The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 258: The Kingdom Is Here (2023)

Episode Date: September 15, 2023

Fr. Mike introduces us to the Gospel of Matthew, including his genealogy, nativity, and the first days of his ministry. He pulls it all together to show that not only is Jesus reconstituting the kingdom in his ministry, but he's inviting us to join him in this kingdom. Today’s readings are Matthew 1-4, and Proverbs 18:17-20. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible Timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day one of our Messianic checkpoint, which means it's day 258 of the entire Bible in a year. We're reading today Matthew chapter 1 through 4. Just what a gift.

And keep this in mind. You may have up to this point. The first chapter of Matthew begins with a genealogy. And you might have always heard the genealogy and gone through it and thought, well, this is just, these are a bunch of names. I have no idea who these people are, what their stories are. It says Babylonian exile. What's that? Well, you know that now, which is pretty phenomenal.

So keep your ears attuned to that. We're also reading Proverbs chapter 18 verses 17 through 20. As always, the Bible translation I'm reading from is the revised standard version, second Catholic edition. I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a Year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. You can also subscribe to this podcast by clicking on subscribe and receiving daily episodes and updates. You'd also know that today is the

Messianic Fulfillment Day. Also, you probably checked out or maybe you already listened to the intro to Messianic Fulfillment or the intro to Matthew with Jeff Cavins that we recorded, which was just, man, Jeff's awesome. And he has, there's so much, there's so much in the gospels, so much in the entire Bible. But if you haven't listened to that, I invite you to check that out because it might give a little bit of a context. You don't have to listen to it today if you didn't do it yet. It'll give some context though for the next few days as we journey through Matthew 1 through 28. But today it's day 257 and we're journeying through Matthew 1, 2, 3, and 4, Proverbs chapter 18 verses 17 through 20. The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter 1, the genealogy of Jesus Christ.

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nashon, And Nashon the father of Solomon. And Solomon the father of Boaz by Rahab. And Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth. And Obed the father of Jesse. And Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah. And Solomon the father of Rehoboam. And Rehoboam the father of Abijah. And Abijah the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam, the father of Abijah, and Abijah, the father of Asa, and Asa, the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat, the father of Joram, and Joram, the father of Uzziah,

and Uzziah, the father of Jotham, and Jotham, the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz, the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah, the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh, the father of Amos, and Amos, the father of Josiah, and Josiah, the father of Jeconiah and Amos, the father of Josiah, and Josiah, the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the deportation to Babylon. And after the deportation to Babylon, Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel, the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel, the father of Abiud, and Abiud, the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim, the father of Azor, and Azor, the father of Zadok, and Zadok, the father of Achim, and Achim, the father of Eliud, and Eliud, the father of Eleazar,

and Eleazar, the father of Matan, and Matan, the father of Jacob, and Jacob, the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ. So all the generations from Abraham to David were 14 generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon, 14 generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ, 14 generations. The birth of Jesus Christ. Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph before they came together, she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit.

And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to send her away quietly. But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel, which means God with us.

When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. He took his wife, but knew her not until she had born a son, and he called his name Jesus. Chapter 2. The Visit of the Wise Men Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him. When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled in all Jerusalem with him,

and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet, And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah. For from you shall come a ruler who will govern my people Israel. Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star appeared, and he sent them to Bethlehem, saying go and search diligently for the child and when you have found him bring me word that I too may come and worship him. When they had heard the king they went their way and

behold the star which they had seen in the east went before them till it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy, and going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshipped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way. The Escape to Egypt Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you.

For Herod is about to search for the child to destroy him. And he rose, and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, out of Egypt have I called my son. Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, was in a furious rage, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time which he had ascertained from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah. A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation. Rachel, weeping for her children,

she refused to be consoled because they were no more. The return from Egypt. Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus reigned over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee. And he went and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled. He shall be called a Nazarene. Chapter 3. The Preaching of John the Baptist. In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, A voice of one crying in the wilderness,

Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Now John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit that befits repentance, and do not presume to say to yourselves, We have Abraham as our father. For I tell you,

God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree, therefore, that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear the threshing floor and gather his wheat into the granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. The Baptism of Jesus

Then Jesus came from Galilee, to the Jordan, to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me? But Jesus answered him, Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water and behold, the heavens were opened and he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And behold, a voice from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.

