The Genealogy of Jesus
Text: Matthew 1:1-17
Core Idea: The genealogy of Jesus reminds us that God is good, that God is gracious, and that God gives us rest through the person of Jesus Christ. This Advent, let us remember that Christmas is all about Jesus – His arrival. The wait is over – the King is here as was promised. Let us welcome and celebrate Him. Let us hope again.
INTRODUCTION
Good afternoon, Lighthouse. It is good to see all of you here. Today is special in that we get to worship with our children and youths. I hope you know how grateful I am for each one of you. Know that I’ve been praying for you this week. I hope that God will speak to you through the Word and show you how beautiful Jesus Christ is.
Well, last Sunday signaled the beginning of the Advent season – so, we’ll take a break from the Gospel of Mark and spend the next four weeks looking at the first two chapters of the Gospel of Matthew to see how the birth of Jesus Christ brings this peace to our hearts. Then with this in mind, let’s turn our Bibles to Matthew 1:1-17. And I’m going to invite Jiwoo to the front – and he’ll read the passage for us.
1 This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham: 2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, 4 Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, 6 and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife, 7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, 8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram, Jehoram the father of Uzziah, 9 Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah, 11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon. 12 After the exile to Babylon: Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13 Zerubbabel the father of Abihud, Abihud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, 14 Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, Akim the father of Elihud, 15 Elihud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, 16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah. 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 Messiah.
Thank you, Jiwoo, for reading the passage for us. Now, as he was reading, I wonder if you were wondering, “What in the world is Woohyun going to preach from this passage?” I was thinking the same thing – because let’s be honest, this is the kind of passage that we often skip or quickly skim through. I’m definitely guilty of it, thinking to myself, “What use does this have? I can’t even pronounce some of the names. Let’s just move onto something actually good – something that can speak into my life right now.” Sadly, many of us don’t really understand the significance of it – but Matthew did. And we want to learn from him. So, there are three things I want to point out from this genealogy:
· THE GOSPEL DECLARED
· THE GRACE OF GOD
· THE GREAT REST
1) THE GOSPEL DECLARED
Matthew wrote this book to tell people about Jesus – how He came, what He said, and what He accomplished in His death and resurrection. Then notice the way he began this book. He didn’t say, “Once upon a time.” Instead, he said, “This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah.” – he provided a genealogy with the names of real people. Why is this important? Because Matthew was grounding who Jesus was and what He did in real history. He was essentially saying, “What you’re about to hear isn’t a fairy story, a legend, or a myth – this actually happened.” You see, one of the most important features of Christianity is that it’s grounded in real history because the gospel is not good advice – it’s good news. The core of Christianity is not a set of principles that Jesus taught us to do, but something that Jesus did for us in real time and real space. Think with me. Advice urges us to make something happen, but news urges us to recognize something has already happened. Advice says it’s all up to us to act but news says someone else has acted for us. For example, let’s say that there’s an enemy army coming toward our city. What we need is military advisers; we need advice. Someone needs to come up with ways to defend, ways to position our soldiers, ways to bring resources in, ways to attack, and so on. But what if a great king intervened and defeated this invading army? Then we don’t need military advisers; we need messengers – messengers who will announce to the city, “Stop fleeing the city; stop trying to save yourselves; you don’t need to be in fear – the King has saved us.” Matthew tells us that the gospel is the good news about Jesus Christ. This is why when an angel appeared to announce Jesus’ coming, he didn’t say, “A great teacher is here” (though He is) – he said, “A Savior has been born to you. Listen to what He’s about to do.” (Lk. 2:11).
That’s what Christmas is all about. It’s about God entering into history in the person of Jesus Christ to do for us what we could not do for ourselves – to save us from sin and evil. Friends, Christmas is not a lesson on how to live our lives better. It’s not an inspiring story teaching us how to improve our lives or feel good about ourselves. Instead, it reminds us of what Jesus did for us – which is why when it comes to the gospel (this Christmas story), it must be received like a gift. In other words, if you leave this place thinking that you ought to live this or that way without embracing what Jesus did for you, you really haven’t understood what Christmas is all about – what the gospel is all about. The core of Christianity is not primarily a set of teachings to be followed, but a gift to be received.
Now, why did Matthew use genealogy to announce this good news? He could’ve just said, “The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God” like Mark did (Mk. 1:1). Or he could’ve gone straight to the story of the Magi and King Herod since it can still connect Jesus to real history. Why did Matthew begin with a genealogy? Because Matthew wanted to show his readers that this wasn’t a new story but the end of an old one. He wanted to show that Jesus’ coming was God’s way of fulfilling His promise. Let’s go back to verse 1, “This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Matthew intentionally mentioned these two people because of the promises that God made to them. Abraham was promised that through one of his descendants, his seed, all the people in the world will be blessed (Gen. 22:16-18). And David was promised that one of his descendants would sit on the throne and his reign would last forever (2 Sam. 7:12-16). In other words, God promised these two that the Messiah would come from their lineage and bring salvation to Israel. Then by tracing the family line of Abraham and David, Matthew was declaring that God’s promises to them were being fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ.
