“Be It unto Me according to Thy Word,” Matthew 1; Luke 1 – Come Follow Me 2023 NT Podcast 2
Scot
Hi, we’re Scot and Maurine Proctor, and this is Meridian’s podcast on the Come, Follow Me curriculum. And we’re so excited because we get to come with you into your home to study the scriptures together. It’s about our favorite thing to do. Special thanks again to Paul Cardall for providing the music for this podcast.
Maurine
Oh, we love it. And this week our chapters are Matthew 1 and Luke 1.
Scot
You know, it’s important that you add the Joseph Smith Translation to all of your studies in the coming year because Joseph gives us so many insights into the New Testament. And we’ll talk about them here and there, and you just need to pay attention to those. And one of the very first ones that we need to look at is just the fact that Joseph changed the name of the books—those four Gospels— that we call The Gospel According to Matthew. And he changed it to The Testimony of Matthew, and The Testimony of Mark, The Testimony of Luke, and The Testimony of John. That makes a real difference.
Maurine
And it’s important to understand their audience. Matthew was writing to the Jews, and he goes out of his way during his book to talk about how what he is talking about fulfills the prophecy of the Jews.
Scot
And that’s important to understand because the Jews were always looking for the fulfillment of prophecies. That was just the way they approached life.
Maurine
And Luke’s audience, of course, is to the Greeks. Luke was a missionary companion of Paul and grew up in one of the Greek cities. So, of course, that is his interest. And he is noteworthy also because he gives us a lot of our understanding of Christ’s interaction with women in his gospel.
Mark was writing under the direction of Peter. So, he pulls upon Peter’s memories, and he is essentially writing to the Romans.
And finally, John, of course, is writing to members of the church. That’s why we see such a heavy gospel orientation that we find very familiar in John.
Scot
So that brings us to Matthew chapter one. If you look at those first 17 verses, we as editors were always looking for a really great lead. You know, you’ve got to have a lead. You don’t want to bury your lead. You have to capture your audience right away.
Maurine
We know working on the Internet all the time that if we don’t have a compelling title and a compelling first paragraph, it’s a click away and click off.
Scot
Yeah, we lose our readers.
Maurine
Matthew did not get that note because he does not start on something that would look compelling to us. But remember, he’s writing to the Jews.
Scot
That’s right. So let’s look at his lead and see if it really works. Those first 17 verses, they’re all, kind of, to us, a rather tedious genealogy—a genealogy to say who Christ is. And you think, OK, you read that, and you read it, you go through each of these, and he’s the son of so-and-so, and he’s the son of so-and-so. And he goes back for a long ways. He goes back 42 generations, and you think, OK. And then in verse 18, that sounds like that should be your lead. And if you look at it, you think, OK, now on this wise came forth, you know, Jesus, the Son of God. And you think, OK. But if you look at it more closely, Matthew is hiding a message because in that very last verse in Matthew 1:17, he says something really important. He gives a witness of what these things are. Therefore, he says, and if you look at it closely, you’ll see:
“So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations” (Matthew 1:17).
There’s a message there because the Jews all know that 14 was the number that represented Messiah, and it was of the House of David. Everyone knew he would be the son of David, and you spelled David in the Hebrew דוד. And if you take the numeric value of those three letters, it equals 14. And everyone could understand that he’s saying with three witnesses, this is the Messiah, and they all get it. So Matthew actually has a great lead. It’s wonderful.
Maurine
Well, and Luke also has a wonderful lead because he takes us to the temple. What could be a more important place to begin to tell the story of the Messiah? Because the Messiah will be the fulfillment of the covenant and something that they have looked forward to for such a long time. So we go to see Zacharias, who is a priest, and he has chosen the lot that a priest can only have once in his lifetime, and that is to go into the holy place where there is an altar of incense, and he can spread incense over the coals and let that sweet smoke flow to heaven. And that represents the prayers of the Jews ascending to heaven. And so it’s a great privilege that he has. But, he has no idea that a greater privilege is about to befall him because there appearing before him is an angel named Gabriel. And who is that angel named Gabriel? Who do we know it is? Well, Joseph Smith told us, and we have this from the history of the church, that in 1839 he said that Gabriel was actually Noah. And Noah is second only to Michael in terms of the presidency of this world. And so this was a very significant moment.
Scot
Well, it’s interesting that Gabriel is only one of two angels named in all the Bible—Gabriel and Michael. And both of their names are theophoric, and it’s important that you understand theophoric names. Theophoric means a name in which the name of God is included. So, Michael, or Mich ‘a el, is one who is like unto Elohim, or one who is like unto God. And Gabriel can be translated the Mighty One or Valiant One of God. So here are these two named angels. And Gabriel comes to deliver this message to Zacharias.
