1: The King is Coming! (Mt 1:1-17)

Before we embark on this new series to prepare your mind to really think. I can’t think of a better way to do that than tell you some Dad Jokes.

I really like to tell Dad jokes. Sometimes he laughs.

In light of Christmas and the birth of Jesus, I’ve been thinking

I think it's weird to call childbirth delivery. It's really take out.

PIC - Running Out of Womb

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Today we begin digging into the writing we call “The Gospel of Matthew”, a 2000 year old text that we will cover over the next year. As always, we need to a quick flyover to answer a couple of questions that will help give us clarity.

AUTHOR

This gospel has no writer’s name attached in the earliest forms, but this doesn’t mean we don’t have a good idea of who wrote it. The earliest Christian tradition links this writing to Matthew, a former tax collector who became on apostle of Jesus - Matthew (aka Levi - Mt 9:9; 10:3; Mk 2:14; Lk 5:27–29).

The Didache (greek “teaching”), an early collection of Christian sayings and practices, quotes from Matthew more than any other gospel. And that makes sense since it contains more of the teachings of Jesus than any other gospel.

It seems that this writing was authored BEFORE the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple (AD 70), since the writer notes Jesus prophesying of its destruction, yet not mentioning is fulfillment.

AUDIENCE

This audience was clearly Jewish. This is why the author quotes multiple Hebrew Scriptures to demonstrate how Jesus fulfills numerous prophecies of the long awaited Jewish Messiah. And while Matthew clarifies that while Jesus was thoroughly Jewish, He came to be the Savior for people from all nations. And while the Jewish people are God’s chosen people to bring about and first see the the Messiah, Jewish people who refuse to receive His claims & teachings...will be condemned by Him in the last judgement.

And with the first stroke of the pen, Matthew tells his Jewish audience exactly WHO JESUS IS.

Matthew 1:1 (NIV)

This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:

Already, there’s A LOT to unpack in these few words.

First, the clear claim is made that Jesus is not just another rabbi, and Jesus is more than a prophet; He is the long anticipated Messiah. The Greek word here is Christou, meaning “Messiah”.

Messiah is a term for the anointed king. Matthew builds his case to show that Jesus fulfills the prophecies to be in the family line of David (the greatest king of Israel) and Abraham (the founding father of Israel).

We should understand “the son of” to mean “in the family lineage of.”

The phrase “Son of David” is littered throughout Matthew’s Gospel (1:1, 1:6; 1:20; 9:27; 12:23; 15:22; 20:30–31; 21:9, 15; 22:42-45) - 17 times, more than any other book of the New Testament (next is Luke with 13). Further, in a passage often read at Christmas-time, look at the promise given to David (also see Ps 89:3-4)…

Isaiah 9:6–7 (NIV) For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

So too, Jesus is referred to as the son of Abraham. But before Abraham has any children,

he is given the incredible promise by God that his family would be like the number of stars he could see (Gen 15:5). Further, God promises that all nations would be blessed through Abraham’s family (Gen 12:1–3; 22:18), setting the stage for someone in the family of Abraham to impact the world.

Hmmm…I wonder who that could be…

Now Matthew backs up and begins the family tree of Jesus starting wit the founding father, Abraham.

Matthew 1:2 (NIV)

Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,

Throughout the Scriptures, Yahweh - the one true God - is referred as “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” ( Ex 3:6, 1 Kgs 18:36, 2 Chr 30:6, Mt 22:32, Acts 3:13). Although Matthew doesn’t focus on the sin of these patriarchs, anyone familiar with the Hebrew Scriptures will note that all of these men had their shortcomings.

The King is coming through a family full of sinful people.

Abraham was faithful to God, but he gave in to the whims of his wife to be intimate with her servant so he could have a son (Gen 16:2). This led to a family feud. Further, Abraham twice told a ‘white lie’ saying his wife was only his sister, to keep himself from being killed by kings who found her attractive (Gen 12:13, 20:2).

Isaac is the promised son through whom all nations would be blessed. He is also the son whom Yahweh told Abraham to sacrifice on Mt Moriah, but whom God spared by providing a substitute sacrifice. Later, Jesus - the promised Son of God - would become the substitute sacrifice on the same mountain.

Isaac was a godly man, BUT still a sinner…following his father’s example, LIED and told powerful men that his wife, Rebecca, was his sister (Gen 26:7).

Big Truth: All families NEED God’s forgiveness.

If the family of the Messiah needs God’s forgiveness, so does YOURS and MINE.

In fact, every person here today needs God’s forgiveness, only found by bowing your knee to the ONE who gave His life for you.

All people…and all families…NEED God’s forgiveness.

