• St. Matthew speaks of things he saw and heard

St. Matthew proclaims Jesus as the Savior and as the Christ/Messiah

Jesus' ancestry shows he descends from Abraham and David, i.e. those who were given the promises of the Covenant

Jesus is conceived to the Holy Virgin Mary through the power of the Holy Spirit

• Jesus is shown to be both God and man already
• Discussion Questions
• LAMSA BIBLE- Link
• here

WEEK 1 Preface

If we go back all the way to August of 2024, we started our Bible Studies with 3 simple questions:

Who is God, Who is man, & Who is Jesus?

In January of 2025, we opened our Bibles from the very beginning, Genesis, and saw God create the entire universe, as well as man.

We then saw the relationship between God and man, namely Adam, and that God’s creation was good, meaning perfect, because God’s good is perfect. But then Adam sinned, alongside Eve, by disobeying this perfect God, and sin entered the world.

We discussed that Adam and Eve were even able to sin because they had free will, and that free will is necessary to have true love between 2 parties, because love cannot be forced.

Turning on our fast forward button, we went from Adam, Abraham, Isaac, & Israel, then Joseph and the 12 tribes of Israel in Egypt, then skipped another 400 or so years to get to Moses and the exit of the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt.

Moses led the Israelites for more than 40 years, during which he received the Law from God, which gave the Israelites priesthood and a specific way to worship God.

Fast forward from that, and the Israelite people continue to grow, enter the land promised to Abraham and his descendants, and eventually form their very own kingdom among the other nations.

Which brings us to King David, the great warrior-king and author of the Psalms, as well as the father of King Solomon, the wise king who wrote the book of Proverbs and built the 1st permanent temple for God.

Fast forward along this line of kings, and we see Israel conquered by two kingdoms, Assyria and Babylon, only for a remnant of the tribe of Judah to remain, which rebuilds King Solomon’s temple under the reign of the Persian empire.

We left off with the concluding message of the O.T. from the final book, Malachi, in which God promises

He will send the prophet Elijah before the “coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord” From Abraham to Malachi (about 1,500-1600 years) the Israelites had near constant communication with God, but this prophecy marked about a ~400 or so year silence in their communication with God.

So from the first 3 questions that began our Bible studies, we have seen a lot that answer the 2 questions of “Who is God?” and “Who is man?”, but what about “Who is Jesus?” Well, let’s finish our review with 2 promises God made that would have left the Israelites scratching their heads

To Abraham God said “In your seed all nations of the earth shall be blessed.”

And to King David “Your throne shall be established forever.”

Knowing that the Israelites were a scattered remnant of a nation and that King David’s line of kings died, who could these possibly be talking about?

Let us begin and see the culmination and fulfilment of the Old Testament.

• Matthew 1

Right from the beginning, St. Matthew starts speaking “The book of

geneology/generation”

Matthew does not say “vision” or “word” as did the prophets who prefaced their writing in this manner: “The

• vision

• ,” and “Then the
• word

.” Why? Because the prophets were speaking to hard-hearted and disobedient people, and therefore they would say, “This is a divine vision,” or “This is the word of God,” so that the people would be frightened and pay attention to what’s being said. But Matthew’s proclamation of the Gospel was addressing believers who were already obedient, and so that’s one reason he does not begin like them .

But even more importantly, Matthew is about to tell of things he

• tangibly
• saw and listened to, whereas the prophets saw

noetically

, that is, with their minds, envisioning these things by the Holy Spirit; and this is why they called them “visions”.

So Matthew is already telling the reader “I literally saw and heard these things which I am about to tell you about”.

Of what importance is St. Matthew saying “Jesus Christ” already?

The name “Jesus” is not Greek but Hebrew, meaning “Savior,” The Hebrew kings and priests were called “christs” [i.e. “anointed ones”], (

ܡܫܝܼܚܹ̈ܐ

) because they were anointed with the holy oil poured out from a horn held over the head, like we saw with Aaron, the first high priest, or Saul and David, the kings.

