Tag: Gospel of Matthew

  • The Master’s Manual: Matthew Part 7 of 7

    The Master’s Manual: Matthew Part 7 of 7

    Introduction

    Every kingdom shapes the lives of its citizens. It forms how they think, act, love, and hope. In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus not only announces His Kingdom — He teaches His followers how to live within it. His words are not abstract philosophy; they are a manual for life under His reign. Through long-form teaching, parables, warnings, and promises, Jesus forms a people who live by the power of God rather than their own strength. And as His teaching points ahead, the Holy Spirit would later come to empower this obedience, turning fearful disciples into fearless witnesses

    What Matthew Tells Us

    Jesus begins His great teaching on a mountain (chs. 5–7). He presents a vision of righteousness that flows from the heart, not religious performance. He calls the humble blessed. He honours those who hunger for what is right. He teaches that reconciliation is better than resentment, purity better than hidden indulgence, truth better than empty promises, quiet trust better than anxious striving. His followers give, pray, and fast without drawing attention to themselves, trusting the Father who sees in secret. He closes with a picture of two houses — one collapses, one stands — showing that wisdom is not merely hearing His words but obeying them.

    Jesus then instructs His disciples for mission (ch. 10). He sends them as His representatives into towns and households, calling people to recognise that God’s Kingdom has drawn near. This mission will meet hostility, yet He assures them they will not be abandoned. When they face pressure and accusation, their defence does not rest on human eloquence; the Holy Spirit will speak through them (10:19–20). Allegiance to Jesus will even divide families, yet He promises that losing one’s life for His sake is the way to find true life.

    Through parables (ch. 13), Jesus reveals the hidden strength of God’s Kingdom. It is like seed scattered on various soils — some hearts resist, some receive superficially, but where the Word sinks deep, it bears abundant fruit. The Kingdom grows quietly, like yeast spreading through dough or a tiny mustard seed becoming a tree. It is worth more than everything a person owns; to gain it is to gain treasure beyond price. Yet for now, good, and evil grow together. A final harvest will come, where the King will bring justice and make things right.

    Jesus teaches that life in His Kingdom reshapes the way believers treat one another (ch. 18). Greatness is found not in status but humility. He values the vulnerable, warning His followers never to push them away. When a brother sins, restoration is patiently pursued. Forgiveness is not measured out reluctantly but poured out generously, echoing the grace His Father has shown. Jesus tells of a servant forgiven an impossible debt who then refuses to forgive another. The warning is unmistakable: those who have received mercy must live as people of mercy.

    As Jesus moves toward Jerusalem (chs. 19–20), He teaches about faithfulness in relationships, generosity that reflects God’s heart, and service rather than self-promotion. When some disciples compete for honour, Jesus redirects them. In His Kingdom, greatness comes through serving, because the King Himself came not to be served but to serve and to give His life for many. God’s generosity is not earned by labour; it is given with delight.

    Near the end of His ministry, Jesus prepares His disciples for what lies ahead (chs. 24–25). He tells them not to be alarmed by turmoil; the world will be shaken, but the purposes of God will stand. His people must remain awake, faithful, and expectant. He compares them to servants entrusted with resources. Some remain diligent; others grow careless. When the King returns, He will welcome those who served Him by serving His people — feeding the hungry, welcoming strangers, caring for the sick and imprisoned. He receives such love as if it were shown to Him directly.

    Matthew shows that obedience to Jesus is the solid foundation of kingdom life. But Jesus also knows His disciples cannot walk this path alone. He promises His ongoing presence with them (28:20). After His resurrection and ascension, this promise is fulfilled through the Holy Spirit — poured out at Pentecost as recorded in Acts — who emboldens His followers with power, love, and clarity. The same disciples who once hid in fear now speak boldly, even in many languages, declaring that the risen King reigns. What Jesus began teaching on the mountain is carried forward by His Spirit through His people.

