The Gospel of Matthew is a priceless treasure, a masterpiece, a work of beauty, mystery, and incendiary power. It is without question one of the most influential documents in the history of the world, perhaps the most influential document in the history of the world. This Gospel has been pored over by candlelight, smuggled into prisons, and stored in the memories of people who wanted to learn more about one extraordinary man, Jesus of Nazareth.

The claim that Matthew’s Gospel makes about Jesus is explosive: that Jesus is Israel’s Messiah, that the God of Israel has come to save his people (and through them the whole world) in the person of Jesus, and that Jesus’s Crucifixion and Resurrection has permanently defeated death and evil.

This Gospel opens with a genealogy that connects Jesus to the long line of Abraham, thereby showing that the entire Old Testament has led to Jesus, who is the fulfilment and culmination of Israel’s story, and it ends with the Risen Jesus commanding his followers to go to the entire world to teach other people to obey and follow him.

Matthew set all this down in his Gospel for exactly that reason: so we could understand, obey, and follow after Jesus.

Matthew 1:1

1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Matthew begins by giving us a one-sentence overview of the entire book that will follow.

The word here translated in the English Standard Version [ESV]
as “genealogy” is the Greek word genesis, which means “origins” or “beginnings.” Jesus’s story really begins way back at the beginning, with Abraham. To Abraham God gave a promise and said that through Abraham, all the people on earth would be blessed (see Genesis 12:1-3). Finally, thousands of years later, that promise is coming to fulfillment. By telling us that Jesus is the son of Abraham, Matthew is telling is that Jesus is the culmination of Israel’s story. This means that the entire Old Testament has been leading up to Jesus. The first key to understanding Matthew is to see everything about Jesus as connected to and fulfilling the Old Testament story. Or, to put it another way, the entire Old Testament story was always about Jesus, and the entire story of Israel is now embodied in Jesus.

But not only is Jesus the fulfilment of God’s promise to Abraham, we also learn that the way Jesus will bring blessing to the entire world is by fulfilling God’s promise to King David; God promised David that

16 And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever. [2 Samuel 7]

The Israelites held onto the hope that a king from the line of David would come and deliver them from all their enemies and troubles.

David was king in Jerusalem around 1000 BC, and over the long centuries after his death, his descendants on the throne failed to live up to God’s covenant promises. As a result of their failures and the idolatry of God’s people, in 586 BC the Babylonians came and conquered Jerusalem. Israel ceased to be an independent kingdom, and the line of David went underground. But the line continued and ultimately led to Joseph, the (adopted) father of Jesus.

Jesus, then, is the culmination of Israel’s story and the long-awaited king from the line of David who would deliver his people.

With one sentence, Matthew sets us up for all that will follow.

Let’s GO.

Psalm 134

A Song of Ascents.

1 Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord,
    who stand by night in the house of the Lord!
2 Lift up your hands to the holy place
    and bless the Lord!
3 May the Lord bless you from Zion,
    he who made heaven and earth!

A Good Verse to Add to Text to Someone Today - Psalm 134

This is a quick little psalm, and I think the final verse is a perfect blessing to send to someone:

May the Lord bless you from Zion,
    he who made heaven and earth!