The Genesis of Jesus
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Matthew is very interested in royalty and kingship
uses the word “king” 22x, more than any other writer of the New Testament
Matthew’s purpose to affirm to Jewish Christians, Jesus as the Christ, the Chosen One prophesied in the Old Testament.
he is the seed God promised to Abraham and to David
a descendant of Abraham
a king with a never ending kingdom and an eternal reign of righteousness (see v.1)
a descendant of David
a king with a never ending kingdom and an eternal reign of righteousness (see v.1)
he is also the one promised by God as the descendant of Abraham through David
many people gladly celebrate the birth of Christ at Christmas but ignore and reject him the rest of the year
they like the idea of the birth of a baby but don’t want to dwell on the fact that he came as the Lord of lords and King of kings
they will sing of his being born in a manger while rejecting his authority as the Son of God
they put up manger scenes of Joseph and Mary with the shepherds and the wise men looking on but refuse to accept him as God in the flesh
the world, by and large, ignores the core of Christmas truth
instead of honouring Jesus at his birth they are actually mocking him
how Satan must love such celebrations!
the blatant sin, the blasphemy and the rejection of Christ by people pretending to celebrate his birth!
they love the beautiful baby but reject him as Almighty God
The celebration of Jesus’ birth was never intended to conceal the reality that Jesus came into the world as its conquering King!
31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,
33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”
29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.
30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,
33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
Lk 1:
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
the world’s version of Christmas keeps Jesus in the manger
as a result most people have no idea of the real meaning of Christmas
with this on our minds let’s turn to the first verse of the NT
as we turn we should understand that the order of the 4 gospels was set by Augustine who lived 354 -430ad because he believed that was the order in which they were written
most scholars today believe Mark was written first
having said that we believe God has supernaturally preserved his Word for us so that what we have in our hands is completely trustworthy, without error because it is inspired and thus living and active
1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
“book” literally means book but it is also used of a record or list
“book” literally means book it is also used of a record or list
“genealogy” comes the Greek word “genesis” meaning beginning
“the record of the beginning of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham”
a genealogy is about one’s beginning or genesis
to rephrase v.1 we could say, “the record of the beginning of Jesus Christ”
or to phrase it as a question, “what was Jesus’ ancestry?”
the word “genesis” got me thinking about the first book of the bible
how does it start?
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
compare this to how Matthew, Mark and John begin their Gospels:
- “the book of the genealogy” or “the record of the beginning”
- “the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ”
- probably the clearest connection to the first verse in the bible: “in the beginning was the Word”
- in the beginning, God
the beginning of all 3 gospels point their readers back to Genesis, the first book of the bible
OT: God’s work in creating and sustaining the world and bringing his plan of salvation to pass
NT: God’s work of salvation fulfilled in Jesus and the ongoing work of the HS recreating sinners into his likeness and building them up in his church
bookended by the first and second comings of Christ
“Jesus” is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew name Joshua.
the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew Joshua
Joshua = God saves; God is helper or deliver
Jesus = he will save his people from their sins (; Lk 2:11)
the one through whom God saves sinners
12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
“Christ” is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew “Messiah”.
the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew “Messiah”
meaning: anointed
a name which points to Jesus’ office
“anointed” the official OT designation of prophets, priests and kings
prophets:
priests: ; ;;
kings: , ; ; ,
Jesus is our Prophet, Priest and King.
corresponds to our 3 enemies, the world, our flesh and the devil!
“the son of David, the son of Abraham”
points back to the promises God made to these two men concerning their offspring
God told Abraham and David the Promised One who would come from them would be a conqueror, a saviour and a king.
a promise originally given in seed form to Adam and Eve:
to Adam and Eve
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
- will defeat Satan
the promised One will defeat Satan
the promise to Abraham:
18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”
the promised One will be a blessing to all the nations
the promise to David:
13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
the promised One will have an eternal kingdom
“son of David”
Matthew’s genealogy traces Jesus’ lineage right back to king David demonstrating his royalty
also traces Jesus’ lineage back even further to Abraham, showing him to be a Hebrew of Hebrews and the One who would bless the nations
by tracing Jesus’ ancestry back to David and Abraham,
Matthew demonstrated Jesus’ relationship to the Jewish people as both racial and royal, Hebrew of Hebrews and King of kings
Matthew demonstrated Jesus’ relationship to the world as Saviour and King
(note - the author moves back and forth between Solomon and the future eternal king)
Jesus’ lineage goes even further back to Abraham
Abraham and David had to be Jesus’ ancestors in order for him to lay claim to the title, “Christ” or “Messiah”, for God’s promise was made to both of them that his chosen One would be one of their descendants.
