1 The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham:
Matthew 1:1 (NASB)
Matthew Introduction
Let’s begin with a short introduction to the gospel of Matthew. As the first book of the New Testament, it holds a special place, along with the other 3 gospels, in the Bible.
“The Gospels are the most important part of Holy Scripture because all that preceded them led up to them, and all that follows emerges from them. If the revelation of the Gospels were to be removed, the Old Testament would be an enigma, and the remainder of the New Testament would never have been written. These two parts of the Bible, comprising sixty-two of its sixty-six Books, derive their value from the four which we call the Gospels.” (planobiblechapel.org quoting Scroggie) For more on this, click here. It also includes an introduction of the writer. And here is a suggested outline of the book.
Repentance theme
The central teaching of Matthew is about the Kingdom of Heaven – it’s coming. And, to prepare, there needs to be repentance. Dr. Constable presents a useful discussion on this topic here which I encourage you to read. It addresses the question of – What is repentance and what is the expected outcome?
Messiah, Son of David & Abraham
Matthew sets out to present Jesus as Messiah, the fulfillment of OT prophecies that He would come from King David and both are from Abraham. “The Old Testament prophets predicted that the Messiah would be born of a woman (Gen. 3:15), of the seed of Abraham (Gen. 22:18), through the tribe of Judah (Gen. 49:10), and of the family of David (2 Sam. 7:12-13). Jesus qualified in every respect.” (planobiblechapel.org)
Messiah means Anointed One (משיח) in Hebrew. It’s translated Christos (Χριστός) in Greek (where we get the name Christ). Old Testament prophecies lead us to know: “The Messiah would be a Hebrew man (Isaiah 9:6) born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2) of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14), a prophet akin to Moses (Deuteronomy 18:18), a priest in the order of Melchizedek (Psalm 110:4), a king (Isaiah 11:1–4), and the Son of David (Matthew 22:42) who suffered before entering His glory (Isaiah 53). Jesus met each of these messianic requirements.” (gotquestions.org)
RЯeflection
- We need to seriously consider this question of repentance for our own lives. Even as Christians, we often neglect repentance and reconciliation with God and others. It’s too easy to just “let it slide” because we don’t think the sin is so big, or, we always do that, or, that’s the way we are. Wrong! Each and every sin needs to be confessed and repented of so our relationship with the Father can be restored and He can fill and control us.
- Who is Jesus to us? Is he Messiah, the anointed one, the One who is Lord of our life?
