READ – Matthew 1:1-25

You may be thinking, “what a crazy way to start the New Testament . . . with a bunch of long, too many-syllable names. If there’s more of this I’ll have had some good pronunciation practice
but reading the New Testament is going to be a drag!”

I know how you feel! I remember thinking the same thing the first time I read the first chapter of
Matthew years ago. Actually, I laughed at the name Jehoshaphat because it sounded
like “Joe’s-so-fat.” But, over the years, I’ve learned the list of names you read are important because they set the stage for Jesus as he Savior of the world. Everyone was looking for the Savior but no one expected him to be a baby. The list of names reveal the power of God’s work, behind the scenes, to fulfill some big-time promises (also known as prophecies) from the Old Testament (all the writing in the Bible before Jesus).

I’ve known a lot of people who read these names and immediately gave up reading the Bible
because they didn’t get it. In frustration they say, “hey, this doesn’t read like a love-letter, it reads like a historical genealogy from my history class.” If you feel this way today, my response is similar to how the angel responded to Joseph, “don’t be afraid . . . don’t hesitate to dig-in and read . . . you’ll never be the same.” Joseph was surprised with his new adventure and he got to hold the King of the world. May you, too, be surprised with this new reading adventure . . . soon you’ll hold the truths that are out of this world.
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