Day 275 (Matthew 1, Luke 2) - Year 4
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Hey, Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for The Bible Recap. Today we dropped in on a new gospel, Matthew. And even though he's a new gospel to us in our reading plan, he's quite possibly the oldest of the four gospels. Most people believe this is Matthew the Apostle slash disciple of Jesus, who was a tax collector before Jesus called him.

Given his attention to numbers and money and return on investment, it seems likely. Matthew's unique lens on Jesus is Jesus as King. As a refresher, Luke's lens is Jesus as man and John's is Jesus as God. So far, we have Jesus as God, man, and king. Matthew starts out by giving us the lineage of Jesus. And if you were with us in the Old Testament, you probably recognized at least a few of these people.

Here are three things worth noting about this genealogy. First, it includes women. That's unheard of in ancient Jewish genealogies. So we can see right out of the gate that the message Jesus sent his disciples about women was one of inclusion. Jesus obviously taught Matthew that women matter, otherwise he would have left them out.

Second, his inclusion extends beyond just gender because this genealogy also includes Gentiles. That's any non-Jew. And it includes people with scandalous histories. For instance, Rahab had been a pagan prostitute. And we don't have time to go into all the stuff David and Solomon did. The message God sends in this genealogy is one of redemption. He says, you belong here in my family.

Third, even though Matthew tells us there are 14 generations three times in verse 17, those numbers probably aren't precise. It's not that Matthew's lying here. It's that in Jewish culture, numbers often represent ideas more than an actual count. So 14 generations may be a way to say doubly perfect or doubly complete since the number seven represents perfection and completion.

Jesus is the culmination of this complete and perfect setup for the redemption of mankind. And God works out this plan even through the fear and resistance of Joseph, Mary's fiancé.

God sends an angel to Joseph who confirms Mary's version of events, then tells him not to be afraid of it all and encourages him. This is huge because if Joseph doesn't get on board, what this could mean for Mary is the death penalty for adultery at worst, or at best, a broken engagement and the struggle of being a single mom in ancient Judah.

For those who are curious about nuance and details, here's something worth noting. Scripture absolutely teaches the virgin birth, but scripture does not teach the immaculate conception. I used to think those two phrases were linked and that they both referred to the conception and birth of Jesus, but the phrase immaculate conception is nowhere in scripture. It was actually created in reference to Mary and the belief that she was conceived to be sinless throughout her life.

Some faith traditions believe this despite the fact that, as we'll see, Scripture not only doesn't say that, but indicates otherwise. Some faith traditions also believe Mary remained a virgin her whole life, which is why they often refer to her as the Virgin Mary, even though Matthew tells us twice today, in verses 18 and 25, that she and her husband Joseph had sex after Jesus was born.

So, yes, Scripture definitely teaches the virgin birth. She was definitely a virgin when Jesus was born. But her other seven-plus children, who we'll meet later, were conceived normally, not supernaturally. Mary herself had no divinity or perfection. She was a regular human, which is one of the things that makes this story so remarkable.

We've linked to a short article with more info in the show notes in case you want to read up on this. In Luke 2, we step into the story of Christ's birth, and it turns out that it's probably quite different than what we've come to expect. First, most of the art we see has Mary and Joseph traveling to Bethlehem alone. But given that everyone had to go to their ancestral hometown for the census—

plus the fact that it was approximately a week-long trip on a dangerous road, they probably traveled in a large group of extended family. Their family probably goes to stay with distant family members in Bethlehem, but because lots of people are traveling for the census, the guest room is already full. By the way, the word translated as inn here isn't a hotel exactly. So what is it?

Most homes in this day are built on top of caves. Caves are all over Israel. And the caves serve as a makeshift basement slash animal pen. So the barn we tend to envision is also a modern idea. The barns then weren't made of wood. In fact, very few things in Israel are made of wood. Everything is stone. Even the mangers in these days are hollowed out stone. So Jesus is almost certainly born in the cave basement of his extended family's home and laid in a stone manger feeding trough.

My apologies if I just ruined your nativity. But while I'm at it, I'll throw another potential curveball. Given the details we have about this story, it seems Jesus is born in the summer months, between June and August, not in the winter. The census is the whole reason Joseph and Mary have to travel to Bethlehem, and those usually occur in the summer months. Also, since the shepherds are in the fields with their sheep at night, it has to be spring or summer.

