Matthew Review

We will review some of the things that we learned from the book of Matthew.  We learned that Jesus was of the lineage of David, just as the word of God had said He would be.  God's people had been looking toward the birth of the Messiah for years.  Jesus was born of a virgin, Mary, just as had been foretold.  This was not some scientific act, but a miracle from God.  We might claim that it is scientifically possible for a virgin to have a child today, but it can never be done without the involvement of a man in any way.  For a child to be created, it requires a man and a woman.  Then, we see that God leads wise men to Jesus, and that if they are truly wise they will come to Him.  Everyone is called, or led, to Jesus, but only those who are wise will come to Him.  We are also taught that we are not going to be able to find Jesus by going to government officials or worldly leaders.  As a matter of a fact, we may often find our that the governmental officials are more out to destroy the gospel than they are to promote it, just as it was with the wise men.  Wise men will not be deceived, though, and will listen to God in every situation.  Also, wise men will bring gifts to Jesus, not to salvation but to show their reverence for Him.  We also learned that God will warn us when we are in danger spiritually if not necessarily physically, and will always protect us.  Mary and Joseph had to leave where they were physically to be safe, and we may have to today, but only if God tells us to. We are not always led out of harm's way as we know from the lives of the disciples.  We then learned of the forerunner of Jesus, John the Baptist, who came to tell the people of Israel to prepare for the coming of the Messiah.  John knew that he was not the Messiah, even though some people would have made him to be.  We today as followers of Christ are the forerunners of the second coming of Christ and must call on people to prepare for His second coming.  We will never be the Messiah, the Savior of the world, and we can only call for people to accept the One Who is, Jesus Christ.  Like John the Baptist, we must be willing to lay down our life in order to do so.