Importance of Genealogies
Importance of Genealogies
the
the
Genealogies were of utmost importance to the Jews because without them they could not prove their tribal membership or their rights to inheritances.
examples of the use of genealogies:
the conquest of the Promised Land
census taken of those 20 yrs old and up
land then divided by lot to each of the tribes, right down to individual families ()
which tribe you belonged to determined the area in Israel where you would live
God determined where each and every individual lived in the land of Israel!!
redeeming property could only be done by a relative (Boaz purchasing Naomi’s land and acquiring Ruth as his wife - there was a nearer relative who had the first right of refusal)
the right of priests to minister before the Lord
had to prove they came from the right line
ex of where some priests could not minister because their genealogies had been lost
the Romans used the Jewish genealogies to tax them
this was the reason Joseph and Mary had to go to Bethlehem to be registered
Paul recited his genealogy in
Genealogies were even more important to proving one belonged to the royal family and to the high priest’s family.
in order for priests to minister before the Lord they had to prove they came from the right line
ex of where some priests could not minister because their genealogies had been lost
Jewish genealogies were so important they became a source of contention in the early church! (; ; Tit 3:9)
Paul warned Timothy of the propensity of Jewish Christians to create problems in the church by their constant arguing over genealogies! (; ; )
according to the genealogical record only Jesus can lay claim to being the Messiah!
genealogies were even more important to proving one belonged to the royal family and to the high priestly family
Jesus is the last verifiable claimant to David’s throne
in order for priests to minister before the Lord they had to prove they came from the right line
if he is not the Messiah then no one else can make a defensible claim to it
had to prove they came from the right line
it is interesting to note that the Jewish leaders never challenged Jesus’ connection to David!
all of the genealogies have been lost so if anyone claims to be the Messiah there will be no objective way to prove it!
ex of where some priests could not minister because their genealogies had been lost
Matthew’s Genealogy
Matthew’s Genealogy
according to the genealogical record only Jesus can lay claim to being the Messiah!
Jesus is the last verifiable claimant to David’s throne
if he is not the Messiah then no one else can make a defensible claim to it
it is interesting to note that the Jewish leaders never challenged Jesus’ connection to David!
with these things in mind, let consider Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus
although there are some difficult challenges with Matthew’s genealogy we will not spend time speculating on how he came up with his list
The first testimony about Jesus in our New Testament is a genealogy!
a testimony to:
his human nature
his right to the throne of David
his fulfillment of the prophecy that Israel would be a blessing to the nations
his divine character and mission
Matthew’s genealogy a kind of law and gospel - the blessing of Abraham and the curse of Adam
General Facts
General Facts
v.1 the comprehensive heading, Matthew’s thesis if you will
a summary of the next 16 verses
Matthew’s genealogy descends from David and Abraham showing the legitimate royal line of the house of David.
shows the legitimate royal line of the house of David
Matthew’s genealogy highlights 3 phases of Israel’s life
Luke’s genealogy is ascending in that it records Jesus’ bloodline from Mary back to David and all the way back to Adam!
demonstrates the biological right of Jesus to David’s throne
3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh
through Mary Jesus had the blood of David in his veins
Matthew purposefully structured Jesus’ genealogy through 3 phases of Israel’s history.
marked out by 3 periods of 14 generations (v.17)
it is unclear why Matthew chose to do this
some suggest it has to do with his focus on David as king
numerology has to do with the mystical association between a letter and a number
the number associated the name “David” is 14
each period of 14 generations points to some aspect of kingship and royalty
first, the gradual increase of the royal line from Abraham to King David
from an idolater transplanted from Chaldea to Canaan, from wanderer to royalty
through the time of the judges to the time of the kings ()
second, the declining state of God’s people from the glory of King Solomon down through his descendants to the time of the captivity in 586BC ()
third, the obscurity of Israel from the time of their captivity to the coming of Christ
there was silence until the appearance of the lowly carpenter Joseph ()
Matthew’s genealogy descends from David and Abraham
shows the legitimate royal line of the house of David
- “Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary”
Matthew does not conclude Jesus’ royal lineage by saying, “and Joseph was the father of Jesus” because he wanted to point to Jesus’ supernatural virgin birth.
Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus, although he was the husband of Mary
bible never calls Joseph the father of Jesus
Joseph was the last “begotten” in the royal line of David
Matthew presents Joseph as the legal father of Jesus which made him an heir of David and of Abraham
if Jesus had been born without a legal father and Mary gave birth without a legal husband, Jesus’ right to the promise made to Abraham and David would have been void
note the angel’s appearance to Joseph to reassure him of Mary’s purity and Joseph’s immediate obedience in taking Mary as his wife
as Joseph’s legal heir Jesus was entitled to all the rights and privileges that Joseph enjoyed including the right to David’s throne
note where it says that everyone considered Jesus to be the son of Joseph; also , “is this not Joseph’s son”
though there was suspicion that Jesus was the result of an immoral relationship most people accepted Joseph as Jesus’ legal father and was thus known as the son of Joseph
that Jesus was the adopted son of Joseph and thus his legal heir,
20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife,
25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
Mt 1:
as Joseph’s adopted son, Jesus was the legal heir to David’s throne
in the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70AD all of the genealogies were destroyed so Jesus is the only one who can prove he is the Messiah
if anyone else claims to be the Messiah there is no objective way to prove it!
according to the genealogical record only Jesus can lay claim to being the Messiah!
Jesus is the last verifiable claimant to David’s throne
according to the genealogical record only Jesus can lay claim to being the Messiah!
if he is not the Messiah then no one else can make a defensible claim to it
if he is not the Messiah then no one else can make a defensible claim to it
it is interesting to note that the Jewish leaders never challenged Jesus’ connection to David!
Luke’s genealogy is ascending in that it records Jesus’ lineage from Mary back to David and even further back to Adam
demonstrates the biological right of Jesus to David’s throne
3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh
through Mary Jesus had the blood of David in his veins
Matthew’s Genealogy
v.1 the comprehensive heading, Matthew’s thesis if you will
a summary of the next 16 verses
Matthew’s genealogy shows that Jesus’ lineage goes right back to David and further to Abraham
these two had to be Jesus’ ancestors in order for him to lay claim to the title, “Christ” or “Messiah” for the promise was made to both of them that God’s chosen One would come through them
Joshua = God saves; God is helper or deliver
God is helper or deliver - he will save his people from their sins
Jesus = he will save his people from their sins
he will save his people from their sins
the one through whom God brings salvation
Christ = anointed
anointed - a name denoting Jesus’ office
a name denoting Jesus’ office
the official designation of prophets, priests and kings
prophets:
priests: ; ;;
kings: , ; ; ,
Jesus our prophet, priest and king
a testimony to:
his human nature
his right to the throne of David
his divine character and mission
Matthew’s genealogy a kind of law and gospel - the blessing of Abraham and the curse of Adam
Matthew’s Puzzling Choice of Names
Matthew’s Puzzling Choice of Names
genealogy highlights 3 phases of Israel’s life
marked out by 3 periods of 14 generations
first, the gradual increase of the royal line from Abraham to King David
from a transplanted idolater to royalty
one of the things which becomes very obvious very quickly is that there were some very dark stains on Jesus’ ancestors
through the time of the judges to the time of the kings ()
why would Matthew include them?
secular kings and rulers avoid anything which would portray them in any kind of negative light
today we call it “historical revisionism” = the rewriting of history to remove events which reflect badly on the ruler or the nation or to record them in such a way as to deny the event happened or present it as something good
modern examples:
Holocaust denial, Japanese war crime denials
biblical example of there being no Egyptian record of the 10 Plagues and the Exodus!
Matthew makes no attempt to hide the ugly stains in Jesus’ royal genealogy and in fact goes out of his way to point them out!
knowing his goal was to demonstrate Jesus as the prophesied Glorious King why include such blots and stains on his ancestry?
The Men
The Men
Many of the men in Jesus’ genealogy had deep personal flaws which the bible record makes no attempt to hide!
