Matthew 1:1-17, The Gospel of the Kingdom

Introduction

Good morning! Please open your Bible to the Gospel of Matthew. To the very beginning, the first book of the New Testament. We’re beginning a new series this morning. One which I am really excited to begin. I have wanted to preach through this gospel for some time now and have looked forward to finally doing so as I began planning it out several months ago.

This morning we will begin with Matthew 1:1-17. Follow along with me as I read those verses for us. Then we will pray and ask the LORD to bless our time in His Word this morning and this study moving forward.

READ Matthew 1:1-17

PRAY

Have you ever expected an update and had to wait a really long time for it to be given? Maybe you’ve had a relative who was making a long journey, or even a short but dangerous one, and you were eager to hear they made it safely. Maybe a close friend has had a procedure and you eagerly awaited news of how it went. There’s something about knowing an update is coming and eagerly anticipating it that seems to make the wait seem and feel a little bit longer. The minutes and hours seem to drag on endlessly.

The events recorded here in the Gospel of Matthew (not the book itself) break about four hundred years of silence from God to His people. From the time of the last prophetic utterances of the Old Testament to the announcement of Jesus' birth the people of God had endured four hundred years of silence and uncertainty. “What’s going on? Is God still there or has He abandoned us? Is He really who He says He is? Will His promises come true? When? How? Where are the promises of blessing to Abraham? Where is the promised kingdom of David?”

We don’t have time to survey all the history, but suffice it to say those four hundred years of silence were rather difficult. Such that, the people of Israel found themselves under foreign occupation under the Roman Empire. All of David’s descendants live in relative obscurity. Israel’s leaders are corrupt and godless men in various ways. The scene is bleak and seemingly hopeless. Until God spoke again. Speaking not as He did long ago at many times in many ways through the prophets. But in these last days through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Matthew is one of four accounts of the life and teachings and death and resurrection of the LORD Jesus Christ. Each of the four gospels were written with distinct purposes in communicating the truth and glory of who Jesus is and what He has accomplished. Contrary to many skeptics' opinions, they are not in any respect contradictory accounts. Any seeming contradictions are easily handled when you consider their distinct purposes and emphases.

If I were to stand in the middle of a circle of people and each individual were to write out a description of me from their viewpoint, undoubtedly different accounts and descriptions would be written according to each one’s personality, perspective, and purpose. Nevertheless, the same person is being described by all observers making their record. In the case of the gospels, each one is writing under inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Their accounts have God as their ultimate author. One whose testimony is trustworthy and true altogether.

In Matthew’s case, writing primarily to a Jewish audience, his aim is to make unmistakably clear from the beginning that Jesus is the promised Savior King. He does so in a remarkably orderly fashion through a series of narrative discourse. Following somewhat of a prologue here in these first two chapters, he then proceeds in five main sections that alternate between narrative of Jesus’ activity, followed immediately by Jesus’ teachings.

You’ll notice these transitions throughout our study with phrases like that of Matthew 7:28 following his first discourse known as the Sermon on the Mount––“And when Jesus finished these sayings.” We’ll dig more into that as we progress through to each section. For now, we must consider simply the opening verses before us that, as I mentioned a few moments ago, make unmistakably clear who Jesus is…

MAIN POINT––Know that Jesus is the promised Savior and King, fulfilling all of God’s promises to His people.

Two things this genealogy teaches us relative to that point:

Continuation of the Story

God’s Promises are Reliable

Continuation of the Story

Notice how Matthew begins even just this section. He begins with two words in the original––Biblos genesos. It literally means the book, or record, of the genesis, or beginning, or origin. This same phrase is used in the Septuagint, Greek translation of the Old Testament, all the way back in Genesis 2:4 translated “these are the generations” referring to the events of Creation and the genealogy of Adam in Genesis 5. Here, with the genealogy of Jesus Christ we are being told that a new beginning, a new creation, is under way in Jesus Christ.

Even more pointedly, we are reminded that this is a continuation of the story. A continuation of God’s unfolding story of redemption for His glory. This is not a new work as if it's a do-over for all that has gone wrong up to this point. It is the beginning of the fulfillment phase of God’s plan which He has purposed all along. The fulfillment of all his eternal plans, purposes, and promises. Matthew does a masterful job of connecting the story right from the beginning with this genealogy.

