JESUS' BIRTH, INFANCY, AND BAPTISM

Matthew 1–3

DIMENSION ONE: WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

Answer these questions by reading Matthew 1

1. With whom does the genealogy of Jesus begin? (1:2)

The genealogy begins with Abraham.

2. What five women are included? (1:3, 5, 6, 16)

Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Uriah's wife (Bathsheba), and Mary are included.

3. Is the ancestry traced to Joseph or Mary? (1:16)

The ancestry is traced to Joseph.

4. How many generations are reported? (1:17)

Forty-two generations are reported, in three groups of fourteen each.

5. What are the major divisions in the ancestry? (1:17)

The ancestry is divided from Abraham to David, from David to the Babylonian Exile, from the Exile to the Messiah.

6. Why does Joseph first want to divorce Mary? (1:18)

Mary is pregnant before they come together.

7. What does the name Jesus signify? (1:21)

He will save his people from their sins.

Answer these questions by reading Matthew 2

8. Who is the king of Judea when Jesus is born? (2:1)

Herod is the king.

9. How do the Magi (wise men) know that Jesus is to be born in Bethlehem? (2:5-6)

It is written by the prophet (Micah).

10. Why don't the Magi return to Herod? (2:12)

They are warned in a dream not to go back to Herod.

11. Why does Joseph take the family to Egypt? (2:13)

Joseph is warned in a dream that Herod is about to search for the child and kill him.

12. Whom does Herod kill in Bethlehem? (2:16)

He kills all boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who are two years old and under.

13. Where does Joseph take Jesus and Mary when they return from Egypt? (2:21-23)

They go to Israel first, then to Nazareth, a town in Galilee.

Answer these questions by reading Matthew 3

14. What message does John the Baptist preach? (3:2)

John preaches for the people to "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near."

15. Who foretells that a preacher will "prepare the way for the Lord"? (3:3)

Isaiah foretells this (Isaiah 40:3).

16. Where do the people come from who want to be baptized by John? (3:5)

They come from Jerusalem, Judea, and the whole region of the Jordan.

17. Whom does John call a "brood of vipers"? (3:7)

John calls the Pharisees and Sadducees a brood of vipers.

18. What does John tell them to do? (3:8)

They are to "produce fruit in keeping with repentance"

19. Why does John first refuse to baptize Jesus? (3:14)

He says that Jesus should baptize him.

20. Why does Jesus say it is fitting for John to baptize him? (3:15)

Jesus says it is proper "to fulfill all righteousness"

21. What does Jesus see when he is baptized? (3:16)

Jesus sees the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.

22. What does the voice from heaven say? (3:17)

"This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased"

DIMENSION TWO: WHAT DOES THE BIBLE MEAN?

A familiar saying is "Don't judge a book by its cover." We could sometimes say, "Don't judge a book by its title." The Gospel According to Matthew may be such a book. It would not be altogether accurate to describe this as a book by Matthew. He compiled it, he edited it, but he did not write it, as Thomas Carlyle wrote A History of the French Revolution. Matthew incorporated extended passages of earlier works in his book. But it would be equally misleading to say that Matthew merely compiled and edited more original work. Matthew brought all the material together in an original way to make a statement about Jesus that had not been made in this particular way. His Gospel is one of the most original books ever published.

Scholars have devoted lifetimes to identifying the sources of Matthew's Gospel. In a few bold strokes we can only suggest the outlines of scholars' work. Matthew contains almost the entire Gospel According to Mark (600 of the 661 verses) with remarkably few changes. Two hundred and thirty-five verses, out of the 1,068 in Matthew, come from a source known as "Q." This source is found in Luke but is seemingly unknown to Mark. The remaining 230 verses are peculiar to Matthew alone, coming from written and oral traditions. The importance of such source analysis for participants should be that Matthew's Gospel is a proclamation of the faith of the first-century Christian church, a gathering together of the common tradition concerning Jesus the Christ. The Gospels emerged from the church, not the other way around.

Matthew 1:16, 21, 23. Three names (Christ, Jesus, and Immanuel) are given to Jesus in Chapter 1. They are probably more important than anything else in the chapter. We shall discuss the titles Christ and Immanuel and the name Jesus later at points where the name and titles are associated with Jesus' activity (9:1-8; 16:13-20; 28:16-20).

The participant book does not go into a discussion of the names and titles at this time. This seems better left to the times when the meaning of the names can be seen in the activity of Jesus' life. In this first unit of study it is important for participants to recognize how revealing the names and titles are. They should focus their attention elsewhere, though. You may want to make sure everyone understands that Christ is not Jesus' last name. Christ means the "chosen or anointed one."