    Why This Matters

    Jesus’ teachings in Matthew reveal the character of life under His rule. They invite us to respond to God from the heart, not merely from habit. They uphold a righteousness deeper than behaviour — a life shaped by love, trust, and humility. His Kingdom challenges our natural instincts: mercy instead of revenge, purity instead of indulgence, generosity instead of grasping, faith instead of fear.

    His commands are not burdens. They describe the beauty of a life aligned with God. The King never demands what He will not supply. He teaches, leads, and gives His very presence. When Jesus promises to be with His people to the end of the age, He is assuring them that obedience is not a lonely endeavour. The same Spirit who empowered Him, who spoke through His disciples, now strengthens His people worldwide.

    Matthew shows the King giving the pattern; the Spirit later gives the power. These are not competing truths but a united story. Jesus forms His disciples through teaching; the Spirit then enables them to live what they have learned. The foundation is the Word; the power is the Spirit; the goal is a people who bear the King’s likeness.

    Hope and Challenge

    Jesus’ teaching comforts and confronts. It comforts by revealing the Father’s care, the Son’s presence, and the Spirit’s help. It confronts by exposing where our allegiance wavers, where anger hardens, where fear rules. His words press us to follow — not half-heartedly, but with trust.

    For believers, this teaching is not an optional layer on top of faith; it is the shape of faith itself. The King calls His people to forgive as they have been forgiven, to serve as they have been served, to hope because He reigns. And He does not leave them powerless. By the Holy Spirit, fearful hearts become bold, anxious minds find peace, and weak hands learn to love.

    For seekers or the curious, Jesus’ teaching is an open invitation. His Kingdom is not for the flawless but for those who recognise their need. Here, the broken are restored, the weary find rest, and those wandering in darkness see light. To follow Jesus is to discover a life deeper than achievement, more enduring than success, more joyful than comfort. This life begins with trusting the King.

    Conclusion

    Matthew reveals Jesus as both King and Teacher. He shows His people how to live under God’s reign — humbly, faithfully, boldly. His teaching gives the pattern; His Spirit gives the power. Those who hear and follow build their lives upon rock. The Master does not send His disciples alone. He teaches them, saves them, dwells with them, and empowers them. This is the life of His Kingdom: shaped by His words, by the Holy Spirit of truth who teaches, comforts, and brings things to remembrance for those born again.

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  • More Than a Crowd. Matthew 4 of 7

    More Than a Crowd. Matthew 4 of 7

    Jesus’s Call to a New Community.

    Welcome back to “The King and His Kingdom,” our seven-part journey through the Gospel of Matthew. In the first three parts, we have encountered Jesus as the promised King—the fulfilment of ancient hopes, the One who extends God’s rescue from Israel to all nations.

    Now a deeply personal question emerges: What happens when we respond to His invitation?

    We live in an age of unprecedented connection, yet profound isolation. The human heart aches for belonging, for community, for family. We were not made to be alone.

    Many imagine faith as something private and individual—a quiet arrangement between the soul and God. But Matthew reveals something far richer. When Jesus calls people to Himself, He does not gather scattered individuals. He forms a family.

    This is the heart of Part 4: To follow Jesus is to belong—to Him, and to His people.

    The Open Invitation.

    Every family has a doorway. For the family of Jesus, that doorway is His invitation in Matthew 11:28:

    “Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

    The only qualification is need.

    Jesus does not call the strong, the sorted, or the spiritually impressive. He invites the exhausted—those carrying burdens too heavy to bear, those who have reached the end of themselves. This is astonishing grace. To enter His rest, we do not first make ourselves worthy. We simply come.

    Notice the invitation is not to a system, a philosophy, or a set of rules, but to a Person: “Come to Me.” Jesus Himself is the source of rest. He offers what no religion, achievement, or human effort can provide.

    This new community begins not with accomplishment, but with welcome. Not with status, but with need. Not with perfection, but with honesty. Every member stands on the same ground: all come weary, all receive grace. This shatters our ideas of self-sufficiency. The family of God is built not on our strength, but on our shared need for His mercy.

    For anyone seeking, this is breathtaking news. You do not have to fix yourself to be welcomed. You are invited in your weariness.

    From Crowd to Called.

