Avengers: End of the Game, Marvel’s latest blockbuster, premiered a month ago, breaking box office records. The film is the culmination of an ambitious narrative arc spanning 22 films that Marvel Studios began planning 14 years ago. final conclusion. Perhaps the most expected film ever produced.
On the other hand, consider the initial New Testament words recorded in the Gospel of Matthew:
“Book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham. “
Immediately, words may not seem exciting, but they may be the most explosive words ever written. Although they are the first words of the New Testament, they really echo the first book of the Old Testament, Genesis 5. 1: “This is the book of Adam’s Genealogy. “In other words, opening the gospel of Matthew is not boring; It’s incredibly dramatic. Matthew says that the story of Jesus is a memorable event, which not only continues biblical history, but also transforms biblical history and the entire history of humanity into something new. Matthew begins his gospel, pointing to all who know history, that this is the ultimatum: the history of humanity, much more important than a film; this was not planned for more than 15 years, but by God Himself, for a thousand generations.
What kind of man can be the transformative figure, the main point of history?Who is that person and what did he come here to do?Matthew may begin with a “boring” genealogy, but in fact he answers the very question of Jesus’ identity. and proposes a complete philosophy of history in the process.
Consider what Matthew says in his first words, he tells the transformative story of a man named Jesus. Jesus? It was a popular and important name among the Jews of the first century, it was the Greek version of “Joshua”, a key figure in Jewish history, which undoubtedly led Israel to the Promised Land and finally fulfilled God’s promises to his people. . Correctly, the name means “The Lord is salvation”.
But he was not an ordinary man whose name was “Joshua. Matthew gives you a second title and says this man was Jesus Christ. ?Christ? It wasn’t his last name. No one in the first century called his son Christ. This is because Christ referred to the Messiah, the “Anointed One”. In the Old Testament, this title was originally reserved for prophets, priests, and kings. But did he ever associate with the Savior whom God promised to send to redeem his people?his promise to send a seed that would crush the snake’s head, to send a descendant who would bless the whole world, to send a prophet who would save his people, to send a priest who would atone for his sins, to send a king who would restore the Kingdom.
Then Matthew calls him “son of David,” in himself an expansion of the mesic expectation. Son of David? It was the fulfillment of the promises of God’s covenant to David, that one of his descendants would build a house for the name of God, triumph over God’s enemies, lead his people into a kingdom of peace, and rule for all eternity. .
Finally, he calls him the “son of Abraham. ” Even before David, Abraham was the first to receive the promise of God’s covenant. After Abraham offered Isaac, the angel of God said to him, “Have I sworn for myself?will truly bless you and certainly multiply your offspring like the stars of heaven?Will your offspring be the property of the city of their enemies, will all the nations of the earth be blessed?(Genesis 22: 16-18). The promise became part of the mesic hope: that one of Abraham’s descendants would possess “the city of his enemies,” and in him “all the nations of the earth would be blessed. “
Do you understand why Matthew’s first words may be the most explosive ever written?This is the culmination of God’s promises for thousands of years. It is the most anticipated blockbuster in the sky or on earth. That’s the ultimatum. It is the name that changes everything, that is why we no longer talk about the history of humanity under Adam, we begin the history of humanity under Jesus Christ, from now on nothing will be the same, that is where the whole history of humanity depends on the identity of this man and his relationship with him!