December 25th, 2011
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

Working His Purpose Out

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Opening Prayer

Today, on Christmas, I want to tell You, Lord, how much You mean to me. I bless Your name and worship You.

Read MATTHEW 1:1-25

[1] A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham: [2] Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, [3] Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, [4] Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, [5] Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, [6] and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife, [7] Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, [8] Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram, Jehoram the father of Uzziah, [9] Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, [10] Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah, [11] and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon. [12] After the exile to Babylon: Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, [13] Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, [14] Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, Akim the father of Eliud, [15] Eliud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, [16] and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. [17] Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ. [18] This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. [19] Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. [20] But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. [21] She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” [22] All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: [23] “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”-which means, “God with us.” [24] When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. [25] But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.

Meditate

“Though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (2 Cor. 8:9). How rich we are, indeed!

Think Further

What is the point Matthew is trying to make in beginning his Gospel in this apparently tedious way? His concern is not so much “What did Jesus do?” as “Who is he?” Matthew’s first readership was probably Jewish, and so he is saying to them, “I want you to take seriously what he says because of who he is.” In tracing the genealogy from Abraham, he shows that Jesus was a true Jew. In taking his line through Judah to David, he is claiming that Jesus stands in the royal line, with a claim to the throne of David. To help us to see that Jesus is the goal of the whole list, Matthew arranges the names into six groups of seven names ― seven being a symbolic number, and Jesus being born at the start of the seventh seven ― as the climax of the whole list. So, Matthew says, this birth is the one Israel has been anticipating for many years, and is part of God’s amazing plan. The hand of the Lord was there, preparing for the birth of the Messiah.

Matthew includes five women in the record (3,5,6,16), which is not a normal thing to do in a genealogy. Some of these women seem strange choices (Tamar, who pretended to be a prostitute to make her father-in-law, Judah, recognize his ill-treatment of her; Rahab, a Canaanite prostitute; Ruth, a Moabitess; and Bathsheba, seduced by David). God works in ways we don’t expect, Matthew seems to be telling us, so watch out for what he’s going to do now. Then he tells us that the Messiah is going to be born miraculously, as foretold many years ago (23), as he rescues people (21) by coming to earth (23) and does things that might be regarded as inconceivable ― all part of God’s amazing plan.

Apply

Ask God to show you how he’s working out his purposes today, keeping his promises, fulfilling his purposes and blessing those who trust him.

Closing prayer

Gracious God, truly Your ways are not my ways, but they are wonderful. You surprise me with what You do and how You do it. On this special day I offer my praise.

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