The Christmas Story found in Matthew

The Amazing Bible. Book Club

Chapters 1-2 of Matthew tells the story of the birth of Jesus Christ. It begins with the genealogy of Jesus, and Matthew points out that Jesus fulfilled Scripture by being the promises descendant of King David who will reign with an eternal kingdom, and that Jesus was also the son of Abraham, the father of the nation of Israel who will fulfill the promise of an everlasting covenant. Also in the lineage, Matthew mentions five women, some of Jewish descent, and some not, but all women of faith. He also pointed out David's sin of adultery and murder by saying, "David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife." When it came to Mary, the mother of Jesus, he did point out the virgin birth, and stressed that it was by the Holy Spirit that He was conceived. Frank Stagg said in his commentary, "Mary of herself could not produce a son, but God could give her one. This is the gospel: man cannot produce salvation, but God can accomplish it." Matthew showed that Jesus' birth fulfilled Old Testament Scriptures like Isaiah 7:14, "They will call Him Immanuel - which means 'God with us!'"
In chapter two we read about the Magi from the East who have come to worship the King of the Jews. Again we see that Jewish men like Joseph were faithful and immediately obeyed the Lord, and we also see Gentile believers who also were faithful to worship the eternal King. The earthly king Herod, was not pleased, and ended up killing all the boys two and under in the area, to try and remove the threat of his kingdom. The magi were warned and they went home a different way, and Joseph was warned, and he obeyed and went to Egypt. All of this centered around the Child who came to save His people from their sins. Jesus, the son of God, and the son of Mary.