Missions in Matthew

I remember when, if told to find missions in the Bible, I would have turned to Matthew 28:18-20 for the Great Commission and Isaiah 6:1-8 for Isaiah’s call and been pretty well stumped after that.

But now it feels like I see missions on every page of the Bible! Even, as I discovered this week, in the genealogies of Jesus!

The New Testament opens with Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus. His first objective is to show how Jesus is a direct descendent of both Abraham, the Father of the Jews, and David, their greatest King. Matthew divides the genealogy into three sections of fourteen generations: from Abraham to David, from David to the exile to Babylon, and from the exile to Jesus (1:17).

At first glance it appears to be a list of names, mostly unknown, difficult to pronounce, with more than their fair share ending with “iah” (which means of, with, or from the Lord, so don't knock it). But on closer inspection, some familiar names appear which would not have been included in a genealogy that had the sole objective of impressing its readers.

• Rahab of Jericho (1:5)
• Ruth, the Moabite (1:5)
• The wife of Uriah the Hittite (1:6)

Each of these was a foreigner to Israel and yet a follower of their God. Matthew was not trying to introduce Jesus as one whose Jewish bloodline was spotless. Matthew wanted us to know that Jesus is a Jew who has come to bring salvation for the world!

From the beginning of his book, the beginning of the New Testament, the beginning of the life of Jesus, Matthew prepares us for what he will write as the climax of the story:

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (28:18-20)

Now I’m going to start looking in Leviticus . . .