This Changes Everything (1 of 3)

Service Notes

Chestley Video

The passage is the first portion in a Bible reading plan I want to invite you into

Bible Reading

You will hear the read “begat.” At first you may think it is repetitive, but it is actually the heartbeat of this passage. Every “begat” is Matthew’s way of showing the story keeps moving forward even when the people inside it fail. “Begat” is Matthew preaching. “Begat” means God keeps the story going when people cannot.

Matthew’s genealogy covers 42 generations by design.

He wasn’t making an ancestry.com report. He was preaching through a family tree. He shapes it to show:

Jesus is the promised son of Abraham

Jesus is the royal son of David

Jesus is the one who ends exile and brings restoration

Jesus steps into the story you think He would avoid. (Greg and the whistle)

Every “begat” is a note of grace in a world that should have stopped long ago.

Matthew 1:1–17 (KJV)

1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

2 Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;

3 And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;

4 And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon;

5 And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;

6 And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;

7 And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa;

8 And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias;

9 And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias;

10 And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias;

11 And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon:

12 And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel;

13 And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor;

14 And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud;

15 And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob;

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

17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.

Introduction

A few weeks back there was a news story about a major 23andMe data leak.

If Matthew had access to 23andMe, he would have printed the whole mess, sealed and stamped, right onto the first page of his Gospel.

Matthew does not hide the parts we would hide.

He does not sanitize the family story of the Messiah. He drags all the bruises, failures, scandals, secrets, and regrets right up to the front of the line and says, “This is where the Savior comes from.”

Why? Because he wants us to understand something before we ever get to the manger.

Jesus steps into the story you think He would avoid.

He wants us to see the kind of world Jesus willingly stepped into.

And because He stepped into that story, He can step into yours.

1. Jesus steps into stories marked by pain and disappointment.

Matthew 1:2–3 (KJV)

2 Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;

3 And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;

Matthew begins the genealogy by naming four women which ancient genealogies almost never did. He does it because their stories hold the emotional truth of the genealogy. These women are not window dressing. They are the windows into the heart of God.

A. Matthew includes wounded women whose stories reveal God’s mercy

1. Tamar: God sees the wronged and the desperate. (Genesis 38)

Tamar loses two husbands. (Er and Onan)

Judah breaks his promise to protect her.

She is left vulnerable in a culture where vulnerability meant starvation.

In desperation she forces Judah to take responsibility.

This is the chapter you skip in family devotions. God did not skip it. Matthew did not skip it. Tamar’s suffering is not pretty, but God steps into stories that are not pretty.

2. Rahab: God rewrites stories marked by shame. (Joshua 2 & 6)

Rahab is a prostitute in Jericho. Rahab the Harlot / don’t call her that when we meet her

Her past is public.

Her name would have made Jewish readers gasp.

Yet she believes God before Israel does.

She is the first Gentile in the Messiah’s family tree. Reminding us that God came for us all. Broken, Jewish, gentile, embarrassed.

3. Ruth: God meets the grieving in unexpected places. (Ruth 1)

A widow far from home.

Living with grief, loss, and poverty.

Gleaning scraps behind other workers.

Ruth is of Moab.

Matthew is teaching us something: if these stories are not too broken for God to use, then neither is yours.

B. Matthew highlights suffering, not success, because it reveals God’s heart

1. These stories begin with pain, not triumph

None of these women start with a shining moment.

They start with abandonment, betrayal, poverty, shame.

2. God’s mercy runs toward the wounded

Psalm 34:18 “18 The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.”

He is near the brokenhearted. Not the polished.

The genealogy is saturated in abandonment, betrayal, disappointment, shame, grief, and injustice.

3. Jesus comes through painful stories to redeem painful stories

Galatians 4:4–5 “4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.”

The painful story is not a barrier to grace.

It is the very reason Jesus came.

C. Bathsheba: Matthew shines a light on a wound Israel hid

1. “The wife of Uriah” forces you to remember David’s sin. (2 Samuel 11 & 12)

Matthew 1:6 “6 And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;”

Matthew refuses to let us forget: David misused his power and took another man’s wife.

2. Her story carries betrayal, loss, and heartbreak

Courageous husband killed.

Grandfather, Ahithophel, overcome with bitterness unto death.

Loss of a child.

3. Yet the Messiah comes through her line

Romans 5:20 “20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:”

Where sin abounds, grace abounds more.

Transition: Jesus steps into painful stories. He also steps into quiet, forgotten ones.

2. Jesus steps into stories marked by waiting and obscurity.

This is the part of the genealogy most people skip. But it is the part people in our church live every day. Long, quiet years. No spotlight. No miracles. No chapters named after them.

A. Matthew includes eras that felt like God disappeared

1. The exile looked like the end. (2 Chronicles 36)

Matthew 1:11 “11 And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon:”

Jerusalem burns.

The temple falls.

Families are marched to Babylon in chains.

The throne is empty.

The promise of a Messiah looks shattered.

2. Four hundred silent years stretch across history

This is the section after the exile and before the birth of Jesus, sometimes called the “silent years”

After the exile Israel returns to the land, but there are no prophets, no Scripture, no miracles, and no major revivals recorded in the Bible.

Going to the Fox with many of you and was looking forward to hearing a preacher I like to listen to. He walked up to podium and didn’t speak for 3 minutes. It felt like 400 years.