Maurine
It’s significant that both Zacharias and Elizabeth are well-stricken in age. They’re well along in life and they have not been able to have a child. In Israel, to be barren was to suffer a great reproach. In fact, when Elizabeth finally learns that she will have a child, she finally says that her reproach is taken from her (Luke 1:25). What is so interesting is that idea of being barren shows up again and again because we have Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Their wives, in every case, were barren.
Scot
Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel—they’re all barren.
Maurine
Yeah, Rachel said, “Give me children, or else I die” (Genesis 1:30). And I think this shows how important it was. They understand that this was part of the blessing of the Lord to have posterity. So to be barren was to be in great need of blessing. And even the land itself, when it wasn’t being blessed by the Lord, was barren. So barren was a significant idea.
Scot
Well, in fact, in their minds, barren was looked at as a curse—in the land, or with your wife. As a woman, if you’re barren, you’re cursed.
Maurine
Well, and you can be barren of revelation, too, which they had been for many, many years in Israel before Zacharias had this significant visit at the altar. And, as you remember, he is told by Gabriel that his wife will bear a child and that this child will be an Elias. Elias is an interesting term because Elias means a forerunner. So John the Baptist will be a forerunner of coming before the Messiah to make straight His way. And, of course, Zacharias responds in a very interesting way.
Scot
Well, he wonders, how will this be? That he’s already very old. He says,
“I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.” (Luke 1:18)
This is Luke 1:18. And I love Gabriel’s answer here. He says,
“I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee”(Luke 1:19).
That’s all the witness he needs.
Maurine
That’s right. What I say is truth. And it is interesting in response to this question, because the question had laced into it the idea of doubt, then he is given a sign and he is struck dumb so that he will not be able to speak now for the entire nine months of her pregnancy. And not until another crucial moment will he be able to speak. And that, being struck dumb, is so interesting to me because it reminds me of two other people who are struck dumb as signs. Alma the Younger, when he’s visited by the angel, he is struck dumb when he is a rebellious son against his father (Mosiah 27:19).
Scot
Well, and so is Korihor struck dumb (Alma 30:49).
Maurine
So that seems to be a sign that the Lord can use.
Scot
I think it’s interesting, too, that in this interaction with Gabriel, he gives Zacharias the name of his son. Now, you’d think if Zacharias and Elizabeth had waited all these years and they never had children, if they possibly could get a son, of course they would name him Zacharias. But the angel says to him, his name will be John.
Maurine
And that’s because both Zacharias and John and Elizabeth all have very important names themselves.
Scot
Well, they do. In fact, let’s look at their names just for a second as Zacharias is another theophoric name. Can you see the name of Jehovah in there? The I-A-S, which is just like the I-A-H, that means Jehovah. So Zacharias means Jehovah remembers. Isn’t that a perfect name for Zacharias? He hasn’t forgotten him. Certainly he’d given thousands of prayers and his personal prayers with Elizabeth. Can we not have children? Can we not have a son or a daughter? Can we not be able to have posterity? This is a covenant couple.
And Elizabeth, of course, there are a number of interpretations of what Elizabeth’s name means, but it has kind of three obvious roots. And it’s also a theophoric name. You can see EL in the beginning of it, which means God. And the last part, BET, some people translate it as seven, or some people translate it as an oath. Some can look at it that El-ish-a-bet, Elizabeth, means a woman of the house of God. So there is Zacharias, Jehovah remembers, and there is Elizabeth, the woman of the house of God. And I think that’s very significant. And then John’s name.
Maurine
Well, I love this. They’re a covenant couple who are going to be bringing forth this wonderful son, John.
Scot
John’s name also means—it’s really ( יוֹחָנָן (Yôḥānān)) Yohanan, and that is also a theophoric name—and it means the Lord (or Jehovah) graciously gave. Isn’t that so cool? That’s so sweet.
Maurine
It does speak of the abundance that is about to flow into the earth in every way because the Messiah will soon be born, and John will be His forerunner. I think that’s very touching.
Scot
Well, and I think it’s interesting that he is to become an Elias, and that’s also a theophoric name. Yes it means forerunner as a calling, but the name Elias—which is the same in the Old Testament, is the name Elijah—it’s the name of both God the Father, and of Jehovah, or of the Son. So there’s the Father and the Son together as one and I think that’s really exciting and very significant.
