Matthew 1: The Editor of Matthew's Gospel Embraces Joseph
Matthew 1: The Editor of Matthew's Gospel Embraces Joseph
1 This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:
18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.
21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.
23 "The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" (which means "God with us").
25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
The editor of Matthew's Gospel diligently crafted the genealogy of Jesus, embedding his own confession of faith. He proclaimed Jesus as the Christ by tracing his lineage to Abraham, the father of faith in the history of salvation, and to David, the most revered king in the history of Israel. In truth, there is no gap between Jesus and Christ. The name Jesus was a common name for boys, and Christ merely signified someone who was anointed, chosen.
The editor did not simply juxtapose the human representative Jesus and the divine Christ as if they were two separate centers in an ellipse. Instead, in Matthew chapter 1, the editor's confession of faith is unique in that it emphasizes the name Immanuel. He confessed that in Jesus, God was present alongside people.
Christians, like the editor of Matthew's Gospel, recognize God's presence in Jesus. This confession is not horizontal but vertical, transcending time and space. Without the intervention of the Holy Spirit, Christians could not embody Christ as Immanuel. In this sense, Immanuel as the essence of Christ is transcendent. Pharaohs of Egypt and Roman Emperors sought to be revered as sons of gods, hoping to confirm their divine filiation through massive constructions, buildings, or wars. Jesus, however, simply lived and died among people, and it was from the hearts of those who recognized him that he received the confession of being the Son of God, Immanuel. God's plan, the work of the Holy Spirit, and above all, the humble obedience of the human Joseph, met in Jesus. The moment Joseph, holding a baby biologically unrelated to him, obeyed the Spirit's directive and named the baby Jesus was when heaven's will was fulfilled on earth. The editor of the Gospel of Matthew seized the moment and aligned himself with Joseph.
1 This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:
18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.
21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.
23 "The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" (which means "God with us").
25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
The editor of Matthew's Gospel diligently crafted the genealogy of Jesus, embedding his own confession of faith. He proclaimed Jesus as the Christ by tracing his lineage to Abraham, the father of faith in the history of salvation, and to David, the most revered king in the history of Israel. In truth, there is no gap between Jesus and Christ. The name Jesus was a common name for boys, and Christ merely signified someone who was anointed, chosen.
The editor did not simply juxtapose the human representative Jesus and the divine Christ as if they were two separate centers in an ellipse. Instead, in Matthew chapter 1, the editor's confession of faith is unique in that it emphasizes the name Immanuel. He confessed that in Jesus, God was present alongside people.
Christians, like the editor of Matthew's Gospel, recognize God's presence in Jesus. This confession is not horizontal but vertical, transcending time and space. Without the intervention of the Holy Spirit, Christians could not embody Christ as Immanuel. In this sense, Immanuel as the essence of Christ is transcendent. Pharaohs of Egypt and Roman Emperors sought to be revered as sons of gods, hoping to confirm their divine filiation through massive constructions, buildings, or wars. Jesus, however, simply lived and died among people, and it was from the hearts of those who recognized him that he received the confession of being the Son of God, Immanuel. God's plan, the work of the Holy Spirit, and above all, the humble obedience of the human Joseph, met in Jesus. The moment Joseph, holding a baby biologically unrelated to him, obeyed the Spirit's directive and named the baby Jesus was when heaven's will was fulfilled on earth. The editor of the Gospel of Matthew seized the moment and aligned himself with Joseph.