Matthew 4: 1 – 11

Stepping out from the cool deep waters of baptism, Jesus’ next recorded event by Matthew is a description of spending 40 days and nights in the wilderness, fasting. A look at a map from that time in history reveals a lot of barren land around the spot along the Jordan where He was baptized. If ever someone wanted to be alone, the expansive region certainly provided the right atmosphere. Yet, He is not alone. It’s the Spirit of God Who leads Jesus to the dry arid terrain and after His 40 day “retreat”, He meets His adversary who is first described as “the tempter”.

Before I expand on the encounter between Jesus and satan, there’s a couple of interesting things to know about some small details and background information contained in these 11 verses. First, is the significance of the number 40. According to one site which gave insight from the viewpoint of a Jewish rabbi, the number 40 in Hebrew represents transition or change, concept of renewal, a new beginning. Other examples were given as well, but it’s worth noting that His retreat to the wilderness for 40 days following His baptism signifies something new indeed is coming. It’s as though there are foundational blocks being laid to launch and support His earthly ministry.

Secondly, another scholar states that it was fitting for Jesus to be baptized in the Jordan River as this was where the Israelites crossed over into The Promised Land. It’s always apparent–and exciting!–how God uses numbers, locations, symbols to tie in everything in scripture to reveal truth for us!

So, back to our account of this desert experience. At the end of the 40 days Jesus is hungry and Satan seizes the opportunity to prey on the human side of His weakness. But, he loses. Not to be defeated he appeals to tempting Jesus to desire power. Another loss. Lastly, he brings out the big guns to entice Jesus into wrongful worship, and, again he is defeated, to the final point of leaving Jesus alone. He departed. When he does, angels swoop in to minister to Jesus, reviving Him, tending to His needs.

I have never attempted a 40 day fast. The longest I’ve done any fast is about one day’s worth of meals. It. Was. Hard. I cannot imagine a lengthy one at all, therefore my mind and body cannot comprehend the consequences of extreme hunger and thirst. What I CAN grasp is how quickly satan can and will arrive on the scene during a fast. When he does, suddenly everything food wise sounds delectable and aspirations to be spiritual begin to pale. But God.

No matter if I’m trying to fast or strolling through each day, when temptations come or situations that are hard wear me down, I–like Jesus–have scriptures to defeat my tempter. I may not have hundreds of verses memorized like some of my more astute friends, but I have enough of them in my memory bank to pull one from my quiver, aim and shoot back. I also have a shield of faith to ward off the fiery darts and arrows coming my direction! (Ephesians 6–The Full Armor of God).

Nope, I don’t plan to entertain entering a LONG fast anytime soon but I DO intend to keep reading, studying, devoting myself to prayer, and maybe, just maybe, memorize a few scripture verses. Just in case.

Matthew 3: 13-17

Imagine if you will, being in one the crowds or other gatherings when Jesus described Himself as “the living water”, or you are “that” woman who came to the well in the heat of the day, a Samaritan, and as you are anticipating going about your task unnoticed by the gossipers of the village, you meet a man who asks you for a drink of water. As you talk with Him, He reveals that He IS the promised Messiah and that if she were to drink “of my living water you will thirst no more”.

Further imagine that over the course of months that Jesus began His ministry, indeed, you’ve heard this phrase used by Him often and you recall that season He began teaching a “new message”. You were there. Standing on the banks of the river where John the Baptist is preaching and baptizing people, you are drawn to the mysteriousness and the miraculous of the day. Out of the crowd steps a bearded man. He’s about 30 years old and blends in with the other people gazing at the day’s events. He steps into the Jordan River and asks John to baptize him. John puts up a resistance. After all, Jesus is the Messiah! Baptism is for those who need repentance from sin and He is no sinner; He’s the Son of God. A first teachable moment is also in the making as the water laps around their feet and legs. “John, I need to do this in order to fulfill all righteousness….” Ah, John needed an explanation and immediately consented.

The remainder of this experience in the Jordan has the miraculous opening of the heavens, a dove descending and landing on Jesus’ head with the very voice of God speaking “this is my Son, whom I love, with Him I am well pleased.”

Baptism takes on various traditions in the Christian church. Some do so as infants, others will baptize young children and/or adults depending on the particular tradition and doctrine of the church. I was baptized as an infant and later in my 30s, I made the decision to be rebaptized in order to publicly declare my faith in Christ. My second baptism was done in a lake with our church family in attendance and was a very meaningful day for me.

I love how Jesus modeled behavior and characteristics He desires in those who follow Him. As a perfect God, He did not need to submit to baptism but He did. What a beautiful example of “The Living Water” stepping into ordinary water and turning it into a majestic moment for John, the people watching and participating, and now for you and me as an example of humility and pursuing righteousness living.