Matthew 1:1-17. These verses are the genealogy for Jesus. For centuries, the Jews had hoped that a messiah would come with salvation and deliverance for Israel. The Messiah was to be a "Son of David." In Jesus, one had come who promised salvation from sin, one whom God raised victorious even over death. The genealogy confirms the hope of many in Israel that Jesus is the Son of David. Again and again throughout the Gospel, Jesus is addressed as "Son of David" (12:23; 15:22; 20:30-31; 21:9, 15).

The participants may want to compare the genealogies of Matthew and Luke (Luke 3:23-38). The main difference is that Luke goes all the way back to Adam, while Matthew stops with Abraham. Matthew concerns himself only with Jesus' descent in the line of the covenant with Israel. Luke sees Jesus as a universal Savior, tracing his line back to human beginnings.

You may want to discuss the four women who appear on the list before it comes to Mary. Tamar, a widow, slept with her father-in-law (Genesis 38). Ruth was foreign-born, from Moab, a traditional enemy of Israel (Ruth 1:4). Rahab was a prostitute in Jericho (Joshua 2:1-7). Bathsheba (Uriah's wife) was seduced by David (2 Samuel 11–12). Matthew's listing of these women helps show how God uses people in many and varied circumstances to carry out the divine purpose. Most of the names on the list are ordinary people, with their own sins and their own faithfulness. God does not restrict the agents of holy purpose to the people of Israel.

Matthew does not hide the problem of how Jesus could be born of the virgin Mary, yet be descended from David through Joseph. He does not solve it, either. As suggested in the participant book, trying to explain this discrepancy serves little purpose. Whether Jesus is the Christ does not depend on a solution to this riddle.

Matthew 1:18-25. These verses announce Jesus' birth. How could Joseph plan to divorce a woman he had not yet married? In those days parents sometimes arranged for even their very young children to be married later in life. When they became old enough, the engagement was then ratified. The couple are now betrothed and must remain so for one year. In every way except conjugal love they are recognized as husband and wife. The relationship is so binding one can break it only by divorce. Mary and Joseph are at this stage when she becomes pregnant. A divorced woman was helpless and almost hopeless in those days. Our story reflects Joseph's torn feelings of shame at Mary's discovery and tender concern for what would happen to her.

Matthew 1:23. The class may wish to discuss the question of the virgin birth. However, the discussion should not take time and attention from matters more central to New Testament faith. Only Matthew and Luke mention the virgin birth. Mark, John, and Paul say nothing about it. The virgin birth apparently is not essential to the idea of Jesus the Christ for some persons. Above all, the class should respect and affirm the faith of each participant whatever he or she believes about this matter. Verse 20 is the affirmation none can afford to miss: "What is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit." We can hear this as much more than a clinical report. Whatever the nature of Jesus' conception in Mary's body, that he is a child of the Holy Spirit determines his mind, spirit, and destiny.

Matthew 2. The wise men were probably astrologers (Magi) from Persia to the east of Israel. The story does not call them kings (as does the Christian hymn). Nor does it tell us that there were three of them. This number comes from the number of gifts they presented. That they came "from the east" is more than a passing detail. Even in the manger, Israel did not have exclusive claim to Jesus.

Matthew 2:16. Herod had five wives during his life. He murdered one of these women. Of his seven children, he killed three sons. The remaining sons were guilty of incest with each other's daughters. Herod Antipas, Herod's son, had John the Baptist beheaded. At the time, he was married to his half-brother's wife, Herodias. This was the same Herod who mocked Jesus at his trial. An appalling family to be kings in Israel!

Matthew 2:15. Matthew repeatedly mentions Old Testament prophecies and predictions to account for what happens in Jesus' life. In this way, he affirms that the salvation history of the Jews is preparation for the fulfillment in Christ. If we try to take it all literally it may make Jesus seem almost like a puppet, simply going through the pre-programmed action prescribed in ancient Scripture. In the prophet Hosea's mind (Hosea 11:1), the words "out of Egypt I called my son" refer to Israel's deliverance from slavery in Egypt. Matthew turns these words into a prediction of the child Jesus taking refuge in Egypt. But Matthew's implausible reinterpretation of Scripture should not trouble us. He was following a well-understood course familiar to early Christian apologists. Whether they shape the story to fit the Scripture, or reach for quotations to support the story, the fulfilling purpose of God stands quite independent of Old Testament "predictions."

Matthew 1:20; 2:12, 13, 19, 22. Much of what is crucial in these events happens because of dreams. People in the ancient world put great stock in the interpretation of dreams. They trusted that God might speak to them through their dreams. We need not rationalize such an expectation as intuition, the subconscious mind at work, or extrasensory perception. Whatever happens, however it comes about, we see God moving "in mysterious ways." God used dreams such as the ones that came to Joseph and the wise men to protect the young child.