But can I just point out something about this promise? Look how long it took for God to fulfill His promise – it took Him literally thousands of years. Not only that, but at times, it seemed like God wasn’t even working toward that promise at all. Just look at the history in this genealogy – there were events that could’ve frustrated God from keeping His promise. Abraham and Sarah couldn’t get pregnant. A famine almost starved Jacob and his twelve sons to death. Then they became slaves in Egypt. Then they were sent into exile. Then God was absolutely silent for 400 years – He didn’t speak to the Israelites not even through a prophet or an angel. And now, they find themselves subjugated by Rome. You see, it didn’t just look like God was taking a long time – it looked like He wasn’t actually doing anything. But through this genealogy, Matthew wanted us to know that God was orchestrating and interweaving all things to fulfill His promise just at the right time.
Brothers and sisters, this is the story of Christmas: it’s the day when God broke the silence and fulfilled His promise. This is the good news of Jesus Christ: the wait is finally over – we get to meet the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the only One who is able to satisfy our empty souls and save us from sin. Even through this genealogy, God is reminding us that He will never fail us. I wonder if some of you find yourself in a posture of waiting this Christmas. There’s this longing for some yearnings to be fulfilled. Maybe it’s a longing to have your family put back together. Or to have a family of your own. Maybe you were hoping to be married by now. Maybe you’re longing for your health to get better. Or your finances to get better. And here’s the thing: you’ve tried everything you know. You’ve gotten advice, prayed, and worked hard – but still, nothing has changed. And, honestly, you may be wondering, “God, are You even up there? Do You hear me? Do You really love me?” If this is you, may this genealogy remind you that God sees you. Look at the names that are recorded in this genealogy. They may not mean much to us, but God hasn’t forgotten a single one of them. And through their lives, through their lineage, He brought forth the Messiah. It’s true that He may not operate on our timeframe – but one thing I’m certain of is that He will never abandon us. He will always give us more than we can ever imagine or desire. In His perfect way, in His perfect time, He will always come through – He will turn our chaos into order. Lamentations 3:25-26 says, “The LORD is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.” Brothers and sisters, it is good for you to wait. Then would you trust Him today? With all that’s going on in your lives, with things that others may not even know, with things that have been weighing your heart, know that He is with you. He sees you – and He will provide all that we need through Jesus Christ. He is our good news.
2) THE GRACE OF GOD
To appreciate this point, we need to first understand that genealogies were the resume of the ancient world. Today, if you want to show that you’re an important person, an accomplished person, you’ll point to your resume because it’s your resume that provides the best version of yourself. It lists what school you went to, which companies you worked for, what you’ve achieved, what kind of reputation you have, what kind of skills you possess – basically, everything you’ve done well. No wonder we work so hard on our resumes. But in ancient times, your credentials came from your genealogy, not your resume. This is because, unlike our culture which is very individualistic, in ancient times, what mattered most was your family prestige – the measure of your worth came from your family. Then it’s not surprising to note that some people intentionally removed certain names from their genealogies because they wanted to protect and embellish their reputation. Of course, we shouldn’t be quick to judge because that’s what we do with our resumes. Let’s say that we went to one school but flunk out – you probably won’t mention that in your resume. Or let’s say you worked somewhere you’re not proud of – you may conveniently leave that part out of your resume. All this to say, people in ancient times didn’t put names on their genealogy unless they were proud of them.
Then what we would expect from the genealogy of Jesus, the Son of God, the long-awaited Savior King, the noblest, the purest, the wisest man to have ever lived, is that it would be a list of the most religious and holy people – a genealogy fit for a King. But that’s not what we find at all. It’s a genealogy of brokenness – a genealogy of dysfunction, disobedience, and sin. There are people who should’ve been left out – but they’re left in, and, in fact, actually highlighted. For time’s sake, let me just point out two examples. Verse 8 – Jehoram killed all his brothers to become the king of Judah. In fact, he was so wicked that God struck him with an incurable disease (2 Chron. 21:18). Verse 10 – Manasseh, one of the most wicked kings that ever reigned in Judah as he forced the people to worship Baal, set up idols in the temple, and engage in witchcraft. You see, many of them in Jesus’ genealogy were not honorable and respectable – they were deeply flawed.
