JESUS' CREDENTIALS

Introduction

-{Matthew 1}

-Today I want to start looking at Christmas according to the gospel of Matthew and see what Matthew has to say about the beginnings of Jesus’ earthly life. But this is also the start of a series I want to do looking at the entire gospel of Matthew from beginning to end, going on into the new year and then however long it takes, to just behold Jesus for who He is. Matthew’s gospel starts with a genealogy. A genealogy is the study and tracing of the lines of descent—it is finding the ancestry of someone.

-Over the past several years I have worked on the genealogy of my family. On my mom’s side of the family it is all very German. On my dad’s side of the family, my grandfather’s lineage is very German—Pihringer is a very German name. But my grandmother’s lineage is Irish and English. An interesting thing on my grandmother’s side is (if I have traced things correctly) we are descended from Alfred of Wessex, also known as Alfred the Great King of Wessex who ruled from AD 871 to 899. It is thought the he is the one who united England under one kingship, or at least started the process.

~Now, suppose that I take my genealogical records and fly over to England and I walk into Buckingham Palace and I tell King Charles: Look, I have this genealogy thing going here, and it looks like I’m descended from Alfred the Great, so I must be royalty of some sort, so you need to make me a Duke or something like that. What would Charles do? He’d kick me out of the court. Why? Because I don’t have the credentials to back up my claim. I have nothing to prove the truth of what I’m saying or who I am claiming to be .

-So, why does Matthew start with a genealogy? Because it is proof of the claims of who Jesus truly is. Matthew is laying out the credentials that Jesus truly is who the apostles and gospel writers have claimed Him to be. You see, Matthew is writing to Jewish believers, and the Jews were looking for the Messiah who would usher in the Kingdom of God. Matthew writes his gospel to demonstrate that Jesus is that Messiah who ushered in the Kingdom of God, and this is who He is and what He did to back up that claim.

-So, Matthew right from the start uses the genealogy to show that Jesus has all the right credentials to be the long-awaited Messiah. Ultimately, Jesus has the credentials to be the center and culmination of God’s plan of redemption for all of humanity. And just as Matthew wrote the gospel so that people would believe upon Jesus, I want you to recognize who Jesus truly is, believe in Him, and serve Him as God’s Messiah.

-It’s a long passage, so I won’t have you stand today, so we want to read:

Matthew 1:1–17 LSB

1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham: 2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac was the father of Jacob, and Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers. 3 And Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron was the father of Ram. 4 And Ram was the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab was the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon was the father of Salmon. 5 And Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed was the father of Jesse. 6 And Jesse was the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah. 7 And Solomon was the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam was the father of Abijah, and Abijah was the father of Asa. 8 And Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat was the father of Joram, and Joram was the father of Uzziah. 9 And Uzziah was the father of Jotham, and Jotham was the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah. 10 And Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh was the father of Amon, and Amon was the father of Josiah. 11 And Josiah was the father of Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. 12 And after the deportation to Babylon: Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel was the father of Zerubbabel. 13 And Zerubbabel was the father of Abihud, and Abihud was the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim was the father of Azor. 14 And Azor was the father of Zadok, and Zadok was the father of Achim, and Achim was the father of Eliud. 15 And Eliud was the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar was the father of Matthan, and Matthan was the father of Jacob. 16 And Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ. 17 Therefore all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ, fourteen generations.

-{pray}

-At first, it might be easy to overlook the importance of what Matthew is trying to do. All this passage seems to be is a bunch of names that are hard to say and don’t seem to be very relevant. This person was the father of that person—or if you read the KJV it’s this person begat that person. And yet, genealogies have an important place within Scriptures, because they demonstrate God’s chosen lineage through which He would bring about His work of redemption.

-The first genealogy is found in Genesis 5 and it traces from Adam to Noah, but it does so through Adam’s son Seth. God is pointing out that the line of Seth is the chosen lineage for God’s plans and purposes—not any other son of Adam, and definitely not Cain. Then you go to Genesis 10 and 11 and you get genealogies for Noah’s sons, but it is indicated that the line of Shem is the chosen lineage, not Japheth and definitely not Ham. Shem’s line then leads to Abraham. Abraham’s son Issac was the chosen son, not Ishmael, so other genealogies follow his lineage. And on it goes.

-And now Matthew is saying that all of these chosen lineages converge to one point, and that is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the culmination of everything that God had started from the beginning of Genesis and onward. But for the Jews to accept this truth (and by extension, for the world to accept this truth), Matthew had to lay out the credentials of Jesus to prove that He is who Matthew is claiming Him to be. So, in this list Matthew shows Jesus’ credentials in two ways. First, Matthew talks about:

1) The names given to Jesus

-Matthew starts in v. 1 saying that he is giving the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ. It starts out similar to the genealogies found in the Old Testament, so Matthew indicates that he is giving what we might call THE REST OF THE STORY.

