Let’s read Matthew 1-2.
The people of Israel had been waiting for 400 years for their King. Four hundred years! There had been no prophecies or signs of the Messiah since Malachi 400 years prior. When the news came of Jesus’ birth many Jews did not recognize Him or believe that He was the Messiah because they were anticipating a different kind of king.
I cannot help but wonder how I would react if I were a Jew in that time. Would I believe Jesus was who He and others said He was? Or maybe I would be similar to many Jews and not recognize Him. Can you imagine? Four hundred years of silence and then all of a sudden a 15 or 16 year old girl claims to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit and an angel comes to her and her soon to be husband and tells them that she will give birth to the King. That is a pretty unbelievable story. If I am honest, I see how it may have been difficult for many Jews to accept this story as their own.
I pray that I will recognize Him in all areas of my life, past and present. I pray that I would believe the unbelievable. I pray that I will recognize Him in the future.
Matthew begins his account of Jesus’ life with a genealogy of Jesus. I love this because I can remember so many times as a youth and young adult zooming through these names, many times completely skipping them thinking they had little importance or relevance to me. It is not until recently that I have grown to value the importance of these names. Matthew knew these names would be vital in proving that Jesus was the true Messiah to the Jews.
David, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob…Boaz, Rahab, Ruth, and Jesse….Solomon, Uriah’s wife (Bathsheba), Jacob, and Joseph
Some of the names still have little significance for me because I am not a Bible scholar, but I recognize now how so many of them, all of them in fact, are a part of that family tree I belong to. They are where we have come from. They are where He came from. They are who God used to be a part of His story.
Matthew is using this genealogy as a way to show the Jewish people how Jesus is a direct descendant of David and Abraham with whom God made the covenants, and the One who fulfills the prophecies of the Old Testament.
Ok…let’s keep going. So Matthew gives us Jesus’ genealogy and then he goes on to give the actual account of Jesus’ birth. Again, as I read, I question how I would react if I were hearing this as a Jew during this time. Matthew writes that Joseph considers quietly divorcing Mary because he did not want to expose her to public disgrace. And then an angel comes to him…Son of Daivd (Matthew is emphasizing his heritage again) and tells him not to be afraid. The angel verifies the story for him. Matthew wraps up the account by bringing us back to the prophecies Jesus fulfilled, specifically Isaiah 7:14.
“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel-which means, ‘God with us.’ ”
Matthew goes on to tell the story of the Magi from the east coming to visit the King of the Jews, King Herod’s disturbing response to Jesus’ birth, and more proof of fulfilled prophecies from the Old Testament. I love the beautiful connection He has and had from the beginning to the end.
As I read this story so many things stir inside of me…as I read from the perspective of a Jew who has been waiting 400 years for the Messiah only to miss out because I didn’t recognize Him. I think about present day…would I recognize Him in His second coming? Or would I sit in my comfortable, cultural norm and miss Him? Do I recognize Him at work all around me? Or do I question His voice?
My prayer is that I would know Him so intimately that I could not, would not miss Him. Let’s continue our journey of knowing Him more deeply this Christmas season.
‘O come let us adore Him, ‘O come let us know Him. Jesus the King.
Shared with love,
Lindsay
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