Thank you, Matthew
by Libby Jewson
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We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete (1 John 1:3,4).
Read 1 John 1:1–7
These devotions reflect on the week’s readings through a narrative retelling. As the writer reflected, meditated and prayed over the texts, she says a story started to emerge. This is an imagined dialogue formed between Matthew and a Bethlehem mother affected by Herod’s massacre. The devotions follow this mother’s reflections across the week, inviting us to consider God’s compassion, faithfulness and hope.
So, Matthew, I know our time together is coming to an end. What a joy it has been to share, laugh, cry, eat and pray together. I know that what you are writing and all the stories you have gathered will be compiled into some sort of letter that will be good news to those who read it. What amazing stories you have collected – stories of Jesus, his birth, his life, his death and his resurrection. And we are now two older people, and much has happened in our lives for us to think about and consider.
As we were talking, and you shared all the things you have seen and heard, you placed me right there in the story. You used the Scriptures to help us all understand how God had foretold this mystery of Jesus. I heard you put us all in Jesus’ unfolding story of God – how you describe God as Father, Spirit and Jesus, God’s Son, both God and truly human. Somehow, you described the fulfilment of all those verses in Scripture through the life of Jesus. As I pondered our conversations, I wondered about all those who have so many questions, including me. I wonder how these questions will be answered, how humanity will remember this, and, more importantly, what they will do with this.
Somehow, I know in my heart that even if we don’t understand it all yet, one day we will. In the meantime, together, we seemed to have found joy in sharing, learning and wondering. It has been like a light has radiated from your stories about Jesus, and especially how you explained that through Jesus’ death and resurrection, we have received peace and reunion with God. Somehow, our brokenness is forgiven, and our joy is full. I look forward to learning more, discussing and sharing my faith, and every day finding some joy – some God joy to share with those I know and love.
God of joy and life, thank you for the Gospel of Matthew and Matthew’s unfolding story of Jesus’ life. We know that the mysteries of faith, hope and love intertwine with their certainty. We know that you being both God and human, perfectly balanced, mystifies us; yet, at the same time, this completeness brings us joy. Thank you for the gift of joy. Amen.
Libby is recently retired and lives alongside the Moorabool Valley, in Central West Victoria. She loves walking, hiking, exploring, cycling on her beautiful bike ‘Ruby’, gardening, music, appreciating beauty, watching good movies and TV series, reading, sharing meals with friends and family and enjoys tending her orchard of heritage quinces. Libby is an active member of Living Faith Lutheran Church Geelong and spends time volunteering with the Melanie Jewson Foundation with her husband, Gary, and their other two adult children, André and Ashlee. Together, they run a small business called Quincey Fizz. Libby is very thankful to have had the opportunity to study in the Graduate Diploma in Divinity program at Australian Lutheran College this year.
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