It functions in a way much like the introduction to many of our shows we stream nowadays. They include a refresher of what has previously been seen leading up to the current episode, particularly key moments in the overall plot that are building to the climax to come. Conveniently, we often hit the skip button nowadays with such streaming capabilities. But here, we dare not skip over these verses. They are worthy of our attention and consideration.

This genealogy is intended to teach us something about the One it brings us to. The One in and through whom all of God’s promises are “yes and amen.” Matthew proclaims loudly for us, from cover to cover––from genealogy to the Great Commission––that the long awaited Savior-King has finally come and His name is Jesus. He does so by focusing our attention on two of the most prominent figures in redemptive history as they correspond to particular promises made by God to His people––Abraham and David.

The Promised Seed (Abraham)

Matthew begins his genealogy in verse 2 with Abraham and traces all the way to King David in verse 6. That’s the first segment and it is meant to recall for us God’s promises made to Abraham. You’ll remember in Genesis 12 that God called Abram and promised that He would give him land and make from him a great nation. The latter would begin with a promised son, whom he would have miraculously by his wife Sarah in spite of their advanced age.

God promised that he would personally bless Abraham and that he himself would be a blessing to others. This would be most realized through God’s unfolding plan of redemption as it was to be through Abraham that all the families of the earth would be blessed. And so it is that Matthew wants us to know that Jesus is that long-awaited promised seed of Abraham. The promised One through whom all the nations would be blessed.

The apostle Paul also makes this connection for us in Galatians 3 where he speaks of Christ as this promised offspring (a singular seed). It is through faith in this promised One that therefore all the families of the earth may experience the realities of God’s covenant promises and blessings made to Abraham. It is through faith in this promised One, the LORD Jesus Christ, that we are able to be coheirs with Christ according to this promise.

Matthew knew the significance of this promise and the weight it bore for all the hopes and dreams of any attentive Jew who longed for the fulfillment of such promises. And so it is that he intentionally fixes our eye on the line that runs from Abraham all the way to his next significant pit stop––King David.

The Promised King (David)

We pick up with David in verse 6 and Matthew then traces the line of David all the way to the time of the deportation to Babylon in verse 11. Once again, Matthew knows that any attentive Jew’s ears would perk up at the mention of David’s name. Because as redemptive history unfolds throughout the Old Testament the focal lens zooms in to give us more detail about the promised One who would one day come.

In other words, not only would this promised One be the long-awaited offspring of Abraham through whom all the families of the earth would be blessed. He would also be the anticipated son of David whose throne would endure forever as King and Ruler over all. An everlasting kingdom of justice and righteousness that would never end. We see this promise made to David all the way back in 2 Samuel 7.

There’s a couple of elements of that promise we must note together. God promised David that when his days were fulfilled he would raise up an offspring after him––an actual flesh and blood descendant. This son of David would build a house for God and his throne would be established forever. God would be to him a father; he would be to God a son. He would also experience God’s discipline, but God’s steadfast love would not depart from him.

Now the immediate referent to those promises we realize is found in David’s son, Solomon. Solomon would build a house for God to dwell in––the temple. He would have a successful reign and know peace unlike that of David’s reign. It was a golden era of sorts for the kingdom of Israel under God’s blessing. But Solomon would nevertheless stray from the LORD in various ways and the line would be broken following him. Broken with sin. The fracturing of the kingdom in two. The line of David would become obscure into the deportation and exile.

Matthew would have us to know that God’s promise to David did not fail. It endured and finds its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus. He is descended from David, having an established legitimate legal claim to the throne of David. Like Solomon, He too would build a house. In fact, He is currently building that house. It is not a house made of stone or pieced together by human hand. No, it is a house made of living stones who are united by faith to Him––the Cornerstone. A spiritual temple in and through which God dwells with His people––all who are in Christ Jesus.

But, in order for that house to be built, what becomes clear as the story continues is that something must happen in order for that house to be built. Some groundwork had to be laid. He, like Solomon, would experience God’s discipline. Only, unlike Solomon, this discipline would not be for His own sins, but the sins of others. He is the Suffering Servant of Isaiah upon whom the LORD laid all our iniquities. Whose chastisement, experiencing the full weight of God’s wrath, would bring us peace with God.

The Promised Deliverer

That brings us to the remainder of the genealogy which Matthew records for us here. Though David’s line would spiral after Solomon all the way to Israel’s deportation and exile, the line was not broken. Though David’s line would seemingly fall away from the throne and into seeming obscurity, ultimately the return of the King would not be denied. God’s promise would survive the bleak outlook of deportation and exile. It would find its realization in the One born of a virgin, betrothed to an ordinary carpenter named Joseph.

