A Baby Who'd Thought
Who’d thought that a Baby changes everything!
A Baby that would grow up and having been seen eating with tax collectors (of which Matthew was one) and sinners…
13 Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’* For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”
−Matthew 9:13 (NLT)
Please turn in your Bibles with me to Ruth chapter four and the reading of God’s Word.
Ruth 4:13-17 (NLT)
The Descendants of Boaz
13 So Boaz took Ruth into his home, and she became his wife. When he slept with her, the LORD enabled her to become pregnant, and she gave birth to a son. 14 Then the women of the town said to Naomi, “Praise the LORD, who has now provided a redeemer for your family! May this child be famous in Israel. 15 May he restore your youth and care for you in your old age. For he is the son of your daughter-in-law who loves you and has been better to you than seven sons!”
16 Naomi took the baby and cuddled him to her breast. And she cared for him as if he were her own. 17 The neighbor women said, “Now at last Naomi has a son again!” And they named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse and the grandfather of David.
A LISTING OF THE UNLIKELIEST
Matthew 1:1-6 (NLT)
The Ancestors of Jesus the Messiah
1 This is a record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of David* and of Abraham:
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac.
Isaac was the father of Jacob.
Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers.
3 Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (whose mother was Tamar).
Tamar, what do we know about her?
She having lost her husband and being without child deceived her father in-law into sleeping with her and thus having Perez and Zerah (Genesis 38:6).
Perez was the father of Hezron.
Hezron was the father of Ram.*
4 Ram was the father of Amminadab.
Amminadab was the father of Nahshon.
Nahshon was the father of Salmon.
5 Salmon was the father of Boaz (whose mother was Rahab).
Rahab, what do we know about her?
We know that she engaged in prostitution while living in Jericho (Joshua 2:1-7).
Boaz was the father of Obed (whose mother was Ruth).
Ruth, what do we know about her?
Ruth was not a Jewess she was a Moabitess (Ruth 1:4);
Deuteronomy 23:3 (NLT)
3 “No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants for ten generations may be admitted to the assembly of the LORD.
Obed was the father of Jesse.
6 Jesse was the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon (whose mother was Bathsheba, the widow of Uriah).
Bathsheba, what do we know about her?
She was an adulterous (2 Samuel 11:3).
Who’d ever thought that a Baby coming from such a family as this could change everything?
The IVP Bible Background Commentary points out that the Gospel writer Matthew does something really neat here by omitting the matriarchs prominent in Jewish tradition, Sarah, Rebekah, Leah and Rachel. Thus he hints from the Old Testament that God has always planned missions to all peoples (Mt 28:19).
Who’d thought that a Baby changes everything!
This baby whom later in life and having been seen eating with tax collectors (of which Matthew was one) and sinners…
13 Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’* For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”
−Matthew 9:13 (NLT)
THE STORY OF RUTH
The reason I like the story of Ruth is because it has a genealogical connection with Christ the Baby that changed everything! And this romantic story gives hope to the hopeless, and comfort to the downtrodden. To explain allow me to begin at the beginning.
The story is that Naomi and her husband Elimelech with their two sons Mahlon and Kilion left Bethlehem and traveled to Moab because of a famine. While in Moab Elimelech and Naomi’s sons marry Moabite women Ruth and Orpah. Somehow Elimelech and his sons die; therefore, leaving three widows.
Naomi gets word that there is food again in Bethlehem; therefore, she decides to go back. Her daughter in-laws begin heading back with Naomi; however, she tells them to go back to their own people.
Ruth 1:16-17 (NLT)
16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. 17 Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!”
Back to Bethlehem they go. God’s sovereignty in all this is amazing! How he cares for these ladies, and how he has an honorable man Boaz become their kinsman-redeemer.
It is amazing how God’s sovereignty is in all this and how a Baby changes everything.
KINSMAN-REDEEMER AND MARRIAGE
The kinsman-redeemer concept is a little far removed from us; therefore, allow me to use another illustration the one of marriage…
In our modern context the father of the bride walks his daughter down the isle then shortly thereafter the minister asks the question “Who gives this woman away to be married?” And her father then says “Her mother and I do.” After this begins the process of how the groom redeems his bride. The full redeeming process is not complete until the groom enters his bride and then they become one. Isn’t this a perfect example of how Christ has redeemed us? Christ comes into our hearts that is God’s Holy Spirit comes to dwell inside us.
Go back with me and see how the great grandson of Boaz and Ruth is sandwiched between this story and the birth of Christ.
2 Samuel 7:12-29 (NLT)
12 For when you die and are buried with your ancestors, I will raise up one of your descendants, your own offspring, and I will make his kingdom strong. 13 He is the one who will build a house—a temple—for my name. And I will secure his royal throne forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. If he sins, I will correct and discipline him with the rod, like any father would do. 15 But my favor will not be taken from him as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from your sight. 16 Your house and your kingdom will continue before me* for all time, and your throne will be secure forever.’ ”
17 So Nathan went back to David and told him everything the LORD had said in this vision.
All these point to a Baby; Jesus that came to redeem us sinners (Psalm 23:1ff.).