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Good morning, Gateway Chapel!
Any astute viewer of the movie “101 Dalmations” is left with only one question: Why is Cruella de Vil so evil?
I mean come on!
Why would someone want to hurt white spotted puppies?
Was that not your experience watching the movie?
Well, good thing that Emma Stone and company in 2021 made, “Cruella” which was the Origin story of the villain.
For those of us left wondering…we have the questions answered!
I won’t spoil the plot but after watching that movie you learn, “Oh, that’s why she hates Dalmations.”
It all makes sense now.
Everyone has an origin story.
Hero’s heroines, villains, even us.
The function of an origin story is often to explain why someone is the way they are, and to explain away any false perceptions about them.
Batman…why does he fight crime?
His parents were killed.
Why does Iron Man have that thing on his chest?
He was a war criminal.
Tiger Woods…why is he crazy?
Have you met his dad?
Have you ever had a coworker, friend, or family member who you really didn’t like, but when you found out their origin story, you said, “Oh wow, that makes a lot more sense.”
Whether it’s Cruella, Batman, real people we know, our even ourselves, origin stories give context to explain who we are and why we do the things we do.
In 2023, we are preaching through the book of Matthew, and the book of Matthew’s main character, the hero, is Jesus.
Who is Jesus?
That’s what people were wondering then…is Jesus the Christ, is Jesus just a prophet, is he a crazy person?
And it’s what people are wondering today…is Jesus God, was he just a famous historical figure, was he a misunderstood person who didn’t mean to start a religion he just wanted to love people?
To explain who Jesus is, Matthew gives us Jesus’ origin story to show us who he is and why he did the things he did.
Matthew is convinced that Jesus is the Christ.
He’s the King.
The most important person in the world.
He wants you and I to be like him and devote our lives to being his disciples.
This morning we’re in Matthew 1 which is the origin story of Jesus.
We will be in Matthew 1:1-25, a large chunk as Hannah just read!
And in Matthew 1 we have the origin story of Jesus…I want us to see what this shows about who Jesus is, about what he’s come to do, and what that means for our response to him...
Prayer
1:1-17 - His Ancestry
Matthew 1 is split into two sections, the first being a long genealogy as Hannah just read.
Did anyone nearly fall asleep during that section?
I promise you, Matthew 1 is not boring, we’re just not avid readers of ancient Jewish literature, amen?
To get an American’s attention, someone better die in the first two sentences or we’re like, “Meh, boring!”
Matthew is giving us the origin story of Jesus.
He is connecting Jesus to the Old Testament, showing that Jesus is the Promised King sent to save the world from sin and death.
How do we know that’s what Matthew is doing?
First, a refresher.
Last week we talked about the 3 part structure of Matthew.
Part 1 - Jesus is the Promised King
Part 2 - Jesus is the Good King
Part 3 - Jesus is the Victorious King
So that’s where we’re at in Matthew 1…Matthew is trying to convince us that Jesus is the Promised Jewish King who will restore the world.
Just like the structure of Matthew as a whole helps us understand it’s meaning, here’s a look at the structure of the genealogy in Matthew 1...
Matthew 1:1-17 has a pretty clear structure.
It starts with an opening line, and bookends with a summary.
And there are three blocks of genealogies within these which Matthew uses to show major story archs of the Old Testament.
It begins with...
First thing to notice is the word genealogy, which according to my Bible software is the Greek word “Genesis.”
It’s like Matthew is saying, “In the beginning...”
Genesis is a book which gives us the origin story of God, the world, and humans.
It teaches us about what God is like, what it’s like to live in the world, and what it means to be human.
So here, Matthew is giving us the origin story of Jesus.
Second thing to notice is Matthew’s title CHRIST.
Christ is not Jesus’ last name, it’s a title.
And it’s a contested one.
Matthew is saying, “Remember that Jewish rabbi you killed…yeah he wasn’t a heretic, another prophet, or some nice guy…he was the king of the world.”
And you say…Prove it!
First, Matthew says, Jesus was the Son of David.
Jesus’ origins go back to David, which was important because of many biblical texts that state the Christ had to come from the line of David.
Second, Matthew says Jesus was a Son of Abraham.
The Promised King would not be Scottish.
He’s not going to be Ethiopian.
He’s not going to be Korean.
The Savior of the World is Jewish.
God promised the Jewish people that through Abraham - their great great grandfather - he would send the Christ.
Let’s look at this list of names - broken into three sections - to see what it shows us about Jesus...
First, three sections (which, keep an eye on Matthew he LOVES threes) which - in a way - retell the story of the Old Testament.
God chooses Abraham, brings the kingdom united under David, they rebel against God and are exiled, they come back from exile which leads to Jesus.
First section - Abraham through David, what do we notice?
This resembles almost identically the genealogy in Ruth 4:18-22.
But, who shows up in Matthew’s list that isn’t in Ruth’s?
Tamar…who is Tamar?
A woman.
Is she Jewish?
Probably not!
A non-Jewish woman appears in the genealogy of the male Jewish king.
Hmm.
Who else shows up?
Rahab!…Who’s Rahab?
A non-Israelite female prostitute.
A non-Jewish prostitute in the genealogy of the male Jewish sinless savior of the world.
Hmm.
Who else?
Ruth!…a Gentile!
A nobody…another non-Jewish woman in the genealogy of the most important person in the world.
Curious.
Second section - Solomon through Jechoniah, what do we notice?
Similarly to the first section, this genealogy resembles one in 1 Chron 3:10-17...
This section is about the story of Israel all the way up to the exile.
Right off the bat Matthew has an addition...
By the wife of Uriah…who is that?
Bathsheba!
Who is Bathsheba?
The woman King David sleeps with and then has her husband killed.
Uriah is a Hittite - not a Jew, and by saying “Wife of Uriah” Matthew is saying, “David was a great king but let’s not forget what he did.”
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