-This is the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Right away, by using these names and titles Matthew gives his readers information about who it is that He is talking about. He starts by mentioning His given name—Jesus. In Luke 1 when the angel visits Mary to tell her God’s plans for her to give birth to this special child, he tells her that she is to name Him Jesus. And them, in the passage of Matthew that follows this one, Joseph receives a visit from an angel in his dream and he is told to name the child Jesus, because there is significance to that name.

-That is often the pattern we find in Scripture—someone is given a name because it has something to do with who that person is either by character or by their work or by God’s promises. Abram’s name is changed to Abraham because it means Father of multitudes, and this childless man would become the father/ancestor of multitudes, both physically and spiritually. Jacob was called Jacob because it means “one who holds the heel” or “supplanter.” And that was who Jacob was and what he did. He literally gripped the heel of his twin brother at birth, and then he supplanted his brother as the family’s first-born through trickery and deceit.

-We don’t normally assign names because of their meanings in our day and age. You don’t name your son Archer because you think he’s going to be good with a bow and arrow. But names in the Bible have significance, and that holds very true with Jesus. Jesus is the Latin form of the Greek version of the Hebrew name Yeshosua. In the Old Testament that Hebrew name is translated as Joshua. And it holds significance for both the Old Testament Joshua, but even more so for Jesus.

-The name can be translated “Yahweh Saves” or “Yahweh is our Savior.” When you think of Joshua, he fought for and led the Israelites, eventually leading them into the Promised Land. But Jesus is named Jesus because through Him God saves His people from their sins. God’s plan of redemption was always leading to this man who was more than a man, but was God in the flesh. Through His death on the cross He was able to satisfy God’s justice against lawbreakers, extending God’s mercy and forgiveness through those who would accept this gift of grace by faith. Jesus saves believers from the wrath of God against sin, and grants them eternal life. This is how Yahweh always planned to save a remnant of humanity to Himself—through Jesus.

-But then here in Matthew He is also called Christ. The two names, Jesus and Christ, are often found together. Some might mistakenly believe that Christ is Jesus’ last name; similar to someone named John Doe, John is the first name and Doe is their family name or last name. But Christ is not a last name, but a title. The name He was probably known by was Jesus, Son of Joseph (even though we know Joseph was not His biological father). But Christ or Messiah is His title and we might say His office.

The term Christ is the Greek Word that means Anointed One. We are familiar with the corresponding Hebrew Word, which is MESSIAH. From an Old Testament perspective someone who was anointed was usually marked or smeared with oil as a symbol of the fact that God has set them apart for some sort of sacred use. The offices in the Old Testament that were normally anointed were prophet, priest, and king. And the Messiah was known as the Anointed One because He would be the One that embodied God’s ultimate version of all three of those offices.

-Prophets were God’s mouthpieces that would share with the people God’s Word and revelation. Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God in human form. The words that He spoke are God’s Words as He is God the Son. The life that He lived revealed God’s character to the people. If we want to know (as best as humanity can know) what God is like, we look no further than Jesus. Moses, whom the Israelites saw as God’s greatest prophet, looked forward to one greater than he when he said: Deuteronomy 18:15 “15 “Yahweh your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers; you shall listen to him.” And that prophet is Jesus Christ.

-Jesus is also the ultimate High Priest. Priests acted as the mediator between God and humanity. They would offer the sacrifices required by God, and they would share God’s words and will to mankind. Hebrews 4:14 calls Jesus the great High Priest. He offered a sacrifice to God, but it wasn’t a bull or goat or lamb. He offered Himself. And because of that offering, He Himself is the mediator between God and man—representing us to God and representing God to us. Paul said: 1 Timothy 2:5 “5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,”

-But then Jesus is also the Anointed King. He is meant to rule over everything for all of eternity. And I will flesh this out more in just a moment.

-But the names and titles that Matthew uses very much shows Jesus’ credentials. He is the Messiah whom Yahweh sent to save. But there is another category found in our passage that demonstrates the credentials of Jesus being the sent Messiah of God. We find that in:

2) The promises fulfilled by Jesus

-Throughout the Old Testament God gave specific promises to people through covenant that pointed to certain aspects of His plan to redeem mankind—to buy them back from the curse of sin. God didn’t spell everything out all at once, but over time He progressively revealed where His plan was going. These covenant promises were tied to the lineage of specific people, and in his genealogy Matthew demonstrates that Jesus is the direct fulfillment of these promises. I am going to jump around the genealogy a bit, following the order of the promises as they appear in the Old Testament.

