a point using history.

I think this is so important as we look at how we treat our nation's history, our church's history, and our own personal history.  Progress forward is made by looking backwards at what had already happened and viewing it as accurately as possible, good or bad, to take godly steps forward.  Matthew shows us that God used a not ideal family history to still see His redemptive plan unfold.  

The advent story is only beginning.  We get the answer to how Jesus was born of Mary but not born of Joseph next week.

Also, here is a little fun on the hills in Colorado.

Adam






A simple man serving a great God and the local pastor of Stillwater Community Chapel (stillwater-chapel.org). We are in our 38th year of full time ministry. God directed us to this local body of believers on the Western Range of the Rockies to grow with them in mission and mindedness of Christ.

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