MATTHEW'S APPEAL
Matthew 1:18-22 NKJV
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. 20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."
22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying:
The book of Matthew was written by a Jewish man to people of Jewish heritage. The four gospels present the story of Jesus. Every one of the gospel accounts is inspired by God. And each of the gospels has a different approach and appeal. Matthew's gospel is a wonderful account that appeals to people who understand Jewish culture. A great example is our verses for today.
Matthew covers the story of Jesus' conception in a few verses primarily from the perspective of Joseph. In the gospel of Luke, it's Mary who is the primary figure, and Luke goes into great detail. Mark skips the entire birth story and jumps to John the Baptist. I think Mark was written for all of the type A personalities of the world. And John was written about fifty to sixty years after the other gospels and presents the divine side of Jesus more than any other writer. John's purpose was to spark faith in those who read about Jesus and erase any doubts as to His divinity.
The book of Matthew starts with the genealogy of Jesus. I have heard testimonies of Jewish people who came to faith in Christ after realizing how Jewish Jesus was. One man stated that receiving Jesus was the most Jewish thing he could do. So right from the start, Matthew lays out the Jewish heritage of Jesus. It is interesting to note that Matthew does acknowledge two women, Rahab and Ruth, who were in the lineage of Jesus, but both women were not Jewish. Matthew starts with Abraham, the father of our faith, and follows that line to Jesus. Luke also shares the genealogy of Jesus but starts with Jesus and carries it back to Adam. Matthew emphasized the Jewishness of Jesus, while Luke emphasized Jesus' humanity.
Matthew writes that Mary was found with child of the Holy Spirit—no mention of angels talking to Mary. Matthew jumps to Joseph and how he handled the situation. Because Matthew was appealing to Jews, he shortened the account of Jesus' birth and played up the role of Joseph. Luke, who was not appealing to the Jewish reader, gives us much more of Mary's perspective. A friend of mine, an excellent Bible teacher, says Matthew is known for abbreviating his account of Jesus' life. Where Matthew is strongest is in tying in the Old Testament scriptures to the ministry of Jesus. In our verses for today, Matthew shows that the birth of Jesus fulfilled what was spoken by the prophets. And there, we will see the biggest difference in the gospel of Matthew. He continued to show that Jesus was the fulfillment of what was spoken by the prophets. The Jewish people were familiar with the voice of prophets and held them in highest regard. To a Gentile reader the Jewish prophets would not mean nearly as much.
APPLICATION
What we can take away from the differences in the gospels is the amazing creativity of God. God did not commission one story of Jesus but four stories that have an appeal to different groups of people. God is interested in reaching all people, not only the Jews but all people of all nations. The story of Jesus is compelling, and we tend to read it with eyes that have already been enlightened. But to those in the darkness, different gospels will reach different ones.
This is one reason we have different services with different purposes. Sundays typically have a broader appeal, while Wednesday night involves more teaching. Classes appeal to different groups. Different churches will reach different people. God is creative. We see some of His strategy in the gospels and we depend on His grace to reach people in our day.