Now there’s something else that I think ought to occur to us as we navigate this section of the genealogy as it relates to the deportation. You’ll remember through our recent study of Exodus that the Exodus itself was a significant type, or pattern, for God’s ultimate deliverance of His people. Where the Exodus was God’s mighty work of salvation, delivering His people from slavery in Egypt, God’s work in and through Jesus would be a new and greater exodus. One in which God delivered His people from slavery to sin and death.

Over and over again, the Exodus is referred to and remembered throughout Old Testament writings. Much like we look back at what God has done for us in Christ, God’s people under the Old Covenant looked back to what God had done in saving them through the Exodus. They sang about it. It was recalled as a means of worship to God as their redeemer and as a call to persevere in faithfulness to Him as their covenant LORD. But if you have any basic knowledge of the Old Testament you know that Israel failed to remain faithful.

Because of their faithlessness, God brought about the covenant curses given in Deuteronomy. They were exiled from the land. All throughout the prophets, as they pronounce God’s judgment and the covenant curses upon Israel for their disobedience, they also speak of an even greater work in which God will fully and finally deliver them. And they do this using Exodus-like language. It’s all over the place.

We see this in Isaiah 40-66, where He promises a new and better exodus, where a new and better people return to Zion. We see it in Ezekiel 40-48 where He promises a new and better temple, where the Lord dwells and enjoys renewed fellowship with His people. We see it in Jeremiah 31 where He promises a New Covenant––one in which the law of God is written on their hearts. Such that they will love to walk in faithful obedience to their covenant LORD. You may be wondering, “what does Jesus have to do with all of that?” Everything!

Loved ones, Israel returned to the land. We see that unfold most notably in Ezra-Nehemiah. But even though they return to the land, they’re still in effect in exile. They try to repent, but their efforts are half-hearted at best. They rebuild the temple, but it's a vain reflection of the glorious temple they had before. The older members of the congregation who remembered the former temple wept because of how pitiful it was in comparison as they remembered the former days. And so the Old Testament era closes with Israel in the pitiful state we find them in here.

Matthew wants us to know that Jesus is the one who brought that exile to its end. Where Israel was the disobedient son, just like Adam, Jesus is the obedient Son who fulfills the law and all of its demands. He is the Passover Lamb who takes upon Himself God’s righteous judgment so that all who are covered in His blood can enter into God’s presence in fellowship with Him. He is the One who, once vindicated in His resurrection and ascension, sends forth the Spirit who writes the law on the people’s hearts in the miraculous work of regeneration.

He is the One who has made it possible for you, by grace through faith and the power of His Spirit, to walk in newness of life and live as citizens of His Kingdom under His rule and reign. If you are resting by faith in the finished work of Christ then you are one who Paul says has been (already) delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of God’s Son, Jesus (Col. 1:13). And with that you have this great hope that one day He will come again to fully and finally end that exile physically, bringing us all together into a cosmically restored promised land in the new creation.

Oh loved ones, do you see how incredible this genealogy and introduction to Matthew’s gospel is for us! How it shouts the glory of the King of kings and Lord of lords! He wants his readers, both original and us today, to know beyond a shadow of doubt that Christ is King. So that we will bow the knee in repentance and faith to live for Him and proclaim Him among the nations. He is the center of God’s unfolding plan of redemption that continues on today as the gospel goes forward to the ends of the earth.

God’s Promises are Reliable

There’s one last thing I want us to take away from this opening of Matthew’s gospel and it is this––God’s promises are reliable. There is nothing and no one who can alter or overthrow the promises and purposes of God for His glory and the eternal joy of His people. That becomes so plainly seen when you simply survey the names put before us in this genealogy. Jesus’ family tree, humanly speaking, was far from perfect. There were plenty of blemishes and twisted branches that anyone of us would love to have trimmed from our family tree if it were us.

I just want to note a few of these for us. Notice there are five women mentioned throughout––Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba. Tamar, you’ll remember, was the daughter-in-law of Judah. When she was widowed and Judah failed to provide another one of his sons to marry and care for her, she pretended to be a cult prostitute and seduced her father-in-law so that she would have a son by him.

