Hi! Welcome to our first lesson of the New Testament. However, first I would like to take a moment to share some thoughts on studying the Bible and some insights on the Book of Matthew.
To read the
Bible, is to have an encounter with God Himself. The very essence of the Bible
is God, because it is inspired by His Holy Spirit.
Because of
this, God will speak to us through His Holy Spirit as we read His Word. He also
communicates with us during our prayer time, through life circumstances, and
through our fellowship with other believers.
In saying
this, read your Bible with an attitude of prayer and allow His Holy Spirit to
make you aware of God’s activity in and through your personal life. Write down
what you learn and then meditate on it. Then adjust your thoughts, attitude,
and behavior accordingly. Each day, look for ways in which the truth of God’s
Word can be applied not only your circumstances, but also in your
relationships. God is not a random God, but, is orderly and intentional in the
way He will personally speak to you.
As you
begin your Bible study, pray and ask His Holy Spirit to guide you, and help
your understanding. Ask Him to impress on your heart God’s heart. Then adjust
your life and obey what He is showing you.
To understand the Book of Matthew, you need
to understand the purpose of his writing.
The primary
purpose of Matthew’s writing was to show that Jesus is God’s Son and the long
awaited for Messiah foretold by the prophets in the Old Testament. So, in this
Gospel we presented with Jesus as the fulfillment of Israel’s prophet hope.
Matthew also writes to show how Jesus fulfills God’s Word.
Matthew
places a great emphasis on the teaching of Jesus. Which makes sense seeing that
he was on Jesus’ apostles, and learned by example.
- Jesus taught him, and now he is teaching others, just as
it is stated at the end of Matthew 28:20.
It’s
important to note that some of Matthew’s writing is arranged in a logical (or
typical) order instead of chronologically. The reason being is that Matthew’s
purpose is more thematic instead of chorological to show that By Word and By
Deed, Jesus IS the Messiah.
- For instance, in Matthew chapter 8, after giving the
Sermon on the Mount, Matthew puts three stores of healing together (that
actually had taken place at different times), but Matthew talks about them
together because during “his teaching” he was authenticating Jesus was
able to prove that Jesus was not only able to perform His Word, but to also
show the “fulfillment of God’s Word” (vs. 8:17).
However, as
Matthew gets closer to Jesus’ final trip towards Jerusalem and into His final
week, Matthew joins Luke and Mark in their chronological following of Jesus’
footsteps.
Remember, before following Jesus, Matthew was a tax collector. So, being an accountant, its understandable to see how he wrote with precision, systematic order, and logic.
The Book of Matthew is the first Book of
the Gospels. And as we are introduced to this Word we are witnessing the
breaking of a four-hundred year silence from God.
All four
Gospels begin by placing Jesus within a historical setting, however, each
Gospels starts out differently and focuses on different time frames of Jesus’
life. The Book of Matthew begins with showing the genealogy
of Jesus and how He is connected to David and the Abraham.
Jesus’ genealogy is shown in Matthew
chapter 1, but also, in Luke 3.
The difference being is that Matthew shows
it from “the father’s side” (being Joseph).
Matthew’s
record traces the line through what would normally be the father’s heritage,
which in this case would be Joseph (as he was the man pledged to Mary) and
chosen by God to raise, protect, and care for the coming child. By birthrights,
the lines (and names, and lands) are passed down through the father. Joseph was
chosen by God to be Jesus’ earthly father. He came from the direct line of
David, and it was through his son Solomon, that God promised that a descendant
would sit on the throne of Judah. When you look at the male line, Jesus had
every right to claim “kingship” because He came from a long line of kings. When
the Angel of the Lord spoke to Joseph, he was addressed as “Joseph, son of
David….” Because Joseph came from Solomon’s bloodline.
- However, please remember that Mary came from David’s
line, too! But names are not passed down through the women, unless her
father had no sons, in which case the son-in-law also became the “son” so
that the father’s line would not be lost. This was the case with Mary and
the family tree which is traced through Luke 3.
