Today's Reading:

Matthew 1
Luke 1
Luke 2:1-38

Joseph and Zechariah were already “righteous.” (This is not the Zechariah from the Old Testament). God stopped them both, spoke to them, and remade their plans. Zechariah was on duty as a priest in Jerusalem. The priests served in rotations, about a week at a time, twice a year. He was chosen by lot (a random drawing using the Urim and Thummim for the Lord to decide the outcome) to burn incense, which was rare and usually happened once in a lifetime. God stopped him with silence when he doubted Gabriel in the temple. His muteness did not stop until he confirmed the name God gave to his son, John. When he came out of the temple, the crowd understood that something miraculous from God had happened inside the temple, when he came out unable to talk. In ancient times, being childless would have been a disgrace. Elizabeth later said the Lord had taken away her disgrace among the people (Luke 1:25). God was already taking away what had shamed them.

Joseph was stopped in a dream. Matthew called him righteous because he had planned to divorce Mary quietly and not expose her for the pregnancy. Before he had a chance to go through with his plan, an angel appeared in a dream to explain where the child came from, told him to take Mary as his wife, and gave him the name of his son. Joseph was to call him Jesus, which means he would save his people from their sins. They did not consummate the marriage in order to honor God and Mary while pregnant.

Grace did not wait for perfect faith. It met a priest who asked for proof and a husband who planned an exit, then gave both men a word they could obey. God was already good to them before they obeyed; their submission was not the price of God’s favor. God used a muted mouth and a changed mind to bring John and Jesus into the world. The same grace still interrupts good people so they can take the next faithful step.

When has God interrupted a plan you thought was already “righteous,” and what did that interruption show you about grace?

Why does the Bible contain the four Gospels? Each gives a unique view of Jesus, and they should be read together, not separately. They are not competing versions. Matthew and John were apostles. Mark and Luke were not apostles, but they were in the close circle. Mark was close to Peter and Paul, and Luke was close to Paul. While they do not have every story, some of the accounts do overlap.

Matthew: (Also called Levi). He writes about Jesus as the Messiah and shows how He fulfills the Old Testament Scriptures. Like Moses gives the Torah to the people on Mount Sinai, Matthew shares the good news of the Messiah with the Jews and future generations. Many of the details make more sense if you know the Old Testament, especially the Torah (the first five books of the Bible). He writes directly to the Jews, as they would have had knowledge of the Old Testament.

Mark: (Also called John Mark; John is his Jewish name, and Mark is his Roman name). He worked with the apostles and went with Paul on the first missionary journey. Mark’s Gospel is the shortest and is laid out in an urgent manner. He writes that Jesus is acting with God’s authority, then goes to the cross, and that the disciples fail, struggling to understand. He was writing to the Gentiles to explain who Jesus is.

Luke: Luke was a doctor who traveled with Paul; he was detailed in giving dates of the events like a reporter. He was writing to Theophilus (a person who may have been a patron or inquirer) to claim all he was taught is true and accurate. Ultimately, he was writing to all believers, especially the poor, outsiders, women, Samaritans, and Gentiles. The sequel to his book is the book of Acts.

John: John wrote to the Gentiles about Jesus, that He is the Christ. Jesus as the Word, the Son of God, and the Messiah, so they have life in His name (John 20:31). He showed Jesus as the Word made flesh and focused on His identity.

The four books are enough to know Jesus, and yet not enough to contain everything He did (John 21:25). The chapters today give the beginning of the story. God kept His promise to the Israelites to bring the Messiah. John the Baptist prepares the way and points to the Messiah. Matthew gave the genealogy from David’s line to Mary and how Joseph adopted Jesus as his own. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born as David’s heir. He was truly human and the promised king.

The family line matters.           

1. The Messiah had to be David’s son. God promised a king from David’s line (2 Samuel 7). That must be of real descent, not a spiritual title.
2. The Messiah could not have a human father. The conception was by the Holy Spirit. Mary was the human bloodline. In Matthew, Joseph, the husband of Mary, was the legal Royal line for Jesus through Solomon. Matthew’s genealogy runs Abraham–David–Joseph (the legal father). Luke’s genealogy is different and is often read as Mary’s family line, or as another way of tracing Joseph. Both Mary and Joseph covered the blood and throne rights.
3. Matthew also noted four other women in Jesus’ genealogy:
   • Tamar: Judah’s daughter-in-law. After Judah withheld his last son from her, Tamar disguised herself as a prostitute and conceived Perez, the heir in Jesus’s line.
   • Rahab: A prostitute living in Jericho. She hid Israel’s spies, then led them down her wall to safety. She later joined God’s people.
   • Ruth: The Moabite widow who clung to Naomi, choosing to join her in the Promised Land and marrying Boaz to become David’s great-grandmother.
   • Bathsheba: The “wife of Uriah,” who was violated by David, and after her husband’s death, became David’s wife and entered the royal line.
4. Matthew’s royal line passes through Jehoiachin (Jeconiah). Jeremiah 22:30 says no descendant of Jehoiachin would prosper sitting on David’s throne. A common reading is that if Jesus had been Joseph’s biological son, that curse could be an issue. Joseph’s legal claim to Jesus, with the true descent coming through Mary, lets Jesus hold the throne without the link to the cursed king.
5. The Old Testament Scripture also shows the birth of the Messiah without a human father: as “the offspring” of the woman (Genesis 3:15) and in Isaiah 7:14, claimed a virgin who bears a son called Immanuel.

Both Matthew and Luke show Jesus as the fulfillment of Scripture. His conception was by the Holy Spirit, and an angel explained who the child is and what He will do. Joseph and Mary: God and the Law. This was Israel’s redemption story. Matthew’s genealogy started with Abraham through David and then to Joseph. There were 3 sets of 14 generations. Then Joseph’s dream and the naming of Jesus came.

Luke began the story earlier with two miraculous births. John the Baptist would be filled with the Holy Spirit his entire life, even from his mother’s womb. Elizabeth was filled with the Spirit before Mary even spoke and called Mary’s child “my Lord.”  John, the unborn child of Elizabeth, recognized Jesus as the Lord in Mary’s womb. Mary stayed for three months, and she may have been there for the birth of John. This showed that the two babies overlapped in time and their stories touch.

Caesar Augustus called for a census, which drove Joseph and Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born and laid in a manger. The “no room in the inn” was not in reference to an actual stable barn out back; it was more of a basement to the house or cave area where the animals were kept. The angels announced the news, and the shepherds told the others the good news. Interestingly, the shepherds were in the field with the animals at night, bringing the timeline to spring or summer; the birth of Jesus was not in wintertime. God gave the lowly shepherds the good news first.

Then Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day per Jewish law. The father naming the son is the legal act of claiming him as his own. Note that Mary and Joseph brought two pigeons/turtledoves for the sacrifice at the temple, which quietly classified them as poor since they could not afford a lamb (Leviticus 12:8).

Simeon was not called a priest, but the Spirit led him to the temple at the right time. He had heard the word by God before and recognized the child (Jesus) as God’s salvation. Simeon said He was a light for the Gentiles and glory for Israel, and he warned Mary that a “sword will pierce her soul.” The prophetess, Anna, was also in the temple, most likely living there as a widow for the last 84 years. She gave thanks and peace in the first public speech, preaching who Jesus is. Simeon prophesied, and Anna evangelized, which shows that Jesus is not limited to priests, men, or the young.

Today's Discussion question:

Click here to link to our Facebook group for discussion, questions, and additional content.