And it’s definitely…and we’ll see this…it’s definitely coming from the point of view that Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophecies that were expected that He was the Expected One, the Messiah, the Savior, the Anointed One. He was expected and He fulfilled these prophecies and that proves Him to be who He is. And we’ll see that Matthew works really hard. We’ll see Jesus fulfilling a lot of prophecies, but we’ll get to know Jesus. And this is what we’ve come for, to get to know Jesus, to understand who He was, what He said, what He did. What was His personality like? What was His style like? In the gospel of Matthew, we’ll find 20 parables and we’ll see that Jesus uses this kind of teaching method that was very much a rabbinical tradition, to use parables that would illustrate a much deeper meaning. So, can hear a story and then put yourself in a position and…and allow it to sink into your heart and see this…this the symbolism. And it’s so rich and deep with meaning and it creates this sense of emotion or feeling that is beyond just the words. And we’ll see Jesus teaching that way and it’s beautiful. And then we will also see in the gospel of Matthew these rumblings that we will continue to hear of, rumblings of something called the kingdom of heaven, something that was coming, something that was already here, something that was happening now. And Jesus is the King of this kingdom. And, so, today we read from the gospel of Matthew chapter 2 verse 13 through 3 verse 6.
Commentary:
Okay. So, today as we read in the book of Genesis, we watched one of the saddest stories play out in all of the Bible and this story is known as the fall of mankind and it actually shapes the trajectory of the rest of the Bible. So, we’ve encountered a story right at the beginning of a larger story and it will play out that we will see God’s willingness to come here in person as Jesus to rescue creation. So, in the garden of Eden we read today. God offered Adam and Eve the tree of life, and He told them that they could not eat from a tree known as the knowledge of good and evil. And it’s kind of easy to wonder, like, what’s the point of…of prohibiting? Why? Why keep something away from them and even give them this option? But that tree gives us a pretty incredible picture of how deeply God is invested in an actual first-person relationship with us. Because, well, I mean you’ve been in the world. You can…you can fake love, right? Like you can fake that you love somebody, but actual true love, that’s not something that can be faked. Like even somebody that’s enslaved and is beaten, that…that…their behavior can be completely shaped, but authentic and true love is something that is freely offered from someone’s heart. And when that love is given, there is a vulnerability that is deep and can really really hurt us. Love can’t be true love if there’s no way out of it. And, so, what we’re looking at in the tree of the knowledge of good and evil appears to be that, the option to leave. And what we watched was a deception. A deception was hatched and our ancestors, our first mother and father dreamed of becoming like God. And they forgot that they already were created in His image. And, so, they chose to eat and there were devastating repercussions. And the depths of the repercussions are felt in God’s own heart in this heartbreaking question that we may have found ourselves asking somebody that we love who has betrayed us. What have you done? That is one of the saddest things we’re going to find. And there are some pretty sad things in the Bible, but that’s one of the saddest things that we’re going to find because lots of us know what it feels like to be betrayed by somebody in some way and have that question, why. Why did you do this? What have you done? I was naked so I hid was what Adam responded. And that pretty much tells the whole story, right? Because aren’t we all hiding? Aren’t we all wearing the mask that we put on every day called our personality and take it out into the world so that we can get things done. We’ve been hiding ever since. We see it every day in the way that…that we conduct ourselves, the way that we present our best selves while hiding all the broken parts. They had perfection and a trade was made. There was true love and it was exchanged for knowledge. And if we look at our story as the human species we’ve been trying to use that knowledge to make ourselves sovereign and we’re not doing all that great if we look at our history. We’ve worked to be…be our own god, but this has not brought us to God, back to God, or made us God. We won’t find our way back to God. God will bring himself to us and He is and that is the story that we are reading as we read the Bible.
Prayer:
Father, we thank You for another day, another step as this all begins to unfold before us, as we begin to find our lives in a greater story, as we find purpose in deeper meaning and as we challenge all that is false in us because You have invited us to the truth. And, so, Holy Spirit come and lead us into all truth. Plant what we’ve read into the soil of our lives. And may when harvest comes in a few months, may the fruit of the Spirit be evident in us. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.