Observations on Matthew
Matthew starts his account of the gospel by delineating Jesus’ genealogy. I think that’s cool.
It reminds me that God ordered the entire universe. He ordered exactly who would beget whom, and the number of begets (3 rounds of 14, as it turns out…) it would take to reach the time ordained by Him for the Savior to come.
It reminds me that it’s not all about me. Surprising, isn’t it? Whatever my choices, whatever my sin, whatever my behavior, it’s all in God’s hands. Whatever the nation decides, God uses in His plan. Was God surprised when Obama was elected? No. The heart of the king is in the hands of the Lord.
It reminds me that God knows the plans He has for me, plans to prosper me and not to harm me, plans to give me hope and a future. Did all those people before Jesus know that they were in the ancestral line of the Savior? Probably not all of them. But God knew, and despite their humanity, because He is good and his love endures forever, He worked it out. And He’ll work it out for me–and you–for His glory.