Centuries came and went. The people of God continued to wait. When would the Seed of the woman come to crush the head of the serpent? When would the Offspring of Abraham appear through whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed? Would their generation be the one to see the great king, the one whose name is 'the LORD our righteousness' (Jer. 23:6)?

Abraham knew that from himself kings would come forth (Gen. 17:6), yet a thousand years would pass before the first one came. At last from the tribe of Benjamin he came. But he did not even begin to foreshadow the great king whom the prophets would later foretell. Saul was merely a concession to the demands of the people, not the man from Judah whom God intended (Gen. 49:10).

In time a man of the tribe of Judah came to the throne. He was David, a man after the heart of God. His conquests were thrilling, bringing great joy (1 Sam. 18:6-7). But he too was merely a man, a sinner. He in no sense could be named, 'The LORD our righteousness'. Another millennium must pass.

The glory of Solomon's kingdom was unspeakable in its splendour (1 Kings 4:20-34). There had never been anything quite like it. Yet the heart of Solomon did not remain true to God, and his kingdom was a mere shadow.

The people of God longed for the Son of Man and his kingdom, one of power and righteousness and peace and joy (Matt. 12:28, Mark 5:15, Rom. 14:17). There would be further delay.

Hosea had warned that this would be the case. There would be an invasion and an exile to follow. The sons of Israel would 'remain for many days without king or prince'. It would only be 'in the last days' that they would be able to 'return and seek the LORD their God and David their king' (Hos. 3:4-5). The wait had been long, and it would continue for many days to come.

David Has Come!⤒🔗

The Gospel of Matthew thus brought a startling message, truly incred­ible news. The days of waiting had now ended.

A child from a Virgin had been born (Matt. 1:18-25)! The Seed of Abraham had appeared (Matt. 1:1-17)! The Son of David had come (Matt. 1:1)!

Matthew began by showing Jesus' descent, the impeccable royal credentials of the Messianic King – tracing his lineage from Abraham through David down to Joseph. He underscored the Davidic connection with the threefold use of the number fourteen – dividing two thousand years of Jewish history into three brackets of fourteen generations each (Matt. 1:17).

Like the Greek and Latin alphabets of antiquity, the Hebrew alpha­bet functioned not only for sounds but also for numbers. As most Jews would have known, the three Hebrew consonants constituting the name David had the numeric value of fourteen. Standing within the prophetic tradition, Matthew thereby declared that David the king had come and that it was now time for Israel to return and to seek the LORD their God and David their king (Jer. 30:9; Ezek. 34:2.4; Hos. 3:5; Matt. 4:17; 11:28).

His name, though, would be linked not so much with David as it would be with Joshua – the mighty deliverer, the man who had led Israel in holy war, removing from the land the workers of iniquity and giving it to the people loved by God. The angel commanded that he was to be named JESUS, the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew Joshua, a name that instructed Israel by its meaning that salvation was to be found in Jehovah their God.

To Deliver from Sin←⤒🔗

Such a name for the Messianic king was most appropriate, for Jesus would be the one who would 'save his people from their sins' (Matt. 1:21). He would do what none in Israel could ever do, including Joshua and David. He would deliver his own from a power more hostile and dangerous than the Canaanites, the Philistines, or even the Assyrians. Jesus would come to rescue his people from sin, the arch-enemy of the human race, the alien power within the heart that rules and dominates and holds us in its grip.

He could do this because he is a king like no other. He is Immanuel, God with us (Matt. 1:23). Thus he could be more than a political deliverer. Almighty power was his – power to liberate from sin, the very thing that we could never do for ourselves (Matt. 9:1-8).

This indeed is what he did by his life and by his death. He felt com­pelled to 'fulfil all righteousness', for he knew that this was the point at which we had failed (Matt. 3:14). Indeed, 'the law must be fulfilled so that not a jot or tittle shall be lost, otherwise man will be condemned without hope' (Luther, Treatise on Christian Freedom). The law does not make suggestions. It demands total compliance. It is true that it offers the 'reward of eternal life' on the basis of perfect and perpetual obedience (Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1536 Edition, 1.4). But such obedience cannot be found among weak and fallen sons of Adam. This is why 'no one is justified by the Law before God' (Gal. 3:11).

Christ, though, fulfilled all the demands of righteousness and by so doing merited the divine approbation, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased' (Matt. 3:17).

If we but 'believe in Christ', then 'righteousness, peace, liberty, and all things' are promised to us (Luther, Treatise on Christian Freedom). This indeed is what the believing remnant had long anticipated on the basis of the prophetic announcement. The name of the coming Messiah would be 'The LORD our righteousness' (Jer. 23:6). For this we must be ever thankful, for 'it is entirely by the intervention of Christ's right­eousness that we obtain justification before God'. May we never forget that we are delivered from our sins through Christ by 'having our vices covered and buried by his perfection' (Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1559 Edition, IV.11.23 ).

Christ knew, moreover, that our salvation also depended upon the sacrifice of himself, the giving of his life a ransom for many (Matt. 20:28). Our liberation from the bondage of sin could not be effected by a mere divine fiat. Redemption throughout the Old Testament came by means of a costly intervention. Our release from the mastery of sin was no exception.

There had to be the utmost expenditure – redemption not with silver or gold, 'but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spot­less, the blood of Christ' (1 Pet. 1:18-19). This is why he insisted in the face of apostolic opposition that 'he must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day' (Matt. 16:21). This is why he was willing to be stripped naked and impaled upon the cross with the charge against him placed above his head, 'This is Jesus the king of the Jews' (Matt. 27:37).

To Establish a Kingdom←⤒🔗

As we ponder the message of Matthew, the good news of Messiah the king, may we remember the Persian magi who found the child with Mary his mother in Bethlehem, the little town from whom the Ruler and Shepherd of Israel came forth (Matt. 2:6).

They had knowledge of the good will of God, realizing that divine grace was extended to them in the gift of the Messiah. Thus they now had but one enquiry. Where was that inestimable gift? 'Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?' (Matt. 2:2).

They also had faith, what has been well described as 'a living, dar­ing confidence in God's grace' (Luther's Preface to his Commentary on Romans). The boldness of their trust in the grace of God is seen in the long and dangerous journey that they undertook from ancient Persia to the Holy Land. Their stated intention reflects the language of faith, 'We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him' (Matt. 2:2).

We note finally that their understanding of grace and their believing appropriation of it brought forth joy in their lives. The apostle states that when they saw the star standing over the place where the child was, 'they rejoiced with joy great exceedingly' (Matt. 2:10, in a strictly literal rendering). It was not enough for Matthew to say that 'they rejoiced', or that 'they rejoiced exceedingly'. He insists that they rejoiced exceedingly with 'great joy'.

As they fell to the ground and worshipped him, they did so believing that this baby was the incarnate God who would save them from their sins. The joy of the magi demonstrates that the kingdom of God has now drawn near. As Paul would later write, 'The kingdom of God is ... righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit' (Rom. 14:17).

The promise of the gospel is simple enough. In Jesus the Messiah we are offered all things – the removal of our sins, the righteousness of God and life that is eternal. There is only one question that comes to the one who has heard the message of free grace in Christ. Do you believe? The presence or the absence of trust in Christ is the decisive thing. 'If you believe, you shall have all things; if you do not believe, you shall lack all things' (Luther, Treatise on Christian Freedom).