Then, you have Rahab. She was a Canaanite resident in the city of Jericho. A Gentile marked for destruction along with the rest of the inhabitants of the land of Canaan. On top of that, she was a prostitute. Yet God saved and used her to harbor the Israelite spies as they prepared to conquer the city. Which brings us down the line to Ruth.

For all the upstanding things about Ruth, she was a Moabitess. The Moabites were the product of an incestuous relationship between Lot and his daughters and had been cut off from God’s blessings for a time. Add to that her complicity in Naomi’s plan of going to Boaz in the evening to sit at his feet while he slept––what could have been a scandalous and compromising situation.

Then, there’s Bathsheba, whom Matthew doesn’t even name. She’s rather unceremoniously referred to in verse 6 as “the wife of Uriah.” Solomon, the more immediate son of David, was the product of David and Bathsheba’s murderous affair. She was just as guilty as David was in the whole thing, even as we see David bear much of the blame.

Finally you come to Mary. What was wrong with Mary, you say? After all she was the one God chose to carry and deliver His eternal Son for His redemptive plans and purposes. Yes, that’s right. But the majority of her peers would not have seen her that way. They would have seen her as a young woman who became pregnant before being married to Joseph. That’s why, in John 8:41, the Jewish leaders scoff at Jesus and claim He was born out of sexual immorality.

Furthermore, throughout the genealogy, you have various kings mentioned. We’re all familiar with the likes of David and Solomon––the good, the bad, and the ugly of their life stories. But the kings that followed after them were quite a mixture. Some were good kings––like Josiah––whose reign was marked by many reforms and bringing the people back to a sincere devotion to God’s Word. Then, by and large, you have many wicked kings who led the people further into idolatry and rebellion against God, bringing about the exile to Babylon.

In spite of all of this––the imperfect and outright sinfulness of man as well as the deportation of God’s people out of the promised land––God’s promises were never in danger of failing. Through it all––the sin and rebellion; the destruction and devastation––God was working all things according to the counsel of His will and bringing His promises to fulfillment in and through the LORD Jesus Christ. Loved ones, this reality ought to be a comfort for us in a number of ways.

When are you most tempted to doubt the promises of God? Is it when you find yourself grieved to the heart after falling back into the same old temptation and sin that clings so close? And you wonder, “will God really bring to completion the work he began in me?” Is it when you are facing the worst imaginable trials and difficulties and joy seems so far from you? And you begin to wonder if God really is for you or if He is against you.

Is it when you are feeling hopeless because someone you love has yet to believe the gospel you’ve shared with them countless times all while persisting in prayer for them? And you wonder if God’s Word is powerful enough to accomplish its saving purposes. Is it when you are most aware of all your weaknesses and failures? And you think “there is no way God could ever use a mess like me to demonstrate His power in my weakness––I’m too far gone!”

Or is it when people walk away from the church or the faith altogether and you wonder whether God is really building His church and advancing His kingdom. I could go on and on with many more examples. If any of those doubts have ever come over you, among others, you need to be reminded of the sure and steady anchor that is Christ, our Rock and our Redeemer. If God used the mess that is represented throughout this genealogy to bring to fulfillment all His promises in Jesus Christ, you can trust He’ll see it all through even today.

Conclusion

That’s just what we’ve seen in the genealogy this morning. Can you imagine what’s in store for us as we continue our journey through all of what Matthew has recorded for us here? Our study of Matthew will serve to remind us all the more of who Jesus is and what He has done for us in His life, death, and resurrection. Such reminders will steady and encourage our hearts for faithful living as citizens of His kingdom here and now while we await His final coming.

If you’re here this morning and have yet to bow the knee in repentance and faith to King Jesus you need to know just as much that God is faithful to His promises. If you’re here thinking you’re too bad a sinner for God to save you, you need to know that God is faithful to save all are weary and come to Him for mercy. You can’t sin yourself beyond the reach of his saving arm.

And if you’re here tempted at all to presume upon God’s mercy and continue living your life your way with reckless abandon, you need to know that God will not be mocked and His mercy is not to be presumed. His coming will be a wonderful day for those who have submitted to Him and His Lordship, but it will be a terrifying day for those who persist in unrepentant and unpersuaded of Him and His rightful authority. Do not harden your heart. Do not presume upon His mercy. Turn from your sin and living for self and submit to King Jesus.

Wherever you are, Christian or not, Know that Jesus is the promised Savior and King, fulfilling all of God’s promises to His people.