Matthew 3: 1-12

“In those days…..” thus, Matthew uses three small words to jump his readers from Jesus at about age 8 in his account into adulthood, most likely early 30s. But, before we will read more about the Messiah he introduces us to another person who will take on a major role in the “birth” of Jesus’ earthly ministry. Meet “John the Baptist”. Matthew doesn’t give us background information on John like the other gospels which tell us he was born a few months ahead of Jesus in the same time frame. His mother is Elizabeth who is a cousin to Mary, making him a cousin to Jesus. His father Zechariah was a temple priest, a position of prominence in the Jewish religion and community. But here, Matthew, begins his account with John as an adult, living in a desert region whose diet consists mainly of locusts and honey. Why we need to know that I’m not certain. Maybe it lends to how I envision him as a rugged nature loving survivalist kind of great outdoorsman! However one imagines what John’s appearance is, one thing is most certain and that’s in the message he is proclaiming.

I think John had a personality people were drawn to or because his message was something they’d not heard before, curiosity was their driving factor. Matthew describes the crowd situation as “went out to him (John)”. Not only did the people feel compelled to confess their sins, they also were being baptized by John. All this “new” activity caused the religious leaders to seek out John, too, who didn’t mince words with these men of high esteem within their communities. John’s strong words to them aren’t the most uplifting but that’s not where I want to camp out; I want to focus on verse 11: “I baptize you with water for repentance, but after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry.” (Other versions say “fit to untie”) What did John mean by that? Why are we talking about shoes in the middle of repentance, baptism and being chastised?

In the midst of introducing the Jews to a message of repentance from sin, accompanied with being baptized with water, John is telling them that another “one” is coming with greater authority, more power and that John doesn’t have what it takes to even untie the thong on his sandals. In the culture of the day among Jews, Greeks and Romans alike this office of untying and carrying the shoes of the master of the house or a guest was the well known function of the lowest slave of the household. You can imagine why perhaps. Remember, travel by foot was most common and there was plenty of filth to be picked up on one’s shoes along the way, dirt and mud soaked with animal excrement mixed in with whatever else fell on the roadways. Having to touch and smell the evidence of a man’s long day on his feet wasn’t the most refreshing job to have! So, by making this comparison with being unworthy, John is letting his audience know that he is NOT the messiah that the Jews have been long awaiting. He is beginning to connect the dots between Jesus entering the region and the approximate three or three and a half years of ministry that will invade the Jewish religious system and turn ancient laws and customs on the heels of reform and prophetic fulfillment. John does this with boldness, prophetic references, and reference to a daily custom concerning dirty shoes–all of which were familiar words and customs, now bathed in deep mystery that will slowly be revealed when Jesus comes on the scene. For the revelation to unfold, we must stay tuned…..

Matthew 2: 19-23

Upon reading these remaining verses in chapter 2 one might think hmmm…nothing exciting here. On the contrary, they are very relevant to how Matthew is telling his readers about the birth of Christ.

We remember that Joseph has taken his wife and young child to live in Egypt in order to protect his life from Herod. The warning and directive to do so came from an angel of the Lord in a dream. Time passes and how does God communicate with Joseph it’s okay to return to their homeland? He does in similar fashion, a form of communication that Joseph is now very familiar with–another dream–most likely the same angel.

Herod has died and is succeeded by his son Archelaus. Joseph is aware of this information and I think displayed godly wisdom and discernment thinking “like father, like son”….I don’t trust this guy anymore than I did Herod and instead of returning to Judea, Joseph takes the family to the district of Galilee and settles in Nazareth, all fulfilling prophecy that Jesus would be referred to as a Nazarene during His ministry.

How old is Jesus when the family moved to Nazareth? A quick search online found a site that stated He was around eight years old. Making an assumption of my own, I’m surmising that the family lived in Egypt about six years, based on Herod’s order to kill the male children two years old and younger.

During our trip to Israel in March 2019 we stood at an area overlooking Nazareth. It’s mainly inhabited by Muslim families now; the homes are close together in the rocky non descript terrain. The day we were there was overcast with a slight drizzle and a chill in the air. During our time at the archeological site we were visiting, it was time for the call to prayer in the Muslim community and we could hear the loud speakers throughout Nazareth airing the announcement which lasted a few minutes. The drone of the foreign words was eerie in nature as I thought of one religion overshadowing another, actually three as Israel is home to Jews, Muslims, and Christians. Seeing modern day Nazareth changed my memories of this city from years of hearing the Christmas story and subsequent readings of Jesus’ ministry. One thing it did not change is the reality of God having a plan. Prophecy foretold that the Messiah would come from Nazareth. Herold, with an evil plot to potentially kill Jesus, failed. Joseph, being an upright man, listened and obeyed each time God sent His angel with important instructions.

