Matthew 1:18-2:12 Study Guide
Intro
Do you ever wonder what the point is of studying the birth of Christ? I think we do know instinctively that there is a lot of significance, and key theology, if you will, tied up in the birth of Christ into the world as a man. I think for me, Christmas has become so routine that I struggle to find the significance in it.
An interesting feature of this passage is that it comes from one of the four gospels. I find it tempting to read the four gospels, or at least the 3 synoptics almost interchangeably, and forget that the Holy Spirit inspired each one individually for a divine purpose. Remembering that helps me keep my focus as I study a passage like this that is so familiar it has become common.
- In light of that, do you know who Matthew’s primary audience probably was?
- The 1st century Jews
- This raises what I think is a significant question: What questions/criticisms would a 1st century Jew have about Jesus? I think his pedigree was crucial to his claim to be the Messiah. Without properly answering this question, Matthew/Jesus could not hope to convince any self-respecting Jews of the day. Think about the following:
- Matthew and Luke were the only NT writers who recorded Jesus’ lineage
- Many Jews were willing to (grudgingly?) call Jesus a Rabbi, but his claims to be Messiah/son of God was much harder to accept
- Nazarites (people from Jesus’ hometown): Is this not the son of Joseph, and are not his brothers and sisters here?
- Some called (or at least implied that) Jesus is an illegitimate son (John 6 or so)
- Was Jesus of born in Bethlehem, not of Nazareth? In other words, does he fit the prophecies about the Messiah?
- Did the religious elite accept him?
- Another related question: who/what did Matthew claim that Jesus is? Hint: read Matthew 1:1 (1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham). This is interesting because I think today’s lesson is basically giving evidence for those claims.
- Jesus is a form of Joshua, used for two other people in the Bible. It literally means salvation. You can see this reflected in Matthew 1:21.
- Christ: I have recently become more aware of the actual significance of that term. It is a transliteration of Messiah, but Messiah is also a transliteration.
- Finny Kuruvilla: A Provocative case has been made that by the time of the first century, the term Christ would have been widely understood as King , or more fully, God’s anointed King.
- Messiah literally means rub with oil.
- David was called messiah (Ps 18:50), in other words, God’s King.
- It really adds some depth to Jesus’ claims when you start substituting the word King for Christ in the NT. Why else would Jesus spend so much time speaking of his KINGDOM?
- Son of David, son of Abraham: I think Matthew is further confirming that Jesus is the fulfilment of prophecy of the Messiah (son of David), and the seed of Abraham that would be for blessing all nations.
- I think these themes are what you see in today’s lesson. I would like to entitle this passage, The King’s Birth.
Text
Now the birth of [King] Jesus took place this way… (Matthew 1:18)
- I think it’s significant that Matthew keeps using Jesus’ title of royalty (Christ).
- Luke tells the story of Jesus’ conception from Mary’s point of view since he is more concerned with an orderly telling of the story. However, Matthew focuses on what Joseph’s side of the story since that is what is most significant to his audience.
- What is the significance of Matthew 1:18 before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit and Matthew 1:25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son?
- It establishes that Joseph is definitely not Jesus’ biological father, but rather that He is the Son of God.
- An incredible amount of ink has been spilled on reconciling this idea of God becoming incarnate, that is God becoming man. I am pretty uncomfortable with many of these explanations. I would much rather stick to the details that are given explicitly in Scripture, such as that Jesus is both the son of God and the son of Mary (mankind).
- Seriously, what is the implications of knowing that Jesus is God incarnate?
- Jesus is the Word of God. In other words, he is God literally revealed to us. He showed us how we could live.
- This was the only way for the curse of sin to be lifted (to save his people from their sins).
- He showed that his creation is still good since he was willing to take on humanness.
- What was the content of the reassurance the angel gave Joseph in the dream about taking Mary as his wife (Matthew 1:20-23)?
- The child was from the Holy Spirit, not from fornication on Mary’s part.
- The name for the child–this defined who the child would be (Jesus–savior–because he would be a savior).
- Jesus’ birth to Joseph’s virgin fiancé was a direct fulfillment of prophecy.
- Joseph’s character: Joseph is shown to be a just, disciplined and obedient father.
Visitors to the King (2:1-12)
- Why did Matthew include the story of the visit of the wise men, especially the details of locating him (Jerusalem)? Luke, the other gospel writer who recorded Jesus’ birth, used totally different details for his account.
- What did the Magi (the Greek word) call Jesus when they approached Herod?
- He who has been born King of the Jews [emphasis mine]
- What was the Magi’s stated reason for coming to visit Jesus? Related, why would they have given gifts, perhaps in particular the gifts they chose?
- They came to worship the King. Interesting that although Jesus was the King of the Jews, they had come from another land to worship someone who was “not” their king. Shockingly, the religious elite failed to even follow up on this claim. They had surely also seen the star.
- The gifts, at the least, were intended to be gifts you would give royalty (perhaps there was individual significance to the gifts, as well, but that is more likely to be hypothetical).
- Interesting tidbit: Magi were reportedly a sleazy group of people…
- Why was Herod and Jerusalem troubled about the report that there is a King of the Jews?
- I used to think Herod was just being crazy to care so much about Jesus, but I am beginning to think he had legitimate reason to be threatened. This added significance to Jesus’ claim to be the Christ (King).
- The Honeybrook Nativity scene pointed out that Jerusalem was troubled because they knew blood would be shed over this (it was).
- Why did Matthew use the chief priests and scribes to speak the prophecy of where the ruler/Christ would be born?
- I think Matthew is showing that even the religious elite were, in a backhanded way, acknowledging that Jesus met the requirements of this prophecy of where the ruler would be born.
Practical application
- To me, there are two major takeaways. The first, the implications of the incarnation of God, we already spoke of.
- The other thing I find significant is this issue of how we should respond to a king. In this case, the king absolutely has jurisdiction over our lives. If we do not choose to recognize that now, at some point, God has made it clear that he will cause every knee to bow to Jesus (Philippians 2:9-11).
- This passage reveals three responses to King Jesus:
- Reaction (being threatened): Herod
- Indifference/head knowledge but no accompanying respect: religious elite.
- We are probably most vulnerable to this response
- Worship: Magi.
- What do you choose?