Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
Emotion Tone
Anger
0.12UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.09UNLIKELY
Fear
0.11UNLIKELY
Joy
0.57LIKELY
Sadness
0.2UNLIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.62LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.04UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.96LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.7LIKELY
Extraversion
0.23UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.63LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.73LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
I. The Reading
Our preaching text is Matthew 1:1-17.
This is the first message that will be preached this week in a series of Christmas sermons from the beginning of Matthew’s gospel account.
Today, our textual focus is Matthew 1:1-17.
I’m reading from the New American Standard Bible translation.
This is a reading from God’s Word:
May God bless the reading of His holy Word.
Will you pray with me?
Pray
[ Title Slide for Display ]
Matthew 1:1-17 | “By Whom Jesus Was Born”
II.
The Exhortation
A. Title [ 1:1 ]
Admittedly, this text is not one that is often preached, IF it is preached at all.
But remember, our aim in preaching is not to preach texts.
Our aim in preaching is to preach Jesus Christ from every text, including the one before us this morning.
The Bible is all about Jesus, who said:
We are inclined to skip ahead to the end.
But Jesus is the beginning too.
And Matthew certainly calls this to mind with his choice for words in his opening title, Verse 1.
The word translated “genealogy” is the Greek noun: γένεσις genesis.
Matthew 1:1 (NASB 95)
1 The record of the genealogy [ γένεσις genesis ] of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham:
This is the same Greek word used in the title for the first book of the Old Testament, the book of Genesis.
(LXX)
This suggests that the birth of Jesus is another beginning - God doing something new, just as He promised He would in the Prophets (TNTC, and see Is 43:19).
This Gospel of Matthew is positioned at the beginning of what we call the New Testament, proclaiming Jesus as God’s provision and God’s way for making old things new.
This is the book of the genesis of Jesus Christ (Herm).
We would be unwise to pass over a text that gifts us with such a clearly stated outcome and purpose as this verse does, which is to lead us to Jesus and the faith that He is the Christ.
Look with me again at Matthew 1:1 —
Matthew could not be any clearer at the beginning of his gospel account, concerning who this text and this book, is all about.
It is about a very specific person named Jesus, whom Scripture identifies as the Messiah.
That word Messiah is the Greek word Χριστός which is most often translated “Christ.”
“Christ” is not Jesus’ last name.
It is a title to identify who He is - it means “Anointed One.”
Jesus is the Anointed One of God.
He alone is the Savior of the world, the Deliverer of God’s people from sin and death.
He is the promised Messiah.
This word “Messiah” or “Christ” appears three times in these first seventeen verses.
Matthew wants us to know from the very beginning the Christ-conclusion he will expound about Jesus throughout the course of His Gospel.
It is a conclusion God desires all people to arrive at by faith, too.
It is at this point we begin to see the need for this genealogy.
Not everyone believes Jesus is the Messiah.
Think with me about all the uncertainty that exists in the world today about who Jesus is.
This question captivates the attention of scholars and skeptics and even some saints.
Because every person must arrive at a conclusion of who Jesus is.
It is an answer every person will ultimately confess before God ( see Phil 2:10-11).
On one occasion, Jesus said to His disciples:
Matthew 16:13 (NASB 95)
13 ...“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
(The “Son of Man” is yet another messianic title for Jesus).
And the disciples answered Him.
Listen to the uncertainty represented among the people of Jesus’ day:
There is uncertainty about Jesus’ identity.
After hearing the various responses of what people say, Jesus then redirects the question and makes it personal to his disciples:
We will all have to personally answer this question, and in light of this we may appreciate the details given in this genealogy all the more.
Who Jesus is, is a question that every person must answer and will ultimately confess before God, and may I be so bold as to say, that this is a question that every person must answer correctly?
Who Jesus is, is not subjective to our personal feelings or opinions.
There is a right and wrong answer, for Jesus was and is a real person as evidenced by His birth.
And our lives both now and for eternity, depend upon the correct answer to the question of who He is!
It is an answer that is arrived at by faith.
And for this reason, we are thankful for God’s gracious and abundant provision of His Word.
For this reason we are exhorted as the Church to pay attention now, to this important genealogy for the sake of ourselves and others, that we might know who Jesus is and what He means for our salvation.
III.
The Teaching
Hear these words again, now as words of confidence and clarity:
This title verse can serve as the outline for the following verses, for it tells us everything we need to know about Jesus in this one verse.
The Protestant Reformer, Martin Luther says of verse one:
“It is therefore enough to know from this genealogy that Christ came from the tribe of David, the son of Abraham.”
(Martin Luther, M:NTV1)
It is enough to know! … If Matthew said nothing more, then this verse says enough, for it tells us that Jesus is the son of Abraham, the son of David, and He is the Messiah, the Son of God!
B. Genealogy [ 1:2-17 ]
So Who is Jesus?
First, He is -
The son of Abraham | 1:2-6
This means, first of all, that Jesus is an Israelite.
And being an Israelite, Jesus is inseparably connected to God’s plan in history (Herm).
This new work that God is doing through Jesus, is still the old work that God began before the creation of the world, and carried on throughout the generations!
It is a work of promise and fulfilment.
A covenantal work.
It is a work of faith.
By tracing Jesus’ lineage to Abraham, the story of Israel’s history is being brought into the foreground.
The New Testament is not disconnected from the Old Testament.
Jesus is not untethered from what came before.
Jesus said on the Emmaus road:
Being the son of Abraham, Jesus fulfills all of the Scriptures.
Being the son of Abraham, Matthew draws attention to where knowledge of who Jesus is truly begins - with faith.
For Abraham was a man of faith, who believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness (Gen 15:6).
God called Abraham to leave his country and relatives and go to a land God would show Him.
And Abraham went forth just as the Lord had spoken to him (Gen 12.4).
God promised to make Abraham a great nation, to bless him, and make his name great so that Abraham would be a blessing to others, so that all the families of the earth would be blessed in him (Gen 12:1-3).
But these promises weren’t only about Abraham.
This Jesus, the Messiah, fulfills these promises to Abraham fully.
Jesus is the means by which all the families of the earth will be blessed.
He is the Son of Abraham.
And we notice several names listed after Abraham in this genealogy.
Several of these names represent people and stories that are given significant space in Scripture — Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Tamar, Rahab, Boaz . . .
Other names are relatively unknown without much repetition or fanfare - Ram, Amminadab, Nahshon, Salmon.
Yet all of these men and women, those who are known and unknown, were an important part of God’s plan for the coming of Jesus, the Savior.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9