Jesus: Proof of God’s Faithfulness (Matthew 1:1-17)

12/6/23 Wednesday WSJ

“ ‘El Loco’ Won the Argentina Election Last Month With Outlandish Ideas. Now He’s Backpedaling.

Javier Milei, who pledged to kill the central bank, cut ties with China and slash public spending has taken a softer tone ahead of his inauguration”

reneging on campaign promises

politician not doing what he promised he would

glad only in Argentina ;)

we live in a culture where we are used to broken promises

when kids were younger,

wouldn’t tell then heading to zoo until time to get in truck

because couldn’t guarantee

then COVID came

then all sorts of promises were broken

we can carry this skepticism of broken promises and place it on God

it’s hard to trust a heavenly Father if your father was not a good example

His promises may not come as quick as we would like

His promises may not make sense, so we don’t trust Him

but Jesus is proof of God’s faithfulness

the reason we celebrate Christmas

Matt 1 in pew Bible 959

God is a promise-maker AND a promise-keeper

always has been

always will be

are you resting/trusting/standing on His promises?

when you do, you will find out…

God was, is, and always will be faithful (1:1)

Matthew may be 1st gospel because bridge between OT and NT

Matthew begins literally—“book of genesis” (1:1) or “book of origin”

the message of Matthew is boiled down in the first verse

Jesus the Christ

Jesus = The Lord Saves

Christ = Messiah (OT) = Anointed One

great expectation for Messiah to liberate Israel from enemies

but greatest enemy was not Romans, but SIN

we are reminded that...

God makes promises called covenants

the son of Abraham

Abrahamic Covenant (Gen 12, 15, 17)

God chose descendants of Abraham to be His chosen people

Messiah must come from Abraham to fulfill…

Genesis 12:3 “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.””

the son of David

Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7:8-17)

2 Samuel 7:12–14a “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.”

everlasting kingdom

fulfilled as the promised Messiah will sit on the throne forever

in essence

OT = promises made

NT = Matthew opens up declaring promises kept

God was, is, and always will be faithful even when…

Mankind was, is, and always will be unfaithful

the rest of the genealogy highlights the fickleness of man

mankind not fully and not completely unfaithful

but enough where mankind is not dependable

or surely can’t make promises that will be kept

from the beginning of time (Gen 3)

God laid out His expectations, and mankind blew it

only 1 command

Genesis 2:16–17 “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.””

Matthew had a great opportunity to gloss over sins, but many times he highlights them in genealogy

why does Matthew highlight sinful situations when he could have dismissed them?

spotlight (there is none righteous)

1:2-6a (from the beginning of a nation to the time of the kings)

father Abraham

great man of faith

Romans 4:3 “For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.””

but

lied about Sarah being his sister when she was really his wife -- twice

didn’t trust God—result Ishmael, Muslim religion, and fighting in Middle East

Isaac

the promised son that Abraham was willing to sacrifice

believed that God could even raise him from the dead

had twins with Rebekah

yet they played favorites

Jacob

was a swindler (name is “heel grabber” and means “deceiver”)

stole Esau’s birthright over a pot of stew (Genesis 25:27-34)

gained Isaac’s blessing by disguising himself as Esau (Genesis 27)

God even makes covenant with Jacob (Genesis 28:13-15)

then Jacob wrestled with “God” and has his name changed to Israel (Genesis 32:24-32)

and Israel/Jacob had 12 sons

Judah (1:3)

not eldest—Rueben

not Joseph—most righteous

but Judah with a sketchy past

and embarrassing encounter with his daughter-in-law

now in the pages of the Bible for all to see

fathered Perez and Zerah by his daughter-in-law Tamar (Genesis 38)

this scandalous relationship

Judah’s line would be where the future kings would come through Perez

and that is just a quick glance of the patriarchs (founding fathers)

1:6b-11 (from the time of the kings to the Babylonian exile)

David

best king

yet major stain

lying, adultery, murder, deceit over wife of Uriah the Hittite (Bathsheba)

but was known as a man after His [God’s] own heart (1 Sam 13:14; Acts 13:22)

Solomon

wisest man to live

built the most ornate temple out of much gold

silver was not considered anything, as common as stone

yet too many wives (700 wives/300 concubines) that led the nation spiritually astray (1 Kings 11:1-8)

slave driver that laid foundation for divided kingdom

Good and Bad kings…but even the good kings were not completely good

Rehoboam (bad)

Abijah (bad)

Asaph (bad)

Jehoshaphat (good)*

Joram (bad)