Maurine
Well, yes, Elijah means my God is Jehovah, and that is just a statement as pure and strong as it can possibly be made. My God is Jehovah. So then Gabriel comes to see another young woman, this time in Nazareth, and her name is Mary. She is a very young woman in that time and age.
Scot
How old do you think she was?
Maurine
Well, you know, she could have been as young as 12, but maybe as old as 15. But at any rate…
Scot
In that range.
Maurine
She is certainly a young teenager because that is the age in ancient Israel when you were betrothed, and she was betrothed to Joseph.
Scot
Well, that’s interesting. Just think of it in our day’s terms. A 12-year-old is a Beehive.
Maurine
Or a 14-year-old is a Mia Maid. She is young.
Scot
Can you imagine that she is now being given this tremendous responsibility and stewardship to be the mother of the Son of God the Father?
Maurine
It is.
Scot
So here Mary is given this tremendous responsibility to become the mother of the Son of God.
Maurine
And Gabriel tells her that she will be the mother of the Son of the Highest and that she shall call His name Jesus.
Scot
So then Gabriel names this child, too. He named John and now he names Jesus. And that name is really Yeshua, and Yeshua means salvation or salvation in Jehovah. And then His full name was Yeshua ha meshiahh, which means salvation is in Jehovah, or he is the Anointed Life Giver. I just love that.
Maurine
I love that—the Anointed Life Giver—because that is the very essence of what Jesus does for us, is give us life and that more abundantly (John 10:10). What a perfect name.
Scot
And I like this, too, because here—now remember Zacharias had a question in the temple for Gabriel. He said, how should these things be? But he said it with some sense of doubt. That’s when Gabriel said, I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God (Luke 1:19). Here’s Gabriel again, standing before this young, beautiful virgin, and she says, how shall this be and that I know not a man (Luke 1:34)? But apparently her humble asking of this is not with doubt because he gives her a wonderful answer.
Maurine
Well, it’s so exciting, too, because Gabriel at that point also tells her that her cousin Elizabeth is also expecting an important child. And then he also gives her this wonderful idea, which is, with God nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37). So here we have two instances parallel. Elizabeth, who is stricken with age, is expecting a child. And Mary, who has never known a man is expecting a child. And so we have this incredibly important doctrine that with God nothing is impossible. And what I love about that is, even though these are two really important women in the religious and scriptural history of our earth and our understanding, that truth applies to all of us: that when our struggles seem overwhelming, and when we come to the Lord with something that seems beyond what we can solve, you know, with God nothing is impossible. And, so, we make Him our partner. And that’s one of the truths. You know, as we read the scriptures, we love to know all these things about the ancient world, etc., but we also want to know how they apply to us. And here is one of those moments that is clear: that in this this chapter, Luke tells us two different stories that demonstrate that with God nothing is impossible.
Scot
Kind of reminds me of Abraham 2:8, because in that he says to Abraham,
“My name is Jehovah, and I know the end from the beginning; therefore my hand shall be over thee.” (Abraham 2:8)
And so if we put that together with nothing is impossible with God, or with God nothing is impossible, and we know that His name is Jehovah and, therefore, His hand shall be over us because He knows the end from the beginning, we can exercise great faith in Him. We can exercise trust in Him. We can apply these stories to our very lives today.
Maurine
Well, and we know, too, that we are really never insecure in this world. It appears to us that we are because life sometimes feels like it has come randomly and hectic and in a way that sometimes can be very painful. But we can be so assured and feel secure if we know that the Lord is in and through all things.
Scot
What is that you used to say to your institute students?
Maurine
Oh, yeah, I used to tell them, you’re not insecure you only think you are.
Scot
That’s perfect. Well, this gets me so excited just because I think if I can apply this, that I really can believe that with God nothing is impossible, then I truly can exercise faith in Him. And I’m not exercising faith in me or in my confidence, you know. And Christ has said,
“If you will have faith in me, you shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me” (Moroni 7:33).
That’s Moroni 7:33. But, you know, we have to exercise faith in Him, not in us—not this great confidence in us that we can do it no matter what. We’re exercising faith in Him because with Him nothing is impossible.
Maurine
Well, that’s one of the scriptures that we memorized together. Scot and I love to memorize and to study the scriptures together. It is our very favorite pastime. And so we were talking about that, and Christ has said, if you have faith in me, and that was a moment of kind of aha for us. We turned to each other and said, wait a minute, we spend our whole life trying to build confidence in ourselves, and that may be just a secular view because Christ has said, if you will have faith in me, you’ll have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me.