Jesus, therefore, is called Christ, both as King because He ruled over sin [and

all creation], and as Priest because He offered Himself as a sacrifice for us. So St. Matthew is already proclaiming Jesus as the anointed one, or Savior.

Abraham came before David, so why does Matthew list David 1st, and call Jesus “son of David”

St. Matthew lists David first because David had greater

renown

among the Jews, both because he was more recent than Abraham and because he was more illustrious on account of his kingdom and rank as a king. Amongst all the kings of Israel, David was the first to please God, and he received the promise from God that the Christ would arise from his seed, as we read in

2 Sam. 7:12

He says “son of David” to distinguish Jesus from Joshua, as both have the same name in Greek/Hebrew/Aramaic (

• ܝܼܫܘܿܥ

).

What’s the point of the genealogy?

To show that the promise given to Abraham (and Isaac & Jacob/Israel), that through his seed all nations would be blessed (

Gen 22:18

), ,was fulfilled by Jesus Christ. It’s one of the many promises of God from the Old Testament that Christ fulfilled.

Recalling what we read in the OT, what is significant about Jesus having ancestors like Rahab, among the others listed? Think back to what Rahab was.

This Rahab that’s mentioned is thought to be the prostitute from Judges that saved Joshua’s spies. Tamar, mentioned before Ruth, had relations with her father-in-law. Solomon was born of adultery between David & Uriah’s wife (Bathsheba). Other people mentioned in this genealogy worked evil too, which is to show that Christ, Who accepted all things for our sake, accepted even to have such ancestors as these. It was moreover for this very reason that He was born from them, that He might sanctify them; for He came not to call the righteous, but the sinners to repentance (

• Luke 5:32

).

Christ teaches us by this that no one should be ashamed of their forefathers, but rather should strive to achieve their own virtue. All are acceptable to God, even those born of adultery (Solomon), if only they have virtue.

Why did God permit the Virgin Mary to be betrothed, and thus give men any cause at all for suspicion that Joseph had come together with her?

So that she would have a protector in hardships, as Joseph took care of her when they fled to Egypt and preserved her. Remember, the Church teaches that the H.V. M. was about 14 years old when these events took place, and Joseph was a relatively old man, meaning he already had wives and grown children, and also the means to support himself and others. She was betrothed for another reason too; to escape the notice of the devil. For the devil had heard that the Virgin would conceive and give birth to a son called Emmanuel, as the prophet Isaiah prophesied of such.

(Is. 7:14)

, and so the devil was keeping the Virgin under his surveillance. So that the deceiver (devil) might be deceived, Joseph betrothed the Ever-virgin Mary, outwardly appearing to be her spouse, but not so in actual deed.

Why does Matthew give Joseph’s genealogy if Jesus took no flesh/humanity from him (Joseph was not His father) and not the Virgin Mary’s instead?

Since it was not lawful to reckon ancestry through the mother, St. Matthew did not give the genealogy of the Virgin Mary. And yet, by giving the genealogy of Joseph, Matthew gave her genealogy as well. For it was the law that a woman was not to be taken as wife by a man who was of a different tribe and who was not of her father’s lineage

(Num. 36:8-9)

. Joseph, being a righteous man, upheld this law when Mary was entrusted to Him.

Why is Joseph called the V.M.’s husband if they were unmarried?

It was common practice, and the Greek/Aramaic word for husband is the same for man (

ܓܲܒܼܪܵܐ

). It is easy to see, therefore, how it was also used for “betrothed,” just as in informal contemporary English, “her man” can refer to a wide variety of relationships.

The Law commanded that an adultress be exposed and publicly punished. How is Joseph righteous then if he planned to “divorce her quietly”?

Firstly, he was righteous for intending to do this very thing. He did not wish to be harsh, but in his great goodness took compassion on her, living in a manner superior to the decrees of the law already.

