Matt 1-2, Different responses to the birth of the messiah

Introduction:



	Matthew	Mark	Luke	John
Author	Disciple; tax collector	Follower; close friend of Peter	Historian; traveled with Paul	Disciple; inner circle
Theme	King	Servant	Man	God
Audience	Jews		Greek (Gentile)
Peculiarities	OT references	"immediately"	Healing; woman	Teaching
Genealogy	Joseph's	None Except Mk 12:35 Jesus is the son of David	Mary's	God (3 statements)
	Goes through all Kings		Immediately splits after David
Refer. Point	Abraham		Adam	Word
Time	40-60	40-60	40-60	70-90
Intro	Genealogy from Abraham	The beginning of the good news	An orderly account	A cosmic view (similar to Genesis)



Other features:
Partially chronological -- oriental cultures organized things by ideas; also a lot of groupings into 3, 4, 5, and 7 things.
Key chapter in Matthew is chapter 12
Key word/idea:  Kingdom


Matthew 1:1 (ESV) —
1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.


• Do you note anything of interest in the first verse (maybe glancing ahead will help)?
• It is a thesis statement
• Author wants to make two points (although one would seem obvious)
• David is placed ahead of Abraham
• Both are recipients of unconditional covenants
• Abraham would receive seed, land, and a blessing (all Abraham's descendants)
• David would have his descendants rule over Israel forever
• Matthew's focus is on Jewish heritage whereas Luke focuses on his humanity
• Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew word for Joshua (Yehoshua:  Yahweh is salvation; or shortened form Yeshua of the Messiah :  Yahweh saves)
 of the Messiah 

Matthew	Luke
15 and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, 16 and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ. 17 So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.	23 Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli, 24 the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph,
4 … and Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, 6 and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah,	31 the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, 32 the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Sala, the son of Nahshon,



• Let's do a quick comparison of the other genealogy in Luke. So, who are Jesus' grandfather's?
• Jacob and Heli
• There are actually not exactly 14 generations, so is this an error?
• It is a way of remembering for a culture that is based on oral tradition
• Also, skipping a generation does not change the relationships


Matthew 1:18–25 (ESV) —
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.


• How long was the pledge?  One year
• What were Joseph's options?
• Public divorce; potential stoning (rare)
• Private divorce; only two witnesses needed
• Ignore and marry; risk of being in violation of the law
• Lev 20:10 "'If a man commits adultery with another man's wife — with the wife of his neighbor — both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.
• What does the angel call Joseph? Joseph, son of David
• We have to be careful with the word salvation, it is used for both physical and spiritual salvation in scripture.  Here the context makes it clear … we are talking about spiritual salvation
• Matthew makes two points
• Jesus is directly related to the King
• Jesus' mission was spiritual (this time)
• There is a tremendous amount of hurt and pain
• Relational disfavor among family
• Story does not ring true
• Example:  After Luke's birth
• APPLICATION:  One can be perfectly in the will of God and yet experience great pain in life


Matthew 2:1–12 (ESV) —
1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
6 “ ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ”
7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” 9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.


• Chapter 2 (or at least this section) does not describe anything Jesus did, so what is the purpose?
• Two kinds of reception or responses to Jesus (still true today)
• Hostility
• Worship
• How old is Jesus?
• At least a year old and less than two
• Why?
• He is called a child (v8)
• He is residing in a house (vs 11) not a cave
• The edict (v16) suggests under the age of two
• NOTE: Luke 2:24 offering of Jesus' parents (at 40 days) is the offering prescribed to the poor
• Who are the wise men?
• Probably from Babylon
• Similar terms are used to describe Daniel, his followers, and the royal advisors
• Prophecy is from Balaam in Num 23 & 24 (Jews considered 24:17 messianic)
• Num 24:17  "I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of all the sons of Sheth. 
• One of Satan's plan through history has been the elimination of the Messiah.  He has tried to eliminate Israel, eliminate the boys, eliminate the kingly line, and destroy the nation.  He has also tried to destroy the temple, create counterfeits, and in this case kill off all the young children
• In fact, I don't think he realized that the cross was not his victory until afterwards
• APPLICATION:  Hostility and worship are still the normal responses to Jesus today.  Do we differentiate ourselves or hide along the sidelines?