Chapter 4. The Temptation of Jesus. Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And he fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread. But he answered, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, He will give his angels charge of you, and on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against

a stone. Jesus said to him, Again it is written, You shall not tempt the Lord your God. Again the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them. And he said to him, All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me. Then Jesus said to him, Be gone, Satan, for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve. Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and ministered to him. Jesus begins preaching in Galilee. Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee, and leaving Nazareth,

he went and dwelt in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled. The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, toward the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people that sat in darkness have seen a great light. And for those who sat in the region and shadow of death, light has dawned. From that time, Jesus began to preach, saying, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Jesus calls the first disciples. As he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. Immediately

they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, in a boat with Zebedee, their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately, they left the boat and their father and followed him. Jesus ministers to crowds of people. And he went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues

and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every infirmity among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, And he healed them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan. The book of Proverbs chapter 18 verses 17 through 20. He who states his case first seems right until the other comes and examines him. The lot puts an end to disputes and decides between powerful contenders. A brother helped is like a strong city, but quarreling is like the bars of a castle. From the fruit of his mouth, a man is satisfied. He is satisfied by the yield of his lips. Father in heaven, we give you praise. Thank you so much. Thank you for, gosh, introducing us to Jesus

through the words of Matthew, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, you guided the apostle Matthew to write down these words that we heard in the first four chapters of Matthew's gospel. We just thank you. Help us this day and every day for the next number of days to get to know the heart of your son, Jesus.

Help us to watch him. Help us to listen to him. Help us to get close know the heart of your son, Jesus. Help us to watch him. Help us to listen to him. Help us to get close to his heart so that we can know your heart even better. And by knowing your heart, by knowing his heart, our hearts may be conformed to you. We make this prayer in Jesus' name. Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I haven't, I didn't mention, I guess, Proverbs last couple of days, but Proverbs chapter 18, Proverbs chapter 18, verse 17. I think this is just kind of wise. He who states his case first seems right until the other comes and examines him.

There's something about that that's just kind of like, you know, there's, I think there's a modern day proverb that says there's two sides of every, to every story. And that's what this ancient proverb says, essentially as well. We got introduced today to the beginning of the gospel of Matthew. A couple of things to note, as I mentioned, kind of the introduction is that chapter one, we have the genealogy of Jesus Christ. And so hopefully some of those names, you realizing this is really important. I don't know if we mentioned this before in this Bible in a year, there are four women who are mentioned by name, or at least referenced in the genealogy

of Jesus, which doesn't always happen. And there's something really unique about those four women who are mentioned. For example, we have Mary. She's the ultimate one who's mentioned, obviously. But we have the first person mentioned is Tamar. And the next person mentioned is Ruth. And the next woman mentioned is the wife of Uriah, who we know is Bathsheba. And I find it fascinating that here's Matthew, who makes it so clear. Now, we might've talked about this, gosh, a year ago almost now, when we were talking about brokenness in families. Because here, in the genealogy of Jesus Christ, we have Tamar. Remember the story of Judah and Tamar? Judah was

Tamar's father-in-law, and he had given two of his sons to Tamar. Judah was Tamar's father-in-law and he had given two of his sons to Tamar and was supposed to give that third son to Tamar, but these sons kept dying. And so Tamar took things into her own hands and basically posed as a prostitute and Judah became the father of Perez and Hezron. And that's one brokenness. The next brokenness is Ruth. Remember Ruth's story where she lived with her mother-in-law, Naomi, in the land of Moab. She was a Moabite. She wasn't a Jewish person. And yet she said when Naomi, her mother-in-law, came back to the promised land, Ruth said,

where you go, I will go. Your people will be my people and your God will be my God. And she met, well, she was there. She met Boaz and they became the great grandparents of David. And then you also have David and the wife of Uriah, the, his, the queen mother of Solomon, who is Bathsheba. And we know the story of David and Bathsheba. And so we have these three women who are mentioned here, reveal stories of brokenness. And yet it's in that brokenness that Jesus is able to, and the fatherness that jesus is able to in the father

the holy spirit is able to do something incredible with the conception of jesus christ the incarnation of jesus christ in time and any in in this place it's just inc just amazing just so i know we can go on and on ah but gosh i i can hardly get through the genealogy without getting choked up. It happens virtually every time. So you just think, Lord, this story we've been reading for this last year, which spans thousands of years with so many, so many thousands, maybe millions of people who are waiting and longing for the fulfillment of this. Finally, finally here, this is where we get to that place of Matan, the father of Jacob, Jacob, the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called the Christ.

Something important to note about Joseph. So when Joseph found that Mary was pregnant, even though they were betrothed, he knew he wasn't the father. He, being a just man, it says, being a righteous man, he decided to divorce her quietly because if he divorced her publicly, she would be exposed to shame, which is a technical term for that she would be put to death. Now, you'd ask the question, okay, so why would Joseph do this? Now, there are a number of theories.

Maybe you even say there's three theories. One theory is that Joseph, he thought that Mary was unfaithful to him and that he didn't want to see her killed, but he thought she was unfaithful. There is another theory that goes back all the way to the early church that Joseph believed Mary. If Mary would have said, listen, I wasn't, I wasn't unfaithful to you, but an angel of the Lord came to me and told me that the child in my womb is the son of God. The another theory is that Joseph believed in the purity of Mary. Another theory is that Joseph believed in the purity of Mary,

but he saw himself as being unworthy of participating in this raising of the son of God. So there's these two theories right away. One is that Joseph didn't believe Mary. The other is that Joseph, I mean, think about this. Nazareth, a small town, less than 300 people in the town of Nazareth. Joseph would know Mary and he would know

everyone she knows or everyone she knew, but also he would know the character of Mary, that this was a woman of virtue. This was a woman of purity. And believing her, he would think, I couldn't possibly, I could not possibly be the foster father of the son of God. No, there's a, and again, going back to this, early church fathers, they write about both, they take both positions. One is that Joseph didn't believe.

