The Gospel of Matthew is an account of the life and teaching of Jesus written by a Jewish author for a Jewish readership. Matthew focuses on Jesus as the Messiah (anointed one) of Israel who comes to call his people into the new age of the Kingdom of Heaven. For the Jews, family history was vital, particularly when it comes to the Messiah who was to be a descendant of David. Matthew demonstrates that Jesus is not only a descendant of David but that his descent to David runs right through the royal lineage from Solomon to Zerubbabel. This is no ordinary Davidic lineage. Any Jew would have been impressed. When Jesus was born, Israel had only a half-Jewish king (Herod the Great) who was little more than a Roman puppet. Judea was under Roman occupation and the Jews considered themselves to be captives now as much as they were when they were exiles in Babylon. They were therefore longing for God to send his appointed deliverer, the Messiah, to release them from their captivity and rule over them as a free people. Matthew announces that, in Jesus, this hope is fulfilled. But Jesus is going to radically redefine this hope and give the prophecies of the new Messianic age a much deeper and broader meaning. What the people needed salvation from was not the Romans, but their own sins. If they could overcome the power of sin in their own lives, they would remain free whoever it was that ruled over them politically. God may not always give us what we want but he always gives us what we need.
Ask God to lead you to greater freedom.
Read Matthew 1
