All About GOD - Growing Relationships with Jesus and Others

Let’s Get Back to Jesus . . .

Let’s Get Back to Jesus . . . Remembering Matthew 1

Getting back on the horse, I guess one could say. One day you received a Morning Briefing from me, (November 9), and then I went dark. After being rear-ended in my vehicle while stopped at a red light, I sustained whiplash and a concussion—seven damaged discs and a lesion on my spine, making it extremely difficult to bend my neck to study and write. Still in physical therapy and other treatment, I am improving. I have purchased new equipment and am endeavoring to write again, probably sending briefings three days a week for now. I would truly appreciate your prayers for healing, and grace to study and write daily. Nuff said.

Perhaps you would take an hour and take ahold of your Bible and reread in one sitting the first fourteen chapters of Matthew. ‘So much about Jesus ~ his lineage, the inauguration of his earthly ministry, the calling of his disciples, his teaching and the miraculous--so much to apprehend and apply to our lives.
As you pick up your Bible, ask God to give you concentration, clarity and understanding.

The Gospel of Matthew was written by the Jewish tax collector turned disciple. Throughout his writing, he cites Old Testament prophecies, which Jesus fulfilled—intended to show Jewish people in particular, that Jesus was indeed their long-awaited Messiah. He leads with the genealogy of Jesus Christ, establishing that Jesus came through the bloodline of Abraham the patriarch, and most especially David the King.1

Pause for a moment here~ we remember what Peter wrote, ‘All Scripture is given by inspiration of God…’2 So though it was a genealogy, it was inspired by God [the Greek verb for ‘inspired’ or ‘moved’ means God-breathed]. Why would I take the trouble to point that out? Because a number of those listed in Jesus’ bloodline would seem out-of-place for many, particularly those of the first century, but their inclusion reveals the heart of the Father.

Included by Matthew ~
King Manasseh who was very evil
not Jews only, but Gentiles (including a Canaanite and Moabite, enemies of
the Jewish people)
women! (How scandalous! Women had no social standing whatsoever in the
first century—not with the Jews, Greeks or Romans; and two of the women mentioned are known because of the sins they committed. Hmmm…)

Why would God inspire Matthew to name these people in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ? Because there is and always will be the desire in the heart of God to gather ALL to himself, despite gender, ethnicity, social mores, or even wicked deeds.

Further, the genealogy is a picture of what Jesus’ earthly ministry would look like. Why, Jesus broke every social more of his day! He made a regular habit of dining with tax collectors (dishonest, despised), and sinners. Jesus engaged women in conversation; in fact, Mary and Martha were counted among his closest friends. He touched the ‘unclean’ – lepers, the hemorrhaging woman, the dead - to raise them to life. Indeed the genealogy that Matthew recorded was a foreshadowing of those Jesus came to love.

Oh, don’t you just love the brilliant words of God? (If you do not, stop right now, and pray that God will give you a love for his Word—it will irrevocably change your life, and set you on the path to great adventure!)

Funny thing is, as a kid whenever I read Matthew, I skipped over these first 17 verses because they were so boring; but it turns out, they are so meaningful and applicable to us today. They show us the heart of God, the love Jesus would teach and generously give away, and something of the way we ought love all people, in spite of differences or whatever else we let come between us.

The birth of Jesus was announced to Joseph in a dream, telling him Mary, his betrothed, was expecting a child conceived by the Holy Spirit, who would save his people from their sin. He was to take Mary as his wife; Joseph obeyed and married young Mary. And Jesus was born in Bethlehem—the only person who ever lived before he was born!

Paul wrote of him, ‘Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth.
Everything was created through him and for him.
He existed before anything else,
and he holds all creation together.3

A Jewish tax collector captures so much for us in this first chapter of Matthew. Read Matthew chapter one for yourself—circle names you recognize in your Bible. Underline anything that impresses itself upon your heart. Thank God for his precious words.

Christine Todd DiGiacomo

(All Morning Briefings and much more are archived at www.pastorwoman.com)

1 – Matthew 1.1-17 Q1: What do you notice about the genealogy of Jesus?
2 – 2 Timothy 3.16a, NKJV Q2: What is the implication of this verse?
Hint: do not miss the word “all”
Q 3: Read 2 Timothy 3.16-17 ~ what is Scripture meant to be in our lives?
3 – Colossians 1.15,17, NLT