Secondly, since he himself knew that she had conceived of the Holy Spirit, he did not wish to

pillory

and abuse her who had conceived not by adultery, but of the Holy Spirit. Behold what the evangelist says: “She was found to be with child.” Found by whom? By Joseph; that is, he discerned that she had conceived of the Holy Spirit in some manner. This word “found” has more meaning in Greek; it’s the same root as the word “Eureka!”, which we know to mean “I have found [it]!” and shows great amazement or surprise. Therefore he “was minded to divorce her secretly,” for he no longer dared to take as a wife, her who he had found to be deemed worthy of such grace!

And so Joseph’s actions prove the Virgin conception of Christ. The righteous Joseph did not carry out the penalty for an adultress as outlined in the Law because he knew that there was no adultery involved, although he didn’t exactly understand what was going on in its entirety.

What things did the angel do to dispel Joseph’s uncertainty as he thought about the situation?

It says Joseph “pondered these things”, meaning the matter was in his mind and that he had not revealed it to anyone. When the angel thus speaks of something within Joseph’s mind, he could be confident the angel was from God, for it is the attribute of God to know the things that are unspoken.

The angel called Joseph “son of David” to remind him that the prophets had foretold that the Christ would come from the seed of David (

• 2 Samuel 7:12 again

, & Ps. 89:35-37

He literally says “fear not to take” & “Mary, your wife” to dispel the idea she was an adulter, for if he could take her as a wife, then she was clearly not corrupted by anyone. He adds that she has “conceived by the Holy Spirit”, as if the angel is saying “Not only is she acquitted of any unlawful union, but she has conceived in some divine and wondrous manner. Therefore you ought rather to rejoice because of this”.

Why is it important the angel says “She shall bear a son” & “And you shall call His name Jesus”

Firstly, so that the angel absolutely cannot be questioned regarding his message, he is now predicting future events to Joseph.

Then, notice He does not say “She will bear you a son”, but simply, “She will give birth to a son.” For Mary did not bring forth Jesus for Joseph’s sake, but for the entire world; and nor did this grace concern him alone, but it was poured out on all of mankind.

With that same idea, the angel says “You will call His name Jesus” as though Joseph were His father, so that Joseph recognizes that though He was born of the Holy Spirit, he carries the role of protector and helper to the Virgin Mary and her Child. If Joseph had no role at all, then the angel would not waste his time giving divine revelations to him. God doesn’t do things without purpose.

By the angel saying “He will save His people from their sins”, what does he reveal?

He interprets the name “Jesus,” showing that it means “Savior”, and if He is saving people from their sins, then it is clear that the child that is going to be born is somehow also God, for it is the attribute of God alone to forgive sins. Now we know to say “also” because we know that God isn’t born, so already here we can see that truly Christ will take on our flesh, because humans are born, while not losing His Divinity.

What prophecy was the angel referencing in Vv.22-23 ?

• Is. 7:14,

as mentioned earlier.

What do Joseph’s actions reveal?

Observe the wakeful, vigilant soul of Joseph, who immediately obeyed God’s command! We ought to pray to be obedient to God’s will like Joseph & the Virgin Mary were!

He is said to “take her as his wife” to again avoid evil suspicion of adultery and to show that she was not anyone else’s wife but his.

Does “And knew her not until she had brought forth” mean they had relations eventually?

NO! God forbid! “Until” here means “never”, and we can go back to Genesis to see the word being used like this.

• Gen. 8:7

The raven Noah sent out “returned not unto the ark

until

the water had dried off from the earth” The raven became a living barometer: as long as it circled, it meant waters remained; once it stayed away, it meant land emerged, but it

• never
• came back to the Ark. In
• Matthew 28:20
• , Jesus says “I am with you

until

the end of the world” to the disciples. Does that mean He stops being with them (and us) after the end? No, he

never

stops being with us! So understand “until she brought forth’’ to mean, neither before the birth nor after the birth did he know her. The evangelist does not call Him “her firstborn son” in the sense that she later gave birth to a second son, but simply that He was the first and only child that she bore. Just because someone does not have siblings, it doesn’t take away the fact that they are the first-born child.

What reasons could there be for a virgin birth?

We have seen children be born to old, barren women before, like Isaac to Sarah and Samuel to Hannah, but we have not seen a virgin birth in our scripture studies, and neither has the world seen once since Jesus until now, and nor will it ever see a virgin birth again from here on out. Some of the reasons the C.F. give are as below:

1.