In times of danger, would we be prepared to act accordingly? How far would you go to protect your loved ones? I’m thankful for Joseph. Thankful for God’s voice through His angel. Thankful for a divine plan that we read about in these few verses.

Matthew 2: 13 – 18

In these short five verses Matthew exposes the corruption of one man’s mind as he continues to have a power struggle with the news of a “Jewish king” on the scene. King Herod is still plotting and scheming to not be pushed aside by ANYONE whom he deems as a threat to his rule. By now Jesus is about two years old, the magi have departed from their visit and ignored Herod’s instructions to return to his palace and tell him the whereabouts of the child so that he, too, could go an worship Him. But God!

God, who knows the heart of a man, knew Herod’s true intentions which were to eliminate Jesus once and for all. I cannot help but stop when reading about Herod thus far in the account of Christ’s birth and reflect on how deep evil ran through his mind. To kill a child that you felt threatened by? Yet, I am not surprised, but those are thoughts for another day.

So, with a real threat on the horizon of hate towards His Son, God uses His angel to instruct Joseph to take his family to Egypt and stay until Herod’s death. Interesting. My flesh thinks “Why, God, You could have easily removed Herod from his reign or allowed circumstances of death to take him out….but you didn’t. You chose mercy. You chose to protect your Son and his parents another way. You removed them and put them into Your witness protection program! And you allowed Herod to show and amp up the evil desires of his heart by making a declaration that all boys under the age of two in Bethlehem were to be killed. This act of violence and bloodshed is not a heartwarming aspect to the Christmas story at all; I certainly wouldn’t want to dwell too long on Herod’s decree when telling or reading this to a child. Yet, it happened. It was real, it is part of God’s story. And, as I reflect upon it, I see a collision of two governments –Herod’s earthly kingdom has been hit by the supernatural power of God’s sovereignty, and all hell broke loose. Literally. This is a spiritual battle. Herod is but a pawn being used by satan, the once beautiful angel of worship in Heaven who was kicked out, thrown to earth, and is now the father of all lies, and governs forces and principalities working to destroy everything good that is of God.

In Herod, I see many of the same negative attributes in people today. We are not without men and women who want power, want to be kingpins in business and government. We have tension between Judeo Christian values going up against some leaders more often now than I can recall in my adult life. But, we also have a God Who is above all we read and see, Who has a plan of escape for us, perhaps….but most assuredly a path to salvation and protection no earthly plan can match. We have Jesus.

Matthew 2: 1-12

Matthew now introduces and tells us the account of the Magi who travel from the east to seek and find the Christ child, following an incredible star as their only guide. They must have been men of great wealth in order to embark on such a long journey that would have taken months. Upon “hearing” about the birth of this new king, they “saw”, they “went”, they “asked” which means they responded with all of their being.

Further unpacking the story reveals that upon arriving at the home of Mary and Joseph where they were living with the young Christ child, they knelt down “in the presence of the child and worshipped. Then they presented the child with gifts consisting of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Their worship and their gifts bear great significance for us. Why?

First, these magi were not Jews. I did not research what countries they originated from, therefore, these men of must have had great standing in their home countries, who heard of some great news and “went”…”came” to find for themselves who this new king was that was born in a far away land. Secondly, though they were not Jews or citizens of Jesus’ country, they still acknowledged Him as royalty–a king–and worshipped. I don’t think they thought they were giving proper honor to an earthly king; I think that God revealed His majesty and glory in the person of His Son while in the presence of Jesus. Why do I believe this? A careful look at their gifts gives us an answer, a prophetic one.

The first gift was gold. Gold was considered a precious metals for kings. How often do we read in scripture where Jesus is called the King of Kings? And, on the day of his crucifixion the soldiers wrote “King of the Jews” on the wooden plank that was above His head.

The second gift was frankincense. This expensive essential oil was mixed with olive oil to anoint the priests who served in the Temple. By presenting this fragrant oil to Jesus, the magi were pointing to Him as becoming our High Priest.

The third gift was myrrh and perhaps the strangest. Myrrh was used for embalming. Why would someone give a substance used in death to a young child? This gift was a prophetic one in nature, a foreshadowing of what lie ahead for the Christ, the reason He was born, the culmination of a holy plan birthed in Heaven, birthed on earth, bathed in the mysterious and miraculous plan of salvation that only a holy God could create and execute.

The magi’s curiosity and obedience offer us a wonderful example of how to respond to the news of Christ. We don’t have a star to guide us to Him but God has made a way for every person to “hear” and “see” that His Son is the Christ. We have the scriptures inspired by the Holy Spirit. Upon hearing the news of Christ, how will you respond. What gifts do you offer?

In a mere six verses (18-24) Matthew gives us his version of the events surrounding the birth of Jesus. Who and what components make up his description.

