Erin Campbell Naman, a church member since 2009, member of Children’s Council, member of Lay Leadership Council

Matthew 1:18 (NRSV) 

Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way.  When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 1:22-23
All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.”

Reflection:
I have always been more comfortable with the New Testament. I feel confident I am not alone in that sentiment. We’re largely comfortable with the gospels, the stories of Jesus’ life, his parables, the stories of the early church even. I find great comfort in those words. I try to live my life, not always successfully, as laid out in the New Testament. 

For most of my faith journey, I thought it all began in Matthew with the birth of Jesus. Matthew marks the beginning of the New Testament and as Christians, we often think that it marks the beginning of “our story.” But as I have grown, I have realized that is not a complete view; you cannot read the New Testament without the Old Testament. You can, but it’s not the full story. And Matthew especially requires us to know the Old Testament, to know the before. Without knowing the before we can miss out on the complete story. 

Jesus is the beginning because he was at the beginning.

Of course, I knew the Old Testament stories. I knew of Noah as the builder of the ark, Abraham as the father of many nations, Moses as the freer of the Israelites, and David as the king. But the Old Testament was hard too- not just pronouncing the names and places! What do these stories have to do with the story of Jesus? Jesus is part of the bigger picture, the bigger narrative of redemption.

God has been working to redeem God’s beloved creation since Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden. As Sandra Richter writes in the Epic of Eden, God then embarks on a rescue plan to return Adam—mankind—to his presence. She says: “The Bible teaches us that redemption did not happen in one fell swoop.” We miss out on so much if we focus so much on the birth of Jesus that we neglect what came before.

I am not suggesting that we shouldn’t rightfully focus on and celebrate the birth of Jesus—of course, we should. The rescue plan would not be complete without him!  His birth is much more awesome when we see it in the greater context of God’s great love for us. God did not give up on mankind after the fall, but instead, set out to rescue us and bring us back into his presence. The Old Testament, with its battles and hard to pronounce names, is really the beginning of God’s love story to mankind. 

And then Jesus, both fully man and fully divine, is born to Mary. And the final stage is set. With Jesus’ resurrection, his defeat of death, the impossible rescue plan is fulfilled. God—the Triune God—will once again dwell with God’s beloved creation. Again, Jesus is the beginning because he was at the beginning. 

I will always treasure the New Testament. But now I see the beauty in the Old Testament. I see a triune God who loves us, who is working to save his beloved creation. I see Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David as integral parts of the rescue plan. I see a God who will one day send down his son to be born in a manger, a son who will suffer on the cross and who will triumphantly rise again. I see that Jesus is the beginning because he was at the beginning.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I thank you for your love, for your love that has been there since the beginning. Your love has been steadfast and constant. Thank you for rescuing me from my sin, for loving us enough to rescue us when we don’t even know we need rescuing. May I always remember that love and lean into that love both in the hard times and the good times. And may those going through struggles and difficulties, those who today grieve and suffer, may they lean into your love and find comfort in the one love that has been there since the beginning. Amen.