As we mentioned in our first week of “The Signature of Jesus
– First Penned”, Matthew’s radical departure from the standard Hebrew
genealogical presentation of Jesus of Nazareth is astounding. It is unprecedented to include even one woman
in a Jewish genealogy. It was simply not
done! And yet, the Holy Spirit inspires
Matthew to include four women in the progenitors of Jesus. And as we underscored this point two weeks
ago, we detailed the corruptions, the weaknesses, and the brokenness of each
one of these women. As we dug into their
identities we were painfully aware that the words of the angel of the Lord are
unassailably true – “…you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His
people from their sins.” There’s no more
striking picture of the Lord being on the side of the poor, the broken, the
orphaned, the widow, the stranger, and the guilty than in the first six verses
of Matthew’s gospel.
This week (Christmas Sunday) is no exception. In Luke 2:8-20 we again find the angel of the
Lord coming not to kings and princes, not to the moral upright and the
well-respected, but to the despised and distrusted shepherds. Again God sets human propriety on its
ear! Not only does He come to these
shepherds who are out in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks at night,
but He declares that “the good news of great joy” is for them! He says it this way, “For unto you is born
this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
Now this account includes some of the most familiar words
recorded in the Bible. From “Charlie
Brown’s Christmas” to the plethora of Hallmark cards, many of the words of the
angel are at the forefront of American minds this Christmas season. However, familiarity often breeds
blindness. I would venture to say that
while these words are some of the most familiar words of Scripture, they are
among the least understood. And that’s a
real problem, because if we miss the meaning of the words, we miss the
signature of Jesus. So this Christmas
Sunday we will dig in and see the wonder of these first pennings.
In preparation for Sunday you may wish to consider the
following:
1. How
does the coming of the angel to the shepherds speak of God’s generous justice?
2. What
was the common opinion of shepherds in the Old Testament?
3. How
had that opinion changed by the time of Jesus’ birth?
4. Look
at verse 15 – how is it that this statement is called “the core of the Gospel”?
5. What
is the “city of David”? (I thought
Jerusalem was city of David.)
6. What
is meant by the words “this day” and “Christ the Lord”?
7. What
is Luke’s opinion of the link between David in II Samuel 7:9-16 and Jesus in
Luke 1:32-33?
8. What
is the correlation between Genesis 35:16-21 and this text?
9. How
is Benoni/Benjamin a foreshadowing of Jesus?
10. In
what way are the shepherds the first evangelists?
See you Sunday for a Merrier Christmas!