Who are the main characters? We have Joseph, Mary, an angel, the Holy Spirit.

What else is present? We have a dream and a reference to prophecy as recorded in the Book of Isaiah.

Imagine if you will that as a man who is fully in love and devoted to your fiancé, that you are presented with the shocking news she is pregnant and you know that you have not had intimate relations with her. What do you do? How would you react? To understand Joseph’s reaction we must grasp the evidence of his character. Joseph is described as “faithful to the law” and as a man who possessed great integrity “he did not want to expose Mary publicly, he chose to divorce her quietly’. How can one divorce another person when they aren’t yet married? The answer is contained in Jewish tradition regarding marriage. In the Jewish culture when a man and woman became engaged (betrothed) they were considered “married” until the actual ceremony was held. The young man took time to build an addition onto his father’s home in preparation for his bride to join him in their new home and the young woman prepared her wedding attire and chose her bridesmaids. When the home addition was deemed finished in the father of the groom’s eyes, he would tell his son “go get your bride!” So, perhaps Joseph was in the midst of building the home he and Mary would share, we don’t know. What we DO know is that Joseph is hesitant to move forward with marrying Mary. But God!

In a dream, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph and assured him how the child was conceived and WHY. This angel even quoted the prophet Isaiah and if you noticed, referred to Joseph as “son of David”. These two things factor into the validity of Matthew’s record–again, appealing to his Jewish readers with information they would have been firmly acquainted with down through their generations of reading from Old Testament scrolls and the meticulous records of genealogy.

There’s another small detail that is contained at the end of this portion of scripture that some may overlook. It’s a detail Matthew felt was necessary to include to prove that Jesus was not conceived by human intervention, a conception that could only be attributed to God. Upon waking from the dream, Joseph has the command to take Mary home as his wife…they are now living in their new home…and the newly married couple does not consummate the marriage until AFTER Jesus is born, thus giving the Jews–and us–evidence of the miraculous birth of God’s Son.

I love how Matthew weaves together the miraculous and practical aspects of Jesus’ birth. The forces of Heaven and earth were united and overturned at the same time upon His arrival.

Read Matthew 1: 18-24

It is the onset of the Advent season, those four weeks Christians anticipate and celebrate the birth of Christ. It’s a time for the lighting of Advent candles in our worship services and reading of scriptures that pertain to the Christ child. Last year I read through the book of Luke as part of preparing my own heart and mind for His birth; this year I have chosen the book of Matthew. So, today, December 1st, I read Matthew 1: 1-17 which gives us the genealogy of Jesus. Why does Matthew begin his record by telling us the lineage of Christ? I believe it’s because he wants us to know that Christ came from people who truly existed, are recorded in Old Testament history and would have been very familiar to the Jewish people. With the named are Abraham, Isaac, David, Solomon, Rahab, Ruth, Tamar, Jacob. In total, there are three sets of 14 generations listed by Matthew up to and including Joseph and Mary, the earthly parents of Jesus. (verse 17)

An exhaustive study of each man and woman listed in the genealogy would reveal with absolute certainty that not one them was a perfect human being. I won’t give a character report on all of them, but I do want to point out several, and I chose to look at the women listed here by Matthew. First is Rahab. She was a prostitute. She was not a Jew, therefore, she most likely worshipped other gods. Yet, God used her in a mighty way to protect and carry out a big plan. Second, we have Ruth. She is not a Jew either; she had married a Jewish man and was widowed. By later marrying Boaz, her kinsman redeemer, she is in the lineage to bear children, for the future of King David’s arrival. Third, there is Tamar. She was the daughter in law of Judah and when she was widowed she fell prey to being ignored by her brothers in law who were supposed to marry her and give her a male child to continue the bloodline of their deceased brother. So, she tricked Judah, seduced him and became pregnant. Lastly, there is Bathsheba, who became the wife of King David after an adulterous affair.

Do any of these women sound of pristine character to you? Certainly not by worldly or biblical standards. But God! These women are among a group of men, who by their own doings, failed tremendously to live perfect lives. Abraham himself fathered a child with his wife’s maidservant. King David lusted after Bathsheba and even had her husband killed in battle in order to cover up his indiscretions.

Forty two generations of imperfect people led to the exact moment in history to give the world a perfect savior. I found it interesting how Matthew broke down the generations by stating: “Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile in Babylon and fourteen from the exile to the Christ.” Why break the genealogy into three segments? The number 14 in Hebrew means “deliverance” or “salvation”. (www.biblestudy.org)

I’m looking forward to reading the book of Matthew with a new set of eyes during the month of December. I hope you will come along for the journey and discover new and deeper understanding in the person of Jesus. Who He is. What He came to do. And how we can know Him better and with great intimacy.

Read Matthew 1: 1-17