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01/04/2009
ReadingsIsaiah 60:1-6
Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6
Matthew 2:1-12
Matthew’s Gospel is a fit beginning to the New Testament. Its first chapter is a clear continuation of the Old Testament, its first line being “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Two of the great figures of the Old Testament are immediately invoked, telling all who read this account that this story of Jesus is not an innovative one, but instead a continuation of the story of Israel. Matthew then relates the genealogy of Christ, linking him to the great people and events of Jewish history: Isaac, Jacob, Jesse, and the Babylonian exile. Then in his recounting of the appearance of an angel to Joseph, Matthew makes it clear that these events are fulfilling what has already been foretold to the great Jewish prophet Isaiah: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel” (Matthew 1:23). And this Messiah’s name further evokes his heritage, “you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21, emphasis added). It is not just any people being saved, but Jesus’ own people.
By the time the reader gets to chapter 2 of Matthew’s Gospel, he has no reason to believe that this story is anything other than a story by a Jew, of the Jews, and for the Jews. Yet then Matthew introduces a twist. “Magi from the east” – i.e. Gentiles – are added to the narrative. Their task is straightforward. They have come to give “homage” to this “king of the Jews.” Thus Matthew proclaims the wonderful news that this babe born in Bethlehem is not just to save “his people,” but to be the savior of all peoples and nations. As Paul writes to the Ephesians that “the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to human beings in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit, that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (Ephesians 3:4-6). God has now revealed Himself in Jesus not just to one nation, but to all peoples. No longer will there be a separation between Jew and Gentile, but every people is given access to the family of God in Christ through baptism.
Thus Matthew reveals the universal aspects of God’s plan of salvation in Christ at the very start of his Gospel. He also confirms this aspect near the end of it, at the scene of the crucifixion. “The centurion and the men with him who were keeping watch over Jesus feared greatly when they saw the earthquake and all that was happening, and they said, ‘Truly, this was the Son of God!’” (Matthew 27:54). Now even the Gentile Romans have been enlightened by God to see the divine sonship of Christ, and how he saves all people, Jew and Gentile alike.
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