One of the memorable moments from my Monday night review with my daughter from Matthew01 was pointing out that something she read about happening when Mary was pregnant was actually prophesied a thousand years earlier. It prompted her to ask, “Was Mary pregnant for a thousand years?” Little things like this make my heart smile as I am sharing this year’s reading discipline with her.
Matthew is unique among the four gospel writers because he is writing to a Jewish audience. A group of people who have been waiting for their Messiah. A group of people who have a list of prophecies concerning who this Messiah will be, where he will come from and how he will rule. We have already seen a conflict built into Matthew’s assignment - the Messiah is here, but not what they were expecting. As a result, Matthew will continue to infuse fulfilled language to show that Jesus is their long awaited Messiah. Chapter 3 opens with a wild man named John preparing the way, fulfilling the prophecy (Isaiah 40:3) that there would be “thunder in the desert” that would prepare the way for the Messiah.
What caught my attention today was the last section of the chapter (v. 13-17) when Jesus goes to John, the baptizer, and requests baptism. Really? Baptism was a demonstration of a changed life, a cleansed life. When someone wanted to change their ways and embrace the life of the kingdom of heaven here on earth, John would baptize them. Well...here comes Jesus, the initiator of this kingdom and one whose life is perfect in every way, wanting to be baptized. Why? John had the same tension I feel when I read this: Shouldn’t Jesus be baptizing John? Jesus insists and says, “God’s work, putting right all these centuries, is coming together right now in this baptism.” What in the world? Is Jesus giving us a picture of his eventual death and resurrection by his baptism? Is he simply obeying a step in a system of rules? I’m still not totally sure...
What are your thoughts? Maybe we can walk through this one together? I’ll post what I find, if you’ll post what you find...
I woner about that as well. I also wonder why there is this gigantic gap between Jesus' birth to Him showing up at the Jordan out of nowhere...? Not to be negative but I can see where the prophesies seem to be somewhat "general" in nature and could be viewed as "interpretive" by outsiders. Maybe the true language would have made a difference.
ReplyDeleteOffline from Matthew comment - the "Missional Church" clip is awsome.
While my opinion about the absence of Jesus' first 30 years is purely speculation, I see the Bible as a piece of redemptive literature that shares a story of redemption from start to finish. The pieces that have been included seem to all move us toward our relationship with God through His Son Jesus. While I am curious about the early days of Jesus, particularly his teen years, that knowledge is not necessarily part of the story the Bible seems to be telling.
ReplyDeleteAccording to humorist, Christopher Moore, Jesus had a little-know best friend named Biff that absorbed all the sin that was forbidden for the young Messiah. While it is completely fictional, it does highlight our innate desire to know more about our stars? Too bad TMZ wasn't around or we'd know a lot more about our Messiah!