Matthew chapter 2: God’s plan runs through Jesus of Nazareth

Four more notes about prophets are cited in this chapter in addition to the one from chapter 1. Can you find them? Jot down what each comment specifically addresses.

Throughout Matthew, keep a lookout for all these prophecies. Why would Matthew keep mentioning them? No doubt it was because his audience was waiting for something, and Matthew felt that they must not miss that it had come, that God was keeping his promises and that all his promises were leading up to this one gift, Jesus Messiah (another way of saying Jesus Christ).

Matthew chapter 1: Focus on the names . . . at the end

Even starting to read the Bible from the beginning of the New Testament is difficult, since the first chapter of Matthew starts with a long genealogy. If you are a beginning Bible reader, zip through it. To sum up: Jesus is descended from Abraham, from Ruth, from David, from a line of kings. This is not unimportant information at all, but without a lot of familiarity with the Old Testament, it means nothing to you. (That should set off a mental alarm though: Hmmm, apparently, the original readers of Matthew’s story of Jesus must have been very familiar with the Old Testament . . .)