Jesus' Family Tree: Abraham & Sarah

Often, in legends and tales, the hero is introduced with an impressive pedigree. In The Hobbit, Thorin is introduced as Thorin Oakenshield, son of Thrain, son of Thror, King under the Mountain. That’s a lot to live up to. In LotR, when we finally learn Strider’s true identity, we discover he is Aragorn, son of Arathorn, the heir of Isildur, son of the kings of Númenor.

Matthew does something similar in his gospel. Matthew sets out to wow you with Jesus’ family tree. He introduces Jesus, not just w/ his father’s name, but w/ Jesus’ family tree for 42 generations! If you investigate what Jesus’ ancestors did in the OT, you find that Jesus comes from a long line of heroes of the faith, all offspring of Abraham, the father of all believers.

Jesus’ illustrious heritage is captured in Matthew’s opening lines: “This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Matthew’s opening statement is only impressive if you know who David is and who Abraham is. It’s one of the reasons scholars think Matthew is writing to a Jewish audience – the names in Jesus’ family tree are all descendants of Abraham.

Who is David? David reigned over the golden age of Israel. God promised David that his house and kingdom will endure forever. We’ll look at God’s promise to David in 2 wks.

Who is Abraham?

The events of Abraham’s life are told in Genesis 11-25. But there’s a sense in which Abraham’s offspring are seen on every page of the Bible that follows. A description of how Abraham’s offspring is a blessing to all nations is told on every page of the NT. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

In Gen. 12, 15, and 17, God makes, confirms, and renews his covenant with Abraham. Two sides to the covenant:

Abraham and his descendants are called to “walk before God faithfully and be blameless.”

God promises

Abraham will be father of many nations &

God will be their God &

Abraham’s descendants will possess the land of Canaan.

That’s why the Lord changes Abram’s name to Abraham: from “exalted father” to “father of many” and Sarai’s name to Sarah.

The new names provoke bitter laughter from Abraham. Doesn’t God realize that Abraham has been waiting 24 years for the Lord to make good his promises?

That doesn’t count all the years before they were called. God initially made his covenant with Abraham when Abraham was 75 and Sarah was 65. They were childless when God promised to make them a great nation. After 24 years waiting and believing, it seems unlikely to Abraham that he’ll beget a child at 99 or that Sarah will conceive after her 89thbirthday.

As God reaffirms of his covenant w/ Abraham & Sarah after 24 years, the Lordintroduces circumcision as a sign of God’s covenant, “Every male among you shall be circumcised.” This involves cutting a fold of skin from the penis. God describes his agreement saying, “My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant.”

Circumcision is much more than cosmetic surgery for boys 8 days old. Circumcision is a symbolic way of cutting away attitudes and behaviour that are sinful or disrespectful to God. To borrow the words of Paul in the NT, circumcision is about

putting off your old self,

which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires Ephesians 4.22b (NIV)

So, many generations later, when Moses addresses Abraham’s descendants just before the Israelites take possession of the Promised Land, he warns them:

To the Lordyour God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. Yet the Lord set his affection on your ancestors and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations—as it is today. Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer. Deuteronomy 10:14–16 (NIV)

Perhaps you recall how that went for Abraham’s descendants.

They struggled to be consistent. They gave in to temptation, sin, and idolatry. When the consequences of disobedience caught up with them, they cried to God for help. When God rescued them, they vowed never to go astray again. But as the thrill of how God rescued them faded in their memory, they slipped into sinful behaviour again.

That’s a challenge b/c the consequences of breaking covenant with God is that you are cut off from God and his people.

Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant. Genesis 17:14 (NIV)

It’s true in the OT. It’s also true for us. If we break covenant with God and fail to “walk before the Lord faithfully and blamelessly,” we face being cut off from God; eternally separated from the Lordand giver of life.

I don’t know about you, but being faithful and blameless is hard to do. It’s hard to get rid of sinful thoughts, attitudes, and behaviours. Yet, if we cannot walk faithfully and blamelessly before the Lord, we need someone to rescue us.

That creates in our hearts a sense of longing and aching for the Messiah, the Saviour. Longing for God’s help is what Advent is all about. Never mind the Advent calendars with chocolates or other goodies for each day from now ‘til Christmas. Advent is designed to help you reflect on your need for the Messiah. As we count down to Christmas, the hope is that you become more keenly aware of your need for Jesus, the Messiah, to come and rescue all nations.

Advent is about waiting w/ confidence and hope. As we prepare for Christmas, we retell the stories and celebrate how God fulfilled his promises to crush the evil one and rescue his world from sin. Even at Christmas we ought to see beyond the Christ-child in the manger.

The OT prophet Isaiah gets a glimpse of the Saviour. He describes the long-awaited Messiah in Isaiah 53:

For he was cut off from the land of the living;

for the transgression of my people he was punished. Isaiah 53:8b (NIV)

The imagery of being “cut off” is not accidental.

In ch. 27, Matthew describes how Jesus the Messiah was led out of the temple, outside the city of Jerusalem, to a hill shaped like a skull where he was crucified. Hanging on a cross, Jesus was cut off from God above and cut of from the people around him. Being cut off from God and humankind this way, Jesus offers himself as a ransom for you, to redeem humankind.

He takes the punishment we deserve. Jesus was cut off from the land of the living, cut off from the love of his heavenly Father, so that you would be spared. Jesus was cut off from God and people b/c of our sin and disobedience.

He died in your place, so you can be raised to life with him. Jesus’ resurrection assures you that your sin is forgiven and that we have life with God for all eternity. This offer is for you. You’re invited to say “yes, count me in!”

After Jesus’ resurrection and return to heaven, everything changes. The sign and seal of God’s covenant with his people is no longer circumcision, but baptism. After Jesus’ sacrificial death, God’s covenant is sealed in Jesus’ blood, not in your blood. Just like people and the sacred objects of the OT tabernacle were sprinkled w/ water to consecrate them as holy, the water of baptism is sprinkled on you to consecrate you as holy, through Jesus Christ.

In the NT letter to Chr. in Colossae, Paul makes the connection b/t circumcision and baptism:

In [Jesus] you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. Colossians 2:11–12 (NIV)

Just as God’s promises in the OT were sealed by the sign of circumcision, cutting away sinful attitudes and behaviours, so the NT seal of baptism speaks of Jesus’ blood washing us clean from the stain of sin.

In the water of baptism believers and their children die to sin with Jesus and are raised to new life. It's an amazing gift, freely offered to all who put their trust in Jesus to rescue them from sin and death. It’s a gift that you can only receive by faith. In fact, NT Christians are descendants of Father Abraham by faith.

Just like Abraham believed God’s promises, just like Abraham lived most of his life before seeing God’s promises come true, so NT Christians live by faith: hoping, believing, and waiting to see God’s promises fulfilled with our own eyes.

Paul describes it this way in the letter to Chr. in Galatia:

Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” Galatians 3:7–8 (NIV)

You are part of all the nations who are blessed through Abraham. Abraham’s offspring is Jesus – the true Israel – who fulfills the requirements of God’s law by walking before Lord faithfully and blamelessly. All of God’s promises to Abraham are fulfilled through Abraham’s great, great 42X-great-grandson: Jesus Christ.

As Abraham’s descendants, you’re called now to live by faith, cutting away anything that distracts, defiles, or hinders faith.