The Gospel of Matthew
Lesson
2 – The King is Born…Long Live the King!
Matthew 2:2: Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.
Matthew keys into the common Judaism theme of 5 by dividing the book into essentially five sections with a prologue and epilogue. Each part ends with the phrase, “and when Jesus had ended these sayings” 7:28, 11:1, 13:53, 19:1, 26: 1. Therefore the book as an outline looks like this;
· Introduction and Birth of the King Matthew 1:1 – 2:23
· Preparation and declaration of the King’s manifesto Matthew 3:1 – 7:29
· The manifestation of the King Matthew 8:1 – 11:1
· Opposition to the King Matthew 11:2 – 13:53
· The King’s response to opposition Matthew 13:53 – 18:35
· National presentation and rejection of the King Matthew 19:1 – 25:46
· Final conflict, crucifixion and Resurrection of the King Matthew 26:1 – 28:20
The Introduction and Birth of the King (Chapter 1: 1 – 2:23 Genealogy:
this means origin or root. The Jewish worldview took ones ancestors very seriously and helped to prove a person as an Israelite, the tribal identity and also qualifications for religious leadership. Matthew traces Jesus back to two key historical figures, Abraham (Jewish identity) and David (Royal identity).
Fourteen:
which is 7 x 2. For Jews, this was seven the number for perfection and two the number for proof or witness. From Abraham to David was fourteen generations and from David to Babylon, fourteen and then another fourteen from Babylon to Christ. The numerical value of David in the Jewish alphabet is fourteen. Hence Jesus is called the son of David (Matt 9:27, 15: 21).
Joseph:
is the ideal husband. He is a just man and open to the things of God. He is able to receive revelation from the Lord even in a great crisis (…behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying...). He gets rid of his fear and shame of taking Mary as his wife and obeyed the Lord not his pride or ego. He then controls his flesh and refrains from touching his new virgin until many months later! Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her first born son Matthew 1:24-25.
Out of Egypt I called my Son:
this one of the four Old Testament quotes (1:22, 2:6, 2:15, 2:18,).The Gospel of Matthew underscores the Messiah’s roots to scriptural prophecies and writings 53 times with over 70 allusions to the Hebrew Scriptures. He shall be called a Nazarene…there are many things said and done by God’s prophets that were not recorded in scripture e.g. John 21:25 or 1Kings 19: 14, 18. There are people who have done great things for God not mentioned or recorded but noted by Heaven!
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