- When looking at the two-family trees, we see that one
side comes from Solomon, the son of David, and the other is from Nathan,
who is also the son of David. In fact, both
Solomon and Nathan’s mother was Bathsheba. She actually bore David
four more sons (see 1 Chr. 3:5) after
the death of the child conceived in adultery. A lot of people over look
that.
- On a side note: David also had a
friend named Nathan who was a prophet. In fact, this Nathan was the one
who first told David to build the temple, but then later that night had a
visit from God and had to go back and tell David, “Not so fast.” This
Nathan is also the one who confronted David about his affair with
Bathsheba. So don’t confuse the two Nathans associated with David.
In the
following the two passages of Scripture for Jesus’ family tree: note that both
reference Joseph. However, both men obviously could not have been Joseph’s
birth father. One was his “begotten” father (which is shown in Matthew’s
history of Jesus), and one (from Luke) was the father-in-law to ensure the
family line would not be lost (which would actually be from Mary’s family
tree).
So, in JUST
looking at Matthew chapter one…. We trace it from the “father’s” side in this
case Joseph.
Again,
please remember that the right to inherit David’s throne and kingdom came
through Jesus’ earthly father,
Joseph, Mary’s husband.
Consider
also: “Son of Abraham”. As a descendant of Abraham, Jesus fulfilled the promise
God made in Genesis 12:1–3; 15:1–6.
- Jesus is the one from Abraham through whom all families
of the earth can be blessed, the seed (see Galatians 3:16).
Why are
verses 1–17 of Matthew 1 so important to look at and understand? Because, it
verifies Jesus’ legitimate place AS the Messiah—thus the King of the Jews.
Which is His legal right to the throne of David.
When
reading through Jesus’ family tree, there might be several names familiar to
you… and maybe some that aren’t.
In a quick
recap:
- Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (who later became known as Israel)
are the ones commonly called “the fathers” in the Old and also in the New
Testament.
- Jacob (Israel) went on to have 12 sons which became known
as the 12 tribes of Israel (Judah being one of them).
- Tamar, Judah’s daughter-in-law,
deceived Judah and had twins by him.
- When the nation of Israel went into the Promised Land,
the first city they conquered was Jericho. That is where Rahab the harlot
lived. She believed in the Lord and helped the two spies that came to
scope out the city and became part of David and Jesus’ genealogy.
- While the judges ruled Israel, Boaz married the Moabite
widow Ruth. She followed the Lord from Moab to Israel because of her
mother-in-law Naomi. Ruth and Boaz were King David’s (Israel’s second
king) great-grandparents. Boaz was Rahab’s son.
- Bathsheba was David’s wife and Solomon’s mother, but she
became David’s wife through the sins of adultery and murder.
Yes, the
people in Jesus’ genealogy were not perfect; only He is. But isn’t it nice to
know that God does forgive and redeems us when we commit our lives to Him? He
truly is a God of second chances.
Looking at
the rest of Matthew chapter 1, you might wonder what is significant about
verses 18–25.
They show us the Messiah’s birth--- Jesus the Christ
- Mary, a virgin, conceived by the Holy Spirit.
- Joseph, a righteous / just man, kept her a virgin until
after Jesus’ birth.
The angel
of the Lord told him what to name Jesus and why. His name and birth fulfilled
Old Testament promises from the Lord God to Israel.
Why was Jesus’ virgin birth important? And you might wonder why did He become a man? Matthew recorded that it fulfilled the prophecy from Isaiah.
- Look up and consider Romans 5:12; 6:23
You see,
sin had entered the world through Adam, and brought death to all men. The
payment for sin is death. All men sinned. Except
Jesus—as He didn’t have the sin of His
father passed to Him.
Look back
at Gen. 5, Adam was made in God’s likeness…. But after Adam became sinful, his
sons were born in his (Adam’s) image (see Gen. 5: 3).
Jesus’ Father is God, and His mother was a
virgin, thus He is born sinless!
My friend, there is so much to see in the
chapters to come! So, I hope you will keep walking with us! See you next time.
Kassie
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