Abraham (1:2)
lied not once but twice about his wife out of self interest ( & 20)
Jacob (1:2)
was born grasping his older twin brother’s heal and thus named, “grasping” or “the deceiver” ()
Judah (1:3)
sexually immoral - led to incest with his daughter-in-law (Gen 38)
David (1:6)
also sexually troubled - many wives & concubines - a terrible father - adulterer - murderer
Solomon (1:7)
followed in father’s footsteps - had more wives and turned away from the Lord into wicked and vile idolatry (1)
from Solomon to the captivity a mix of good and evil kings but an inevitable decline as the nation slowly self-destructed
second, the gradual decline from King Solomon down through his descendants to the time of the captivity in 586BC ()
The Women
The Women
It was unheard of to find the names of women in Jewish genealogies since names and inheritances only came through the fathers.
it was unheard of to find the names of women in Jewish genealogies since names and inheritances only came through the fathers
from the time of the captivity silence until the appearance of the lowly carpenter Joseph ()
a most important question for any Jew: “who is/was your father?”
Q: why did Matthew specifically mention the 4 women in Jesus’ genealogy, especially given their terrible backgrounds?
Lenski thinks that he did so because of the suspicions which would be levelled at Mary for becoming pregnant before her marriage to Joseph
if anyone would slander Mary, what about these 4 women who were so obviously a part of the Messianic line!
this is seen in the stains attached to the people in the lines
Tamar (1:3 & )
purposefully committed incest with her father-in-law Judah
Judah himself was sexually immoral and his sons were so wicked the Lord put them to death!
that union produced Perez
that sinful union produced Perez
God’s astonishing grace that he over-ruled the sin of both so that the godly line was preserved
“son of David”
God uses what he hates to accomplish what he loves
Rahab (1:5 & )
was a prostitute belonging to a people so corrupt that God decided to completely wipe them out!
feared the Lord and he had mercy on her
Ruth (1:5 & )
though she was a woman of high moral character and great virtue she was a Moabite
Moab was the result of another incestuous relationship between Lot and his daughter
shows the legitimate royal line of the house of David
the wife of Uriah (1:6)
Bathsheba a willing participant in adultery with David
by faith she rose above the guilt of her sin
Tamar, God over-ruled her sinful effort to do right
Rahab by her belief in God repented and turned away from her own people and committed herself to the chosen people of God
Ruth, though belonging to a people produced by incest and cursed by God, attained such distinction by her pure and blameless conduct that she had a book of the bible named after her
as the adoptive son of Joseph, Jesus was the legal heir to David’s throne
Bathsheba, though a willing accomplice with David in adultery became the partner of his penitence and his throne
(that she was an accomplice: compare the rules around sexual assault in and the fact that when David sent messengers to Bathsheba its says, “she came to him” (); compare what Tamar did when Amnon raped her)
her repentance is inferred from the fact that the Lord blessed he and David with Solomon
an evidence of God’s pardoning grace for both
her inclusion in the line of Christ is another proof that she had repented
Luke’s genealogy is ascending from Mary to David to Adam
demonstrates the biological right of Jesus to David’s throne
3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh
son of Abraham
the one through whom God brings salvation
Christ, anointed - the official designation of prophets, priests and kings
Matthew’s genealogy shows that Jesus’ lineage goes right back to David
prophets: 1 Ki 19:16
priests: ; ;;
- note that the author moves back and forth between Solomon and the future eternal king
“son of Abraham”
kings: , ; ; ,
Jesus’ lineage goes even further back to Abraham
Abraham and David had to be Jesus’ ancestors in order for him to lay claim to the title, “Christ” or “Messiah” for the promise was made to both of them that God’s chosen One would come through them
Matthew does not conclude the genealogical line by saying, “and Joseph begot Jesus” because he wanted to point to Jesus’ virgin birth
Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus, although he was the husband of Mary
bible never calls Joseph the father of Jesus
Joseph was the last “begotten” in the royal line of David
Matthew presents Joseph as the legal father of Jesus which made him an heir of David and of Abraham
if Jesus had been born without a legal father and Mary gave birth without a legal husband, Jesus’ right to the promise made to Abraham and David would have been void
note the angel’s appearance to Joseph to reassure him of Mary’s purity and Joseph’s commitment to take Mary as his wife
as Joseph’s legal heir Jesus was entitled to all the rights and privileges that Joseph enjoyed including the right to David’s throne
note where it says that everyone considered Jesus to be the son of Joseph; also , “is this not Joseph’s son”
though there was suspicion that Jesus was the result of an immoral relationship most people accepted Joseph as Jesus’ legal father and was thus known as the son of Joseph
Conclusion
Conclusion
while King Jesus is Lord of the truly
Jesus is a King for all, not just the most holy and most righteous!
