October 2 - Matthew 1-4: Time to Embrace

"It's the divine Savior...We've already been introduced to each other by God, in His first thirty-nine letters.  But the introduction is over.  It's time to embrace."  (66LL)

The context of an embrace gives it meaning.  There's the obligatory hug given by gymnasts after a performance, that's short with little actual physical contact and a couple of pats on the back.  Then, the lover's tight embrace that communicates that this hug is not enough, I want more of you.  And the dear friend's embrace that lingers and says, "I'm for you, I'm with you."

We've read 39 letters that have given us the context for God's embrace through His Son.  Matthew clearly asks us to recall the context through the family tree of Christ in chapter one and then through references to the prophets we've just read:

• The prophet Micah wrote it plainly:  It's you, Bethlehem...from you will come the leader who will shepherd-rule my people (2:6, from Micah 5:2)
• This Egyptian exile fulfilled what Hosea had preached: 'I called my son out of Egypt.' (2:15, from Hosea 11:1)
• the prophetic words, 'He shall be called a Nazarene.' (2:23, from Judges 13:5)
• Isaiah's prophecy:  Thunder in the desert!  Prepare for god's arrival!  Make the road smooth and straight!' (3:3, from Isaiah 40:3)
• This move completed Isaiah's sermon: '...People sitting out their lives in the dark saw a huge light; sitting in that dark, dark country of death, they watched the sun come up.' This Isaiah-prophesied sermon came to life in Galilee the moment jesus started preaching. (4:15-17, from Isaiah 9:1-2)

It's more than fulfilled prophecy, more than revealing the truth of God's Word.  It's the story, the continued love story of a relentless God.  The full-on, nothing-held-back embrace of the God Who Is Love.  That is the context for the arrival of God With Us.

The question for me is what is the context of my receiving the embrace?  Have I come to the embrace with grasping arms to get saved from hell or for forgiveness from a guilty conscious or to get a happy and blessed life?  Or am I coming with empty arms to receive what He plans to give, what He knows will truly fulfill?  Can I even view my empty arms and all the pain that accompanies them as God's call of love to His full embrace?

"The center of the good news is that you can know My Son and by My  Spirit enter into the relationship My Son and I enjoy.  That news has the power to transform you... from grasping for life for your sake to losing your life for My sake.....

"There is now a community of people who, though their souls may feel empty, are filled with My Spirit, a people whose lifestyle is giving from trusted fullness, rather than grasping for demanded fullness.  They are My people.  I am their God."   (66LL)