Jesus’ virgin conception and birth show that He truly has a Divine Origin

, as we read Mary is “found with child of the Holy Spirit (v.18)” and “He that is to be born of her is of the Holy Spirit”. Christ is not merely a man that becomes divine (Godly), but He is God taking on our humanity.

2.

Jesus’ virgin conception and birth is part of Him restoring the fall of Adam/man

. When was the first prophecy of Christ given? We have to go back to the beginning of creation and the Scriptures, to

Gen 3:15

, after Adam sins and thus man falls. God is promising a victor over the serpent, or a Savior to grant victory to Adam’s race over the serpent’s race, meaning the devil.

Well, how does the virgin birth restore Adam then? Is Adam not the only other man to be not born of a seed (i.e. sperm and egg. Yes, Eve too falls under this) besides Jesus? And was Adam not also the ‘son of God”? Well, in creation sense, yes, as St. Luke says in

Luke 3:38

Jesus is the new, or 2nd Adam, but Christ has what Adam lacks, and that is obedience and absence of sin. What Adam ruined by disobedience, Christ has fixed by obedience, as the Father testifies in

• Matthew 3:17
• , and as St. Paul states in

Philippians 2:8

. Side note, but the Virgin Eve too disobeyed and sinned, but the Virgin Mary obeyed, as we read in

Luke 1:38

when the angel Gabriel announces Jesus’ birth to her. But you might now say, why then did Jesus even need to be born from a woman if Adam wasn’t. That leads us to point 3…

3.

Jesus’ virgin conception and birth means he’s truly taking on our human nature so that he can heal it from within

. He has true flesh and humanity from Mary, meaning He has to deal with the same things we do. Jesus hungered, had emotions, had to sleep, etc. Jesus is going to take this humanity that Adam had, but failed to remain sinless in, and live a sinless and obedient life that pleases God the Father, and so when He dies for us, and is resurrected by His own strength, He will have reconciled our nature with God the Father, and will raise up into the Kingdom of Heaven, as He did during His Ascension.

4.

Jesus’ virgin conception and birth show salvation is by grace, not human works.

Now this statement is very sensitive because of how many Protestant churches have mis-interpreted this statement, which St. Paul essentially says in

Ephesians 2:8

“it is by grace you have been saved…”, but through our O.T. studies we can see what this means.

From the fall of Adam up until Christ’s birth, and namely up until the fall of the 2 Kingdoms of Israel that we read up to in our O.T. studies, we see great prophets and kings come and work great miracles or do great things, but at the end of the day, they fall short in remaining perfect, and they sin and die just like Adam, being under the condemnation of the Law.

Well, Christ will live a life without condemnation of the Law, and thus

• SAVE US FROM CONDEMNATION OF THE LAW,

because the Law said anyone who does not fully uphold the Law is cursed (

Deuteronomy 27:26

). One aspect of the grace that comes with this salvation is that Christ’s conception is beyond the ordinary way of begetting to show that salvation begins from God, not man’s power.

• *END OF WEEK DISCUSSION*

Our key takeaways from this short 1st chapter cover a lot already.

St. Matthew speaks of things he saw and heard in real-life.

St. Matthew proclaims Jesus as the Christ, meaning the Savior.

Christ’s ancestry shows that He descended from Abraham, Isaac, Israel, David, etc., i.e. people who were given the

promises or covenant of God from the Old Testament.

Jesus is conceived to the Virgin Mary, who is betrothed to the protector Joseph, a righteous and pious man.

Jesus will be called Emmanuel, meaning our ‘God is with us’, and that He saves from sins, which God alone can do, meaning we already have enough info to say “this Jesus must be both man AND God somehow”

• This Week's Study
• Review our O.T. Bible studies
• to better
• prepare for

our studies moving forward.

—Watch the video below if you are interested in a more in-depth study of Christ's virgin birth and the Church's theology regarding it, presented by then-bishop Mar Awa♱