Matthew 1: Emanuel - the Lord is with us

The newest book of old testament is taken as Malachi, 5 centuries before Jesus. In this period, it seemed that the Lord has silenced. Many prophets in old testament were claiming that there will come the "day of the Lord" when Israel would be restored, and the evil doers would be punished. The kingdom of the Lord would be governed by the son of David. Jesus came but many Jews didn't understand the connection to the old testament prophecies, thus, Matthew is a book that shows how the prophecies were fulfilled. It begins showing Jesus as the son of Abraham and son of David.

Jesus was born in a very peculiar way: He was born by the Holy Spirit and not by a human father. Matthew does not go into details about the implications of being born by the Holy Spirit, but it must be related to the fact that Jesus lived without sin and all other human beings have sinned.

The Lord is the One who writes the story of mankind, but not only that: He takes care of individuals too as he took care of Joseph. If Joseph were a mere robot in the hands of the Lord, it would not be necessary to reveal him the work of the Spirit. So, in Matthew 1 we see a great picture of the Lord dealing with the story of mankind, and also, a picture of the Lord dealing with one man, Joseph. The Lord is the One who loves mankind but He also is the One who loves me in particular. The Lord is with us, but He is in particular with me.