    Early in Matthew’s Gospel, large crowds follow Jesus. They listen, marvel, and press close. But as His ministry unfolds, something shifts. Jesus begins calling individuals to walk with Him—to learn, to leave old lives behind, to share life together.

    A gentle distinction forms: the crowd listens; the disciples belong.

    As these disciples follow Jesus from village to village, they are shaped together—not only by His words, but by shared experience. This prepares them for a moment when Jesus reveals the new reality He is bringing into existence.

    The Called-Out Ones.

    At Caesarea Philippi, after months of walking with Jesus, Peter makes the great confession: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

    Jesus responds with a profound promise in Matthew 16:18: “On this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”

    This is the first time the word “church” appears in Matthew’s Gospel. The word Jesus uses is ekklesia—a Greek term that does not describe a building or an event, but a people. A called-out assembly.

    We are the ekklesia: the called-out ones.

    This is the core idea. God is calling people out of isolation, out of the kingdoms of this world, and into a new spiritual family. This family is not defined by bloodline, nationality, or social standing. It is defined by one thing: faith in Christ. We are a family built on the shared confession that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God.

    Three truths emerge from Jesus’s promise:

    Jesus Builds. “I will build My church.” The church does not begin with human initiative. It is His work. He gathers, He forms, He sustains. This is an incredible comfort. The community we belong to is not held together by our feeble efforts but by the power of the King Himself.

    It Belongs to Him. “My church.” This family carries His name. Its identity is rooted in Christ—not in heritage, ability, or accomplishment.

    It Will Stand. “The gates of Hades will not overcome it.” Even the powers of death and darkness cannot destroy what Jesus establishes. This family has a divine guarantee.

    We belong not because we hold tightly, but because He does. This speaks directly to our need for belonging. We are not merely admirers of Jesus; we are members of His household. To be a Christian is to be part of a “we.”

    A Family with a Mission.

    This new community is not called to be an inward-only fellowship. Jesus gathers—and then He sends.

    After His resurrection, the King gives His family their purpose in Matthew 28:19: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

    The invitation of Matthew 11 becomes the commission of Matthew 28. Those who have found rest now extend that rest to others. Those who have been welcomed now welcome.

    This connects everything. The new community of faith is the very instrument God uses to accomplish His global rescue plan. Following Jesus is not a solo activity, because the mission He gives us is not a solo mission. We are called to go together, to make disciples together, to baptise new members into this family together.

    This is not work for isolated believers. Jesus gives this commission to His gathered disciples. It is communal work—obeyed together, lived together, shared together. We grow by supporting one another. We persevere by encouraging one another. We reach the world by going together.

    The church is both the fruit of the mission—new people welcomed—and the instrument of the mission—disciples making disciples. Christ builds His family; His family carries His invitation to the world.

    Belonging in a Restless World.

    Loneliness wears many faces. It can settle in a crowded room. It can linger in a busy life.

    Jesus meets that ache with Himself—and with His people. He calls the weary to rest. He calls the lost into His household. He calls the alone into communion.

    This means we are not meant to carry our burdens alone. We are not meant to struggle alone, grow alone, or serve alone. Faith is never merely “me and Jesus.” It is “Jesus—and us with Him.”

    To follow Christ is to step into a shared life. A life of encouragement, prayer, learning, forgiveness, patience, and mission. In this family, every believer receives a place. No one is unnecessary. No one is forgotten.

    For seekers, this family welcomes you. The Church is not a museum for saints but a hospital for all who know they are weary and burdened. It is a place to belong.

    For believers, this is a vital reminder. Do not try to live this life alone. You were not meant to. You have been brought into a new spiritual family. The fellowship of the ekklesia is not optional; it is the God-designed context for your faith, your rest, and your mission.

    More Than a Crowd.

    Jesus calls us into something deeper than interest or admiration. He forms a spiritual household.

    A family that begins with invitation: “Come to Me.”

    A family built on confession: “You are the Messiah.”

    A family held secure by the One who builds it: “I will build My church.”

    A family sent with purpose: “Go and make disciples.”

