Devotional for Matthew 1:1-17, 1:21-23
What are we to take away from this seemingly boring chapter full of a long list of names? Quite a lot of explosive news actually! 1) verse one announces Jesus as Christ, which translates as “Messiah.” To the Jews, the Messiah was the long awaited true king, not only of Israel, but of the whole world. (Read God’s promises to Abrham in Genesis 12 and David in 2 Samuel 7 for reference.) For Jesus to be king of the world, promised in 2 Samuel 7 and Genesis 12, it means He’s to rule on the throne, and bless the world. This has profound implications for everyone. For the individual, it means that He claims kingship, control, and dominion over your entire life, and He seeks to bless you. Do you accept His rule over you? For the nations, it means He claims sovereignty over all powers! 2) Matthew chooses to include four women in Jesus’ genealogy. Announcing your lineage was like highlighting the best on your resume, and including women was very rare. Women in Jesus’ day were considered less-than, and referred to as property. But what’s even more interesting, is that He doesn’t choose women who were considered great matriarchs (like Sarah, Rachel, Leah), He chooses social outsiders, he chooses prostitutes, he chooses swindlers, and just when we’re ready to be scandalized by all these sullied, less-than women, Matthew lists the final woman, Bathsheba. Suddenly, everything is flipped on its head. David was the greatest king to Israel, and yet, of all these fallen outsider women, he acted worse than all of them by impregnating Bethseba, his best friend's wife, and then having his friend, Uriah murdered! What are we to learn from this? First, Jesus associates with the broken, and we are ALL broken. Second, all have fallen short of the glory of God! We need to be saved! Luckily for us, Jesus, Messiah, has come to save us! (Matthew 1:21)
Questions:
What areas of your life have you surrendered to Jesus’ Kingship? What areas of your life do you struggle to surrender to Jesus’ kingship?
What shameful things of your past has he redeemed or healed?
How in surrendering have you experienced Jesus’ blessing?
How might you bless others who might not “fit” into your perception of the kingdom?
Supplemental studies:
The Bible Project: ‘How to Read the Bible Videos’ – ‘How to Read Biblical Narrative’