Matthew 1 Devotional

A Savior for Sinners

“She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.””Matthew 1:21 (BSB)

Matthew begins with a long list of names, from Abraham through King David, down to the exile in Babylon, and on to Joseph, the husband of Mary (1:1-17). It is not a polished list. It includes Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and the wife of Uriah (1:3-6), and it runs straight through the exile. Generation after generation, God kept the line moving toward the son of David he had promised.

Then the promise arrives in a way no one expected. Joseph plans to end his engagement quietly, until an angel tells him in a dream that Mary's child is from the Holy Spirit (1:18-20). The boy is to be named Jesus, because he rescues his people, and what he rescues them from is their sins (1:21). He is also Immanuel, a name meaning that God has come to be with us (1:23). God did not send advice from a distance. He came in person. Your sin does not need to be hidden from him, because sinners are the very people he came for.

To think about: What sin have you been trying to manage on your own instead of bringing it to the Savior who came to rescue you from it?