The other is that he did believe and thought he was unworthy. There is a third theory, and the third theory is that Joseph believed Mary, but just didn't know what to do. Not that he felt unworthy, but just, I have no idea what to do. You can imagine his confusion. What do you do? Since he's a just man, yet he's unwilling to expose her to shame, where it's not a matter of, I believe her, don't believe her. It's a matter of, I want to follow the law, but at the same time,

I believe this woman. And so what do we do? He divorces her quietly. So again, there's three theories and no one knows. You might know in heaven, that'd be great. But we're moving on because then the angel of the Lord comes, appears to Joseph, do not be afraid to take Mary, your wife, into your home for this child is conceived of the Holy Spirit. And you're going to be the foster father, basically. You're going to name him Jesus. Now in chapter two, we have the story of the wise men and we have their classic or the traditional gifts everyone would give to a baby, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. But there is a deeper meaning here, obviously. The gold is symbolic in that sense of gold for the kingship of Jesus. Frankincense for the fact that he is a priest and he will actually be the sacrifice. And myrrh, myrrh was what you would use to anoint the dead bodies of a human being. And so even at the moment of his birth, Jesus is recognized

on these three levels. One is as king, another is as priest or sacrifice, and the third is, as Archbishop Fulton Sheen once said, the only baby who was born to die. I mean, everyone dies, obviously, but the fulfillment of his life would be in his death. At the same time, one of the things we highlight, and again, so red gold of the king, the frankincense of the sacrifice of the priesthood, and third, the myrrh anointing at burial, anointing at death, we recognize that Jesus didn't just come to die. He also came to establish the kingdom. Remember, I mean, gosh, how many references

in these first four chapters do we have to the Old Testament? We have quite a few. And here's a reference from Isaiah. Here's a reference from Jeremiah. We just listened to those people over the last couple of weeks, and we hear now this fulfillment. Jesus is there.

Remember, the Assyrians came in. They destroyed the 10 tribes in the north, right? The kingdom Remember, the Assyrians came in. They destroyed the 10 tribes in the north, right? The kingdom of Israel. The Babylonians came in. They destroyed the kingdom of Judah. So what is Jesus doing? The first moment that he makes a public declaration, first moment he makes any public preaching in chapter four, he says, repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Remember, the kingdom. Jesus is here to establish a kingdom.

Yes, he's here to ultimately fulfill all of this in his death. But he is also the king. And he's here to reconstitute the kingdom. And this is massively important. And we see this revealed by what? In what way? Remember, you know now, you know the story and you also know some of the geography. So what happens? Jesus begins his preaching and where does he go?

He goes to the north of the Sea of Galilee, to Capernaum by the sea. And Matthew points out in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali saying, quoting the prophet, land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, toward the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. Why does he go there? Well, remember when the Assyrians came in from the north, the first tribes that they would annihilate would be the tribe of Zebulun and the tribe of Naphtali. So when Jesus is reconstituting the kingdom, remember the 12 tribes of Israel, where is he going to go? He goes to the place where all the destruction began in the first place.

He goes to the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali. And what does he do? He says, the kingdom is here. And then he goes along the shore of Galilee and sees this guy, Simon, called Peter and Andrew, his brother, and says, come follow me. And he sees John and James, come follow me. And then he gathers how many more? Well, a lot of disciples, but only 12 apostles. And those 12 apostles are the beginning of the

reconstituting of the kingdom, the reconstituting of the 12 tribes of Israel, the lost tribes of Israel are now being brought together under the king, the king who was promised and is fulfilled in Jesus. And now this is the new kingdom, the kingdom that was lost, but now is reestablished in Jesus. This is just incredible, isn't this? It's not just the stories. This is also the fact that here is Jesus who is fulfilling everything that God has promised in the old Testament. Everything God has promised in the story. Here is the story now. And this is amazing because here's Jesus who has not only fulfilled this as the king, but he invites you and me into being part of that kingdom. He establishes us as part of that kingdom through baptism, and we get to live that all

of our lives and in eternity. So give our hearts to him because remember what he said. He said, repent, which means turn around, which means have a change of heart, a change of life, change of mind, change of actions. And so we repent and turn to the Lord, away from our sins and back to him. That takes grace, of course, not just a strong will. It takes God's help.

And so, as always, we pray for each other. And I am, I am praying for you. Please pray for me. My name's Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.