    What an astonishing King—who not only saves us, but adopts us, gathers us, and calls us His very own family.

    Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

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  • Nation to the Nations. Matthew Part 3 of 7

    Nation to the Nations. Matthew Part 3 of 7

    From a Nation to the Nations: God’s Open Invitation.

    Welcome back to “The King and His Kingdom,” our 7-part journey into the heart of the Gospel according to Matthew. In our first two parts, we have beheld Matthew’s royal portrait of Jesus as the long-awaited King and understood His arrival as the stunning fulfilment of God’s ancient promises. Now, we arrive at a theme that is the very engine of the Christian faith: God’s global rescue plan. This part of the story tackles a beautiful and deliberate shift—a divine progression from a message focused on a single nation, Israel, to a Gospel intended for every person on earth. It is a story of expansion, of walls coming down, and of an invitation being sent out to the entire world. This is not a change of plans; it is the breathtaking culmination of a plan God had in mind all along. It is the foundation of the church’s mission and the assurance to every reader that the Good News is for them.

    A Mission to a Nation.

    As we follow Jesus through the early stages of His ministry in Matthew’s Gospel, we encounter a command that might seem surprising. When He first sends out His twelve disciples to proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, He gives them very specific instructions. In Matthew 10:5–6, He says, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

    Why would the Savior of the world begin with such a focused, seemingly exclusive, directive? This was not an act of limitation, but of divine faithfulness. Jesus is the Messiah promised to Israel, the King coming to the throne of David. For God to be true to His own covenant story, the message had to first be presented to the people to whom the promises were originally given. This was, as the theme states, “God’s continuing work of salvation within Israel.” It was a matter of divine integrity, honouring the centuries-long relationship God had with His chosen people. This initial focus was the necessary starting point, the sacred foundation upon which a global mission would be built.

    The Turning Point: The Person and Work of Christ.

    The critical pivot that swings the door of salvation open from one nation to all nations is the person and work of Jesus Christ. His life, death, and resurrection are the hinge of all redemptive history. He is, the “true Israel,” the one who perfectly succeeded in the mission His people could not. Through His sacrificial death on the cross, Jesus accomplished a salvation so vast and complete that its power could never be contained within a single ethnic or geographical border. When He died, the great curtain in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. This was a powerful, divine sign that the way to God was now open for all people to meet with Him boldly, wherever they might live. His resurrection was the ultimate declaration that a new era had dawned—an era where access to God is based not on lineage, but on faith in His risen Son. The work Jesus accomplished in Jerusalem was a work He accomplished for the world. He is the one who makes the global rescue plan possible.

    A Commission for the Nations.

    With this universe-altering work completed, the risen King gathers His disciples one last time in Matthew’s Gospel. Here, the specific instruction of chapter 10 is replaced by a sweeping, universal mandate that will define the purpose of His followers for all time. This is the breathtaking climax of the shift from a nation to the nations. In Matthew 28:19, Jesus commands, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.”

    The contrast is powerful and deliberate. The mission that began with the “lost sheep of Israel” has now exploded to encompass “all the peoples of the earth.” This is not a contradiction but a glorious fulfilment. This Great Commission is the foundational charter for the mission of the church. It is built upon the unshakable truth of Christ’s absolute authority over all things and His promise of His continuing presence with His people.

    This command is the ultimate realization of God’s ancient promise to Abraham that in him, all the families of the earth would be blessed. The Christian Gospel is not a parochial or regional message; it is a gospel for all. This is the very heart of the mission Jesus set in motion.

    God’s Open Invitation Is for You.

    This journey from a focused mission in Matthew 10 to a global commission in Matthew 28 reveals a message of radical inclusivity. It is God’s open invitation to every single person, without exception. Your background, your culture, your history, your language—none of it is a barrier to the kingdom of heaven.

    The Gospel assures every reader that this Good News is for them. The King came to a specific people at a specific time in history to accomplish a universal salvation for all people for all time. This beautiful unfolding of God’s plan is the assurance that no one is beyond the reach of His grace. The invitation of the King has been sent out, from one nation to all the nations. And it is for you.

