“Matthew provides the comprehensive context
by which we see all God’s creation and salvation
completed in Jesus,
and all the parts of our lives
—work, family, friends, memories and dreams—
also completed in Jesus.”
Introduction – Matthew – The Message
Keeping promises
Keeping promises. It’s not exactly common today, is it? Everywhere you look, you can find broken promises—“I dos” that turned into “I won’t anymore!”, children with missing parents…and I won’t even begin to talk about politicians. It’s interesting, though, that in this culture of broken promises, people still have this hope, this need to believe that someone will actually do what they say.
So far, the book of Matthew seems to illustrate how God is someone who keeps promises—and I absolutely love that. Throughout today’s reading, I saw it multiple times (look for the indented text quoting Old Testament verses if you’re reading with me). The writer appears to be saying, “See—this just proves it. God’s Word said it back then…and now we’ve seen His promise come to life.”
Solving mysteries in reverse
Let me explain—have you ever seen the movie “The Sixth Sense”? Or any episode of “Law & Order,” movie or story on the news that makes you think, “It was HIM all along!?!”? I wonder if the author of Matthew felt that way about Jesus. He walked with Jesus, talked with Jesus… but may not have fully recognized just who Jesus is until He was gone.
He knows the answer to solve the mystery, but he missed some of clues along the way, so he’s retracing the story. That could be part of the reason why the, “See! This just proves it!” moments occur throughout the text.
But hold on a second. I bet you’re still wondering about my headline for this post. You know…
…And eating bugs?
One of the things that stood out to me about today’s passage is…well…how weird some of it is. I mean, John the Baptist is a guy with odd camel-hair clothes WHO EATS BUGS! His fire-y style of speaking is today most often illustrated by people we often dismiss as, “Whoa—that guy had too much to drink!” or, as my mom says, “He’s a few fries short of a Happy Meal.” But John the Baptist had hundreds and hundreds of people who listened and followed him. That’s how I KNOW God was part of it—I mean, would you follow a bug-eater? :)
I think some of the weirdness of this story is intentional—God intended it and so did the author. Here are some of the other “weird” things that stood out:
- The family lineage of Jesus through Joseph – Yes, pillars of Jewish and Old Testament history (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Solomon) are there. But in a patriarchal culture, it’s particularly strange that women are listed. And some of them have some pretty odd stories of their own—Rahab was a prostitute and “Uriah’s wife”(Bathsheba) was The Other Woman in an adultress affair—just to name a few. These are the family stories or secrets many people (even today) try to bury. Why are they included here?
- The virgin birth—On the surface, “God got me pregnant” does seem a bit strange, Jerry Springer Show-like, don’t you think? But the way it’s told, I feel like Mary and…especially Joseph…had to KNOW it was God. If Joseph didn’t truly trust the dreams God gave him, he would have had a perfect excuse to leave Mary (hey, they weren’t even married, right?). But he didn’t.
- The scholars (wise men) from the East—How many scholars (yes, super smart people) today would just get up and leave their homes and families simply because they saw a cool star that signified the birth of a newborn king? Again, it sounds weird. But that must have been some star…
- How much God speaks through dreams—In these four chapters, several of the key people (Joseph, the wise scholars) receive special dreams from God that are so strong, they believe and act on them. I wonder how much God speaks to people today through dreams—and what happens when they listen?
- How Jesus chose common people-- This “weird” thing may be my personal favorite of the passage. Jesus calls two brothers—these two fishermen—to follow him. I love how The Message describes it:
They were fishing, throwing their nets into the lake.
It was their regular work.
Jesus said to them, “Come with me.
I’ll make a new kind of fisherman out of you.
I’ll show you how to catch men and women instead of perch and bass.”
They didn’t ask questions,
but simply dropped their nets and followed.
I love how these four chapters show a God who keeps His promises…in unexpected ways. What’s unexpected may be kind of weird (hello, bug-eater preacher!)—but God at work may also seem so normal or mundane. I wonder how many times God has been in my “regular work” or even my dreams…and I didn’t see it? It makes me want to be a detective working in reverse...seeing the mystery solved, but looking for a glimpse of those precious clues again.
Tomorrow: Matthew 5-6
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