Not only that, but there are also five women mentioned in the genealogy – Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary. This was unusual in a patriarchal society where ancestry was traced primarily through men. On rare occasions, you would include women but that was only if they accomplished something incredibly exceptional. And yet Matthew included them. Now, who were they? Not only were they gender outsiders, but they were also racial outsiders. Rahab was a Canaanite and Ruth was a Moabite – which meant that they would’ve been marginalized and despised by the Jews. You certainly wouldn’t want foreigners in your genealogy – but there they were. They were also moral outsiders. Verse 3, “Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar.” On the surface, nothing seems to be out of place. But Genesis 38 reveals that Judah was actually Tamar’s father-in-law. Isn’t it interesting that even though Jesus’ line continued through Perez, not Zerah, Matthew put both of them in there? He did this to prompt the readers to remember the whole story. Now, I won’t go into details because of the children here – but what’s clear is that this was not a legitimate relationship. This displeased God greatly. Verse 4 – Rahab was described as a prostitute in Joshua 2. She lived a very promiscuous life, yet she was included in the genealogy of Jesus. Verse 6, “David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife.” She is unnamed here, but we know from 2 Samuel 11 that her name was Bathsheba. Again, Matthew did this intentionally to remind people of that story. You see, if you could have anyone in your genealogy, it would be David. He was powerful – one of the greatest kings in the history of Israel. He was a faithful worshiper. He was a man after God’s own heart. But remember what David did. David didn’t care that Uriah and Bathsheba were married. He didn’t care about what God said about marriage – he only cared about what he wanted. I’m intentionally leaving out a lot because of the children – but the point is that David committed a lot of sins just to be with Bathsheba. They were gender outsiders, racial outsiders, moral outsiders. But lastly, they were also social outsiders. Verse 4 – Ruth experienced deep pain and tragedy after her husband died early in her life. She lived an incredibly difficult life as a widow – doing heavy labor to provide for herself and her mother-in-law. We could go on and on – but this is the genealogy of Jesus. It includes people who would’ve been permanently excluded from the presence of God according to the law of Moses – but Jesus brings all of them in.
What does this mean for us? Two things. First, it means that no matter who we are, no matter what we’ve done, no matter what was done to us, we can still be part of God’s family. This is a genealogy of hope. Pastor J.D. Greear said, “God was at work in the ugliest of situations bringing forth His most beautiful Son. In Christ, He takes the ugliest of your life and redeems it for the beauty of His glory.” Brothers and sisters, this genealogy is a message of grace and deep assurance that no matter how much we’ve messed up, no matter how many family secrets we have, no matter how broken we feel, no matter the sin in our lives, if we place our trust in Christ, God is able to use us for His glory. Think with me – the fact that we’re part of His family tells us that He’s not ashamed of us. God is proud of us – proud to have us in His family. Isn’t that amazing?
Second, this should cause us, the church, to value something different from the world. The world cares a lot about people’s credentials – where you went to school, where you work, what you have accomplished, what you possess, what you can offer, and so on. But Jesus turns all that upside down. Those things don’t matter in His presence. Then through this genealogy, Jesus is saying to all of us, “My church ought to be different. All the things that are so important out there shouldn’t be so important here.” Pastor Tim Keller once said, “When Christians meet someone from a sharply different culture, race, or social class but who has experienced the grace of Jesus Christ through the gospel, we don’t see the differences first, because we are looking at someone who has been through the same life and death situation as we have, since in Christ we have spiritually died and been raised to new life. And because of this common experience of grace, when we come together, we find we ‘fit’!” In other words, in Christ, we are a perfect fit for each other – through Him, we belong to each other. May this be the kind of church that we become. Let nothing divide us but let Christ bring all of us together.
3) THE GREAT REST
Let’s 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 Messiah.” I’m sure you’re all asking, “What’s the significance of the number 14? Why does Matthew mention this?” I had no idea. I had to read a number of commentaries – and this is what I learned. It’s quite amazing. I actually made a slide that can help us see this visually. There are three 14s and each 14 is essentially two 7s. Then in this genealogy, there are three 14s which means that there are six 7s. And this all leads to Jesus who becomes the seventh 7. Does that make sense? Now, why is this important? In order to answer this, we must realize that number 7 in the Bible represents completion – it’s the number that points to rest. God rested on the seventh day of creation. Every seven years, the land was given “rest,” as in, they were left uncultivated to be replenished of its nutrients. And Leviticus 25 talks about the seventh seven years called the year of Jubilee, in which all debts were forgiven, and all slaves were freed. In other words, when Matthew tells us that Jesus is the seventh 7, he is declaring that Jesus is the year of Jubilee personified – Jesus fulfills the ultimate Jubilee. In Him, all debts will be forgiven, and all slaves will be freed. Jesus Christ is the ultimate rest.
Now, how does He give us that rest? By telling us that we don’t have to earn God’s love. We don’t have to prove our worth. We don’t have to work to be saved – salvation is given to us as a gift purchased by Christ. He paid the debt of our sin by dying on the cross for us so that you and I can have life and life to the full. In Him, we receive purpose. And in Him, we receive strength and wisdom to live the life that we were created for. In Christ, we have the absolute approval of the only One whose opinion really matters – “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31). That’s what Christmas is all about.
CONCLUSION
Lighthouse family, the genealogy of Jesus reminds us that God is good, that God is gracious, and that God gives us rest through the person of Jesus Christ. This Advent, let us remember that Christmas is all about Jesus – His arrival.The wait is over – the King is here as was promised. Let us welcome and celebrate Him. Let us hope again.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1) Christmas reminds us that the wait is over – God fulfilled His promise to save His people through the birth of Jesus Christ. Then how does the gospel bring comfort to your waiting today?
2) Christmas reminds us that anyone can be part of God’s family through Jesus Christ. How does this bring peace to your heart? How can we live this out at Lighthouse – so that nothing would divide us, but Christ would bring all of us together?
3) Christmas reminds us that we can find rest in Jesus Christ – He is the ultimate Jubilee. What does it mean to rest in Him in the chaos of your life today?