Messianic Musings in Matthew. You might be wondering “What in the world is that?” Firstly, it is going to be the title of our new post series for this year as we journey through the Gospel of Matthew together. Secondly, well secondly is going to take a little bit of explaining. Let’s take it one word at a time.
Messianic – a term that refers to Jews who appreciate the Jewishness (I might have made up a word) of Jesus while also embracing his full message as the Messiah for both Jews and non-Jews. They are a group of individuals who are Jewish in background and appreciate their full heritage. Although they cleave to that heritage, they also hold to the conviction that Jesus is the true Messiah or “Yeshua” which means “salvation”.
Musings – According to Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary a musing is basically a meditation.
Matthew – Matthew wrote a gospel. He wrote his gospel to convince Jews that Jesus is the long awaited Messiah as prophesied in scripture. He was a Jew himself from the tribe of Levi. Unfortunately, he was a tax collector who was relegated to the lowliest of the low since he robbed his own people. Who knew that God would use this man to pen not only the opening words to the New Testament but direct him to evangelize, through this gospel, the very people who rejected and despised him.
So to rephrase, this series might be called “Meditations on the Gospel of Matthew from a Jewish perspective”. Sound better? Here’s how it will work.
Each week you will find a post that correlates with what you will be studying in your own personal time at home. Its focus will be on a Jewish perspective that might not be obvious to us as we read through the material. A Jewish mind would hear and see things that are not readily visible to us as we non-Jews study the passage. I can guarantee that your eyes will opened in new and exciting ways each week as you include this element into your study time. Why don’t I start us off today briefly just to whet your appetite.
“This is the genealogy of Yeshua the Messiah, son of David, son of Avraham: Matthew 1:1 (Complete Jewish Bible)
This past week in Women’s Bible study we focused a good deal of time on this one verse. We learned that Yeshua means Jesus or “salvation”. We learned Messiah means “anointed one” whose origins are found in Daniel 9:25-26. Than we learned how important it was that Jesus not only be a descendant of David but of Abraham as well in order to fulfill prophecy (2 Samuel 7:12-13,16 & Genesis 17). We proved unequivocally that Jesus met everyone of these requirements.
We also learned why this scrupulous detail to genealogies was so important. If a Jewish person was to follow Jesus and accept him truly as his Messiah, it could very well mean the loss of everything for them. They would have been rejected by their own and thrown out of their synagogues. They would most likely have opened a door to a life filled with persecution which could possibly culminate in their death. It wasn’t just a mere acquiescence to them; it could very well mean their lives. They wanted to be certain. They had to be certain. The list of names that open up the book of Matthew would be by far one of the most compelling arguments to a Jew.
Now for the “musing” part. Take a look at this scripture paying particular attention to the emboldened words.
“Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon
Fourteen? Hold up a minute Matthew. Do you mean to tell me that God was that precise in his calculations between generations? Was it really exactly fourteen between each? Did you really mean to emphasize fourteen or was there a miscalculation along the way? Yes and no. A closer study of the list reveals gaps between names, sometimes several generations. This is generally allowed in the record of Jewish genealogies. In Matthew’s case, he is clearly focusing on the three sets of 14 names. Puzzling don’t you think? There is good Jewish reasoning for this. “Anyone familiar with Hebrew knows that from ancient times the language had a numeric value associated with each of its letters. It is not coincidental that one of the numeric values of the number 14 may be expressed in the three Hebrew letters (D/dale=4, V/vac=6, D/dale=4), the Hebrew letters for David. By intentionally skipping over particular names that could have been included in the list, the writer is emphasizing the Davidic connection to Yeshua as King Messiah, the Son of David.” (Matthew Presents Yeshua, King Messiah, Rabbi Barney Kasdan, p.10)
There is the messianic cool factor. As a Jewish person was reading through and examining the Hebrew names generation by generation, resonating off the page would be D-V-D, D-V-D, D-A-V-I-D !! The emphasis drawn in Matthew 1:17 to the fourteen generations were meant to alert the reader to something larger through numerical symbolism. Jesus is not only savior, anointed one, son of Abraham, but the offspring of D-a-v-i-d and KING!
Hallelujah!!
Are you convinced?
You convinced me.
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