Old Testament: Isaiah 7:10-16
Gospel: Matthew 1:18-25
Epistle: Romans 1:1-7
Today we look at the Christmas story through the eyes of Matthew. His account seems to get the short stick around Christmas and Christmas Eve in favor of Luke's. And indeed, this year on Christmas Day we are reading from Luke for the first time during Advent. Matthew however gives us some interesting details that we often incorporate into our Christmas story and nativities, especially the wise men that only he tells us about.
The first important aspect of Matthew's account is actually found in verse 17 and summarizes the first 16 verses of the Gospel. Between each major event in the history of Israel there were 14 generations. 14 is 7 times 2, and it is repeated 3 times. So the numbers aren't insignificant and rather than trying to accurately portray history, are showing that at the time of Jesus' birth the time was perfect for his arrival. The history of Israel had reached its zenith and the time was fulfilled. ("Fulfilled" is an important word in the Gospel of Matthew, used in the NASB 14 times: for example see the first and last usage at 1:22 and 27:9.)
From Matthew's account we also learn that Joseph originally planned to cancel his betrothal with Mary. More so than Mary, I think Joseph would have had doubts about Jesus' origin. Mary would always know in her mind that she was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus. Joseph only had a dream and a memory that could fade. I am sure there were times of doubt when he wondered if Mary had indeed been faithful to him before their marriage. Another point of difference between Matthew and Luke is that Matthew has the angel telling Joseph to name the baby Jesus, whereas Luke has Mary being told to do so.
Verses 22-23 are interesting and I already mentioned these are important words in Matthew's Gospel: "this was done in order to fulfill..." Jesus birth had been predicted in numerous ways in the Old Testament, but here Matthew says the virgin birth was spoken about in Isaiah 7:14. What is interesting in that Isaiah's context he was most likely referring to the birth of his own son or perhaps even the future king Hezekiah. The Hebrew in Isaiah reads more like a young women, not a virgin per se. And obviously, neither Hezekiah nor Isaiah's son were born from a virgin. We get a glimpse in this passage of how the New Testament writers, in this case Matthew, used and interpreted the Old Testament. For them of course, the Old Testament was the only scriptures they had and they searched it for allusions and foreshadows about Jesus. There were of course well known messianic passages, such as chapter 7 of Isaiah, which they saw Jesus fulfilling. They both read the Old Testament in novel ways, following Jesus' example and the Holy Spirit guidance, and also stayed true to certain Jewish interpretations.
Next week we celebrate Christmas! And on a Sunday no less! I can think of no greater day to celebrate the Incarnation than the Lord's Day that we normally gather. Like Easter, Christmas is first and foremost a Christian holiday before anything secular or retail. Let us not forget the importance of gathering and proclaiming God's Lordship over creation. As we gather, we join a long tradition of people before us, and even the heavenly angelic host, as we worship God. Let us look forward to this time.
Grace and peace.
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