If you just finished Matthew 1-2, you’re well aware that you’ve read “the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham (v. 1).” What you may not know is that the Greek work translated genealogy in verse 1 is genesis, often rendered simply “beginning.” This beginning in Jesus represents a new beginning for mankind, and a much needed one. God’s son in the Old Testament, Israel, failed to live up to the terms of God’s gracious covenant with them. But this Son will not. Where Israel failed, Jesus will succeed. The parallels Matthew draws are striking, and they’re intentional. In Genesis, we saw fledgling Israel ended up in Egypt. In Matthew, we read of newborn Jesus’ journey to Egypt. Hosea 11:1 (quoted in 2:15) tells us “when Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.” So too does God call this Son out of Egypt. We learn of Pharaoh’s murdering of infant Hebrew males in Exodus; in Matthew it’s King Herod committing infanticide. Jesus is in many ways re-living the story of Israel, yet doing so faithfully; and He’s not doing it for Himself alone, but on behalf of Israel, God’s people.
Reflect: Do you find yourself often yearning for a new beginning in life? Even when seemingly granted, we don’t often take advantage of so-called “new beginnings,” and frequently end up with the same result. In Jesus, we have a new beginning, but it’s more than just that…it’s a new beginning, middle, and end. What Jesus has done for us (our new beginning), radically changes the journey we are on (our middle), as well as our eternal destiny (our end). That is nothing less than a life-changing new beginning!
Connect: Christ’s new beginning truly makes us new. Because He died, we too have died. Because He lives, we too have new life.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
2 Corinthians 5:17
– Rev. John McCombs