Thoughts on Today’s Reading – Matthew 1-4
Monday, August 17th, 2009‘A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham’. (Matthew 1:1)
Jesus, the Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham; in his first sixteen words Matthew says it all. First, Jesus is the “Christ” – the Anointed One. To be “anointed” is to be set apart and divinely empowered for special service to God and others. In ancient Israel sacred objects and sacred offices were anointed (smeared) with oil to symbolize this. The term, “the LORD’s anointed” referred to the divinely appointed king of Israel. While Israel had many kings, they looked forward to a day when God would establish a kingdom of true righteousness, justice, peace, equality, and prosperity. This would require a special king – The Anointed One. 700 years before Christ the prophet Isaiah foretold the coming of this divine ruler:
“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.” – Isaiah 61:1-3
Jesus is the son of David. Twenty-seven generations before Jesus, the prophet Nathan brought a message to King David:
“The LORD declares to you that the LORD himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son.” – 2 Samuel 7:11-14
The LORD’s Anointed would come from the family of David the son of Jesse. Isaiah prophesied:
“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of power,
the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD -
and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;
but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
Righteousness will be his belt
and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
The infant will play near the hole of the cobra,
and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest.
They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea.” – Isaiah 11:1-9
Jesus is the son of Abraham. The Christ (The Anointed), who would rule with righteousness and justice, giving decisions for the poor of the earth, striking it with the rod of his mouth – slaying the wicked with the breath of his lips, would inherit the blessings promised to Abraham forty-one generations earlier:
“I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.” – Genesis 12:2-3
God chose Abraham and his Anointed descendent to bring blessing to all of the peoples of the earth. The Christ is for everyone; religious Jew and pagan Gentile alike. He smashes the walls which we have constructed – walls of isolatation, segregation, and prejudice – race, creed, religion, class, nationality, gender, and socio-economic status. Of this great revolution the Apostle Paul writes:
“Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called ‘uncircumcised’ by those who call themselves ‘the circumcision’ (that done in the body by the hands of men) –remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.” – Ephesians 2:11-18
It is seriously funny that the task of writing a testimony of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth for the Jewish people falls to Matthew – the former Roman tax collector. Generally speaking, first century Jews despised Jewish tax collectors, considering them extortionists for their Roman oppressors. Matthew brings the message of God’s kingdom to those he formerly assaulted; the Jews receive the message from one they reject. God must be serious about this reconciliation stuff.