In Matthew 2 we see King Herod asking the teachers and priests where the Christ was to be born:"When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5"In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written:
6" 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'(Matt 2:4-6)
What is so clear here is the importance of knowing the scriptures - the teachers of the law knew their Old Testament, and were able to quote Michah 5:2 which answered Herod's question. All of our answers are in the Bible, and we must not let our own ignorance stop us from knowing them. Get in the word, learn it, eat it, breathe it and know the answers to life's questions!
An interesting point in verse 9 when the magi come to the 'house' where the 'child' was. This shows that this takes place some time later, as they are no longer in the inn, and Jesus is now a child, not a baby. It is suggested that it took a year or two for the magi to get to Jesus - whatever the case, it clearly wasn't on the night he was born like the nativity suggests.
In verse 13, 'an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream'. This is an intersting thought, but it seems to me to point to different stages of faith in God. When the angel told Joseph that Mary was pregnant with God's son, he appeared to him in person. After this, no doubt, Joseph's faith was sky high, and so God was able to communicate through a dream the next time, and Joseph would trust God's message.
Monday 6 September 2010
Saturday 4 September 2010
God is doing a new thing: Matthew 1
OK, I'm a bit tired of the Old Testament, so am moving onto the new, and using Chuck Smith's C2000 Bible Study series to help me along the way too. Same as before, one chapter a day :)
Matthew 1:
The Gospel of Matthew begins with a genealogy to prove the Old Testament prophecies that Jesus came from the line of both Abraham and David (Is 11:1-5). I've never really thought there was much to glean from genealogies, but this one has proven me wrong:
Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
Perez the father of Hezron (Matt 1:3)
Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, (Matt 1:5)
What is interesting in these two verses is the mention of Tamar, Rahab and Ruth. All three of these were less than virtuous women: Tamar was the woman who disguised herself as a prostitute and tricked Judah into bed, Rahab was the prostitute, and Ruth was a Moabitess, a race under a curse from God which denied them entry to the temple).
It seems, on one level, remarkable that these sort of people should be in Jesus's family line, but of course it is not: right away, even in his genealogy, Jesus is showing to us God's grace. None of us are excluded from God because of what we have done, and God can use our sins n his plan. Look where the son of God came from, and we can see that there is nothing we have done that cannot be forgiven.
Matthew 1:
The Gospel of Matthew begins with a genealogy to prove the Old Testament prophecies that Jesus came from the line of both Abraham and David (Is 11:1-5). I've never really thought there was much to glean from genealogies, but this one has proven me wrong:
Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
Perez the father of Hezron (Matt 1:3)
Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, (Matt 1:5)
What is interesting in these two verses is the mention of Tamar, Rahab and Ruth. All three of these were less than virtuous women: Tamar was the woman who disguised herself as a prostitute and tricked Judah into bed, Rahab was the prostitute, and Ruth was a Moabitess, a race under a curse from God which denied them entry to the temple).
It seems, on one level, remarkable that these sort of people should be in Jesus's family line, but of course it is not: right away, even in his genealogy, Jesus is showing to us God's grace. None of us are excluded from God because of what we have done, and God can use our sins n his plan. Look where the son of God came from, and we can see that there is nothing we have done that cannot be forgiven.
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