-First, right at the end of Matthew’s genealogy, in v. 16, it leads to Joseph, but Matthew makes it clear that Jesus actually isn’t physically descended from Joseph. It says that Joseph is the husband of Mary, and it was from her that Jesus was born, who is called Christ. Joseph is not Jesus’ physical dad, but is his legal dad, and so we could say that this genealogy gives Jesus’ legal descent. But it is emphasized that Jesus came from Mary, and not Joseph.

-We know the rest of the story from the gospel of Luke that the Holy Spirit descended upon Mary and conceived the child—this way He would be human but not have the curse of human sin upon Him—He would be the perfect God-Man. From a theological standpoint, Jesus is the seed or descendant of Mary, but not the direct seed of a man. This brings us to the first promise given after the Fall of humanity into sin where God told the deceiving serpent:

Genesis 3:15 LSB

15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”

-Initially it is speaking of the fight between Eve’s descendant and the serpent. But it is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus who is the seed of the woman who will eventually crush the serpent’s head. Until then, there is enmity or hostility between Jesus’ spiritual descendants (those who have believed in Jesus) and the serpent’s descendants (those who have not believed in Jesus).

-The second fulfilled promise comes from the emphasis in vv. 1 & 2 that Jesus is the son of Abraham. Out of all the people on the earth at the time, God chose to call Abraham out from his people and homeland in order to form a new people that would be the conduit through whom His plan of redemption would be brought about. It would start with the nation formed from Abraham, but it would eventually expand to the entire world. God gives this promise to Abraham:

Genesis 22:18 LSB

18 “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have listened to My voice.”

-In an immediate sense, Israel fulfilled this as the nation representing God on earth. But they were weak and sinful and fell into disrepute quite often—Matthew’s genealogy bearing witness that they were taken into captivity because of their sin. But they were not the ultimate fulfillment of that covenant promise. Jesus Christ is the seed through whom the world is blessed. This is attested to by the apostle Paul, where he said:

Galatians 3:15–18 LSB

15 Brothers, I speak in human terms: even though it is only a man’s covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it. 16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ. 17 And what I am saying is this: the Law, which came 430 years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to abolish the promise. 18 For if the inheritance is by law, it is no longer by promise, but God has granted it to Abraham through promise.

-As Paul says, God does not set aside a covenant or add conditions to a covenant. God promised that the world would be blessed through Abraham’s seed, but it is talking about one seed—Jesus Christ. He is the fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham.

-But then there is a third fulfillment of promise, Matthew talks about this in v. 1 and v. 6—Jesus is the son/descendant of David. As I talked about kings being anointed earlier, they were chosen and set apart by God to rule His people on God’s behalf. David is looked upon as the model for this. God chose him to rule His people because David was a man after God’s own heart. He was flawed, but he loved God tremendously. And David was given a promise. God said this to David:

2 Samuel 7:12–16 LSB

12 “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up one of your seed after you, who will come forth from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 “He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 “I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will reprove him with the rod of men and the strikes from the sons of men, 15 but My lovingkindness shall not be removed from him, as I removed it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 “And your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.” ’ ”

-In one sense, this is fulfilled in David’s son Solomon whose reign was established after David’s death, but it wasn’t forever. This is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Solomon built a physical house in the temple, but Jesus built a spiritual house in the people of God. And Jesus rules over God’s people now and forevermore. After Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection, and ascension He was seated at the right hand of God where He now rules and reigns spiritually. But there will come a day when He returns, destroys His enemies, and sets up a new heaven and new earth where He will reign as King for all of eternity. Jesus’ throne has been established forever. All the promises given to David find their fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

-All of this is why Matthew starts his gospel with a genealogy. He was trying to convince his readers (who were probably primarily Jewish) that Jesus truly is fulfillment of the all the promises they had waited upon—Jesus is the Messiah; but not just for the Jews, but for the entire world.

-This is the One whom we celebrate at Christmas. The baby in the manger: He is Jesus, the One through whom Yahweh saves a people from their sins. He is the Christ, the anointed prophet, priest, and king. He is the seed of the woman through whom the head of the serpent will be crushed. He is the son of Abraham through whom all the world will be blessed if they would but believe in Him. He is the son of David who is given the eternal throne of His earthly father David and His heavenly father God. Of whom Paul said that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord. If you don’t do it willingly on earth then you will be forced to in eternity.

-And because these credentials prove that He is who the Bible claims Him to be, we are called to believe in Him, trust Him, and serve Him all of our days. That means we don’t just throw Him a bone now and then, but we are submitted to His will and way.

-If you are a Christian, but Jesus hasn’t been ruling and reigning in your life, come to the altar and resubmit to His authority. Tell Jesus that He is King of every aspect of your life.

-But if you have never believed in Jesus, you are not in His good graces, but you are an object of His judgment. But He so loved you that He died for your sins to give you forgiveness. All you need to do is believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved...