Now, for the Nativity

When this blog began, I started with chapter three, omitting the Infancy Narrative.

Of course, in the fourth week of Advent, this is a great time to return to chapter one (which we also heard read in church on Sunday.)

Matthew sets up the themes of the gospel in the way that he relates this narrative. We've explored those themes in the last months: the Jewish character of both the gospel and its probable first readers/hearers; the relevance of this Jewish Messiah for all of humanity; the true nature of the Jewish law and its fulfillment.

As you read chapters one and two in these two weeks, keep those themes in mind. "Connect the dots" between what you read in the Infancy Narrative and the ways that those themes are developed in the subsequent chapters of the gospel.