Readings for today: Matthew 1-2, Psalms 81
One of the things I look most forward to when I read the Bible every year is the transition between Old and New Testaments. To finish the Old Testament after months of being immersed in the history and story and struggles of God’s chosen people and then to see it fulfilled in the birth of Jesus Christ is powerful. It never gets old. It never fails to hit me. I love reading through the genealogy and reflecting on all the work it took to get from the call of Abram to the birth of Christ. I think about all the different ways God orchestrated His plan, bending their often sinful, selfish decisions to His perfect will. I think about all the times the plan of God seemingly comes under threat only to have God act miraculously and powerfully to protect the line of the Messiah. I think of the four hundred year enslavement in Egypt, the forty years of wandering in the wilderness, the victories and defeats, the corruption of the kings, the scattering and exile of the nation, and the glorious, unexpected return. As I’ve often said, there is no greater miracle than the preservation of God’s chosen people.
Matthew clearly has a deep appreciation what has come before as well. He speaks often of the fulfillment of what was spoken by the prophets. Everything from the genealogy to the miraculous conception of Jesus in the womb of his virgin mother to the birthplace of the Messiah to the flight into Egypt to the massacre of the innocents and the eventual settlement in Nazareth was all foretold. It was all planned. It was all sovereignly decreed by the Lord in advance. It’s a powerful witness that highlights the inextricable relationship between the Old and New Testaments. One cannot study the life of Jesus in a vacuum. We can’t pretend He came on the scene out of nowhere. As confusing and challenging as it is at times to read, we simply cannot jettison the Old Testament because it shapes the world and cultural context into which Jesus was born. He was a Jew. Born to Jewish parents. Circumcised on the eighth day. Raised among God’s covenant people. Taught the Torah and the histories and the words of the prophets from a very young age. The Old Testament was Jesus’ Bible and He Himself is the fulfillment of all the Law and Prophets.
So as we make the turn into more familiar, more comfortable territory, I want to encourage to take time to thank God for all that you have read so far this year. Thank God for the Law and the Prophets. Thank God for the history of His people. Thank God for the men and women who came before us and came before Jesus who were used by God to further His great salvation plan. Thank God for the Jewish people and how God continues to use them to further His purposes in the world. Most of all, pray for our Jewish friends to recognize their Messiah and come to saving faith in Jesus Christ.
Readings for tomorrow: Matthew 3-4, Psalms 82