Matthew’s Version of Christmas
Who would think to start the Christmas story with a genealogy? We wouldn’t but Matthew did. Why? Matthew wanted to establish the credentials of the Messiah before telling the story of the Messiah. He did this by linking him to Abraham and then to David, because Jesus Christ was the prophetic climax to the history of God’s people, Israel. He was the promised fulfilment of the Abrahamic covenant – God’s blessing to the nations, and he was the great king who was the seed of David. His kingdom would rule and reign over all the earth, not just Israel. This king would save his people from the power, dominion and consequence of sin, not just the sway of Rome.
If we only see Israel and messiah in geo-political terms, as the nation of Israel did, we fail to see Jesus for who he was. What God accomplished in the Messiah was not what was generally anticipated. They wanted an earthly deliverer from the power of Rome, or whomever was currently oppressing them. But Jesus came with a vastly wider and more important agenda as the true king. He pales the kings of this world because his authority dealt with the reason for the calamity of the human condition – our fallenness.
Back to the genealogy, which although not very exciting to us, but profoundly important to the early church, was the very thing that was to establish Jesus’ credentials to Israel. Then, and only then, could Matthew tell the surprising story of the birth and early years of Jesus. But proving his lineage would prove to be easier to reconcile than the picture of this king’s birth and early years, which didn’t seem very – well, regal.
Jesus is borne to an unknown virgin, birthed in a manager (a form of stable in a family home) in a little town, honored by shepherds who were the least honorable strata of Jewish society, shown a feigned interest in by king Herod who ultimately sought to kill him, and forced into exile with his family. Some kind of king; hardly an auspicious beginning. It shows an almost complete lack of power and royal imprimatur, but Matthew is showing us a vision of another kind of king – a king who would be God with us (the ultimate endorsement) and the savior of our sin.
As an example of Matthew’s intention, the inclusion of the Magi points to several matters in relation to this new king. These would not have been lost on Herod and the readers of Matthew’s gospel. Quite who the Magi were is still speculated about but it is at least certain they came from the east and were astrologers. They came guided by a star; they went first to Jerusalem thinking that is where they would find “the child who has been born king of the Jews.” Herod was rattled by their enquiry as he was essentially a pretender to the throne and murderous. He could easily have seen, or at very least Matthew wants us to see, that their visit was like that of the Queen of Sheba who came with gifts to see the kingdom of and hear the wisdom of Solomon. Someone greater than Solomon is here. They didn’t come to see Herod, but a child. They also bowed to this child prefiguring many coming from the east and the west who were to sit at the table of the kingdom, while the heirs were left out.
Matthew’s gospel shows us Jesus as the king – God’s king, whose reign would not only be over all the earth but be eternal. He began in humble circumstances, which is our Christmas story, and he has been enthroned with all authority in heaven and on earth which is his resurrection story.