Three Observations About Jesus’ Geanology Mattthew 1:2-17

Jesus is……

Last Sunday, I said there was a lot of confusion in the culture and the church about the identity and reality of Jesus. Many in the church and culture are riddle with doubt and confusion about Jesus’ purpose, his holiness, his work of salvation, and his kingdom. In Matthew 1:1, we noted that this gospel shoots out the gate clearing up this confusion by recognizing that Jesus is the author of a new creation, that he is the Davidic King promised to David to sit on his throne forever, and that Jesus is the creator of a new Spirit people, a new Israel as the son of Abraham. In the same vein as last week, we are going to clear up some more confusion about Jesus be making three observations in Jesus’ geanology.

Jesus is the Christ-the Anointed Davidic Messiah.

Matthew 1:1 has already indicated that Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise to David to have a son on his throne forever. Jesus is the King. The genealogy affirms this by showing his lineage to David in a special way.

Matthew does not list every single person in Jesus’ genealogy. He selects enough ancestors to create three sets of fourteen. There is no scandal here. It was not uncommon in antiquity to do this, especially if one is trying to nuance a message or a point about the ancestry. In Matthews case, he employs gematria, a system that assigns numerical value to communicate a subtle message (Quarles, Charles L. 2017. “Matthew.” In CSB Study Bible: Notes, pg 1497). The name David equaled fourteen.

Matthew is trying to do his best to make sure the reader, especially the Jewish reader does not miss this point, Jesus is the anointed Messiah, the Son of David. He says it outright in verse one, he shows in the lineage, and he nuances it by grouping the genealogy into series of fourteen. You may be saying to yourself, “Pastor, you made this point last week. Why are we saying it again?” Because Matthew has gone out of his way to make sure you do not read the rest of this gospel without being convinced Jesus is the anointed Messiah, the Son of David, the King.

The King has come. His kingdom is here where he is proclaimed as Lord, and yet, it is coming with a greater fulfillment when the King returns. Why does knowing this matter to the church? Why does it matter to you as a believer? How will emphasizing the anointed kingship of Jesus help you understand the gospel better? I think Martin Lloyd Jones is helpful when he explains,

If we regard the kingdom of God as the rule and the reign of God, the kingdom was here when our Lord was here in person. It is present now wherever the Lord Jesus Christ is acknowledged as Lord. But it is to come with a greater fullness when everybody and everything will have to acknowledge His lordship. So we can say that the kingdom has come, the kingdom is among us, and the kingdom is yet to come. What, then, is the relationship of the Church to the kingdom? Surely it is this: the Church is an expression of the kingdom but is not to be equated with it.

Great Doctrines of the Bible (3), 4

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones

When Jesus came into the world, he said,

Mark 1:15 ESV

15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

The kingdom arrived with the King. When Jesus ascended into heaven, he did not stop the work of his kingdom. He anointed us with his Spirit to continue advancing his kingdom. His kingdom is present now, with us here at FBCL, where he is proclaimed as king. Our mission and ministry is to continue advancing his kingdom so that the community and home come to acknowledge Him as Lord. This is the point of the Great Commission

Matthew 28:19–20 ESV

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

A church that truly believes and understands that Jesus is King, will be advancing His kingdom by fulfilling the Great Commission. This may be hard for some of us to grasp because our hearts are so content with building our own kingdom. I was taken back by what Alan Redpath said regarding kingdom. He says,

Before we can pray, ‘Thy kingdom come’, we must be willing to pray, ‘My kingdom go’.

Alan Redpath

We cannot effectively advance the kingdom of God in the world if Jesus is not King of your heart. Albert Schweitzer rightly says,

There can be no kingdom of God in the world without the kingdom of God in our hearts.

Albert Schweitzer

Jesus is the Christos, the anointed Messiah, the promised Son of David, the King whose kingdom will never end. Have you surrender to Him as King? Is he king of your heart? Are you expressing his Kingdom to the world? Because Jesus is the King and Savior of the world, all of it.

Jesus is the Savior of the world-Sinners, Sufferers, and Gentiles.

Jesus is a Hebrew name. In Hebrew its “Joshua,” which means Yahweh saves. The Greeks translate Joshua as Jesus, the Lord of my salvation. We know the name Joshua because of the Book of Joshua. Joshua followed Moses and led God’s people in the conquest of the Promised Land. God delviered his people from the tyranny of Egypt. He gave them land to live and blessing if they would keep covenant with Him. Jesus saves his people from the tyranny of sin, death, and Satan, and offers us a new covenant made by his own blood and kept for all eternity by his own power.

He came into the world as a man, fully God and fully man, to save his people; not by military might or political prowess, but by fulfilling the law, dying as a perfect sacrifice, as our substitute, to atone for our sin. God accepted his sacrifice and raised him from the dead and seated him at the right hand of the Father to intercedes for the saints. And everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved from God’s wrath. Jesus is the Savior of his people. But is he the Savior of the Gentiles as well? The geanology says yes.

