Matthew 1 – Moment to Moment (Bible blog)

“It’s my life.”

“My rights.”

“My happiness.”

How often do we hear those words from those around us. How often do they come out of our mouths?

But as one author put it, “It’s not about you.”

Rather, this life is about God, and the story he is weaving in us and around us.

When I think about Joseph, I see someone who understood this.

Think about his initial reaction to Mary. They were engaged, and in their culture, it was far more binding than in ours.

Though they were still not living with each other or sleeping with each other, by Jewish law it still required a divorce to dissolve the engagement.

But during that time, Mary is found to be pregnant.

How does Joseph feel? Probably hurt. Betrayed. Angry. And as I’ve mentioned before, by law, he had the right to have Mary stoned for her unfaithfulness.

But it says in verse 19,

Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. (Matthew 1:19)

Obviously, he didn’t want to marry her anymore. What man would? But hurt as he was, he didn’t seek revenge. He didn’t seek “justice.” He didn’t insist on his “rights” as the injured party.

Rather, he planned to show mercy to her. He wasn’t even going to make a big show of the divorce proceedings. He was just going to have it quietly done to spare as much pain as possible to Mary.

I wonder if Mary even tried to explain. How in the world do you say, “Don’t worry Joseph. I wasn’t unfaithful to you. God did this.”

Would you believe that? No reasonable person would. And because God knew that, he intervened, sending an angel to tell Joseph,

Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. (Matthew 1:20-21)

Now on one level, I’m sure that it did bring some comfort to Joseph to hear this. But on another level, it would have been really easy to wipe his hands clean of the whole situation.

If he took Mary as his wife, there was a good chance that the people around would start to suspect that he was guilty of sleeping with Mary before they got married, and to stain his reputation.

What’s more, he could’ve easily said, “That may be true, God, but it’s not my baby. I didn’t ask for this. And you certainly didn’t ask me about it. Why should I take responsibility for Mary and the baby?”

But difficult as it was, Joseph took Mary as his wife. Despite the rumors. Despite all the difficulties.

Why? Because he knew this life wasn’t about him. That God had a bigger plan in which he wanted to save Israel, and the world.

So Joseph put aside his rights, his plans, and his life to serve God and Mary. But in doing so, I have to believe that he also found joy and fulfillment.

How about you? Are you living for yourself? If you do, ultimately, it leaves you empty. But by living for God and his purposes, you find life. As Jesus himself put it,

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. (Matthew 16:25)

Who are you living for?

Identifying with a fallen people

As we look at the genealogies of Jesus, there are a couple of things that should be noted.

First, the genealogy in Matthew is clearly incomplete as several kings are skipped over (e.g. Joash, Amaziah, and Jehoiakim). So when you read “father of,” in Matthew, it would be better to read it as the “ancestor of.”

Second, most scholars agree that these genealogies are not both from Joseph’s line. It is assumed that the account of Matthew is giving us Joseph’s actual genealogy, while Luke’s gives us Mary’s.

The main reason is that in Luke, it says that Jesus was the son, “so it was thought,” of Joseph.

So as we read Luke’s account, it should probably be read, “[Jesus] was the son, so it was thought of Joseph, but really the descendant of Heli…” and so on. (The word “son” in the book of Luke can be translated descendant).

This is the first time I’m taking such a close look at the genealogies, and I’m realizing just how complex the issues with the genealogies can be, but I don’t want to get into them here except to say that the explanations are certainly very interesting.

At any rate, before I get lost in the explanation of the genealogies, let’s get to the fiercely practical.

As I look at these genealogies, one thing strikes me. When Jesus came, he didn’t just appear out of nowhere. He didn’t just drop out of the sky and say, “Here I am!”

Rather, fallen people though we are, he chose to identify with us. He chose to become one of us.

Just look at his ancestors.

Adam, who was created in a perfect world, but still managed to bring sin into it.
Terah, an idol worshipper, as were probably many of his ancestors.
Jacob, who had been a conman for much of his life.
Judah, who because of his ill-treatment of his daughter-in-law after his son’s death, was deceived by her and slept with her thinking she was a prostitute. The result? Two sons, one of whom just happened to be Jesus’ ancestor. (A complex story: See Genesis 38).
Rahab, who was not only an outsider to the Jewish people, but a prostitute.
Ruth, a woman from an outcast group of people, the Moabites. (See Deuteronomy 23:3-4)
David, who committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered her husband. Yet Solomon (Matthew 1:6) and Nathan (not the prophet — Luke 3:31) were both sons of this union.
Numerous kings who had turned their backs on God (Ahaz and Manasseh among others).

Jesus could have skipped out on all this if he had wanted to. He could have held himself out as completely separate from us. But he didn’t. Instead, he identified himself with us, saying, “I am one of you.”

He identified with us in other ways as well. He wasn’t particularly handsome. (Isaiah 53:2)

He didn’t come from a rich family. He grew up working hard, supporting his family once his father Joseph died.

He got tired. He got hungry and thirsty. He went through temptation and trials. He suffered rejection. He was misunderstood. He was abused. He was betrayed. He suffered pain.

Why?

The book of Hebrews tells us, saying,

[Jesus] had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God. (Hebrews 2:17)

In short, he did it to understand us. And because he understands us, he has become more merciful towards us as our high priest before God.

Because of this, it says in Hebrews 4:16,

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may find mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

How are you feeling today? Depressed because of your struggles with sin? Struggling just to support your family? Tired? Troubled? Rejected? Hurt? Betrayed?

Bring it all before Jesus. Because he understands. And he will help.