Matthew 1, Luke 1&2: Welcome to the New Testament

WELCOME TO THE NEW TESTAMENT! *boom shacka-laka*

Though Matthew 1 starts out with a long list of genealogy, it was kind of Matthew's way of proving all the Old Testament and all that God said was true. It was prophesied that the Rescuer would through the family line of Abraham. So Matthew writes out the whole family line to show that Jesus is the Rescuer.

And now let's talk about Mary. We don't really know how she exactly reacted when Gabriel came to her and told her was pregnant with the Child of God. I mean, we know that she was surprised... but what about after that? She's a woman, after all. I propose she probably had a moment of freaking out, second guessing, and maybe slightly panicking. Did she really just experience this encounter? Was this baby really for reals going to grow inside of her?

What's really neat is that Elizabeth in Luke 1 respond to Mary's news with such poetic words:

You’re so blessed among women,
    and the babe in your womb, also blessed!
And why am I so blessed that
    the mother of my Lord visits me?
The moment the sound of your
    greeting entered my ears,
The babe in my womb
    skipped like a lamb for sheer joy.
Blessed woman, who believed what God said,
    believed every word would come true!

Maybe Mary wasn't frazzled? Maybe the Lord was preparing her for months and months? Then Mary responds:

I’m bursting with God-news;
    I’m dancing the song of my Savior God.
God took one good look at me, and look what happened—
    I’m the most fortunate woman on earth!
What God has done for me will never be forgotten,
    the God whose very name is holy, set apart from all others.
His mercy flows in wave after wave
    on those who are in awe before him.
He bared his arm and showed his strength,
    scattered the bluffing braggarts.
He knocked tyrants off their high horses,
    pulled victims out of the mud.
The starving poor sat down to a banquet;
    the callous rich were left out in the cold.
He embraced his chosen child, Israel;
    he remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high.
It’s exactly what he promised,
    beginning with Abraham and right up to now.

His faithfulness remains. Do you respond to God's faithfulness how Mary responds? From the beginning of creation until now, he has been faithful. Through the promises and the deserts and the abundance and the ugly... he is faithful.