    Join us next time for Part 4, “More Than a Crowd: Jesus’s Call to a New Community,” where we will explore what it means to belong to the new family of faith that this global invitation creates.

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  • The Great Unfolding: Matthew Part 2 of 7.

    The Great Unfolding: Matthew Part 2 of 7.

    The Great Unfolding: How Jesus Fulfils God’s Ancient Promises.

    Have you ever picked up a book and felt like you started in the middle? The characters have histories you don’t know, and events are unfolding based on a backstory you missed. For many, opening the New Testament can feel like this. A man named Jesus of Nazareth appears, and the world is never the same. But where did He come from? Was His arrival a sudden, unexpected event, or was it the long-awaited climax of a story that began thousands of years before?

    The Gospel of Matthew answers this with a resounding declaration: Jesus did not appear in a vacuum. He is the stunning fulfilment of a story God began telling in the very first pages of the Old Testament. This post, the second in the series “The King and His Kingdom,” explores how Matthew builds a powerful bridge between the Old and New Testaments. We will see that Jesus is the ultimate answer to the hopes, the laws, and the prophecies of God’s ancient people. He is not the start of a new story, but the glorious chapter for which the entire world had been waiting.

    A Royal Tapestry Woven Through Time.

    Matthew begins his Gospel not with a miracle or a sermon, but with a list of names. The genealogy in Matthew 1:1–17 can seem dense, perhaps even skippable. Yet, in this careful tracing of ancestry, Matthew is making one of the most profound claims in history. He opens with, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” In one sentence, he connects Jesus to the two most significant figures in Israel’s history.

    This is not just a family tree; it is a royal and covenantal lineage. By linking Jesus to Abraham, Matthew asserts that Jesus is the ultimate heir to the covenant promise God made to Abraham—that through his offspring, all the nations of the earth would be blessed. By linking Jesus to David, Matthew declares that Jesus is the long-awaited King, the rightful heir to the throne of Israel, the Messiah who would reign forever.

    The forty-two generations listed are a testament to God’s faithfulness through centuries of victory, failure, exile, and silence. Each name is a stitch in a divine tapestry, a story of God preserving a specific lineage for a singular purpose. This list demonstrates that Jesus’s arrival wasn’t an accident of history. It was a divine appointment, meticulously planned and sovereignly guided from the very beginning. This unbroken line is the first and most foundational plank in the bridge between the Testaments, establishing Jesus not as a rogue teacher, but as the legitimate, long-promised King.

    Whispers of Prophecy, Now a Resounding Voice.

    If the genealogy is the structural foundation of the bridge, the fulfilment of prophecy is its unbreakable support. Throughout the opening chapters of his Gospel, Matthew repeatedly uses a powerful phrase: “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet.” He is showing his readers that the key events of Jesus’s birth and early life were not random. They were, in fact, the echoes of ancient prophetic words coming to pass with breathtaking accuracy.

    Consider the evidence Matthew presents. The miraculous conception of Jesus is shown to be the fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel” (Matthew 1:22–23). When the wise men seek the newborn king, the scribes know exactly where to direct them, quoting the prophet Micah: “in Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet” (Matthew 2:4–5).

    The pattern continues with astonishing consistency. The family’s flight to Egypt to escape Herod’s wrath is not merely a desperate act of survival; it is the fulfilment of Hosea’s words, “Out of Egypt I called My Son” (Matthew 2:15). Even the horrific tragedy of the slaughter of innocent children in Bethlehem was foreseen, as Matthew notes, “Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet” (Matthew 2:17). Finally, the family’s decision to settle in the obscure town of Nazareth brings to pass what was “spoken by the prophets, ‘He shall be called a Nazarene’” (Matthew 2:23).

    These are not isolated coincidences. Matthew is building an irrefutable case. He is demonstrating that God was so intimately involved in the details of the Messiah’s arrival that He announced the specifics centuries in advance through His chosen messengers. The entire Old Testament, in this light, becomes a map pointing to one specific person, in one specific place, at one specific time.

