Matthew 1:18a
Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way.
Oh my goodness, but could you start your depiction of the birth of the Messiah in a more matter-of-fact way? Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. This has to be one of the great understatements of all history.
And, as we’ll see, Matthew’s story of just how the birth of the Jesus the Messiah took place will follow suit. Most of the account, actually, briefly describes the complicated and undoubtedly award situation leading up to the birth itself, and how that situation is resolved. Jesus’ actual birth, however, gets just a sentence. If you sneezed, you might miss it.
But while we might miss the fuller description Luke gives – with mangers and shepherds and angels and all the rest – there is something fitting about Matthew’s spare depiction. Because, truth be told, most people did miss it. The local news team didn’t follow Mary’s pregnancy the way they might a sports playoff or presidential election. There were no camera crews or gaggle of first-century reporters awaiting the birth. There were no baby showers before hand or Christening invitations afterward. From all we can tell from Matthew’s story, just about no one noticed.
Which is why Matthew wrote, of course. He lifts his pen to record, if only in a few sentences, the birth of Jesus, the Messiah, and in this way bears witness to an event most of the world ignored. Except it wasn’t as if the world actively ignored anything. It was just a birth, like billions of others, unremarkable in every possible way.
Which is, once again, the point. Jesus came as one of us. Jesus was born like we are, lived as we live, loved and laughed and suffered as we do. And died as we will die. And on the third day, God raised him from the dead, that we might no longer live in fear of death.
But I’m getting ahead of the story. For now, we should wait, content with Matthew’s spare story. As, indeed, this is how the birth of Jesus, the Messiah, took place.
Prayer: Dear God, thank you for reminding us in the birth of Jesus that no one is too ordinary or mundane or unimportant to escape your notice…or you love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Post image: “Scenes from the Life of Christ: 1) Nativity, the birth of Jesus.” (Clearly inspired by Luke’s account, not Matthew’s.☺)
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