MISSION IN MATTHEW
God With Us: Matthew’s Saviour
The first part of Matthew 1 reminds us that God is a God who works throughout history. He also is a missional God: it’s in his character. Matthew 1: 18–25 is no different. They reveal God’s plan to save. If the genealogy of Jesus wasn’t enough to show this, what happens next is.
God’s commitment to reveal his plan
One surprising thing about Matthew was how God told Joseph, and by extension, His people, about His plan. We see God’s methods of revealing Himself include
- prophesies,
- angels,
- dreams,
- names,
- scripture,
- the whole of history (in the genealogy).
God couldn’t have made it plainer to Joseph. Matthew tells us that God explains to Joseph, “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21, NIV)
“Jesus” means “he saves.” And if that wasn’t a big enough hint, God tells Joseph that the child will be doing some saving.
Furthermore, this miraculous birth is in fulfilment of prophesies in the Old Testament. I wonder if Joseph realised this. Verse 19 tells us that Joseph was faithful to the law, so he possibly had a good knowledge of scripture. Maybe he was able to put the two together and was aware of the prophetic significance of what was revealed to him.
Even if Joseph didn’t realise, we do (because Matthew told us). We know that God has been revealing his plan for salvation for hundreds and thousands of years. And this is all starting to unfold in this epic story of an unlikely birth.
Sadly, Joseph never got to see the end of the story. Somewhere between Matthew 2 and 3, Joseph died.
The Trinity on Mission
This section of Matthew also shows how the Trinity is involved in mission. The Holy Spirit is the one that performs the miracle of making Mary pregnant. And this miracle is Jesus, the Son.
So, these mentions emphasise God’s commitment to mission as it is the whole Trinity involved. God, the Father, sent His Son, through the Holy Spirit, to save the world.
Moreover, each person of the Trinity is active and working in the world and throughout history. This Trinity is speaking through prophets, revealing themselves in scripture, sending angels to speak in dreams, and then to be born into a specific place and time in history. God is surely a God that is with us.
God is with us today
What I also like about Mary getting pregnant with the Holy Spirit is how it is echoed in our own salvation. Upon salvation, Jesus dwells in us. And how is that salvation accomplished? Through the work of the Holy Spirit.
The redemption plan of Matthew 1 was not a one-off. It is repeated in God’s children again and again. It has probably been repeated over two billion times.
So, not only was the promise that God is with us true while Jesus walked the world, but God continues to be with us today. What a faithful and loving God He is.
Justin Marsh is a missionary who has served in Asia for over six years. He is the country leader of a team of missionaries and has just completed an MA that looks at missional practice. Whilst his team works within a range of contexts across the country, Justin’s focus is the Muslim minority groups. He is the owner of the publication THE CO-MISSION.