    Not to Abolish, but to Complete.

    Lest anyone misunderstand His purpose, Jesus Himself addresses His relationship to the Old Testament in one of the most important passages in all of Scripture. In the Sermon on the Mount, He declares, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfil” (Matthew 5:17).

    This statement is the key that unlocks the unity of the entire Bible. Jesus did not come to discard the Old Testament as something outdated or irrelevant. He came to be its very substance and goal. The moral law given to Moses revealed God’s holy character and the perfect standard of righteousness—a standard no one could perfectly keep. Jesus came and lived that perfect, sinless life, fulfilling the law’s demands in His own person. The sacrificial system, with its intricate rituals, pointed to the need for atonement for sin. Jesus became the ultimate and final sacrifice, fulfilling the purpose of every animal ever offered on the altar.

    The Prophets spoke of a coming King, a suffering servant, a righteous judge, and a merciful saviour. Jesus embodies all of these roles. He is the true and better King David, the prophet greater than Moses, the priest in the order of Melchizedek. He doesn’t erase the old story; He is its intended meaning. He makes sense of it all. He goes on to say that true righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 5:20), a righteousness that is impossible on our own but is made possible through Him—the very fulfilment of the Law.

    One Story, One King.

    From the first verse of his Gospel, Matthew masterfully demonstrates that the story of Jesus is the story of God’s faithfulness. The genealogy establishes His legal right to the throne. The fulfilled prophecies confirm His divine identity. His own words proclaim His ultimate purpose. Jesus is the bridge that connects God’s ancient promises with their glorious reality.

    For the believer, this truth provides an unshakable foundation for faith. Our hope is not in a recently invented philosophy, but in a God who makes promises and keeps them across the span of human history. It allows us to see the Bible not as a collection of disconnected books, but as one beautiful, cohesive, and perfect story of redemption, culminating in Christ.

    For the seeker, this presents a compelling truth. The Christian faith is deeply rooted in history and prophecy. The claims about Jesus are not made in a vacuum; they are presented as the intentional, sovereignly orchestrated climax of a story God set in motion at the dawn of time. He is the answer to the questions the Old Testament raises, the hope it looks forward to, and the King it promises. He is the great unfolding of God’s perfect plan.

    Coming Soon.

    Part 3: The Global Rescue Plan.

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  • The Royal Portrait. Matthew Part 1 of 7

    The Royal Portrait. Matthew Part 1 of 7

    Welcome to the first part of my new series, The King, and His Kingdom: A 7-Part Journey into the Heart of the Gospel. Over the next seven posts, we will walk through the Gospel of Matthew, exploring its central, breathtaking theme: the identity of Jesus as the true King and the nature of His heavenly kingdom. There is no more fundamental question a person can ask than, “Who is Jesus?” Our culture offers many answers: a good teacher, a moral example, a prophet, a revolutionary. But the author Matthew, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, has a singular, unambiguous purpose. He presents us with a royal portrait, meticulously crafted to demonstrate that Jesus of Nazareth is none other than the Christ, the long-awaited Messiah, the rightful King with all authority over heaven and earth.

    For those of you who are exploring Christianity, this post seeks to answer that foundational question directly from the historical record. For those who are already followers of Christ, this is a call to return to the heart of our faith—to stand in awe once more and to worship Jesus not just as Saviour, but as the reigning King of every aspect of our lives. Let us begin this journey by looking at the very first strokes of Matthew’s masterpiece.

    The King’s Royal Lineage.

    Matthew does not begin his account with a miracle or a sermon. He begins with a list of names, a genealogy. He opens with these momentous words: “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1). In these first few words, Matthew lays his royal cards on the table. The title “son of David” is not merely a statement of ancestry; it is a profound theological and royal claim. It was to King David that God had made an everlasting promise of a descendant who would sit on his throne forever. For centuries, Israel had waited for this promised King, this Messiah who would restore all things. By starting here, Matthew is declaring from the outset that the wait is over. Jesus is not an unexpected character in history; He is the culmination of it, the legal heir to the throne of Israel. This is His birthright.

