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Matthew The King is Born!
Week 27 Day 1
Reading: Matthew 1:1; 17 "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." "So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations." ESV Thought: Matthew by descent was a Jewish tax collector who Jesus called to be a disciple quite early during His ministry, as a result Matthew primarily wrote to a Jewish audience giving account of Jesus as the fulfilment of the words of the prophets and thus seeked to demonstrate in every opportunity that Jesus was the son of David and thus the Born King of Israel. Matthew's introduction could in no way better cover this, by writing the genealogy of Jesus from the first Jewish patriarch Abraham through David and the kings right up to Jesus. Most extraordinarily mentioned is the time between Abraham and David, David to the exile, and the exile to Jesus, each being a very specific fourteen generations. Why does this have any significance though? In the Hebrew alphanumerical system letters were assigned values, much like in a single code A=1, B=2, C=3 etc.; the number 14 corresponds to the valuation of the name David. Matthew is basically saying, "David, David, David!" Matthew's account of Jesus' life, death and resurrection give us assurance that Jesus is the answer to the prophets, and is most definitely the true King of Israel. Our King. Prayer: Lord, You are King of Kings, above all other, to You all authority in heaven and earth is given. Let Your name be lifted up in every community and a banner raised of the things You have done. Be glorified O my King!
The Birth & Events 1
Day 2
Reading: Matthew 2:1-2; 16 "Now after Jesus was born", "wise men from the east came to Jerusalem". Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men." ESV Thought: There is some confusion within the Church and in the world about the events of the birth of the Lord Jesus. This confusion arises upon the understanding of when the wise men from the east came to visit the baby Jesus. They in fact did not attend moments after He was born, but much later almost till Jesus was coming up on His second birthday. As I have mentioned before it is highly likely that the wise men were in fact astrologers from Babylon seeing Jupiter (the planet of Kings) rising as a star towards the west. Noticing the significance in accordance with the teachings of Daniel they thus set off towards Judah across ~1000 miles of barren desert, a journey which would have taken scarcely 12 months
even with camels. On arriving at the house where Mary, Joseph and Jesus lived they presented Him with gifts of significance based on the course His life was to follow: gold for a king, frankincense which was offered on the altar in the Temple, and myrrh which was used as an embalming agent. This account again informs us of the words of the Prophets which are completed within this time; Virgin birth in Bethlehem the city of David, escaped to Egypt to be called out of, but most importantly for the Jewish audience, Jesus is the prophesied son of David, the King of Israel, and the Son of God. Prayer: Lord, all praise be to Your name. "You are my King O God, ordain salvation for" those called according to Your purpose. For You O Lord are a great God and a King above all others. Glory be to You in the highlands and in the lowlands, from this day forevermore.
The Baptism
Day 3
Reading: Matthew 3:16-17 "And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."" ESV Thought: The Jewish and prophetic observation that can be seen here is the definite sense of Jesus being anointed by the Holy Spirit, Jesus thus takes His place as God's Anointed One of Old Testament fame, for nobody else ever received the Spirit in this way. Jesus' baptism thus gives us the identification of a proper baptism, for He did not need to be baptized; John understands this; but did so as a demonstration to the crowd and as a result to us that baptisms should be public affairs such that non-believers would be the primary consistency of any onlookers. For those watching Jesus did not know Him, yet His baptism became a testimony and witness for others to do the same, as it should be now also. Commonly though the church has taken to hiding itself away and performing baptisms in only the company of believers; but if we are doing this how can a baptism be a public witness and appeal to other non-believers? In every occasion a baptism was performed in the New Testament it would be done at the primary river of that city, at the most public crossing; be it a ford or a bridge. The new believers would confess their sins and give a testimony of what God had saved them from. After they were baptized they would make an appeal to those watching asking if there was anyone who would be baptized also. Let our lives not become private, especially our faith and especially when it can lead to the salvation of others, do not be scared for what society would think of you, but be strong in your faith and surely the Lord will be with you. Prayer: Lord, give us strength and courage to not be scared to live public lives which are lived for You. Equip us and encourage us towards every occasion we might have to share testimony of Your wonders. Be with us I pray as we go out to seek the lost.
Salt & Light
Day 4
Reading: Matthew 5:13-16 "You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." ESV
Thought: Salt is a preservative, is a necessary part of a diet, and adds a very distinctive flavour to most dishes and thus was important in Jewish cooking. Jesus uses salt as a metaphor for the presence of the faithful within a culture and demands that believers take an active role to ensure the people live with morality and have the believers as an obvious witness of what is righteous and holy. Without this active witness and presence of the believers what use are they being there? And as we are starting to see in our own culture we are being trampled underfoot by the worldly desires of our society. Light shines, illuminating the darkness; exposing the truth; revealing all, and so is placed such to do so; in high places. What use is a light that is hidden away? How many were saved when the disciples hid away in their upper room? And how many were saved when they came out? 3000. Therefore "let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." Remember a light remains until its fire goes out; so never let your fire go out! But fan into flame the first fruits of the Spirit! Prayer: Lord, You have started the fire in our hearts, therefore may we always strive to cause it to grow and spread. You give us all we need to do Your good works, therefore only be with us I pray and give us occasion to fan into flame as we seek out occasions daily. May many receive Your fire and be saved.
The Fulfilment of the Law
Day 5
Reading: Matthew 5:17-18; 48 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished." "You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." ESV Thought: Matthew's account seeks to directly show that Jesus did complete all of the prophecies proving to the Jewish people that Jesus is the Christ. Part of these prophecies also include the necessity that the Christ must be perfect, blameless, spotless; without sin, so Jesus came to be the first person ever to have kept the full conditions of the Law and thus completing and fulfilling it once and for all. For the Law cannot be kept by man, but was given to show man what sin was and thus cause a person to recognize that since they could not live up to it. Verse 48 gives the context to which Jesus places of salvation based on works which is the Law; a person must be perfect for the aim is to be holy like the Father, yet with the Law and with such works this is truly impossible. So it must be by faith that a person is saved; that is by grace, for Abraham's faith was counted to him as righteousness. With my previous writings I have shown with considerable evidence that Jesus in indeed the Christ, if you have not read them I would invite you to do so. If you still have questions do not hesitate to ask, I would be blessed to open the Scriptures to you. Yet there is another who has already sought this for you, pray to Jesus that He would reveal to you an understanding of His word, that His presence throughout history would be revealed to you. Prayer: Lord, let revelation be given unto Your lambs. For through Your revelation You lead us down paths of righteousness, to seek faith and grace that good works should overflow from a pure heart filled with gratitude and praise. Be present with us Lord that Your words would be given to us that You should be revealed to others and faith and grace be established in them.
All Authority
Day 6
Reading: Matthew 11:27; 28:18 "All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except
the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." ""All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." ESV Thought: "I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son" (1Chr17:13) was the promise given to David regarding his son; the Messiah. One of the issues the Pharisees and priests had with Jesus was that He claimed to be God's Son and thus identified Himself as being on the same level as God, and since the Pharisees and priests had so neatly "tidied" up the Law to make it accessible, the presence of Jesus became a hindrance to them. A great many of the people who heard Jesus speak confirmed this, "the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes" (Mat7:28-29). We also know that at the end He will come again "to judge the living and the dead" (2Ti4:1). This is so because Jesus demonstrated the attributes of God, power even over death, foreknowledge, wisdom and understanding, being holy, gracious, and merciful yet humble even over all of this; for "though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (Phi2:6-8). Prayer: Lord, to You was given all power and glory that Your name would be praised in every nation. So was given to You the right to judge and to decide who You should reveal Yourself and the Father to. Therefore I pray give revelation of Yourself in plenty, may many turn and be saved, in Your precious name.
The Kingdom of Heaven
Day 7
Reading: Matthew 13:24-30 ""The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?' He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' So the servants said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and gather them?' But he said, 'No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, 'Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.'"" ESV Thought: This parable told by Jesus has a great amount of depth to it, revealing a great many of the mysteries of the creation, and of salvation. Working through the thoughts: the field into which the seed is planted is the world, the good seed is the elect - those to receive salvation - who are chosen as good seed for harvesting before they are planted, the weeds are those who will not receive salvation but their presence hinders the growth of the elect. Yet to take the weeds away would cause more harm to the good seed than if they are left, therefore not wishing to cause harm to the elect God has chosen to show grace to all by allowing the weeds to persist. Yet the weeds will be burnt up at the harvest time, therefore we must hurry to find all the good seed who would call upon the name of the Lord, for the salvation they are set to receive belongs to the Lord. Prayer: Lord, You chose us before the beginning of the world to be Your ambassadors, to represent Your holy name and Your grace covers a multitude of iniquities and delivers from the greatest troubles. Let me be to You a great ambassador that Your name should never be ashamed but would be heard upon every continent and amongst every nation.
The King’s Cross
Extra
Reading: Matthew 27:46 "Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"" Thought: It has seemed good to me to write additionally about the cross from each of the accounts we receive of the New Testament that you should be built up in knowledge of Jesus' final moments, for there were at the cross a number of different sayings of Jesus relevant to the relationship between Him and God. Here Jesus recites the words of David found in Psalm 22:1. A desperate cry out to the Father for help and relief, such was the pain and rejection He suffered in our place. For in His rejection we were accepted; purified to be connected with God through a new relationship sealed in His blood. Prayer: Lord, You were forsaken so we would be forgiven. You were forgotten that we might be reconciled, You conquered all our sin and shame by being baptized into Your death, and You freely give us new life in Your resurrection. Thank You Lord that Your sacrifice set me free, be praised I pray.