There is a hypnotic repetition to genealogies that make them boring to read. The formula “father begat son” ripples across the lake of your bible endlessly. The reader is jolted when the pattern is interrupted by people who do not seem to belong there or by something that is missing. In Jesus’ genealogy, Matthew jolts the reader by showing that,

Jesus’ geanology is filled with sinners.

One might think the Son of God would surely cone from a pure pedigree of people. The geanology shows, that is not the case.

Consider Judah for a moment. God promised the Messiah would come through the lineage of Judah. Judah, the brother who first came up with the idea of killing Jacob out of jealousy. Judah, the one who left his family and married a Caananite woman. Judah, who raised two boys so evil the Lord put them to death. Judah, the man who fathered a child with a woman he thought was a prostitute, but in fact was his former daughter-in-law. And yet, God kept his promsie that a forever king would come from Judah.

Half the kings of Israel outdid each other in wickedness. Ahaz worshiped Assyrian idols, practiced human sacrifice, and defiled the temple (2 Kings 16). Manasseh did “more evil than the nations” God expelled from Canaan. He promoted idolatry and murdered the innocent (2 Kings 21:9–18). With the exception of Josiah, even Israel’s noble kings committed great sins. David, a man of God’s own heart, is notoriously know for adultery, lying, and murder ( 2 Samuel 11. Jehoshaphat kept company with wicked men (2 Chronicles 18). Motivated by pride, Hezekiah foolishly showed his nation’s treasures to enemies who soon plundered them (2 Kings 20:12–18). After years of successful rule, Uzziah became proud and arrogated priestly privileges to himself (2 Chron. 26:1–21). Thus Jesus’ genealogy connects the Savior to the human race in all of its sinfulness. (Doriani, Daniel M. 2021. “Matthew.” In Matthew–Luke, pg 51).

Jesus geanology is filled with suffering (Matthew 1:11-16)

In verses 11-16, Matthew introduces the deportation of Israel to Babylon. By this time in the geanology, Israel had been divided into two kingdoms, the north and the south. The north was conquered by the Assyrians and the southern kingdom was exiled to Babylon. Israel was exiled because they would not keep covenant with the Lord. And when he sent prophets to warn them of his judgement, they refused to listen. God fulfilled his promise of judgment that Moses warned them with in Deuteronomy 31. When Jesus arrived to his people, they we being ruled by Rome. They had lost their wealth, their land, their blessing, and to some degree their identity. This was Jesus’ people, sinners and sufferers.

Jesus genealogy has Gentiles

Matthew takes the shady lineage a step further. He mentions women in the geanology, which was uncommon. He didn’t however mentioned just any women, they were either Gentiles or connected to Gentiles and they were as sinful as the men mentioned above. Daniel Doriani helps explains. The women share two threads: Gentile connections and flagrant sin. First is Tamar, daughter-in-law of Judah, Jacob’s son. In Genesis 38, she played the prostitute to gain an advantage over Judah and as a result became pregnant by him. Rahab comes second. A prostitute in Jericho, she hid Israel’s spies and helped them escape (Joshua 2). The third woman is Ruth, a Moabite widow and daughter-in-law of Naomi. She became a part of Israel when Boaz married her (Ruth 1–4). Fourth is Bathsheba, whom Matthew calls “the wife of Uriah.” She was David’s paramour and the mother of Solomon (2 Samuel 11–12). (Doriani, Daniel M. 2021. “Matthew.” In Matthew–Luke, pg. 51)

Jesus’ lineage is not made up of heavenly ancestry. Its made up of fallen image bears like you and I. The writer of Hebrews says that we have a great high priest who can sympathize with is in every way. Though he is without sin, he is not without family dysfunction. You need know this for a couple reasons.

First, you need to know that the King of Kings is the Savior who is connected to the human race in all of its sinfulness. He did not disown his people because they could not measure up. Not, did Jesus save his people from afar. He came to them. He became like them. He lived with them. He suffered with them. He cried with them. He knew their temptations, pain, and suffering. No one can look at Jesus and say, “You just don’t understand.” Jesus knows the plight of his people.

Secondly, it was always God’s plan to save Gentiles. When God promised Abraham land, seed, and blessing, in Genesis 12:1-3, he also said all the nations will be blessed from the seed that comes from Abraham, the Son of Abraham. And God, in his sovereignty, worked through sinful people, both Jew and Gentile, making sinful decisions to bring his anointed Savior into the world, a Savior who can completely sympathize with his people and completely save his people.

Jesus suffered and died on the cross to save sinners with whom he sympathizes with, not as a sinner, but by experience in this world. He ascended into heaven to pour out his Spirit to seal those he saved and empower them to live in God’s kingdom now as it advances until he returns. Yes, we are being sanctified. Yes, we are weak. But He is faithful. But he is strong. Charles Spurgeon confessed,

I can bear it all, for Jesus suffered, and he suffers in me now; he sympathizes with me, and this makes me strong.

