Day 1: Matthew 1-9

I recently learned that March is the only month with a date as a command...March 4th.  March Forth! 

Wouldn't it be great to set out on a grand adventure on March 4th. Hike the Grand Canyon. Get married. Graduate. Set sail. Something significant or even not-so-significant. 

Here we are at the beginning of March and we have a challenge before us; perhaps it will be a grand adventure:  Read the New Testament in a month.  (If you pay attention to such things, you will be happy to note that March actually has 31 days.  That's grace, right there!) 

I do not intend to post a comment each day, but I'll keep you updated periodically with my progress and perhaps share some thoughts.  I hope you will chime in as well with what you are reading and how it is affecting you.

Day 1:  For me, these chapters were mostly familiar.  But already I can see that reading a large section give me perspective that I might have otherwise missed. I really enjoyed hearing the Sermon on the Mount in its entirety, as it was given.

But what I was most struck by was the repeated use of phrases such as "this was done that it might be fulfilled as the prophet said." (For example: 1:22, 2:15, 2:17, 2:23, 3:3, 4:14)

Matthew seems to go out of his was to highlight the ways in which Jesus fulfilled Old Testament prophecy.  A Jew writing for a Jewish audience.  Interestingly, all these occurrences are before Jesus was a grown man, before he entered ministry and before his work of redemption.  I guess I find it amazing that the "little" things, like where Jesus was born and where he was raised, hold significance. 

How did it go today?  Did you get through Matthew 1-9?  What stuck out to you?

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