Readings for the day: Matthew 1, Luke 1-2:38
“All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet…” (Matthew 1:22)
God always delivers on His promises. God is always faithful to His covenant. God is always true to His Word. The birth of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of God’s eternal plan. This is the primary message of the gospels. It is why Matthew begins with a long genealogy tracing all the way back to Abraham. It’s why Luke will trace his genealogy all the way back to Adam. It’s why all the gospel writers connect the miraculous birth of Jesus to the promises God gave to the prophets. Matthew cites Isaiah and the virgin who will conceive. Luke summarizes Malachi and the one will come in the spirit of Elijah. It’s why Mary and Zechariah both sing songs recalling the great things God has done.
The advent of Jesus reveals the full measure of God’s radical commitment to His creation. To the people who bear His image in the world. The advent of Jesus is God’s “Yes” to our rebellious and defiant “No.” He is God’s declaration of unconditional love and grace and mercy. He is God’s affirmation in the face of our fear. He is God’s acceptance in the face of our loneliness and struggle. He is God’s answer to all our questions.
The road to Jesus was a long and winding one. All one has to do is go through the list of names Matthew sets out and recall their stories. Each of them is broken in their own way. Each of them struggled with fear, uncertainty, pain, and heartbreak. Each of them struggled and suffered. None of them are clean or pure or holy in and of themselves. And yet God uses all of them to tell His story of salvation. God uses the barrenness of Abraham and Sarah. The incest of Tamar. The prostitution of Rahab. And an unclean Moabite named Ruth. God uses the adultery of David and Bathsheba. The arrogance of Rehoboam that divides a kingdom. And the blasphemous idolatry of Ahaz and Manasseh that leads to exile. God uses another barren couple named Zechariah and Elizabeth to prepare the way for His Only Begotten Son who will be born of a young virgin named Mary who is betrothed to a poor carpenter named Joseph. This is the lineage of Jesus. It is dysfunctional. Full of brokenness and sin. And yet it is through this rather ordinary line of people that God makes good on His promise to bring salvation to the world.
What about you? What is your story? What is your life like? What is your family like? What skeletons lie deep in your closet? What fears keep you locked up inside? What wounds do you carry? What dysfunctions do you grapple with? And how have you seen God at work through it all? Or do you see God at work through it all? Friends, the promise of the gospel is this…In Christ, God works together all things – ALL THINGS – for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose. Cling to the promise of Christ today! Trust in the promise of Christ today! Believe in the promise of Christ today!