December 14, 2008 - The Genealogy, Conception And Birth Of The Messiah

Meditation on Matthew 1

The book of Matthew emphasizes that Jesus is the Messiah. He is the King who delivers us from our sins. His name is Emmanuel meaning "God with us".

From verse 1, we find that He is the son of David. That means Jesus is the fulfillment of God's promise to King David that His kingdom will last forever. Jesus is also the son of Abraham. He is the seed God promised to Abraham who will be a blessing to all nations.

From the genealogy in verse 2-17, we can find four women mentioned specially. They were women who should not be worthy in a royal list. But they were also chosen by God to be in the line of the ancestors of the Messiah. From this, we know that God's mercy has been abundant. He can include all to have his salvation. Who were these women any way?

From verse 18-23, we found that the Virgin Mary was to have a child conceived by the Holy Spirit. Her engaged husband, Joseph was told by an angel to name the child, Jesus. And this was foretold by the prophet, Isaiah.

Indeed, Joseph took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to Jesus. (v. 24-25)

Thus Christ, our Messiah was born. Let us celebrate the birth of our King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Let us celebrate that God is with us. Let us celebrate that we have been delivered from our sins through Jesus.