Well, of course, Mary then goes to see her cousin Elizabeth. And I find this a very touching moment when she first sees Elizabeth, because Elizabeth’s child, of course, who is John, leaps in her womb in recognition of this Mary and of Jesus that she is carrying—this Messiah.
Scot
And that’s the promise that had been given, that this child would be filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother’s womb. So there the promise is fulfilled. Absolutely.
Maurine
I do love that as well. And I love the sort of generosity of spirit that represents because Elizabeth was going to give birth to a wonderful and special child, but Mary was going to give birth to the Messiah. And there was just support and love back and forth between them.
Now, Nazareth, where Mary grew up, was a very small and insignificant place. You remember later on we hear, “can anything good come out of Nazareth” (John 1:46)? It had probably a population of 400 at that time period and so everyone would have known everyone. And how is it for Mary when she is suddenly with child in a place that is so small? And what does that mean for Joseph? Joseph could have been horrified, turn her out, “put her away privily” (Matthew 1:19) is what he was thinking about. But he had something instead wonderful happened to him.
Scot
Joseph is an amazing man because he’s pondering these things in his heart. And we learn, it says in the King James Version that the angel came to him in a dream, but in the Joseph Smith Translation we see that it was a vision. And, so, in this vision, the angel comes to him and says, fear not to take Mary unto thee as thy wife, and that’s OK because that which is inside of her is this Holy One of Israel. His name shall be Jesus, and he gives a testimony (Matthew 1:20-21). And we just have a small part of that vision. And we have to remember that sometimes in the scriptures we’re just given a little verse or a little line, but that doesn’t mean that’s all that happened there. It just means that’s all we have recorded.
Maurine
I have tender feelings for Joseph because he was chosen, too, before the foundations of this world to play that important role. He was given that charge before the foundations of this earth to take care of Jesus. And that was such an important thing. Both Mary and Joseph had this enormous responsibility of teaching Jesus, the Son of God, of sharing the scriptures with Him, of bringing Him up as a good Jewish boy would, knowing the scriptures intimately. And I love it because Mary, just at her very youngest age, gives this incredible psalm that is really so significant. She lays out in this chapter such a breadth of understanding of the covenant and of the Messiah and who He would be. This shows that Mary already had been studying the scriptures, knew them well, had a depth of understanding and spirituality that would far surpass a girl of that age.
Scot
Well, I love it because she says, as she’s talking to Elizabeth, she says,
“46[…]My soul doth magnify the Lord,
“47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
“48 For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
“49 For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name” (Luke 1:46-49).
And she goes on for ten verses, and she’s clearly well versed in the scriptures at age 13, 14, or 15. Whatever her young age is, she is well versed, and so is Elizabeth.
Maurine
Oh, she really gets it doesn’t she.
Scot
And she understands it.
Maurine
One other thing that’s so interesting about that is Joseph. We don’t hear anything about Joseph, any mention of him in scripture after the visit when Jesus is 12 years old to the Passover when he stays in the temple and is lost from them for three days, which makes some people wonder if Joseph didn’t die and leave Mary a widow. What’s so fascinating about that is we do know that Joseph and Mary had children. They had at least four sons and daughters. We don’t know the number of the daughters, but that would suggest that Jesus then would have the responsibility for His widowed mother and all those children. So those times when He is talking about His tenderness for the widow and those who are in those particularly vulnerable circumstances…
Scot
He knows.
Maurine
…He knows.
Scot
I do love that. It’s so, so sweet.
Well, we get back a little bit to Zacharias. I just have to say something about him because there’s just six months between John and Jesus. In fact, some have said that his mission was to make straight the way for the Lord Jesus Christ and for His coming, and a straight line is 180 degrees, and he was born 180 days before Jesus. I think that’s kind of fun and significant to think about. But Zacharias, we know, it says right in the New Testament, that he was killed because the Savior calls the people out, the wicked ones out, because of this death of Zacharias. But we learn from Joseph Smith an interesting thing. He says,
“When Herod’s edict went forth to destroy the young children, John was about six months older than Jesus, and came under this hellish edict, and Zacharias caused his mother to take him into the mountains, where he was raised on locusts and wild honey. When his father refused to disclose his hiding place, and being the officiating high priest at the Temple that year, was slain by Herod’s order, between the porch and the altar, as Jesus said.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Page 261)
So there we see this scene where Zacharias is killed in the very temple where he had the vision of Gabriel that said that he would have the son. And now to protect his son, he would be killed. And so, Elizabeth, then, we don’t know how long she lived, but she also was a single mother, just like Mary must have been at some point. And so there’s this compassion from Jesus towards Elizabeth and Mary and all those who are in that similar circumstance.