The names in verses 12 to 15 (Zerubbabel → Abiud → Eliakim → Azor → Sadoc → Achim → Eliud → Eleazar → Matthan → Jacob) are individuals we know almost nothing about.

These names stand for centuries of waiting, generations who lived and died believing the promise but never seeing it.

No prophet.

No new Scripture.

No miracle.

Just waiting.

3. Yet God was writing the story no one could see

Romans 8:28 “28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

God is doing ten thousand things in your life, and you may see three.

This era proves it.

B. Most names in the genealogy are never mentioned again

1. They lived normal, unnoticed lives

These are the Toms, Freds, Bobs, and Trents of ancient Israel.

Hezron. Aram. Aminadab. Nahshon. Eliud. Eleazar. Matthan.

Working. Raising children. Waiting. Dying. Passing the promise along.

2. They lived through decades people would call “boring”

No revivals.

No prophets.

No miracles.

3. Yet the Messiah comes through their ordinary faithfulness

1 Corinthians 1:26–29 “26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.”

Faithfulness in obscurity matters to God more than fame in public.

Most of God’s transforming work is done in moments nobody sees.

C. God writes His story with people that history forgets

Matthew honors the invisible generations by naming them

They carried the promise even when they saw no fulfillment

They died without seeing Christ, yet Christ came through them.

Jesus steps into forgotten stories because He remembers forgotten people

Take the most powerful human picture of love you know. My love is stronger.

Isaiah 49:15–16 “15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. 16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.”

She is aware even when she sleeps

Her body is wired to respond

Her heart aches to protect

Her compassion is automatic

Even the best human relationships can fail.

Mothers abandon children.

Fathers walk away.

Families collapse.

People forget each other.

Hearts change.

Your life is not now nor will ever will be forgotten by God.

Transition: Matthew has shown us painful stories and quiet stories. Now he brings us to the most shocking truth of all. The men we admire in Scripture are not spotless heroes. They are sinners just like us. Ever family needs Jesus to step into their story.

3. Jesus steps into stories we try to hide.

He enters the stories we think He should avoid, even among the people we consider the most noble. The fathers of our faith need grace just as desperately as the rest of us.

A. Abraham: the father of faith with a fearful heart

He lies to protect himself. (Genesis 12)

He risks his wife’s safety

God keeps the covenant anyway. Genesis 15:6 “6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.”

The promises of God are not hanging by the thread of Abraham’s goodness but by steadfast grip of God’s faithfulness.

B. Isaac repeats the sins and dysfunctions of his father

He lies just like Abraham. (Genesis 26)

His favoritism fractures his home (Jacob and Esau)

Yet God’s promise still moves through him

Grace begat grace. Even when sin tries to move backward.

C. Jacob and David show the failures of Israel’s greatest names

1. Jacob deceives his father and cheats his brother. (Gen 27)

He picks a fight with the “Angel of the Lord” and learns limp with grace.

Jacob tries to take by force what God would give Him if he would only wait.

2. David commits adultery and murder. (2 Samuel 11-12)

His greatness does not erase his guilt.

God did not rewrite history.

God tells the story but he also follows it with a story of grace.

3. Matthew still calls Jesus “the Son of David”

Matthew is preaching the Gospel before Jesus is born.

God enters stories people hide.

Jesus enters the stories we think He should avoid

Conclusion

Now let’s look at our genealogy. Some of you may think you are doing better than others in this generation. But if we zoom out twenty, ten, or even five generations, we find ourselves standing on the same ground. Our story is a mess. We all come from broken families. We all come from people who made decisions we wish they hadn’t. We all come from someone who needed more grace than they knew.

And if you doubt that, look at Scripture’s own family tree:

A drunk sailor, like Noah, passed out in his tent.

A runaway who lied to save his life, like Abraham, telling kings his wife was his sister.

A schemer who tricked his own blind father, like Jacob, wearing goat skins to steal a blessing.

A bitter brother ready to kill, like Esau, plotting revenge.

A man whose temper cost him dearly, like Moses, striking the rock in anger.

A leader with a wandering eye, like David, staring down from a rooftop.

A prophet who quit and wished he were dead, like Elijah, collapsing under a broom tree.

A preacher who denied Jesus to protect himself, like Peter, warming his hands by the fire.

However, your family tree is not here today but you are.

• Your past failures do not put you outside His reach.

• Your waiting has a purpose.

• Your obscurity is not insignificance.

• Your failures are not final.

• Your secrets are not stronger than His mercy.

If Jesus stepped into their stories, He will step into yours.

Matthew the human author of this genealogy.

Because Matthew knows what it feels like to be the wrong kind of name in a list of right ones.

Matthew was a tax collector.

A collaborator with Rome.

A man his own people avoided.

A man rabbis would never choose.

A man whose story deserved footnotes, not front-page billing.

Then one day Jesus walked straight toward Matthew’s tax booth and said, “Follow Me.” (Matthew 9.9)

I expect Matthew writes with tears because he knows: “I am in this story not because I deserve it, but because Jesus stepped into mine.”

And I feel the same way as I expect you do as well.

We are not here because we come from the right family.

We are not here because we earned a place.

We are here because Jesus steps into stories people avoid.