Uzziah (good)

yet pride was his undoing

2 Chronicles 26:16-21

went in temple to burn incense

leprosy broke out on forehead when confronted

Jotham (good)

Ahaz (bad)

Hezekiah (good)*

but showed Babylon all the treasures in his palace and temple

Manasseh (bad)

most evil king of Judah & big reason Judah is exiled to Babylon (2 Kings 24:3-4)

Amos (bad)

Josiah (good)*

led great reforms

but too little too late

Jeconiah (bad)

Israel wanted a king to be like the other nations

and…they were like the other nations

Judah did a little better than Israel (northern kingdom)

they had only bad kings

1:12-16 (from the Babylonian exile to the Messiah)

deportation (map) = μετοικεσία

forced removal from your home

most famous deportation accounts DANIEL

blank screen

very gloomy time where Judah only remembers the glory days from history books

70 years after deportation, God sends His people home under decree by King Cyrus

Zerubbabel (1:12-13)

Babylonians destroyed Solomon’s temple laid with gold

temple foundation laid (Ezra 3)

some cheered

some cried (remember the glory of Solomon’s temple)

couldn’t tell which was louder

illustrate why

Solomon’s Temple / Zerubbabel’s Temple

God’s people were judged for their sin of rejecting God

the temple here is just an illustration of their spiritual condition

blank screen

despite the sin of God’s people, Matthew highlights God working through His people…

symmetry (1:17)

why 14???

problem is that Matthew doesn’t include every person in genealogy

14 names over 700-800 years??? (should be 25-35 names)

mistake???

NO — Matthew is a numbers guy (tax collector)

14 is twice 7

7 significant number in Bible (7 days of creation, etc.)

3-14s is 6 7s

6 7s points to the 7th 7 = the climax of history

conclusion:

Matthew is not concerned with statistics or scientific details (numbers guy as tax collector)

Matthew is concerned with the theology of God working out His purposes for His people

David is at the center

gematria

Hebrew (OT) no vowels & right to left ד + ו + ד Dalet Vav Dalet

D (4) + V (6) + D (4) = 14

AND David is the 14th name on the list

Now that sounds like a numbers guy

Matthew is proclaiming Jesus is the rightful heir of king David

black screen

why does Matthew highlight sinful situations when he could have dismissed them?

Matthew also draws the reader’s attention to the changes in the pattern

deviations from “x was the father of y”

Matthew highlights

by Tamar (1:3)

by Rahab (1:5)

by Ruth (1:5)

by the wife of Uriah (1:6)

all 4 are likely non-Israelite (Gentile = not Jew)

Tamar and Rahab were Canaanites

Ruth was a Moabite

Bathsheba was a wife of a Hittite

not only were they Gentiles

every. single. situation. sexually immoral or at least questionable

which points to a similar situation

Mary is pregnant with Jesus and not married

notice the break in the pattern

Joseph the husband of Mary (1:16)

not Joseph the fathered of Jesus because conceived by HS

why does Matthew highlight sinful situations when he could have dismissed them?

why through Rahab? isn’t there a better option than a prostitute?

why through Judah’s affair with Tamar and not Judah’s legitimate wife?

why through David’s affair with Bathsheba and not David’s legitimate wife?

God has come to redeem even the ugliest of sins

not excuse or condone but redeem

ESV Study Bible “The lineage is comprised of men, women, adulterers, prostitutes, heroes, and Gentiles- and Jesus will be Savior of all.”

Craig Blomberg “Already here in the genealogy, Jesus is presented as the one who will ignore human labels of legitimacy and illegitimacy to offer his gospel of salvation to all, including the most despised and outcast of society.”

God was, is, and always will be faithful even when mankind is unfaithful

echoed in the curse of

Genesis 3:15 “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.””

in epitome of mankind’s unfaithfulness,

God shines through with a promise of His faithfulness

God has an uncanny track record of being gracious when He should be condemning

Garden of Eden—God did not wipe out humans but decided to redeem them

at Christmas time we come to celebrate that...

God sent His promised Son to save people from their sins

Matthew

this is the account of Jesus of Nazareth

who is the long-anticipated Messiah

who brought the kingdom of God to earth

and is the prophesied fulfillment of God’s promise of true peace and deliverance

for both Jew and Gentile

Jesus’ genealogy more than a list of names

testimony of God’s faithfulness and willingness to entangle Himself with sinners like you and me

Jesus is the manifestation/embodiment of God’s love for us

He is the gracious King we all need

what are you celebrating this Christmas?

gifts, family, or Jesus?

Present

Sharon Naron (Nair-en)

Trent Kelly (student membership)