Sermon Tone Analysis

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

Matthew begins his wonderful Gospel with the introduction of King Jesus.

The person of Jesus is painted in royal colors.

His ancestry is traced from the royal line.

His birth is dreaded by a rival king.

Wise men offer their royal gifts.

His herald, John the Baptist, declares that his kingdom is at hand.

In his temptation, you see the royalty of the person because the temptation itself reaches a climax when He, by Satan, is offered the kingdoms of the world, an acknowledgment that He has a right to rule.

His great message on the mount was the manifesto of the King setting forth the laws of the kingdom.

His miracles were His royal credentials.

His parables were called the “mysteries of the Kingdom.”

He was hailed as the Son of David.

He claimed the freedom to pay tribute to the kings of the earth for He Himself is a child of the king.

He makes a royal entry into Jerusalem and claims sovereignty and tells concerning Himself the story of the marriage of a king’s son.

And while facing the cross, He predicted His future reign.

He claimed to have dominion over the angels so that He could have called a legion of them to His defense.

His last words are a kingly claim and a royal command as He says, “All authority has been given unto me in heaven and on earth.

Go therefore.”

And so Matthew presents him as a king, a king revealed.

And it all begins with Jesus’ family tree.

If a king is to be heralded as a king, if he is to be believed to be a king, if he is to have any credibility at all, if anybody is to accept the fact that he, in fact, is a king, then it must start with the proof that he comes from the royal line.

As we look at the Historical Record of Jesus Christ, we see immediately the Sovereign Hand of God and His Heart of Grace.

I.

The Sovereign Hand in the Historical Record

The historical record

Or biblos geneseos, the book of genealogy.

Matthew gave a brief genealogy of Jesus Christ.

The historical record of Jesus Christ is presented in two forms: Matthew’s genealogy presents a descending line, from Abraham through David, through Joseph, to Jesus Christ.

Luke presents an ascending line, beginning with Jesus and going back through David, Abraham, to “Adam, the son of God.”

Why the difference?

Matthew traces the legal record of Jesus to validate Jesus’ royal claim as King from David as promised in .

Luke traces the blood line through Mary’s natural father.

Because Joseph is not Jesus’ father, but Mary conceived through the Holy Spirit.

So, both lines prove different aspects to Jesus as the Messiah.

Matthew’s account give proof of the royal line, Luke, the blood line.

And looking at the list we see the sovereign hand of God through the centuries.

An essential note that His virgin birth was not only divinely conceived but that sovereignly and miraculously His regal line was protected is seen in one of Joseph’s descendants — Jechoniah!

Verse 11 and 12.

Jechoniah (also called Jehoiachin or Coniah) was king right before the exile to Babylon.

Because of his wickedness, God declared of Jechoniah through His prophet Jeremiah —

This curse would have precluded Jesus’ right to kingship had He been born the natural son of Joseph.

Matthew traced the legal line from David through Jechoniah to Joseph.

But His blood line, His human right to reign, came through Mary, who was not in Jechoniah’s line.

The curse on Jechoniah’s offspring was circumvented, while the royal line was preserved.

This by the sovereign hand of God.

So, this is the historical record of Jesus Christ.

Jesus — the Greek equivalent of Jeshua, which means “Yahweh saves.”

It was the name the angel told Joseph to give to the Son who was miraculously conceived in Mary.

He will save His people from their sins.

That is the Historical Record of Jesus.

Christ

Ἰησοῦς Χριστός — This is the Greek form of the Hebrew Mashiah — Messiah, which means the anointed one.

Jesus was the Christ.

He was the Anointed One, the long expected deliverer, the long expected King.

Ἰησοῦς

Though He was long expected Messiah of the Jews, yet because of unbelief and misunderstanding of Scripture, many Jews rejected Jesus as the Christ.

Some rejected Him because they knew His parents.

Matthew 13:

Matthew 13:54

Others rejected Him because they knew where He was from.

John 7;

And others rejected Him because they were unaware of His lineage and birthplace.

John 7:

John 7:4

This historical record of Jesus Christ answers all these objections — clearly establishing the Messiah’s royal lineage.

Matthew’s intent is not to bog you down in a study of each and every person listed, but to show that all these people point to royalty and kingship of the Lord Jesus.

But the record doesn’t merely verify the royal line and kingship of Jesus Christ, but give us the character of this Majestic King — He is the King of Grace. he would not be a king of law and force, but the King of Grace.

And we see this clearly in the human ancestors He chose.

II.

The Heart of Grace of the King

The Grace of the King is shown in 4 Ways.

Son of David, Son of Abraham

Consider first, these two grossly sinful men God chose by His grace to be ancestors of the Messiah.

David sinned terribly committing adultery with Bathsheba and then murdering her husband Uriah, to cover up the sin and to take Bathsheba for his own wife. he slaughtered countless men and therefore was not allowed to build God’s temple.

He was a poster boy for bad fathers, failing miserably to father his children, to discipline them — one of whom rebelled against David and attempted to usurp his throne.

Abraham, though the father of all those who believe — he lied twice about his wife, Sarah in fear of his own life and in complete lack of trust in God — and told two pagan kings that Sarah was his sister.

Yet God made David father of the royal line of His Messiah and Abraham, father of His chosen people.

Jesus was the Son of David by royal descent and the Son of Abraham by ethnic descent.

God even extended His grace in intervening in the descendents of these two men, despite their sin.

Isaac was the son of promise, being willingly offered to God in .

Jacob, weak and unfaithful, God was continually faithful to and His grace was always on him even in discipline.

God also extended His grace intervening in the life of Solomon, David’s son through Bathsheba, who corrupted himself with hundreds of pagan women, who turned Solomon’s heart away from the Lord.

This resulted in also tearing away the hearts of Israel away from the Lord and divided the kingdom.

But through that — God in His grace kept the royal line remained unbroken just as God promised David.

The descendants of David and Abraham were characterized by unfaithfulness, immorality, idolatry, and apostasy.

But God — who is rich in mercy, dealt with them was characterized by Grace.

And so, the King of Grace came through the line of these two sinful men.

2. Through Three Periods

God’s grace is seen in the Three Periods Matthew has identified in the Historical Record of Jesus Christ.

Matthew summarizes the historical record of the King of Grace, Jesus Christ, with 3 periods of Israel’s history represented by the lineage of Jesus Christ.

The First Period, from Abraham to David, is what is called the Patriarchs.

This also includes, Moses, Joshua, and the judges.

This is the time of wandering, slavery in Egypt, God’s deliverance, covenant-making, law-giving, conquest of the Promised Land and victory over enemies.

The Second Period, from David to the exile to Babylon.

This is the time of monarchy, theocracy, kings that led them away from God rather than to God.

This is a time of nearly uninterrupted decline, apostasy, and degeneracy that led to defeat, exile, and the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.

Only in David, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, and Josiah do we see any evidence of godliness.

The Third Period, from the exile to Babylon to the Messiah.

This is the time of captivity, exile, and hopelessness.

This is a period of darkness and inconsequence since most of those mentioned in this period are unknown outside of this list.

Yet God in His marvelous grace sends His Messiah working on behalf of each and everyone listed here.