Next in the lineage is…

Jacob was the trickster who lied to his blind father to gain the inheritance & cheated his brother out of his birthright. Jacob was later humbled by God and renamed Israel - meaning “God prevails” (Gen 32:28). Jacob (aka Israel) had 12 sons, hence the 12 tribes of Israel. One of those sons was named...

Judah - the tribe from whom the future Messiah would come from. Just before his father, Jacob/Israel, died, Jacob prophesied that:

Genesis 49:10 (NIV) The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until He to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be His.

So this one would from Judah’s family would have “the obedience of the nations.”

While Judah was known for some righteous deeds, he was also known for some unrighteous deeds - like the one known to any Jew reading this next text.

Matthew 1:3–4 (NIV)

Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon,

Tamar had previously been married to Judah’s firstborn son (Gen 38), but when he disobeyed God - God killed him. According to the custom, Judah gave her to his next oldest son, but when he disobeyed God - God killed him too. Tamar expected to be married to the next oldest son, but Judah drug his feet on that and she went back to live with her family.

Meanwhile, Judah’s wife dies. When Judah goes on a trip he finds a woman thought to be a prostitute to spend some time with. Unbeknownst to him, the woman he was with was Tamar - his daughter-in-law. She talked him into paying her with his staff & some other articles he had with him.

3 months later Judah is told that his daughter-in-law is pregnant (Gen 38:24) and he judged that she should be burned for her adultery. Before she shows up for the roasting, she sends word to her father-in-law, Judah, that she has his staff and other stuff - that he paid the prostitute with.

Rut-ro-shaggy!

She had twins named Perez & Zerah - courtesy of her father-in-law, JUDAH.

That’s the family line of Jesus? YEP!

Tamar heads the list of 5 women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus. This is very strange as women were not typically included in Old Testament genealogies.

What point is Matthew trying to make?

Here’s what I think: Matthew is showing the value & redemption of both men and women who have sinned, Jews & Gentiles who have sinned, yet who are all invited into the KINGDOM of God.

Big Truth: All families NEED God’s forgiveness.

And now we see a couple of other women known to any Jewish person reading this text.

Matthew 1:5–6a (NIV)

Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David.

Rahab - that’s the prostitute who protected the spies who came to Jericho as the Israelites entered the Promised Land. We mentioned her a few weeks back when we quoted from Hebrews 11:30-31.

In this family tree we’ve seen both men and women who have been sexually immoral, whom God forgave & redeemed, and through whom the Messiah King was coming!

And then there’s Ruth, a woman whose story has her name attached to the short story. Ruth was not Jewish; Ruth was a Moabite (Ruth 1:4). Why does that matter?

These 2 Gentile women - Rahab & Ruth - become the great, great grandmother & the great grandmother of King David!

Now Matthew spotlights King David. This emphasis on the word “king” is used 22 times in Matthew’s writing, more than any other New Testament writing. After all, this writing in all about the KING and His KINGdom!

But as you know, King David didn’t always live rightly, and Matthew reminds readers of that in the next line.

Matthew 1:6b (NIV)

David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,

Remember THAT? Why mention Uriah’s wife - Bathsheba? Every Jewish person would have immediately recoiled at the mention of King David watching another man’s wife bathe, inviting her to his chamber for an affair, which resulted in pregnancy, and then ultimately killing her husband Uriah, because David couldn’t get him into enjoy intimacy with his wife to cover up his sin (2 Sam 11). In this one line of ink, the audience was reminded that even King David was a wicked sinner.

1 Kings 15:5 (NIV)

For David had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord and had not failed to keep any of the Lord’s commands all the days of his life—except in the case of Uriah the Hittite.

And that doesn’t end with King David. David isn’t the only king with in the family tree of Jesus who needs a Savior. Remember his son Solomon?

Solomon was given wisdom by God and was world-renown…HOWEVER…he disobeyed the Lord, married foreign wives who turned him to their false gods (1 Kings 11:1-13).

And what follows David & Solomon is a list of godly & ungodly kings.

Big Truth: All families NEED God’s forgiveness.

Matthew 1:7 (NIV)

Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa,

Rehoboam & his son Abijah were both wicked kings. Speaking of Abijah the Scriptures state:

1 Kings 15:3 (NIV) He [Abijah] committed all the sins his father had done before him; his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his forefather had been.

Then we see a further list of kings, although Matthew omits some of the kings who are in the genealogy of Jesus between Jehoram & Uzziah (Ahaziah - 2 Kgs 8:25-26, Joash - 2 Kings 12:1–3, and Amaziah, father of Uzziah (2 Kings 14:1–4).

Matthew 1:8-9 (NIV)

Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram, Jehoram the father of Uzziah, Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,

Ahaz was a wicked king who trusted other foreign powers for help rather than trusting Yahweh.

