Jesus' Genealogy

Introduction

Many are interested in learning their family history. It’s fun to know where we came from and how we got to where we are. We also get to learn important lessons from the past to keep us from making the same mistakes and to imitate successes so we can be better in the future.

Grace’s oldest sister, Amy, has done a lot of research into their family history on Ancestry.com. She made it back to the 1600s (which is just about the farthest back you can find info). She found more countries in their heritage than she expected (Dutch and Swiss). There were different links to their forefathers coming to America on the Mayflower. Some of their Dutch ancestors lived in New York before it was called New York (it was called New Holland). Different members of family have fought in all the wars America has fought in. Oh, and every census shows that the Torkelson family were farmers. Amy told me that learning about all of this, “makes history come alive”.

Matthew begins his gospel with the ancestry of Jesus. He shows us the beauty and harmony of Scripture by showing how we got from point A (Abraham) to point B (Jesus). (Matthew 1:1-17). I know what you’re thinking, “Ugh, a genealogy. It’s confusing and boring.” Let’s see what fascinating insights we can glean from the lineage of our Lord and Savior.

I. Why the Genealogy?

-The genealogy was an important starting point for Matthew:

A. He was writing to a Jewish audience

1. If he had started at v. 18, “Now the birth of Jesus Christ...” the Jews could have retorted, “What makes you think Jesus was the Messiah we were waiting for?”

2. To remove that argument Matthew went through the ancestry of Jesus. V. 1, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ...”

3. There were two primary criteria for someone to be the Messiah. He had to be the son of Abraham and the son of David. The genealogy sufficiently meets that criteria

B. The last book of the Hebrew Scriptures is what we call 2 Chronicles

1. Matthew’s opening genealogy is the perfect continuation of God’s revelation, not just written, but through the Person Jesus

2. 2 Chronicles 36:22–23 “Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the Lord his God be with him. Let him go up.’ ”” “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ...” (Matthew 1:1)

3. The O. T. ended with the Jews returning to rebuild the temple and Matthew opens up with God tabernacling among His people. God embodied human form to show the true temple is not made with hands and His Name is Jesus

C. In order to hold the anointed offices of priest or king you had to be able to prove your ancestry.

1. Only sons of Aaron in the tribe of Levi could be priests, they meticulously tracked their genealogical records.

a. It was so important that when the Jews went back to Jerusalem and reinstituted temple worship that the Levites who could not prove their lineage were removed from the work of priests

b. Nehemiah 7:64 “These sought their registration among those enrolled in the genealogies, but it was not found there, so they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean.”

2. God promised that David’s descendants would sit on the throne in Israel. So, they had to prove their lineage back to David in order to be king.

3. We have written out in Matthew 1 that Jesus fits the basis for the unique criteria of the anointed office of Messiah, He was a son of Abraham and a son of David

a. Not to mention all the other promises God made throughout the generations, promising in Genesis 49:10 that “the scepter shall not depart from Judah”

b. Or the promise to Zerubbabel that his descendant would be God’s chosen signet ring (Haggai 2:23)

c. And to Joseph and Mary that she would miraculously conceive and give birth to a son who would save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:20-21, Luke 1:30-33)

D. The first 17 verses of Matthew summarizes 2,000 years of human history to show, in brief, how God worked to bring about His Messiah. Joke: Gives a whole new meaning to “Rome wasn’t built in a day”

II. Lessons from the Genealogy

-We learn several lessons from Jesus’ genealogy

A. First, there are people who try to discredit Jesus as the Messiah because Matthew’s genealogy has gaps in it

1. He only lists 14 generations in 3 distinct eras (v. 17)

a. There are a few kings missing and Jeconiah is used to finish one era and begin another. Why would Matthew do this?

b. Remember, most Jews would not have been literate (only the Pharisees, scribes, and priests would have been able to read and be well versed in Scriptures), so, they relied heavily upon mnemonic devices for memory.

1. For example: Phone numbers are 10 digits long, broken up into 3 segments. We can remember that pretty easily. Tommy Tutone burned Jenny’s phone number into our minds, “867-5309”. Our social security numbers are 9 digits to make it easier to remember

2. There are 66 books of the Bible and we don’t memorize it in one lump sum. We memorize it in sections: Genesis-Deuteronomy (5 books), Joshua-Ruth (3 books), 1 Samuel-2 Chronicles (6 books), etc.

2. 42 generations of names sounds like a lot, but Matthew used well-known people throughout Jewish history and grouped them together from Abraham to David, then David to Jeconiah and his brothers (the kings up to the Babylonian captivity), and finally, from Jeconiah to Jesus (the restoration of the Jews to their homeland until the time of Jesus)

3. Still, memorizing the genealogy of Jesus can feel harder than finding a parking spot on Black Friday. But Matthew tried to make it as easy as possible

B. There’s another important thing we can learn, Jesus’ lineage is the last genealogy in Scripture

1. It is the last because it is the most important and there is no need for another

a. He is the Anointed One of God, the reason Israel existed, the culmination of the Law, the Advocate and Intercessor between man and God

b. Now, anyone can be part of God’s family no matter the background (Galatians 3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” and Colossians 3:10–11 “and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.”)

c. It doesn’t matter where you’ve come from or what you’ve done. God can and will use you. He used imperfect people to bring about His great purposes.

2. In Jesus’ genealogy, 5 women are pointed out: Tamar (v. 3), Rahab (v. 5a), Ruth (v. 5b), Bathsheba (v. 6), Mary His mother (v. 16). Most of their stories illustrate how God uses imperfect people to accomplish His purposes

a. Tamar tricked Judah (her father-in-law) into sleeping with her and she’s in the line of Christ. Rahab lied to protect the Israelite spies and she’s in the lineage of Christ. Bathsheba committed adultery and she’s an ancestor to Jesus

b. Other people in the list were wicked: Manasseh was the most evil king of Judah and he’s in the lineage of Christ. Jeconiah and his brothers were the last kings of Judah before the Babylonian captivity, they were the final straws and still God used them in the lineage of Jesus.

3. God has not called you to be perfect. He has called you to be faithful.

a. Yes, it’s good to look back at our history. We need to learn from the past to be better in the future. But your past does not define you:

1. Who your parents were does not mean you have to be exactly like them, faults and all

2. Your past addictions do not have to remain your identity

3. Your failed relationships do not have to be the anchor that weighs you down.

b. Jesus came to set you free from your past to give you a future

1. We have all done things we aren’t proud of and Jesus was born to forgive us of our sins and give us a new life

2. Our slate is clean and our lives are now empowered by God to live for Him.

Conclusion

Don’t let your past get you down or hold you back. You are a new creature in Christ so be faithful as a child of God. We can learn from the history that brought about Jesus Christ and be challenged to live a life for God, knowing He can use us in spite of our failures. Again, God has not called you to be perfect, He has called you to be faithful