My first thought about "Matthew's Story of Christmas" is that he actually put it in writing. He wrote it down and then, by great sacrifice and effort through the ages--most unknown to me--it is here in the New Testament. Two thousand years after this miraculous event it is preserved in a book which enjoys wide publication. Not only that, I am priveleged to live in a literate society and I, a woman, have the ability to read the story myself. I think of all the ages where workers like me had to depend on the paintings on the church walls and ceilings and stained glass window art to know the stories of the bible. I think of all the ages when church services were not even conducted in my native tongue! Oh yes, I am priveleged. What I take so for granted--each little part--was bought at such a price. I owe thanks to Johannes Gutenberg and to Martin Luther and to William Tyndale, to name a few, and to so many others whose names are lost in the annals of time.
I find it fascinating that Matthew could quote forty-two generations of genealogy of Jesus Christ! Not many children born today can lay claim to forty-two generations preceding their birth. I also find it interesting that these forty-two generations were divided into fourteen-generation segments. Matthew handily summarizes this for us (Matt. 1: 17) saying there were fourteen generations from Abraham to David and fourteen generations from David to the generation which was carried to Babylon and fourteen generations from Babylon to Jesus Christ.
The implications of these numbers are certainly lost on me. I wonder whether Kabbalistic Jews would extract greater significance from this passage of scripture than I do.
Matthew quotes the generations of Joseph, Christ's father by marriage or adoption, so this is the TRIBE of Jesus. I understand that Mary was a cousin to Joseph so this would also be her tribe. However, as it is written it is Joseph's lineage. With Abraham this tribe was named or established. With David this tribe entered its golden age. When carried to Babylon this tribe was lost. With Jesus Christ this tribe was redeemed. Through adoption all people's of the earth can receive the blessings of Abraham and his tribe. This is possible through the priesthood ordinance of baptism into the family of Jesus Christ.
Here is a pattern of birth, growth, loss, and redemption. Examples of turnings such as these can be found among all peoples in all times and even in individual lives. How would we describe times of birth, growth, loss, and redemption in our own lives?
In less than fifty verses Matthew mentions the power of a dream five times! God communicates to man through dreams. Be mindful that dreams of this nature refer only to those aspects of our lives over which we have stewardship. Note: Matt. 1: 20...the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying... Matt. 2: 12...and being warned of God in a dream... Matt. 2: 13...the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying... Matt. 2: 19... an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph.... and Matt. 2: 22...being warned of God in a dream....
Just as remarkable as the dreams was the immediate action taken by those who had these dreams to obey the council given in the dreams. Here are some of the action words given in the dreams: "fear not", "take unto thee Mary thy wife", "warned ...not [to]
How many examples of "Arise and flee" are found in the scriptures? In a sense Adam and Eve were instructed to do so when they left the garden. Moses fled the palace and later led the Israelites in their flight from Egypt. Abraham fled the priest who was to sacrifice him. Lot and his family were instructed to flee Sodom without a backward glance. Joseph fled from the wife of Potipher rather than yield to temptation. Are there times in our lives when we have or should "arise and flee"?
Any one of these admonitions recounted by Matthew would result in social condemnation, inconvenience, punishment, and even the possibility of perishing. Joseph would have been looked down upon for taking Mary to wife. Mary had apparently exercised infidelity to Joseph and so could have been punished to the most severe extent of the law. The wisemen could have been jailed for mocking the king by not returning with promised information. At the very least they were inconvenieced to leave by a different route than the one they came by. The scriptures are silent as to their fate. They might even have suffered death, for all we know.
By heeding heavenly counsel Joseph and Mary became homeless, without income, with little or no means to obtain food, lodging, clothing--anything! Add upon that they were strangers in a strange land--speaking a different language, worshiping a different God, ethnically set apart from neighbors while in Egypt. For all we know they traveled alone on roads beset by thieves and murderers. When they were instructed to return they were not able to live among former family and friends. Again they were strangers, having to reestablish a livlihood in parts unknown to them. They did not know what perils they escaped--the blood bath of Herod's "murder of the innocents", for instance. They had to do all they did in complete faith and without support of any loved ones.
How many of us would "Arise" and immediately leave all we knew or owned, even under cover of darkness? This is what was asked of the parents of the infant and youthful Jesus.
When my children were young their name for King Herod was King Horrid. This ruler, at the height of power, was obsessed with eradicating challenges to his supremacy. He consulted all the best tools that the arm of flesh could provide -- the source of knowledge (priests and scribes) and the source of power (swords and the military). Who was his nemesis? An infant. Herod, in a futile attempt to retain his dominion struck at the hearts of his subjects by slaughtering the infants and toddlers in Bethlehem and the surrounding regions. Herod's legacy of selfishness and fear remains even to this day as countless lives are snuffed out before they draw breath.
What part does Egypt play in the preparation of key prophets, I wonder. Abraham spent time in Egypt. His life was threatened there. Was he educated there? Did he learn astrology and mathematics and writing there? Joseph spent time in Egypt. He was instructed there, imprisoned there, and finally became wealthy and influential there. Even the children of Israel who were led out of Egypt were civilized there for many generations.
It is not clear how long Joseph, Mary, and Jesus found sanctuary in Egypt. Afterall, King Herod's death is recorded to have been 4 B.C. (or four years before Christ's birth) and Archelaus was supposed to have ascended the throne at 18 years of age or 3 B.C. (more or less). Archelaus made himself unpopular due to extreme brutality and so was deposed at 6 A.D. This makes the use of historical calendars and events problematic as the dates to not sinc with Matthew's account. The family's time in Egypt could have been a matter of days, weeks, months, or even years.
How would we describe our own place and time of preparation and education? Have we found ourselves ever to be strangers in a strange land? What motives have prescribed our choices?
In a way the account of the nativity found in Matthew is the story from Joseph's point of view. It is the story of Joseph's conversion, of Joseph's forgiveness and subsequent actions. It is the story of Joseph's commitment to this unforseen turn of events in his life that changed everything for him. It is the story of Joseph's humility and submission to God's will for him.
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