Hezekiah (whose name means “Yahweh is strength”), a godly king who listened to God’s prophet Isaiah. Hezekiah cleaned, repaired, and reopened the temple while tearing down the altars of false gods that littered the land (2 Kings 18:3–7; 2 Chron. 29). Further, he reestablished the celebration of the Passover. And when the Assyrians came to attempt to conquer Jerusalem after destroying hundreds of other cities in all the surrounding nations, Hezekiah went to the temple and pled with Yahweh to defend them (Isaiah 37)…and boy did He - the angel of Yahweh killed 185,000 of Assyria’s troops! (2 Kings 19:35–37)

But then came some kings we talked about 2 weeks ago -

Matthew 1:10-11 (NIV)

Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jeconiah [aka Jehoiachin] and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.

Manasseh & Amon were ungodly kings who brought images of their false gods into Yahweh’s temple. Manasseh even sacrificed one of his sons to these idols (2 Kings 21).

Josiah, however, was different, OBEYING the Word of Yahweh and cleaning the temple, getting rid of false prophets, and calling the people back to following Yahweh.

Matthew skips the wicked son of Josiah, Jehoiakim (the man who burned Jeremiah’s scroll), but mentions his son, Jeconiah [aka Jehoiachin].

The Scriptures say that Jeconiah (Jehoiachin) was 18 years old when he became king and only reigned 3 months when Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians besieged Jerusalem. But rather than kill Jeconiah, he was taken captive to Babylon (2 Kings 24:8-17).

Nebuchadnezzar named his uncle as king and changed that man’s name to Zedekiah.

But 11 years later in 586BC Nebuchadnezzar came back to Jerusalem and besieged the city again. Upon entering the city much of it was destroyed, including Solomon’s temple. Nebuchadnezzar bound Zedekiah and forced him to watch all his sons slaughtered. That was the last thing he ever saw as the King of Babylon then had his eyes gouged out and took him to Babylon (2 Kings 25:7).

So, was the family tree of Abraham & David cut down? Nope. Jeconiah (Jehoaichin) has sons while in Babylon. And one of the sons of those sons was allowed to come back to Jerusalem.

Matthew 1:12–13 (NIV)

After the exile to Babylon: Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel the father of Abihud, Abihud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor,

After the Persians conquered the Babylonians, the Persians allowed Jews to go back to Jerusalem, including Zerubbabel, the grandson of Jeconiah (Jehoichin). Although he was only given the title of governor, the kingly line of David through Hezekiah, through Josiah, and now through Zerubbabel was still alive and kickin’!

In fact, Zerubbabel was in charge of rebuilding the temple that the prophecies say the Messiah would walk through generations later!

Malachi 3:1-2 (NIV)

I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty. But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap.

When the Lord shows up, He’s gonna clean some stuff up…because

Big Truth: All families NEED God’s forgiveness.

Beyond Zerubbabel, there is not much known of several of the generations that followed including…

Matthew 1:14–15 (NIV)

Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, Akim the father of Elihud, Elihud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob,

But then we come to the main characters of the story.

Matthew 1:16–17 (NIV)

and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah. 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.

Scholars debate the meaning of the 3 sets of 14 generations.

Some point to the number of King David’s Hebrew name equaling 14.

Others focus on these 3 sets of 14, which would also be 6 sets of 6, awaiting the 7th - the number of completion, in which Jesus is about to fulfill.

Others note that these names point to the high points of Abraham & David contrasted with the lowest point in Israel’s history - the exile to Babylon.

In any case, the stage was set. It was the time for the long awaited Messiah King to show up on the scene.

HOW would the Messiah arrive? Would He ride in on a white horse and lead the people to revolt against the Romans? Not quite. As you well know, Jesus would be born to the young, humble family of Joseph & Mary.

But WHY He arrives will become crystal clear as we read through the Gospel of Matthew. The King is coming because…

Big Truth: All families NEED God’s forgiveness.

And that includes yours and mine.

The King Who Takes the Punishment

The story is told of a king who found out that someone had stolen things from the royal treasury. The king commanded that the criminal be found, bound, & lashed in public. When the criminal was found an older lady stood before him, guilty - His own mother.

Without flinching, the king commanded she be bound. While his men bound her hands, the king laid down his scepter, took off his robe, and stepped down from his throne.

He walked to his mother, stood behind her, & wrapped his arms around her. Then he commanded the lashes to begin and the punishment that his mother deserved, the king took on himself.

That’s why the Messiah King was coming, to take the punishment…yes for His mother too…and for us!

Have YOU received the GIFT of forgiveness offered to you by the King?

FEET2FAITH

Seek & Share CHRIST during the CHRISTmas season.

Open the Scriptures. Make time to pray. Look for opportunities to serve others and share Jesus with them.

And maybe, just maybe, these next couple of weeks will be the opportunity for you to tell your family and friends of the FORGIVENESS that Jesus has given you…and offered to them.

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