As
we come to the end of this first four chapters of Matthew's Gospel,
consider the following:
1.
The Incredible Grace of God
The
Father sends His Son to earth to dwell in human form in the midst of
fallen, sinful humanity to redeem it. As a picture aid to us, He chooses
the royal family line of King David, to indicate to whoever will see
and understand, that this Son is a ruler. Yet the whole of the family
line is polluted with sin and failure, a very picture of the need of
humanity. Instead of destroying this humanity, the Father seeks to redeem
it through His Son.
The
Son comes and risks this awful (by comparison) existence, being born
into the world from a human womb, trusting to the hands of human parents
the well-being of this tiny child that is God incarnate. He survives,
grows up, goes through the most gruelling confrontation with the enemy
while he is at his weakest, and then sets out on the task for three
years of loving this humanity, blessing it with healing and seeking
to teach it, knowing that at the end of it, they will reject him and
seek to destroy him. Amazing! He did it for you and me.
2.
The Frailty of the Plan
Yes, entrusted to weak human parents, threatened by the scheming
of Herod, and all that can save the child is the simple faith of the
father, Joseph, who takes notice of some dreams. Supposing he
hadn't?
Then the Son subjects himself to the hands of the enemy with his twisting,
deceitful logic at the end of a long desert vigil. Supposing he
had given way?
Then he chooses a number of fishermen to follow him, to whom he would
entrust all he had. Supposing they gave up?
Yes, there are lots of “what if”s, but in the midst of what so often
appears the incredible frailty in the purposes of God, is the incredible
wisdom of God who knows just how far He can trust people, just how far
they will go, just how far they will respond.
From our viewpoint it is incredibly frail, but from His there is a certainty
that is rock solid. God WILL achieve His purposes, and that without
forcing anyone!
Our response? It must be to worship this Almighty Being who is so gracious.
May it be so as we end this set of Studies.
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