I was touched by something in the Gospel of Matthew as I was looking at it recently and wanted to pass it along to you. It has to do with the first and last Old Testament quotations in this Gospel.

The first quotation, from Isaiah 7, refers to the birth of Jesus:

“Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a Son,
And they shall call His name Immanuel,”
which is translated, “God with us.”
— Matthew 1:23

So, Jesus came to be “God with us.”

The last quotation, from Psalm 22, is the word Jesus Himself spoke while on the cross:

“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
— Matthew 27:46

How Jesus sacrificed and gave Himself up for us!

He came to be God with us for a brief while, but that could not be an eternal reality until God had forsaken Him for a time. Or, to look at it the other way, God forsook Jesus for a time so He could be with us forever.

Praise our Lord Jesus!

Your brother…

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— 13 July 2021 —