Matthew 1 & 2
This was probably not the best time to read Matthew 1 & 2, with the echoes of Christmas still ringing in my ears. It read a little like remembered lines from a Christmas play. Perhaps it would have read that way in July as well. We'll see when I get to Luke!
The genealogy which heads up Matthew is interesting in the names which are brought up. Three sets of 14 generations are mentioned, but it seems like some editing has been done to make it come out in three even segments. No matter. Beget works for fathers, grandfathers, great-grandfathers, etc.
Tamar is included in spite of that horrible story. I never realized that Boaz's mother was named Rahab. Interesting also that Bathsheba's name isn't mentioned -- only that she had been Uriah's wife, yet another note of scandal into Jesus' lineage. Joseph is never called Jesus' father. Abraham to David to Jesus. Those are the names to watch for from verse one, then again in verse 17. Clearly this is a Jewish genealogy!
If we all received as many angelic messages as Joseph did, would we be more obedient? It was like God had Joe on speed dial.
Matthew, ever the Jew, points out prophecy after prophecy fulfilled by Messiah. Even the last verse of chapter two features a prophecy which isn't included in the OT, from all I have read. Indeed there is no footnote. So many of these prophecies were declared as fulfilled by Matthew in spite of a seeming differing context in the OT. More evidence that the Holy Spirit was at work in Matthew.
The Slaughter of the Innocents by Herod was probably no big deal in the reign of terror under that feared ruler. For a man who was killing off his own kids, a few babies in Bethlehem probably wouldn't have made the evening news in Jerusalem, I'd bet.
The Holy Family returns to Nazareth. How odd it must have been to come back home for Mary and Joseph. Scandal. Rumors. Gossip. It's surprising that Joseph could have had a successful carpentry business if the whole town thought Jesus was illegitimate. Perhaps pity for the duped "father"?
No mention of shepherds or angelic songs in the mountains from Matthew. No talk of a stable or a No Vacancy sign at the inn. Just obedience from Joseph and the episode with the Magi. And oh yeah, that guiding star.
The genealogy which heads up Matthew is interesting in the names which are brought up. Three sets of 14 generations are mentioned, but it seems like some editing has been done to make it come out in three even segments. No matter. Beget works for fathers, grandfathers, great-grandfathers, etc.
Tamar is included in spite of that horrible story. I never realized that Boaz's mother was named Rahab. Interesting also that Bathsheba's name isn't mentioned -- only that she had been Uriah's wife, yet another note of scandal into Jesus' lineage. Joseph is never called Jesus' father. Abraham to David to Jesus. Those are the names to watch for from verse one, then again in verse 17. Clearly this is a Jewish genealogy!
If we all received as many angelic messages as Joseph did, would we be more obedient? It was like God had Joe on speed dial.
Matthew, ever the Jew, points out prophecy after prophecy fulfilled by Messiah. Even the last verse of chapter two features a prophecy which isn't included in the OT, from all I have read. Indeed there is no footnote. So many of these prophecies were declared as fulfilled by Matthew in spite of a seeming differing context in the OT. More evidence that the Holy Spirit was at work in Matthew.
The Slaughter of the Innocents by Herod was probably no big deal in the reign of terror under that feared ruler. For a man who was killing off his own kids, a few babies in Bethlehem probably wouldn't have made the evening news in Jerusalem, I'd bet.
The Holy Family returns to Nazareth. How odd it must have been to come back home for Mary and Joseph. Scandal. Rumors. Gossip. It's surprising that Joseph could have had a successful carpentry business if the whole town thought Jesus was illegitimate. Perhaps pity for the duped "father"?
No mention of shepherds or angelic songs in the mountains from Matthew. No talk of a stable or a No Vacancy sign at the inn. Just obedience from Joseph and the episode with the Magi. And oh yeah, that guiding star.
posted by rev-ed @ 12:11 AM
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