Advent is a time in the Christian calendar when Christians reflect on the first coming and birth of Jesus. At Fellowship, we will spend this Advent on the first two chapters of Matthew, which forms part of the Gospels. Gospel simply means “good news” and these four books are actually talking about one piece of good news – our salvation. These are four accounts of the one man, Jesus of Nazareth. It chronicles His birth, life, ministry, death and resurrection. Each writer has a different emphasis and audience. Mark emphasized the servanthood of Jesus because it was written to a Roman audience used to leadership and leaders who lorded it over them. Matthew was for the Jews, God’s covenant people who have been waiting for a Messiah. Kingdom is therefore one major theme that Matthew writes.
We begin in Matt 1, a passage that begins with an introductory statement and follows on with a bunch of names before closing with another statement. What can we learn about this King and His ancestry? What are we to do with this list of names?
(A) Jesus is God’s Promised King
Matthew begins his book with a genealogy. What does a genealogy tell us and why does Matthew begin with one? Jesus is said to be the “son of David” and “the son of Abraham” (Matt 1:1). This is important because Jesus is important to Christianity. Take Jesus out of the Bible and Christianity and the entire religion collapses. Christianity cannot exist without Christ. This is why Matthew goes to great length to show who Jesus is.
The ancestry of Jesus is revealed in this. We can track history and lineage from these names. The root word for “genealogy” refers to “genesis or beginnings. Thus, this is meant to show us Jesus’ origins in His earthly lineage.
Matthew wanted his readers to know Jesus’ lineage for a reason. They are to read this in order to know who He is. We may not understand the significance and importance of a family tree. For us, we may not know of our roots beyond our great-grandparents. But in some cultures, your family and who you come from is important.For Israel, genealogy was important in deciding what land they got. When they returned from exile, genealogy determined their role. It also establishes rule and authority and who is the king that gets to rule.
Matthew wanted his readers to know that Jesus has a bona fide claim. But a claim to what? Here, it is important to understand who David and Abraham are. They were mentioned right at the beginning of this genealogy. Firstly, Jesus, the son of David, is from the line of Israel’s greatest king. This also means that there was a royal line in Israel. In mentioning this ancestor, Matthew wanted to highlight to his readers that Jesus has the right to reign, for He is the descendant of the greatest king. It was also absolutely necessary for the king to come from this line. 2 Sam 7:12-15 refers to his son, Solomon, but 2 Sam 7:16 pointed to something more. This was what the Jews held on to — one day, another King from the line of David would come.
Jesus, the son of Abraham, is also fulfilment of the covenant with Abraham. In Gen 12:3, the Abrahamic covenant spoke of God’s promise to bless Abraham and the nations will be blessed through Him. This awaited descendant has come.
Thus, Matt 1:1 provides for us a summary and fulfilment of OT promises. Because Jesus fulfils promises that God had made earlier on, the rest of the book can go on.
Jesus hails from a certain lineage, but we also see how Jesus is set apart from others in this genealogy (c.f. Matt 1:2). The reference to Abraham highlights a supernatural birth (Matt 1:2). Abraham and Sarah had a combined age of 200 years old, and even if you take into account the fact that people lived longer then, that was still way past childbearing age. The last entry, a reference to Mary, is another supernatural birth (Matt 1:16). Mary, Jesus’ mother, was a virgin. This wasn’t a coincidental reference. Jesus is divine and his supernatural birth is to point to His supernatural character and origin.
The genealogy also doesn’t show any clear pattern of righteousness. There are adulterers, warriors, prostitutes, some heroes, and kings (both good and bad ones). Matthew tried to highlight how Jesus’ righteousness was not tied to his heritage. His righteousness was from God and is God’s righteousness manifested in the flesh who came to rescue men. Thus from these opening verses of Matthew’s gospel, we catch a glimpse of Jesus’ full humanity with a royal and Jewish lineage, and also learn about His fully divine nature.
(B) The King and His Kingdom: A New Genealogy
In these verses, note that Matthew’s genealogy is not exhaustive. He omits names and chose 14 names to maintain the symmetry. His genealogy is selective, and it was common in that day for it to be so. The term “father of” can also be translated to “descended from”, and may not necessarily refer to a first-degree father-son relationship.
What can we learn from here? We can see God’s faithfulness and His hand throughout the years. Jesus traced His genealogy to Judah (Matt 1:3). This is a fulfilment of the last words of Jacob to his son (Gen 49:8-10). These words were proclaimed hundreds of years before Christ. Yet God’s word is clear. The sceptre will not depart from Judah. In fact, despite (or because?) of his indiscretion with Tamar recorded for us in Gen 39, this was made possible. This prophecy is also fulfilled in Jesus in Matt 2:6 (c.f. Mic 5:2). In the period of the kings, not all the kings ruled justly and in obedience to God. Despite their exile, this lineage (and the nation) still perseveres. Israel did not flourish under kings that disobeyed God and despite the exile, God still preserved a remnant all the way to Jesus. Even in the silence, God did not forget His promises and He kept it in His own way and time.
Let’s take a closer look at the people in the genealogy. There are 3 main “people groups” in this genealogy — sinners, women and foreigners.
Sinners
From the names highlighted and selected here, there are idolaters, murderers, violent persecutors of God’s people and adulterers. It would have been easier to cherry pick just the good kings and certainly tempting to omit the not so good ones that may tarnish the reputation of Jesus. Yet he included Manesseh (c.f. 2 Kings 21) who wasn’t a great king. Even the great king David wasn’t perfect. As we’ve read earlier, Judah in Gen 38 was not portrayed in the most flattering light. These are the ancestors of Jesus, thus we see that Jesus’ heritage is deeply rooted in our sinful humanity. He came, was tempted in every way and remained perfectly sinless. Christ is a perfect sacrifice for our sins because He was acquainted with our sins and not tarnished.
Women
The Jews did not mention women in genealogies, much less in one of a king. The women mentioned did not have great reputations too. Tamar’s account in Gen 38 was complicated. Rahab was a Canaanite prostitute who feared the Lord and saved Israel (c.f. Josh 2). Bathsheba is not named and is just mentioned as “the wife of David”. She committed adultery with David. Once again, these inclusions were surprising especially if you are trying to explain why Jesus has the rightful claim to be King!
Foreigners
The genealogy also includes non-Jews! Rahab was a Canaanite who was saved into the nation of Israel. Ruth was a Moabite, and Moabites are tainted with the sin of incest of their ancestor Lot. Both were from nations hostile to Israel.
Matthew could have proven the kingship without mentioning these groups of people, but he chose to select these names. We see how God’s grace is extended to both men and women. Men and women both need to repent and needs God grace. There is equality in this sense. The inclusion of foreigners also give us some hint that He did not come to just save Jews. Jesus came for the sinner, the unrighteous, the foreigner, the outsider. He did not come to save the righteous, for there is no one righteous, no not one. He would save all unrighteous, all who would place their trust in Him.
What does this mean for us today. Genealogies are about births. None of us chose our own birth, but only one baby chose in all of history. God chose to come down, just like in Exo 19. He condescends to enter this sinful world of ours in a tangible, physical way. When Jesus came as a baby boy, He came invading our space, this world of sin and darkness, and when there is an invasion, there will be resistance, as we will see in the next few weeks.
But when Jesus came, He also establishes and He was starting something new in Jesus Christ. In this new lineage, all who believe in Jesus have the right to be called sons and daughters of God. This new genealogy begins with Jesus, not Abraham, not David. John tells us that Jesus who was in the beginning with God and was God chose to take on flesh for this rescue mission. This King came not only to fulfil His promises, but also came to establish a Kingdom and save a people for Himself. He opens the gates to this Kingdom because He has paid the price and entry is only dependent on us placing our faith in Him. If you, like me, is a sinner, this is good news for us! The Christmas message is not just that a Savior came. The Christmas message is that this Savior came for you and me. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and we are sheep that have gone our own way. But this genealogy shows us that His grace is greater than all our sins. When we come to trust Him, we can be sure that He will deliver on His promise. He will deliver and rescue us. His own story is proof of that, that no matter how long ago His promises were made, He will fulfil. Let us approach His throne of grace with confidence that He will deliver us.
The King has come. Long live the King!