Shepherds don't keep their sheep out at night during the cold and rainy season, which is usually October through March. So let's drop in on those shepherds. By the way, I lead trips to Israel with DGroup and the Bible Recap, and when we go to Israel on these trips, we go to this exact field, and there are still shepherds keeping sheep there today. And in Jesus' day, this particular field is likely where the shepherds raised the sheep used in temple sacrifices.

When a sacrificial lamb is born, they wrap it in swaddling cloth to keep it from getting bumped or bruised or injured because only a perfect lamb can be used as a sacrifice. So when an angel appears to these shepherds and tells them that the Savior has been born and that he's wrapped in swaddling cloths, this has to make a clear connection to these shepherds about who he is, the perfect sacrificial lamb. Then that one angel is joined by a lot of angels and they all start praising God.

The shepherds decide they have to see this for themselves, this savior of the world, this peace on earth. When they show up in that cave and tell Mary and Joseph and their family that angels came to tell them about Jesus' birth, the family is blown away.

Later, Mary and Joseph go to dedicate Jesus at the temple in Jerusalem, and they bring an offering with them as the law requires, a pair of turtle doves. What's interesting about this offering is that according to Leviticus 12.8, this is the offering required of the poor. I've heard people say that Joseph and Mary were both descended from royalty, so they must have been wealthy. But this offering speaks for itself, and it makes it all the more beautiful to see that God came to the lowly, to the humble.

As we'll continue to see, everything about his kingdom is an upside-down kingdom.

At the temple, we meet two prophets. First, there's Simeon, who's been waiting for the consolation of Israel, according to verse 25. But because God the Spirit speaks to him so clearly, he knows that consolation means far more than just the Jews coming out from under Roman oppression. And it's also clear he knows the scriptures because he reiterates what we've seen all through the Old Testament. The Messiah will be the glory of the Israelites, but he'll also be a light to the Gentiles.

This baby's birth is good news for people from every nation. Then we meet Anna, the faithful widow and prophetess. I love God's sweet attention to these people right off the bat, showing up to bless the elderly and the widow. Even as a baby, God is still demonstrating the values of his upside-down kingdom.

The family goes back home to Nazareth, then we flash forward to when Jesus is 12. We don't know anything about his life between ages 2 and 12. We'll read about toddler Jesus tomorrow, but for now, he's 12 years old, the age when a young boy can start following a rabbi or a teacher. His family makes the trip to Jerusalem, again in a big pack of extended family, for the annual holiday celebration of Passover.

By the way, Passover commemorates God's rescue of the Jews out of Egyptian slavery. And if you weren't with us when we read that story, you can check it out in Exodus 12.

When Jesus' family starts to head home after the holidays, they make it probably five hours outside of Jerusalem and stop for the night. That's when they realize that Jesus is not, in fact, hanging out with his cousins playing games on their iPhones like they thought. So they turn around and head back to Jerusalem, which is an uphill climb through the desert, and they probably arrive by nightfall. On the third day, they finally find him, and he's sitting on the steps of the temple, talking with the elders.

It says he's listening and asking questions, and it also says the teachers are amazed at his answers. So maybe he was asking questions to learn, or maybe he was asking questions to teach, like he often does. It's clear that he knows he's God the Son, and he even reminds his parents about it. But his humility is also evident in the way he continues to submit to his parents and demonstrate more wisdom as he ages.

What was your God shot today? Mine was in the story of Simeon. At some point during the 400 years of silence, God the Spirit spoke to Simeon and made him a promise. It's recorded in Scripture. Those 400 years were dark times for God's people. But here we have evidence that God had not forsaken his people. His Spirit was still at work. His Word was still alive. God was still drawing near to his people, directing them, producing obedience and hope in them,

despite the darkest of circumstances and the oppression of the enemy. Nothing can keep God from drawing near to his people. He does it through his word and through his spirit. And those were the things Simeon relied on and clung to when all seemed lost. Simeon longed for him and awaited for him because even in the dark times, Simeon knew he's where the joy is.

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