ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
March 14, 2023
Through this Lenten Season, we have been looking at different titles and designations assigned to Jesus. One that we will not have time to discuss on Sunday morning but is found right at the beginning of the New Testament is this: “A record of the ancestors of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1). The title, Son of David, has very little to do with biology. As one of my professors often said, “When you see the phrase ‘son of,’ the best way to translate might be ‘in the likeness of.’” But here we also have the title: son of Abraham. Putting the two of them together, we have David, the model king who saved the Jewish people, and Abraham, the one through whom God intended to bless all nations. So we have a fusion of these two historically important roles being manifest in Jesus. Jesus becomes the one through whom God’s saving activity is extended to all humanity. And within Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus is also seen as the new Moses. In that role, there are hints of a new liberation from bondage. Imagine you are living 50 or even 60 years after Jesus, and you claim to be a follower, yet things are not going so well. You are asking yourself, “What exactly is the purpose of this movement? What did Jesus want us to do?” Matthew’s Gospel, written to a predominately Jewish audience, points out how this movement is rooted in Jewish history and connected to God’s greatest act of liberation: the rescue of slaves from Egypt. God is doing it again, but this time it is not limited to a single people. It is for everyone! So let’s get started because eventually we are going to all the nations (Matthew 28:19).
The Good News of your limitless love, O God, is not limited to a select group. Your love knows no boundaries, and as those called forth to live in the likeness of Jesus, we seek the assistance of your Spirit for the purpose of making this love real. Give us both the strength and courage to do so. Amen.