Matthew 3. As we move from Chapter 2 to Chapter 3, we cross three important dividing lines. Students of the Gospel should be aware of these divisions. The first line makes a thirty-year leap through time. Herod died in what we now call 4 BC. Soon after that, Joseph, Mary, and the infant Jesus went to Nazareth. At the second line, when next we see him, Jesus is a thirty-year-old man beginning his public ministry. Matthew shows us nothing of his life behind that intervening curtain of history. (Luke gives us one picture of the twelveyear-old Jesus in the Jerusalem temple. See Luke 2:41-51.)

With Chapter 3 we also begin reading a quite different kind of literature. From here on, we have in hand the record of Jesus' life and ministry, his healings and teachings. These lead at last to the account of his trial and crucifixion. Much of this record is attested by other ancient sources. Matthew's first two chapters contain stories told to show the wonder and glory of Jesus' birth. They also show the darkness and tragedy that stalked his nativity. These chapters are more like the great paintings of Raphael or the music of Bach. Greater truth comes from the nativity story as Matthew tells it than anything we could discover if we had a clinical account of Mary's confinement and her delivery. Truth is here in the birth and infancy stories but it comes to us through a different kind of literature.

The third line we cross on entering Chapter 3 is the beginning of Matthew's Book I (Chapters 3–7). Five of these books lie ahead of us. They set forth in a carefully ordered and sequential way the account of Jesus' life and teaching. Chapter 3 is accordingly the commencement of God's disclosure of what is to become the new covenant or New Testament.

Matthew 3:1-12. When this passage was written, it had been four hundred years since a true prophet had prophesied in Israel. Moreover, this was a feverish time. Messianic expectations ran high. So when John appeared preaching repentance, calling the whole nation to be baptized, people saw it as a sign. Some scholars believe that John was strongly influenced by, if not actually a member of, a community of Essenes. The Essenes were a sect of Jews dwelling at Qumran. They believed in ritual washing for purification, a rite they regularly repeated. The Dead Sea Scrolls found at Qumran provide evidence of such cultic practice. The Essenes believed that the time of the Messiah was approaching. John's messianic expectations conceivably were fired and heightened beyond even what those at Qumran believed.

Both John and Jesus begin their ministries with the identical announcement, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near" (4:17). Jesus will later link John's coming with Elijah (11:14), one of the expected signs of the Messiah's appearing.

Matthew 3:13-17. It seems odd that Jesus would submit to a baptism of repentance. "To fulfill all righteousness"— what does that mean? Other translations are more helpful. The Revised English Bible reads, "It is right for us to do all that God requires." As the participant book points out, the whole nation is called to John's baptism. Never in all of Israel's history has such a thing happened. Jesus obeys God's call in going with the others. His righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees (5:20). We readily recognize a principle of credibility and ministry here.

Christian baptism traces its origin back to Jesus' own baptism. Seeing him baptized in the Jordan puts us in mind of our own baptism, though many of us were baptized quite differently. But Jesus' baptism and ours are not the same in several important aspects. Jesus was not baptized into a church. No church existed. He was already a member of the covenant people of God. John spoke no formula words, "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." Christians since the first century have been baptized "into Christ." (See Romans 6:1-4 for a theology of Christian baptism.) Jesus was not baptized "into John." Most distinctive, Christian baptism is a sacrament of grace. Infant baptism is a sign of God's loving us even before we have faith to love God. John's baptism was singularly for repentance.

DIMENSION THREE: WHAT DOES THE BIBLE MEAN TO ME?

The Bible may speak to us more clearly if we think of it as a book written to call forth a personal reply from the reader. Unlike many books we can read while remaining essentially unchanged, the Bible is a book we see ourselves reflected in, confronted by life and death decisions. We can, and often do, read the Bible without any response. But that in itself is a life-and-death decision. Remember, the Bible gives us an invitation. The Bible does not serve us with a conscription. A good question to keep in mind as we reach Dimension Three in each lesson of this study might be, What is the R.S.V.P. of this passage to me?

Matthew 1:1-17 — Genealogy From Abraham to Jesus

Our response to Matthew's genealogy is thanksgiving for all the generations that connect Abraham to Jesus and appreciation of the promises of God carried over that line! Although the names are not written down anywhere, eighty generations form a line coming down to us from the time of Jesus. Every twenty-five years since that time, another person (new generation) has been added. The promises declared in all that has gone before now come down to us. Someone in every generation, whether our particular ancestor or not, transmitted God's promises that now have come to us. All these promises call for personal response.

Perhaps class members would like to share what they remember, or what has been told to them, of one person whose name would be in the line of seventy-nine. Reflect on how "ordinary people" become the instruments and bearers of God's good news.