I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Matthew 1-4.

    Matthew begins his account of Jesus’ life with a genealogy followed by key stories about Jesus’ birth. The account of Joseph’s reaction to discovering that Mary is pregnant provides us with guidance in interpersonal relationships. Since he knew that he was not the father, Joseph had to have been hurt when he learned of her pregnancy, but rather than seeking to lash out at Mary, he sought to discretely release her from her vows to him. Then, when God’s messenger told him in a dream that Mary was not pregnant from some lover she preferred to him, Joseph married her. His kindness and gentleness in dealing with Mary after he was hurt is a model for all of us.

    As I was reading this today I realized that Matthew’s reference to John the Baptist is included to show how Jesus fit into the Judaism of His day. It seems likely that the people Matthew was writing for would have been familiar with the Essenes (a Jewish sect which strove for greater purity and who separated themselves from secular society) and would have seen that John the Baptist was preaching from that tradition. I don’t want to make too much of this, but my understanding is that Jesus’ teachings bore a strong resemblance to those of the Essenes, except that He did not call people to go live apart from society. In many ways, it seems to me that Matthew is telling us that there was a progression from the Essenes, through John the Baptist to Jesus. The Essenes lived apart from society and taught those who separated from society to join them. John the Baptist lived apart from society but taught people who came to him for short periods of time. Jesus went out into society and taught. I believe that even today there are those who God calls to live separate from society, but most of us are called to live in society and transform it by our presence.