Behold the King Who Steps Into Our Waiting: In the Book of Matthew

A Matthew 1 Advent Reflection

Advent has a way of slowing us down, whether we want it to or not. The lights come out, the days get shorter, and something inside us starts paying attention again. This year, for some reason, the Lord has significantly slowed everything down for me. Even though I’m still leading a discipleship ministry, knee-deep in a doctoral program at Asbury, and raising four kids (one who is a borderline adult!), my life feels slower. Perhaps it’s because God is reshaping my intentionality. Over the past few years, I’ve had to learn that I need to be particular about where God uses me. And honestly, working through the Behold Path has helped me do exactly that.

Back in 2022, the word the Lord kept whispering to me was “intentional.” And as I learned that our God is intentional (and His Son intentional in every step of His earthly ministry), I found myself seeking that same intentionality in my own life.

And maybe that’s why Matthew opens his Gospel the way he does—not with glitter, not with angels singing, but with a long list of names and stories woven together by one quiet thread:

God has been working all along.

Matthew 1 doesn’t feel very “Christmas-y” at first glance, but it’s the exact beginning Advent people need. It’s a reminder that God’s faithfulness doesn’t start in a manger. It stretches across generations, through messy family lines, through loss and redemption, until it arrives—right in the middle of ordinary life.

A New Genesis Begins

Matthew starts his Gospel with a phrase that echoes Genesis: “The book of the genesis of Jesus Christ.”

He’s telling us: This is the beginning of a new creation. What God started in Genesis—ordering chaos, bringing light, shaping life—He continues in Jesus. Advent is the whisper that God still creates, still restores, still brings life where things feel empty or dark.

Sometimes the most powerful miracles begin quietly, with intention, and go unnoticed. (We have to be paying attention… are you catching the theme here?)

Behold Moments in Unexpected Places

Matthew’s Christmas story is filled with little invitations to pay attention:

• Behold, a virgin will conceive.

• Behold, an angel appears to Joseph.

• Behold, wise men came from the East.

Matthew is basically tapping us on the shoulder, saying, “LOOK! Don’t miss what God is doing right here.”

And maybe that’s our Advent posture too; we must train our eyes to notice God’s nearness in the quiet corners of our lives. The small mercies. The unexpected provision. The softening of a heart we thought would never change. God still says, Behold!

A Family Line Full of Redemption

One of my favorite moments in Matthew 1 is the genealogy. It’s not thrilling reading, but it is absolutely stunning theology. Matthew intentionally includes women most people wouldn’t expect:

Tamar.
Rahab.
Ruth.
Bathsheba.
Mary.

These aren’t polished, “perfect” women. They are women who lived through loss, trauma, scandal, risk, and deep faithfulness. And Matthew places them right in the center of the story because Jesus arrives through real lives, real wounds, and real redemption.

Which means He is not afraid of ours.

Advent tells us that Jesus enters the world right where things are fragile, complicated, and unexpected. He does His best work there.

The King Who Comes Quietly

While Herod clings to power and fear, Jesus enters the world in humility. A quiet King. A different Kingdom. A new kind of hope. Matthew keeps reminding us:
This King is not like other kings.

He doesn’t come to take from us.
He comes to dwell with us.
To restore us.
To lead us into a Kingdom marked by peace, justice, and renewal.

And maybe that’s the invitation of Matthew during Advent—to let Jesus be the kind of King who changes how we wait, how we hope, and how we trust.

Behold, the King Has Come—and He Still Comes

Advent isn’t only about remembering that Jesus came. It’s about opening our eyes to the ways He still comes:

Into our questions.
Into our exhaustion.
Into our longing.
Into our chaos.

Matthew’s invitation is simple: Behold the King who steps right into your waiting.

So as you light the candles, wrap the gifts, or sit quietly with a warm mug in your hands, may this be your Advent prayer:

“Lord, help me pay attention. Help me behold You—right here, right now.”

He’s nearer than you think.