Recently I got to write some study notes for the Bible
Society and spent a bit of time in Matthew’s advent story. What a joy it was to
focus more attention on his version of Christmas. I discovered a whole lot of
things I had never noticed before. I thought I would share some of them
briefly. I encourage you to read Matthew’s story in light of these and see what
else you can find in them. Matthew of course wrote to Jews to demonstrate that
Jesus is truly Messiah and the culmination of Israel’s story. There is such
depth in it that it is mind-blowing.
First, there is the genealogy. It is patterned on sevens,
four times coming to 42 generations. It speaks of Jesus’ true descent from Israel’s
father Abraham and the Patriarchs, and from the paradigmatic king, David—he
is the new Davidic King, the long awaited Messiah. It is full of people of
sinful pasts like Judah who betrayed Joseph and was seduced by Tamar faking
that she is a prostitute. There is Solomon born of David’s murder of Uriah and the
theft and sexual immorality with his wife Bathsheba. There are the kings of
Judah who failed God repeatedly. Such a genealogy gives us all hope with the
skeletons in our family closets. It ends with a Jacob who is the father of
Joseph—sound familiar? It is Joseph’s genealogy, and we realise that Joseph was
royalty, a direct heir of the Davidic king. Perhaps if the Davidic line had not
fallen, David would have been king. Instead Tiberius Caesar of Rome, Quirinius on
his behalf and the puppet sham King Herod run the show. Realising who
Joseph is makes the rest of the story come into focus—Joseph is heir to the
throne, and Jesus will be raised in the real Davidic royal family.
Secondly, we see Joseph behaving as a true Davidic heir
should. He treats Mary with real dignity despite her seeming “sin.” He will
divorce her quietly. Then, when God speaks through his angel, he acts with
complete obedience. He marries her and raises the child as his own. We have a
great picture of broken families restored by God’s grace—and don’t we need this
today! We see that through the whole narrative—Joseph is the exemplary Davidic heir.
This continues through the story as he responds immediately to get the baby out
of danger, takes him to Egypt and returns home.
Thirdly, we see plays on the OT story all over the place. I
have already mentioned Joseph being the son of a certain Jacob, a la the
Genesis narrative. Jesus is raised by a “king,” as was Moses. Later he will return
from Egypt, he will give the “new Torah”— he the new Moses. We notice that God names
the baby “Jesus,” the Greek version of the Jewish name Joshua. Jesus is a new
Joshua. This Joshua will not enter Israel with an army to overcome with might
and force liberating the land from corruption. He will enter as a defenceless
baby, rise to manhood, and then go and liberate all humanity through the cross
and resurrection—the power of love, seen in healing, preaching, deliverance and
forming a new people on earth. He will use twelve men, ordinary blokes, who will
see Israel reconstituted around twelve “tribes.” But it will not stop there, it
will go global. Glorious!
Fourthly, he is more than a new David, a new Joshua, a new
Moses, he is “Emmanuel,” God with us. He is miraculously conceived by a
virgin. He is the Son of God, not merely a man—the mystery of Christology. This
is the power of creation life formed by God within the human womb. With a
mustard seed in a womb begins the transformation of the cosmos. This is
incarnation, as a transcendent glorious God becomes immanent among us, and in
the most vulnerable of places in the ancient world. Matthew quotes Isa 7:14
from the Greek OT (LXX), where parthenos is used, to ensure readers
realise that Mary was not merely a young woman, she was a virgin.
Fifthly, there is the irony of Herod as opposed to Joseph
and the wise men. Joseph is the true penultimate Davidic king in the story—a man
with a heart after God. The three wise men are Gentile astrologers from the
east, the direction of Israel’s historic enemies. Classic—the first to worship
God are corrupt foreign magicians. Yet they see who Jesus is. It continues to
be like this, the most expected recognise Jesus. Here we see the Great
Commission anticipated as Gentiles across every nation will bow the knee to the
Messiah and Lord. They recognise who Jesus is, Herod does not. He and his wise
men work out that he is a threat, for the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.
However, they do not bring gifts and worship him, they use deceit and bring
weapons to kill him. Anticipating the scores of martyrs that will come
from Christ’s people, children are slaughtered in the name of power. Herod
represents all that is bad in humanity—infanticide, destruction, hubris, power-hunger
and more. Jesus came to free the world from such men. Sadly, the “battle” goes
on.
Sixthly, he is born in Bethlehem. He will be shepherd. This
rings bells from those who know the David story. David the shepherd boy was
anointed by Samuel in the same place. The final son of Jesse has arrived. Later
on, John the Baptist will play the role of Samuel, and anoint Jesus, not with
oil, but with baptism, and the Spirit will fall. It recalls Isa 42 and Ps 2—the
Servant King has come to his world to set it free. He will then embody Israel
and kingship and his Adamic being and enter the wilderness and do what Israel,
David and Adam all failed to do, to overcome the enemy of God. He is the new
Adam, the Messiah, the new Israel all in one. He will then set about restoring
the world, not with military force, but with the power of love. Magnificent!
The Christmas story is truly wonderful. It heralds the
arrival of the new David, Moses, Joshua, Israel, Adam, etc. It is the moment when all
of history to this moment comes to its climax in the arrival of God the Son. And
he will be one of us. He will then go out and in a three year cameo, set ablaze
the greatest revolution of all time. He will live out of obedience, die a slave’s
horrendous death, and rise. He saves us and shows us the way. Thank God for his
lovolution in which love is made flesh and dwells among us. Our response should
be that of the Magi, come to the child and worship him with all we have.
May God bless you and your loved ones this Christmas. Shalom.
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