Matthew 1

The four books open in very different settings. Together they offer a map for locating ourselves in the world.

It was an ordinary, everyday name, one that dozens of other boys in Nazareth shared.

Birthing takes a village. Our Christmas pageants recognize this truth.

Thank God Joseph recognized him.

Joseph has a massive decision to make.

Every child is from God. Joseph gets an explicit divine promise.

Matthew's geneaology underscores that God has always worked through messy and broken families.

I don’t know what a perfect first-century family looked like, but I’m certain that Joseph and Mary didn’t qualify.

In the Bible, God--or sometimes God's messenger--often implores freaked-out men and women not to be afraid. It's a standard divine greeting, a nicety to allay the pulse-quickening shock of receiving a message from heaven. Frequently the commandment stands alone: Fear not, period. Sometimes it's stitched to an object or person: Do not be afraid of _____.

My extended family once had so many males named Frederick that the women in the family assigned each of us a number so the tribe could distinguish between us at family reunions. I became Fred IV. A casual observer might have thought that we considered ourselves royalty, or perhaps a line of renegade popes.