King Jesus’ grace to us as sinners
Matthew’s desire to show his Jewish readers that Jesus had a higher righteousness than that of the external and ceremonial holiness prized by the Pharisees (Lange)
dead, blind, rebellious, enemies, going our own way
remember that as a former tax collector () Matthew had been on the receiving end of the hatred and verbal abuse of the Pharisees
he was despised by them
after he left his tax collecting profession to follow Jesus he witnessed the same hatred of the Pharisees for his Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, climaxing in his brutal suffering at their hands and the Roman soldiers and his agonizing death on the cross
he
they handed Jesus over to the Romans because he claimed to be the Son of God
Matthew’s overall purpose in writing his gospel to show that Jesus is the Christ, Israel’s Messiah, the promised descendant of David whose kingdom would never end and who will return to reign over all the earth as King of kings and Lord of lords
Matthew begins his account of the life and ministry of Jesus by showing that he was the King
examples:
55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?
56 And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?”
57 And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.”
54 and coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works?
Mt 13:55-
the issue is that on one hand God wanted all people to know that Jesus was his son, miraculously conceived in Mary’s womb by the power of the HS
this very knowledge would cause many to despise Jesus as one conceived as the result of sexual immorality
God’s answer: show the genealogy of Jesus both through Joseph and through Mary
Matthew starts with Abraham and David to show Jesus’ connection to them by adoption by Joseph
Luke starts with Mary to trace Jesus bloodline back through David all the way back to Adam
a most important question for any Jew: “who is/was your father?”
Q: why did Matthew specifically mention the following 4 women in Jesus’ genealogy?
if they were going to reject Jesus for Mary’s perceived immorality what were they to do with the 4 women in the line of the Messiah?
the importance of this is clear knowing that he purposely left out the names of some!
Lenski thinks that he did so because of the suspicions which would be levelled at Mary for becoming pregnant before her marriage to Joseph
if anyone would slander Mary what about these 4 women who were so obviously a part of the Messianic line!
King Jesus’ grace to us as saved sinners
this is seen in the stains attached to the people in the lines
though redeemed we continue to battle against our sinful passions and desires
with the Apostle Paul we cry, “O wretched man that I am”, “the good I want to do I do not do and the evil that I do not want to do that I do”
nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus
there is no condemnation
King Jesus’ continuing grace to us in glorifying us
Tamar - Gen 38
committed incest with Judah and that union produced Perez
Judah himself was sexually immoral
God’s astonishing grace that he over-ruled the sin of both so that the godly line was preserved
Rahab -
having saved us he will glorify us!
30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
was a prostitute belonging to a people devoted to destruction for their great wickedness
Ruth -
heaven is not an unsure hope but a certain expectation for all who put their faith and trust in Jesus
was a Moabite - Moab was the result of another incestuous relationship between Lot and his daughter
Bathsheba - committed adultery with David
Is Jesus your King?
Tamar committed a great sin in her passionate desire to become one of the mothers of God’s chosen race
by faith she rose above the guilt of her sin
Rahab by her belief in God forsook her own people and committed herself to the chosen people of God
Ruth, though belonging to a people produced by incest and cursed by God, attained such distinction by her pure and blameless conduct that she had a book of the bible named after her
Bathsheba, though a willing accomplice with David in adultery became the partner of his penitence and his throne
that she was an accomplice: compare the rules around sexual assault in and the fact that when David sent messengers to Bathsheba its says, “she came to him” (); compare what Tamar did when Amnon raped her
her repentence is inferred from the fact that the Lord blessed David and Bathsheba with Solomon
an evidence of pardoning grace for both
her inclusion in the line of Christ is another proof that she had repented
both the lines of Abraham and David were failures but Christ redeems them both
though Christ is the promised King, he is also the Saviour through whom the world is blessed
both the lines of Abraham and David were failures but Christ redeems them both