December 4 Christmas Devotion
The countdown to Christmas Day continues with anticipation. It is a big day on the calendar. Christmas is a monumental event because it is about Jesus Christ. For many, when they hear Jesus Christ, they’re thinking Jesus is his first name, and Christ is his second name. Christ is a transliteration of the Greek word christos, which means “someone who’s anointed.” It’s equivalent to messiah, which is a transliteration from the Hebrew word mashiyach, which means “someone who’s anointed.” Jesus Christ means something like Jesus the Anointed One.
Matthew announces that Jesus is the Messiah (1:1), the true kingly line of David, and reveals the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah in Matthew 1:2-17. Matthew’s genealogy goes back to around 2,100 BC to Abraham. From Genesis, we know that it is from Abraham’s offspring who was going to be a blessing for all people. From Abraham’s line, a kingly ruler who would come would be honored worldwide (Genesis 49:10). Around 1000 BC, about a thousand years later, these promises were realized through David’s kingship. Here God gave a greater promise: a descendant of David would rule on his throne forever. As time progressed, the Northern Kingdom of Israel fell in 722 BC, and the Southern Kingdom was conquered and sent into exile between the years 605 and 586 BC. Though God eventually brought a remnant of his people back to the land from captivity, the Old Testament ended with the messianic promises unfulfilled. Some might have wondered if God’s promises had failed. With this background in place, we can understand Matthew.
The purpose of the genealogy in Matthew is to show the kingly line of “Jesus the Messiah” (1:1). This is observed in the first verse, showing that Jesus the Messiah is truly the kingly line of David, heir to the messianic promises, the one who brings divine blessings to all nations. The genealogy focuses on King David (1:6) on the one hand, yet on the other hand includes Gentile women.
The inclusion of four women in the genealogy is unusual because each of the women was an outsider to Israel with a questionable background. Tamar was a Canaanite who disguised herself as a prostitute to seduce Judah (Gen. 38). Rahab was a Canaanite prostitute who lied to protect the Israelite spies and helped overthrow Jericho (Joshua 2; 6:25). Ruth was a Moabite woman who moved to Israel upon the death of her husband. Finally, Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah the Hittite; King David married Bathsheba after fathering a child by her and killing her husband (2 Sam 11-12). The inclusion of these women shows that God actively seeks to forgive, restore sinners, and reach out to those who are marginalized, unnoticed, and outsiders.
Finally, Mary falls in line with these other women by conceiving a child through virginal conception. The Greek text and English translation clearly show that Jesus is the biological son of Mary but not of Joseph (the Greek relative pronoun is feminine). Joseph was Jesus’s legal adoptive parent. He was not his biological father. Matthew intended his genealogy to show Jesus’s concrete historical and legal connection to David and beyond that to God.
Jesus is the unique Son of God. He is the Savior and King. Later, he died as a substitute for sinners to provide the hope of forgiveness for all who come to him in faith. Through Jesus Christ, God forgives, restores, and reaches out to those who are marginalized, unnoticed, and outsiders. He came to save his people from their sins (1:21).
The arrival of Jesus the Messiah is the culmination of the messianic prophecies found throughout the Old Testament, fulfilling a unified divine plan. From the early promises in the Pentateuch to the later prophets, the Old Testament builds a consistent case for a coming Messiah, and that Jesus' life and work provide the ultimate and definitive fulfillment of these prophecies.
In the Old Testament, there is clear hope of the coming of the Messiah. This hope develops throughout the First Testament with increasing clarity. From the very beginning (Genesis 3:15), God’s people were seeking the promised one who is also the Redeemer. This expectation continued right up to the time of Jesus the Messiah, who fulfills all these Old Testament predictions.
Christmas is all about Jesus Christ, the long-awaited Messiah, and his purpose is to bring forgiveness through the cross for anyone who believes. Celebrate Jesus Christ, our hope, this Christmas.
JOIN US FOR OUR CHRISTMAS SERIES THROUGHOUT DECEMBER AS WE DISCOVER GOOD TIDINGS OF COMFORT AND JOY:
December 7: Good Tidings...According to Matthew
December 14: Good Tidings...According to Luke
December 21: Good Tidings...According to John
Join us for our Christmas Eve Candlelight Service (December 24) at 6:00 pm.
The Sunday Worship Service begins at 10:00 am. Join us!