Matthew’s target audience were the Jews, who were familiar with the Old Testament Scriptures and were waiting for the Messiah or Christ (kristos in Greek). He makes that clear from the start of his Gospel.
Matthew 1:1 (NKJV) The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham
He ends Christ’s genealogy with this summary:
Matthew 1:17 (NKJV) So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations.
In Matthew’s Gospel, the birth of Jesus is limited to three historical events:
– A potential scandal that ended happily in marriage
– a group of “magos” from the east who came looking for a king
– and a madman who slaughtered innocent babies
THE FIRST STORY: A MARRIAGE – Matthew 1:18-25
Matthew 1:18 (NKJV) Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.
How did Joseph respond to the message of the Christ?:
He was a righteous man
Matthew 1:19 (NKJV) Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.
Matthew uses the word “dikaios” to describe Joseph – a person whose way of thinking, feeling, and acting is wholly conformed to the will of God. Joseph lived his life guided by the laws of God. He allowed God’s laws to shape his thoughts, feelings, words and deeds.
He chose to be gracious to Mary and divorce her secretly
Joseph concluded, understandably, that Mary had been with another man. The law would allow him to publicly shame her and the consequences of that could have been that she would be tried and stoned to death if found guilty. Instead Joseph decided to “put her away secretly”. The root word is hide – he chose to hide what he presumed was her sin.
How far the church has drifted away from what a righteous life should be. For Joseph righteousness and graciousness were synonymous. Today, we seek to expose sin, make public stands against immoral behaviour. Gracious would be the last thing the world would describe today’s Christian.
He recognised the voice of God
Matthew 1:2021 (NKJV) But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.”
“The Lord appeared” – Not really a natural response for someone in deep crisis as Joseph was in. It would have been easy enough to explain the dream away. Of course he would dream about this situation that was churning in his mind for days. But Joseph’s exposure to the Scriptures and the practice of the laws of God actually enabled him to recognise the voice of God. The tone, the sound, the feeling, the experience must have been familiar to this righteous man. He recognised that it was the Lord who was appearing to him in a dream.
He did as the Lord commanded him
Matthew 1:2425 (NKJV) Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS.
Let us not miss what Joseph actually had to do to be obedient to God. He took Mary to be his wife and did not consummate until she gave birth. Why? Because the Scriptures were clear – the virgin shall conceive, the virgin shall bear a Son.
Matthew 1:2223 (NKJV) So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
THE FIRST RESPONSE TO CHRIST WAS COMPLETE OBEDIENCE. JOSEPH DID WHATEVER IT TOOK TO BRING ABOUT THE WILL OF GOD.
– Complete obedience will produce the will of God in our lives.
THE SECOND STORY: SOME MAGICIANS – Matthew 2:1-12
Matthew 2:1 (NKJV) 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
The word translated as wise men is the Greek word “Magos” – a name given in ancient times to wise men, teachers, priests, physicians, astrologers, seers, and sorcerers. The word is found only in two other passages in the New Testament where it refers to a Simon (Acts 8:9) and a Elymas (Acts 13:6,8). Both were called magos, translated in our Bibles as a sorcerer or one who practices magic.
We may have spruced up these magos for our nativity scenes but in reality magos were not looked at favourably by the Hebrew people. Their activities were quite questionable and sometimes outright unbiblical. They wouldn’t have been a group that the Jews would have expected God to entrust the message of the birth of the Christ. Yet God did. They were the ones who were present enough to hear from God and receive the message of Christ.
How often we write off people as being too far out of the reach of the Gospel and yet God reaches out and touches them and saves them.
HOW DID THE MAGOS RESPOND TO THE MESSAGE OF CHRIST?
They noticed the star – “we have seen His star”
Matthew 2:2 (NKJV) saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”
So often we are too busy to notice God incidents, Divine interceptions, Holy interventions. No wonder our first response to difficult situations is always to ask “where are you God?”
TAKE TIME TO LISTEN. HE IS A LOVER WHO COMMUNICATES FREELY TO HIS PEOPLE.
They enquired about the message – “where is He?”
Experiences and encounters are very important. Many times they are keys to hearing God. But it is not enough to merely hear God through experiences and encounters. We need clarity that can only come from the Bible. The magos knew they had limited knowledge – they needed to search the Scriptures to clarify their experiences.
They worshiped him
Matthew 2:1011 (NKJV) When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Jesus was no longer in a manger by this time. He was living in a house – possibly a toddler between 12 to 24 months old. They fell down and worshiped Him – worship involves your whole being – body, mind, soul and spirit. It’s physical, mental and spiritual.
They “opened their treasures” – Gold, frankincense and myrrh. These were physical treasures that the Magos presented to the Christ child. We now posess these treasures as we worship the ressurected Christ. I call them the 3 ‘P’s – provision, presence (fragrance that reminded of God) and protection (embalming from decay).
THE SECOND RESPONSE TO CHRIST WAS UNINHIBITED WORSHIP
THE THIRD STORY: A MADMAN – Matthew 1:38, 16-18
Herod and the message of the Christ:
He had all the information he needed to know that the Christ was born
Matthew 2:46 (NKJV) And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet: ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, Are not the least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ”
He chose to respond with anger and murder
Matthew 2:16 (NKJV) Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.
THE THIRD RESPONSE TO CHRIST WAS UTTER CARNAGE AND MURDER
BETHLEHEM OR BEDLAM
As we come into another Christmas season, we are faced with a reminder that Christ the Lord our Saviour has come. What has been our response to that message so far? Has it been like the couple – complete obedience, or the magos – uninhibited worship or has our response been to live our lives irreverently and irrespective of the coming of our Saviour and King?
COMPLETE OBEDIENCE AND UNINHABITED WORSHIP IS THE RIGHT RESPONSE TO THE CHRIST. WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO GIVE THE RIGHT RESPONSE TO JESUS CHRIST?
1. A revelation from God
Joseph and the magos had personal encounters with God. To stay in a life of obedience and to continuously offer uninhibited worship, we need to be exposed afresh on a daily basis to encounters with God. Our approach to the Scriptures should never be merely for knowledge of the Scriptures alone. When we come to the Scriptures, we need to come expecting to receive a personal revelation from the Holy Spirit.
DON’T READ THE BIBLE TO KNOW GOD, READ THE BIBLE TO ENCOUNTER GOD
2. A willing heart
Among the three events in Matthew’s birth narrative, two stories had characters who had hearts willing to submit themselves to the purposes of God. The other was destroyed by a hardened heart and a selfish agenda. Let these words of Jeremiah speak to you this Christmas.
Jeremiah 17:910 (NKJV) “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.
Let God search your heart and test your mind. Then and only then will we experience the harvest of fruit that comes from a life shaped by the will and purposes of God.
This post was originally published in December 2022 and updated on 31 December 2023