The New Year is here and with it the New Testament! I found it sort of a funny thing to study about Christ’s birth two weeks after Christmas, but Matthew and Luke 1 are also so much more than the nativity story!
If you listen to any Come, Follow Me podcasts, there is a pretty good chance that you have learned a few things. You have probably learned or been reminded that 'gospel' means 'the good news.' You have also likely learned about each gospel author, how they have different writing styles and audiences, and even different messages of the Messiah. You likely know by now that Matthew, a tax collector, wrote generally to the Jews with an intent to convince them of Jesus’ Messianic role; he uses logic and Old Testament quotes in his writing to back up this claim. And maybe you know that Luke, a Greek physician, wrote to both Jew and Gentile with a message of Christ’s healing role as Savior; he focuses on accounts of Christ mending and saving, redeeming and forgiving.
Matthew 1 and Luke 1
And so, before sharing the miraculous story of Jesus' birth, Matthew opens with logic by first presenting Joseph’s lineage. We’ll find Mary’s later in Luke, but Joseph’s is important in companionship with hers because it supports Jesus’ legal birthright to the throne of David. Through Mary, Jesus is a direct descendant of David, fulfilling promises made to him in 2 Samuel and reiterated in Isaiah that David’s lineage’s claim to the throne will be made eternal by the Lord. As Joseph's step-son, Jesus was his firstborn with a justified claim to the birthright. The birthright being kingship through David's line through Solomon - the chosen line for someone to be considered king. Matthew then feels ready to begin the nativity story.
Luke also tells of Christ’s birth (see next week's as well); but begins even earlier with the accounts of angelic visits - signs and wonders given to ordinary, flawed, unassuming people to remind them who God is and who they are to Him. The story that many of us read the night of Christmas Eve then continues in Luke 2, but the beginning of Luke 1 is by far my favorite. He opens by acknowledging that “many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us…” (Luke 1:1). In other words, many have already attempted to record an account of Jesus, his words and works. Luke says that he too will write an account, specifically to a man named Theophilus. He then tells this Theophilus that he is writing him “that thou might know the certainty of those things” (Luke 1:4). In other words, the Gospel of Luke may as well be titled "The Testimony of Luke."
Whether it is Matthew writing to the Jews about their King, Luke writing to Theophilus about the Savior of Mankind, Mark writing about the Suffering Servant, or John writing of the literal Son of God, each of the four accounts of 'the good news' seeks to bear witness of the life and works and purpose of Jesus of Nazareth so that we may know his role in our own life as a king, a healer, a servant, and a God.
A God of Signs and Wonders
And God has always worked this way. Throughout scripture and history, He provides writings and signs and miracles and wonders to His children so that we can connect with Him. It is our job, however, to seek for, recognize, and remember these signs of the heavens along our way.
Moses and his people were given sign after sign that the Lord was with them. From the passing over of the angel of death to the parting of the Red Sea; from being led by day in the form of a cloud and by night in the form of a pillar of fire; from being given manna and quail from heaven to receiving water from a rock; from being saved by a brass serpent to being led again through water and crossing the Jordan into the Promise Land. Endless signs and wonders, endless miracles, endless moments of heaven reaching down to help and guide them that they might know who God is and who they are to Him.
In the Book of Mormon, when Alma and his people are in bondage to the Lamanites and their burdens and afflictions are wearing them down, the Lord tells them:
Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage. And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions. (Mosiah 24:13-14)
God makes them a promise and then makes them able to bear their burdens and endure it well as a reassurance and reminder of the promise made. He gives them a sign in the now to increase their faith in what's coming later.
"That ye may know" is one of my favorite phrases to look for in the scriptures. And it is found all over. It marks moments when God is clearly offering some sort of blessing or sign to serve as a beacon to those in turmoil or doubt. It also reminds me to pause and remember the signs and wonders He has sent my way throughout the years that I may know who He is and who I am to Him.
One of my first memories of any type of sign or wonder in my life is when I was fairly young. I don't remember my exact age, but I remember waking up in the middle of the night and feeling so scared. I felt suddenly alone and scared. But then I noticed my room become very bright. I felt compelled to look out my window. When I did, I was startled by a large and shining moon that seemed like it was way closer than usual. Instant peace came over me along with a feeling that was almost like a voice telling me that it was okay to sleep, that I would be watched over, and that I was very loved. For some reason that memory has never left me. It
A far more recent sign and wonder in my life occurred a couple months after I gave birth to my now 2 year old. He was about 3 months old and I had begun to feel less and less in control of my emotions. I had read about postpartum depression and I had been 'screened' for it at my 6-week postpartum appointment, but no one ever tells you that it does not only manifest in symptoms of depression. Apparently it can also exist in the form of debilitating anxiety and even Hulk-like rage. For me, it was the Hulk. Instant and scary anger at the littlest of things. Towards my husband, towards family, towards myself, towards strangers on social media - anyone and everyone. It wasn't always present, but when it came it came with a vengeance. After weeks of trying to deal with it and failing miserably, I remember hitting my knees and just utterly breaking down in prayer. I pleaded with my God to see me and let me know that He saw me. Over the next week or two, God sent angels, signs, and wonders. He sent me an angel in the form of a co-worker named Kathryn. Someone who knew some of what I was experiencing and endured many much needed talks and cries with me. Someone who approached me with love and empathy in the middle of my struggle. He without a doubt had a hand in rearranging my working situation so that 50% of my time could be spent at home. At home where so much healing was done. A home where I could cry in between Zoom classes and not feel exposed or embarrassed. A home where I could breathe a little easier during a time when breathing sometimes seemed impossible. He indeed parted seas and eased burdens so that I may know who He is and who I am to Him.
But it was on me to seek out the signs and wonders, recognize them, and it remains my job to remember them.
That We May Know
As we study the New Testament we will read of a man who heals the sick, mends the broken, raises the dead, teaches the meek, feeds the hungry, sits with the lonely, calls the imperfect, and forgives the sinner. A man who took upon him death and our afflictions and temptations of every kind so "that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people" (emphasis added, Alma 7:12).
These writings about him, while meant to convince us of the past, also serve as signs and wonders so that we may know who Christ can be for us today. They remind and reassure us in the now so that we might have faith in things to come later. But we will also receive other signs and wonders in the months to come; some big, some small. Signs and wonders sent to connect us with the heavens and remind us that someone up there is on our side. Signs and wonders meant to teach us, reassure us, help us, and heal us so that we might know, even if only a little better, who God is and, maybe more importantly, who we are to Him.
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