Psalm 40:7 (New American Standard Bible) Then I said, "Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me.
There is so much to "HIS STORY" and it clearly unfolds in the passage above. However, as we continue to read the book of Matthew, we find additional writings of Christ except from a fulfilled Jewish perspective and writer.
It's amazing how explicit Matthew pens his writings. First, Christ is the only person ever born into this world whose ancestry was prewritten centuries before He was born. Second, Matthew continues with that same passion in scripting "His Story" in order to show that He meets the prerequisite set by the Old Testament for "who" the Messiah must be.
As he begins describing His family tree he portrays His ancestry simply by the name, JESUS CHRIST, which was literally interpreted as "Messiah" or "The Anointed One."
Recently, I read in the Jewish NT Commentary that the significance of being known as "The Anointed One" is that both kings and cohanim (priests) were invested with their authority in a ceremony of anointing with olive oil. Thus, inherent in the concept of "Messiah" is the idea of being given God’s priestly and kingly authority. (This is directly quoted by the commentator - David H. Stern.)
That is astonishing because as you read through the first 17 verses you see how Matthew establishes Him as such. He traces the promised Messiah as the seed of the woman, as the seed of Abraham, as the seed of David who would come from the tribe of Judah. First, he traces Him as a shepherd and prophet - like that of his brothers. Second, we see Him as king. Third, he established His priestly office through Shealtiel and Zerubbabel.
I remember learning part of this while studying the book of Haggai. Yet, I was intrigued when I came across the words "Son of." I learned in Judaism that this term is commonly used in three distinctive ways. First, a man is normally identified as the son of his father. Second, it can also mean not the actual son, but a more distant descendant - a relative or ancestor. Third, it can take a broader meaning as to imply "having the characteristics of" which often applies here in Matthew's writing. All of this points to His offices or somehow relates to promises of the covenants.
Talk about identity here! Matthew truly connects the dots of our lives as they are entwined in Christ – our ancestry! And to think that Matthew's motivation through the FAMILY TREE of CHRIST is just that story that keeps unfolding. My friend, this is such a great place to park our bicycles – so to speak. Honestly, there is still so much more to the story...all of which is so inspiring.
There is so much to "HIS STORY" and it clearly unfolds in the passage above. However, as we continue to read the book of Matthew, we find additional writings of Christ except from a fulfilled Jewish perspective and writer.
It's amazing how explicit Matthew pens his writings. First, Christ is the only person ever born into this world whose ancestry was prewritten centuries before He was born. Second, Matthew continues with that same passion in scripting "His Story" in order to show that He meets the prerequisite set by the Old Testament for "who" the Messiah must be.
As he begins describing His family tree he portrays His ancestry simply by the name, JESUS CHRIST, which was literally interpreted as "Messiah" or "The Anointed One."
Recently, I read in the Jewish NT Commentary that the significance of being known as "The Anointed One" is that both kings and cohanim (priests) were invested with their authority in a ceremony of anointing with olive oil. Thus, inherent in the concept of "Messiah" is the idea of being given God’s priestly and kingly authority. (This is directly quoted by the commentator - David H. Stern.)
That is astonishing because as you read through the first 17 verses you see how Matthew establishes Him as such. He traces the promised Messiah as the seed of the woman, as the seed of Abraham, as the seed of David who would come from the tribe of Judah. First, he traces Him as a shepherd and prophet - like that of his brothers. Second, we see Him as king. Third, he established His priestly office through Shealtiel and Zerubbabel.
I remember learning part of this while studying the book of Haggai. Yet, I was intrigued when I came across the words "Son of." I learned in Judaism that this term is commonly used in three distinctive ways. First, a man is normally identified as the son of his father. Second, it can also mean not the actual son, but a more distant descendant - a relative or ancestor. Third, it can take a broader meaning as to imply "having the characteristics of" which often applies here in Matthew's writing. All of this points to His offices or somehow relates to promises of the covenants.
Talk about identity here! Matthew truly connects the dots of our lives as they are entwined in Christ – our ancestry! And to think that Matthew's motivation through the FAMILY TREE of CHRIST is just that story that keeps unfolding. My friend, this is such a great place to park our bicycles – so to speak. Honestly, there is still so much more to the story...all of which is so inspiring.
No comments:
Post a Comment