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Matthew 1:1-17 Key Verse: 1:17 "Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ" The Genealogy of Jesus From today, we study Christmas messages. This is the story of Jesus coming to us, the good news for everyone. And this starts with the genealogy of Jesus. This part is not easy to read thoroughly. But when we do so, we can find the wonderful grace of God's salvation history. As we begin this Christmas season, let's lift our eyes from our immediate situations and see the panorama of God's history. Verse 1 says, "A record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham." Abraham, David and Jesus the Messiah are the pillars of God's salvation work. God made promises to Abraham and David and fulfilled those promises through Jesus the Messiah. God planted the seed of salvation in Abraham, it blossomed in David, and it bore fruit through Jesus the Messiah. God is the God of promise. He uses people who have faith in his promises to accomplish his world salvation purpose. First, God with Abraham and the patriarchs (2-6a). Since Adam's fall, God had in mind to send the Messiah to save mankind from their sins (Gen 3:15). In terms of his promises, God began his redemptive work with Abraham. Usually when people recruit workers, they look for someone who is young and promising, ambitious, and with an excellent resumé--showing academic achievement and valuable work experience. But God's standard in choosing his servant was quite different. When we look at Abraham, he was an old man who was still very attached to his father. He was in the line of the Semites, who called on the name of the Lord; but he lived among idol worshiping people. He was also very fatalistic because he had no son who could be his heir. He had no hope. Though he worked hard or achieved something, it would end at death without an heir. Why did God call such a man? We only know that it was God's sovereign will based only on his grace. By his mercy, God called Abraham and gave him promises: "I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing...and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you" (Gen 12:2-3). The key point of God's promise was that all nations on earth would be blessed through him. As Galatians 3:8 tells us, this was fulfilled by Jesus the Messiah. God's promise was handed down from Abraham to Isaac--the second generation, and from Isaac to Jacob--the third generation. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob all lived by faith in God's promise. They lived in tents, looking forward to God's kingdom (Heb 11:10). As Abraham did, Isaac valued God's promise and his spiritual inheritance most. Jacob eventually did also. God valued their faith and was proud of their faith. So God was not ashamed to be called their God: the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob (Heb 11:16). This implies that when we live by faith, God is not ashamed to be called our God. God's promise was further passed on to Judah, Perez, Hezron, Ram, Amminadab, Nahshon, Salmon, Boaz, Obed and Jesse, who was the father of King David. We know very little about these people, with the exception of Judah, Boaz and Jesse. But they are in the genealogy of the Messiah. Not all genealogy members are famous. Moreover, they were not all firstborn sons in their families. But they were chosen according to God's sovereign will. God is not bound by human desires and traditions; God weaves his history together in his own wisdom, according to his own sovereign purpose. One of the striking facts about this genealogy is the inclusion of several women. In verses 3 and 5 we find Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth. In Matthew's time and culture, women were not highly regarded. They were not even included when taking a census. Furthermore, these women were all Gentiles. At that time, Gentiles were regarded like domestic animals by the Jews. What is worse, both Tamar and Rahab were women of questionable morality. However, they were all women of faith in God. They were willing to risk their lives for the sake of their faith, overcoming their elements of fatalism. If they had not lived and acted by faith, they would have lived miserable and meaningless lives. But they were saved when they lived by faith. They also had strong commitments to the people of God. God highly valued their faith. God included them in the genealogy of the Messiah, despite people's prejudice of the times. God does not show favoritism. God sees our hearts and knows those who have faith in him. God includes those who have faith, regardless of human background. God is full of grace. Second, God with David and the kings (6b-11). God's promise was passed on through the generations to the time of King David. God had promised Abraham that kings would come from him (Ge 17:6). The kingdom concept was introduced to Moses (Ex 19:6) and realized through David and his kingdom. In this way, God fulfilled his promise. David was the youngest of eight sons of Jesse. Usually youngest sons are spoiled and irresponsible. But David was a shepherd boy who took care of his father's sheep. No one watched him; no one gave him recognition. But when a bear or lion attacked the sheep, David fought them, risking his life by faith in God. At that time, God was looking. God saw his faith and anointed him as King, the shepherd of Israel (1 Sa 16:13). As a shepherd king, he was able to unite the kingdom, embracing all kinds of people, and defeating their enemies. He ruled with righteousness and justice--the mind of God. God was pleased and promised to establish the throne of his kingdom forever (2 Sa 7:13). This promise was fulfilled by Jesus (Lk 1:31-33). David was a great king. However, he once became complacent and then fell into the sin of adultery. To cover his sin, he lied and conspired to murder the woman's husband. David became a prisoner of sin who deserved God's punishment. At this time, God did not cancel his promise. Rather, God had mercy on him and sent Nathan the prophet to confront him about his sin. David repented sincerely with many tears (Ps 51). Then God forgave him and, through divine discipline, restored him as the shepherd of his people. In spite of his critical failure, God established David as the model king. David became the standard of all the kings of Israel who followed after him. David's descendants ruled primarily the kingdom of Judah. Among them, there were good kings and there were wicked kings. Good kings included Asa, Jehoshaphat, Uzziah, Jotham, Hezekiah, and Josiah. Wicked kings included Solomon, Rehoboam, Abijah, Jehoram, Ahaz, Manasseh, and Amon. God bore all their mistakes and sins for generations in order to keep his promise to send the Messiah through David's line (2 Ch 21:7). God is patient. God is faithful. God keeps his promises. Third, God with Israel during the exile and beyond (12-17). The time from the exile to Babylon to the coming of the Messiah was the darkest period of Israel's history. Because of their sins of idolatry, and refusing to listen to God's word, God disciplined them by sending them into exile in Babylon (Jer 25:4 ff.). After that, they were ruled by Persia, Greece and Rome successively. It was a time of great humiliation. All their glory had been diminished. Then they realized that the most precious blessing they received was the promise of the Messiah. God purified their hearts. Hope for the coming of the Messiah began to burn in their hearts. They began to cry out, "O come, O come, Immanuel!" God was with them in the time of divine discipline. When we go through hardships, we may feel that God has abandoned us. We can feel sorry and lonely and even bitter. But in the very lowest moment, God is with us. The poem "Footprints," expresses this well: "One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky. In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there were one set of footprints. This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints. So I said to the Lord, "You promised me Lord, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there have only been one set of footprints in the sand. Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?" The Lord replied, "The times when you have seen only one set of footprints, is when I carried you." God has been with each of us personally. God has also been with our nation. We have felt God's hand of discipline in many ways. Sometimes we think that God is sick and tired of our rebellion, immorality, greed and hypocrisy. We imagine that God has shut his eyes, closed his ears, and turned away from us. But God is still with us, hoping for this nation to be a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. Look at verse 17. "Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ" The whole genealogy is about God's salvation history. It is about Jesus Christ, our savior. In conclusion, Matthew teaches us the secret of God's history. God's redemptive history never fails. We are weak. We go through a lot of up and downs. We like to give up many times. But God is strong, faithful, and full of wisdom. And this God is with us all the times even through our difficulties and hardships. Moreover, whoever remembers God and has faith can participate in this wonderful history of God. Let's thank God for his patience and faithfulness to continue his redemptive history. Let's thank God who sent Jesus and kept his promise faithfully and saved us. Let's thank God who honors our faith and uses us in his redemptive history. |
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