Charles Spurgeon

Jesus is the Savior who saves sinners, sufferers, and Gentiles. He lives in sinners, sufferers, and Gentiles. He sympathizes with sinners, sufferers and Gentiles. He conforms sinners, sufferers, and Gentiles into His image to present them gloriously to His Father when he consummates his kingdom. Take heart, Christian, your Savior has saved you, sealed you, and strengthens you to live in his kingdom now as you wait for him return. You can have confidence in his salvation. His birth is as much proof he is the Messiah as his life and death.

Jesus is the virgin born Son of God (Matthew 1:16).

Matthew 1:16 ESV

16 and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.

Part of the hypnotic repetition of the geanology is driven by the word begat. It is mentioned over forty times in verses 2-17. The reader is so used to reading it that it is glaring when it is not there, as it is in verse 16. We are jolted once again by the lack of the word ἐγέννησεν τὸν. Matthew is once again signalling to us that something is special about this Messiah. He was not begat, or fathered by, an earthly man. Verse sixteen simply says, Jospeh the husband of Mary, of whom, Jesus was born, who is called the Christ.” How was Jesus fathered?

Matthew 1:18 ESV

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

Like many of you and your neighbors, Joseph was skeptical that Mary was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. So much so, he purposed in his heart to divorce her quietly (Matthew 1:19). God, however intervened, and sent message to Joseph through an angel explaining everything.

Matthew 1:20–22 ESV

20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

Matthew 1:23 ESV

23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

God had promised 760 years beforehand that His Messiah would be born in a special way. He would be born of a virgin and would be fully divine, hence his name Immanuel. For him to be divine, he could not be born as a son of Adam. He must have been conceived by the Holy Spirit.

The virgin birth is significant because it reveals that God's salvation of man can only come through His divine work. God would ultimately be responsible for bearing the seed of the woman who would defeat the seed of the serpent. You cannot save yourself. Salvation is a supernatural work of God, which the virgin birth makes evident.

Secondly, the virgin birth is important because it is the means by which God connects the divine to humanity. Legally, the child in Mary's womb was Joseph's, but not biologically. Both Luke and Matthew say the child was conceived when the Holy Spirit came upon Mary with power. Wayne Grudem explains the significance of the virgin birth connecting Jesus' divinity to humanity. Grudem says,

"God, in his wisdom, ordained a combination of human and divine influence in the birth of Christ so that his full humanity would be evident to us from the fact of his ordinary human birth from a human mother, and his full deity would be evident from the fact of his conception in Mary's womb by the powerful work of the Holy Spirit." (Wayne Grudem "Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Second Edition. pg 664)

Jesus was entirely God and fully man. He did not lose his godliness when he was born. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and remained holy throughout his time on earth. Let's clear up any confusion: Jesus did not inherit Adam's sinful nature. There was no sin found in him. Had there been sin, God would not have accepted his sacrifice on the cross. He was born blameless, and he remained blameless.

This may be difficult for people to understand because Jesus was fully human. In our world, being human means being broken and imperfect. Jesus was born of a virgin as a real and complete human being. That is why he can sympathize with us, as I mentioned previously. The virgin birth made it possible for God's Messiah to die. He had to be human to shed his perfect blood for you to atone for your sins. Being fully God, he was holy. Being fully man, he was a sacrifice. The Bible says without the shedding of blood, there can be no forgiveness of sins. He was the holy sacrifice we needed to completely atone for our sins and be forgiven.

If there is no virgin birth, there is no incarnation. If there is no incarnation, there is no salvation.

Or, to put it positively,

Because there is a virgin birth, there is the incarnation. With the incarnation comes the God’s salvation.

There is no confusion

Jesus is God’s promised Messiah. He is the fulfillment of God’s covenant promsie to David, the King whose throne will never end. Jesus is the fulfilment of God’s covenant to Abraham, that through his seed all the nations will be blessed. Jesus is making a new spiritual people for himself who will live in his new creation that he redeemed with his birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension. Jesus is Holy and anointed and males his people holy and anointed. He sympathizes with the tempted through his humanity, and heals the broken through his divinity. He invites everyone who hears the good news to repent and believe the good news. He promises that all who accept his gift of salvation by faith will be saved from God’s wrath, removed from the kingdom of darkness, and placed into the kingdom of light. You will be adopted as sons and daughters. You will receive an inheritance and know the peace and joy of the Lord. If you reject him, you will be banished from his kingdom forever. You will live for all eternity under the wrath of God in hell, where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. Jesus has made this clear,

Revelation 21:8 ESV

8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

I invite you to come to Jesus. Come and be a part of his kingdom. The Gospel of Matthew is going to show us how wonderful it is to live in God’s kingdom, now and for eternity.