    The King’s Royal Birth.

    A king’s arrival is never an ordinary event, and the birth of Jesus was prophesied and heralded in a way that confirms His unique royal status. Matthew draws our attention to the ancient prophecy of Isaiah, stating, “‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel’ (which means, God with us)” (Matthew 1:23). Consider the weight of this title. This child would not just be a great human king; He would be the very presence of God dwelling among His people. He is a King of an entirely different order. His authority is not derived from human power but from His divine nature. He is God, come to rule and to save.

    This royal identity was not only understood through prophecy but was also recognized by those seeking Him. Shortly after His birth, wise men from the East arrived in Jerusalem with a startling question: “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him” (Matthew 2:2). It is a remarkable scene. These Gentile scholars, outsiders to the covenant promises of Israel, were guided by the heavens themselves to find and worship a newborn King. They did not come to see a baby, but to pay homage to royalty. Their quest, their gifts, and their worship all serve as a powerful testimony. From the moment of His birth, the identity of Jesus as King was being declared, not in a palace, but in a humble stable, recognized by seekers from afar.

    The King’s Royal Identity Confessed.

    As Jesus began His public ministry, the evidence of His authority became undeniable, leading those around Him to moments of stunning recognition. After witnessing Jesus walk on the turbulent sea and calm the storm with a word, His disciples, battered by the wind and waves, fell before Him in reverence. Their response was not one of mere amazement but of worship. They declared, “Truly you are the Son of God” (Matthew 14:33). They saw in that moment an authority that did not belong to a mere man. They saw a power over creation itself, a power that belongs only to the Creator, the King of all. Their fear was transformed into awe as they realized they were in the presence of divine royalty.

    This private recognition culminates in the most pivotal confession in Matthew’s Gospel. When Jesus asked His disciples who they thought He was, it was Peter who gave the definitive answer: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). The title “Christ” is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word “Messiah,” which means “Anointed One.” In ancient Israel, priests, prophets, and especially kings were anointed with oil as a sign of being set apart and empowered by God for their task. Peter’s declaration was a thunderclap. He was saying, “You are the one. You are the long-prophesied, God-anointed King.” This was the secret now being revealed, the truth upon which Christ would build His entire church. It is the core confession of a believer: Jesus is the rightful, anointed King.

    The King’s Royal Presence and Proclamation.

    The kingship of Jesus is not a distant, abstract concept. It is a present reality. He Himself promised an intimacy unknown with earthly rulers: “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” (Matthew 18:20). The King is present with His people. He presides over every gathering, no matter how small. His authority and presence are not confined to a temple or a throne room; they are accessible to all who come together under His name. This is the nature of His rule—it is personal, relational, and ever-present.

    Finally, near the end of His earthly ministry, the King who was declared at birth and confessed in private receives His public welcome into the royal city, Jerusalem. This event, known as the Triumphal Entry, was a direct and deliberate fulfilment of prophecy. Matthew records, “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden’” (Matthew 21:5). He does not come on a warhorse as a worldly conqueror, but in humility on a donkey, a symbol of peace. And the people understand. They lay their cloaks and branches on the road, a traditional welcome for a king, and they cry out with the royal psalm: “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (Matthew 21:9). “Hosanna” is a plea, “Save us now!” and they direct it to the “Son of David,” the royal heir. In this moment, all the threads of Matthew’s portrait come together in a public proclamation. The King has come to His city.

    From the first verse to this climactic entry, Matthew’s purpose is clear: to present Jesus as the King. His lineage gives Him the legal right, His birth marks Him as divine, His followers confess Him as the Anointed One, and the crowds welcome Him as their prophesied ruler. The evidence is laid before us. The question that remains is not about His identity, but about our response. Will we, like the wise men, seek Him and worship Him? Will we, like Peter, confess Him as the King, the Christ? Will we make Him the King, not just in theory, but of our very lives? This is the invitation of Matthew’s royal portrait.

    Coming soon.

    Part 2: The Story That Never Ended.

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