Maurine
So often when we hear the story about Herod ordering the murder of the infants in all the coasts there in Bethlehem we don’t even think about John. We don’t even think about the implications. But it is a tender thought to think of Zacharias receiving that vision in the temple and then being murdered there for the son that he would protect. These chapters are so rich and so full. And the best way to study these is ask questions as you read along. It’s fun to look at a word like barren and follow it through and see then that all the wives of the patriarchs were barren. And so if you ask yourself questions as you move along, there are wonderful resources right within our own scriptures: footnotes to follow, topical guides, and bible dictionaries to follow. And this will be a rich source of your study as you’re looking at these chapters this week.
Scot
And I just wanted to give this really important point at the end of our lesson today: don’t forget to add in the modern scriptures, the Doctrine and Covenants, the Book of Mormon, the Pearl of Great Price. Bring them in. There’s lots of verses that will help us understand the life of the Savior. And I was just thinking about John, since we’ve been talking about John, going into the wilderness. We learn one amazing thing about him in, of all places, Section 84 of the Doctrine and Covenants, verse 28.
“For he [John] was baptized while he was yet in his childhood, and was ordained by the angel of God at the time he was eight days old unto this power, to overthrow the kingdom of the Jews, and to make straight the way of the Lord before the face of his people, to prepare them for the coming of the Lord, in whose hand is given all power” (D&C 84:28).
So there is a great insight for John the Baptist, and that’s in Section 84:28. Don’t leave out all those amazing resources from the Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants, The Pearl of Great Price. Add them into your studies of the New Testament.
Actually, Maurine, may I just add five promises that will encourage our listeners to read and study the scriptures this coming week and in weeks to follow? Here’s one from President Howard W. Hunter:
“We hope you are reading and studying the scriptures on a daily basis as individuals and as families. We should not take lightly the command of the Lord, ‘Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me’ (John 5:39). The Spirit will come into your homes and your lives as you read the revealed word” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Howard W. Hunter, page 144).
Here’s one from Brigham Young:
“Do you read the Scriptures, my brethren and sisters, as though you were writing them a thousand, two thousand, or five thousand years ago? Do you read them as though you stood in the place of the men who wrote them? If you do not feel thus, it is your privilege to do so, that you may be as familiar with the spirit and meaning of the written word of God as you are with your daily walk and conversation, or as you are with your workmen or with your households” (DBY, 128).
Here’s one from President Spencer W. Kimball:
“The years have taught me that if we will energetically pursue this worthy personal goal [to study the scriptures] in a determined and conscientious manner, we shall indeed find answers to our problems and peace in our hearts. We shall experience the Holy Ghost broadening our understanding, find new insights, witness an unfolding pattern of all scripture; and the doctrines of the Lord shall come to have more meaning to us than we ever thought possible. As a consequence, we shall have greater wisdom with which to guide ourselves and our families. I ask all to begin now to study the scriptures in earnest, if you have not already done so” (“Always a Convert Church,” Ensign, Sept. 1975, 2–3).
And here’s an insight from President Henry B. Eyring:
“Reading, studying, and pondering are not the same. We read words and we may get ideas. We study and we may discover patterns and connections in scripture. But when we ponder, we invite revelation by the Spirit. Pondering, to me, is the thinking and the praying I do after reading and studying in the scriptures carefully” (Henry B. Eyring, “Serve with the Spirit,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2010, 60).
And finally, here’s a promise from President Russell M. Nelson:
“I learned long ago that a period of uninterrupted scriptural study in the morning brings enduring enrichment. I feel as did Jeremiah: ‘Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart’ (Jer. 15:16). Sacred scriptures have been repeatedly described as ‘glad tidings of great joy’ (Hel. 16:14; Mosiah 3:3; Alma 13:22; see also Luke 2:10). As we learn and abide their teachings, that joy becomes part of our lives” (Joy Cometh in the Morning, October 1986).
So, next week, our lesson is going to be…
Maurine
Matthew 2 and Luke 2.
Scot
…Matthew 2 and Luke 2. I wonder if anyone’s familiar with Luke chapter two.
Maurine
I don’t know. I bet we might have heard it before.
Scot
Well, let’s see what kind of insights we can learn.
The post “Be It unto Me according to Thy Word,” Matthew 1; Luke 1 – Come Follow Me 2023 NT Podcast 2 first appeared on Meridian Magazine.
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