I chuckle when I think of starting the "Matthew project". I was so excited about the thought of blogging. I prayed about it, thought about it, tried to figure how much of the Bible to read through and settled on just the book of Matthew - and then I opened my Bible to the first chapter and went ... ugh! All those names ... lists ... what on earth am I going to write about that?!?!?!?!?? They put me off - do they do that to you? I usually would skip this chapter when I've read through Matthew before ... but not this time.
I guess I have just scanned this passage before - not really looking at it carefully. These last few days I've been reading it and thinking about what's there. It is amazing the number of names - and of course the names aren't just names but people - listed in the geneology. Lori had a great point yesterday; it is wonderful to see the Gentile women listed reminding us that we are all able to be part of God's plan. It's amazing to see the Patriarchs of the faith: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and kings David and Solomon listed as well. What a mixed bag of relatives Jesus had!
Jesus.
I almost missed the point when I was looking at the list thinking it was all about those various people listed, but when I looked more closely at the chapter I found Jesus at the start and the finish. The first verse: "A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham" and the last sentence: "And he gave him the name Jesus". The whole point is Jesus.... it seems Matthew is setting out to explain who Jesus is, where he came from, who he came from, and who He would be. Verse 21 tells us, "She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." Jesus will save us. Verse 23 further explains ..."The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us." Jesus - God incarnate - God with me.
Now that I see it - see that Jesus is the focus - I think 'how could I have missed this?!?!?' The first chapter is not boring at all! Really, I find it fascinating now - even from a literary stand point with the 'inclusio' format, the type of book ends naming Jesus at the start and finish - how Jesus is introduced to us - to the Jewish audience of Matthew's day.
And this realization refocuses my mind and heart for this day. Jesus. First and last. Jesus - God with me - right here - right now. Hmmmm.
2 comments:
Well I guess that I am really behind - I could not help think when you were talking about Jesus - i wonder how many times we miss the point - how many times is Jesus right there in front of us and we miss Him. As you so adequately point out He is the first and the last
Recently I started wondering why Jesus came as a baby. It seems complicated and risky - I couldn't compute the image of God as a baby - dependent, defenceless...
Why not just appear one day as a man, on the Gaililean countryside, and start preaching?
I decided that the family piece is HUGELY important to God. That list of names - it gives Jesus a context, not just for us, but for his compatriots. He wasn't just "Jesus - some guy from somewhere." He was a known quantity, someone who belonged there, someone with credibility.
Maybe since God describes himself as a family (God the Father, God the Son), it's no accident that he arrived here in a family.
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