March 12
Matthew 1-4
One of the things you will find Matthew say throughout his writing, is repeated words of the prophets. He is very intentional about pointing out the fulfilled prophecies that were written about Jesus. This is for a good reason.
Matthew is writing his book to the Jews. He is familiar with them and what the law says, and is attempting to convince them that Jesus is the Messiah that they were looking for. So he continually says that Jesus did things that fu...
March 12
Matthew 1-4
One of the things you will find Matthew say throughout his writing, is repeated words of the prophets. He is very intentional about pointing out the fulfilled prophecies that were written about Jesus. This is for a good reason.
Matthew is writing his book to the Jews. He is familiar with them and what the law says, and is attempting to convince them that Jesus is the Messiah that they were looking for. So he continually says that Jesus did things that fulfill the prophets.
Which is why Matthew 2:3 is so disturbing. The Magi have come looking for the Messiah. They declare they have seen a star and want to worship him. They declare they are looking for the king of the Jews. But listen to what verse 3 says,
“When King Herod hears this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.”
So Matthew is writing to the Jews. Not only that, he is giving them this reminder of what happened. The ones in Jerusalem heard about the Messiah and were disturbed.
Why is this so important?
Because the ones who would have been living in Jerusalem were the actual teachers of the Law. In fact, he calls together the chief priests and the teachers of the law to tell him where to find the Messiah.
They declare the words of Micah 5, and explain that the messiah would come out of Bethlehem.
Do you see why this is significant?
The teachers of the Law and the chief priests, were disturbed and in an uproar because they heard that the messiah was born.
Instead of watching and waiting, instead of looking for the Messiah and being excited about the fact that he was possibly here, they were in an uproar. They didn’t know what to do!
What you find out, is that they were looking for the Messiah to come in a way that made sense to them. So they never really believed that Jesus was the Messiah. This is why Matthew is writing this account. He is trying to show them that, even though He didn’t come the way you would want him to come, Jesus is the Promised Messiah.
Sometimes Jesus doesn’t show up the way we thought he would. Sometimes we are looking for answers and all we see are signs that confuse us. But when you look back at the Old Testament and see all the prophecies that were fulfilled through Jesus, it is amazing to realize that God has always been faithful, he has always been in charge, and he is carrying out a plan to redeem all people!
And he always will!
God is good, and he proved it through Jesus. Don’t miss the fact that God’s never failing love was shown, through the Messiah Jesus. He loves you and will show up, in ways you will never expect!
