Evening

January 22

Matthew 1:17, 20-21 ¹⁷Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ.

²⁰But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

Matthew is the first Gospel of the New Testament (New Covenant). Gospel means 'good news'. He was writing to the Jews and connected the life of Jesus with the predictions throughout the Old Covenant.

Abraham was the father of faith and the father of the Israelites. He was the man with whom God covenanted to bless the earth through his seed. David also entered a covenant with God that promised his seed would reign forever. 42 generations passed before the promise to both men came to pass. That is six sets of seven. Six is the number of man, and seven is the number of God. The fulfillment of the promises was going to be the God man, Christ Jesus. The blood of a child is inherited from the father. The life of the flesh is in the blood. Mary was every bit this child's mother, but the Father of this child was God. Jesus was not born with a sin nature, but other than that, his physical being was just like yours and mine.

Joseph thought that Mary had been unfaithful to him during the engagement, and considered a divorce. A dream reassured him that the child was supernaturally conceived by the Holy Spirit. The custom of the time was that the father had the responsibility of naming the child, and in this case He did. He told Joseph the babe's name was to be Jesus. Jesus means the salvation of Jehovah. Christ is a title meaning 'anointed one' or 'Messiah'.

Consider: What does it mean to us that He was every bit man?