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last week we looked at Jesus’ human genealogy traced back through his adoptive father Joseph
recorded by Matthew in chapter 1:1-17
the conclusion:
Jesus is the only legitimate heir to the throne of David.
(Mt 1:1-17)
today we are going to look at Jesus’ divine genealogy
captured in just 1 verse!
In his divine genealogy Matthew declares that Jesus was descended directly from God by a supernatural work of his Holy Spirit.
the fact that only one verse is dedicated to Jesus divine genealogy is a strong indicator this was not of human fabrication
anything fraudulent would have required all kinds of elaboration and detail to convince the victim!
anything that is true is self-evident
Mt 1:1 - declaration that Jesus is the Christ, the one chosen by God and prophesied in the OT
Mt 1:2-17 - proof Jesus was both the son of David and the son of Abraham
essential in light of God’s covenants with them that the One chosen by God would come from them
Mt 1:18 - proof that this Son of Abraham and Son of David was also the Son of God
essential if he was to be the promised Saviour
essential if he was to have a never ending rule and kingdom
Jesus’ Divine Genealogy
“now”
a signal to the reader that Matthew is transitioning from the royal and racial genealogy in vv.1-17
compare v.1 - “the genealogy of Jesus Christ” to v.18 “now the birth of Jesus Christ”
“birth”
from the same Gk root as “genealogy”
Matthew is giving another account of Jesus’ ancestry
Matthew traces Jesus’ ancestry through 2 persons: Joseph and God.
put another way, Jesus’ ancestors include Abraham, David, Joseph and, most importantly, God
like every other child Jesus was born, but in a singularly special way
every child born into the world is a totally new creature
being eternal God, Jesus existed before Mary and Joseph and all of their earthly ancestors
if Jesus was conceived and born as any other baby, he could not have been God
for the Son of God to become flesh and enter the world it had to be in such a way that the curse of sin was not passed on to him
Jesus was born through an earthly mother without the cooperation of an earthly father
“Mary had been betrothed to Joseph”
Mary had been pledged to Joseph and as such was considered legally married.
Jewish tradition indicates that marriage typically happened for a male between 18 & 24 yrs and for a female between 12.5 and 15 yrs
betrothal occurred a year or more before the actual marriage
marriage arranged by the families of the bride and groom
contract made and sealed with payment by the groom’s family to the bride’s father
helped cover marriage expenses
also a form of insurance in case the groom became dissatisfied with his wife and divorced her
once the contract was made the couple was legally bound to each other they were considered husband and wife even though the marriage ceremony and consummation had not yet taken place
contract could only be broken with a formal divorce (v.19)
“before they came together she was found to be with child”
During their betrothal period the requirement was that both Mary and Joseph would keep themselves sexually pure.
Mary would have remained in the home of her parents where she would have been watched over and kept for her marriage day
during that betrothal period, before she had been married, Mary’s pregnancy became obvious
it is likely, given the stigma of and penalty attached to pregnancy out of wedlock, that Mary secluded herself as her aunt Elizabeth had done (Lk 1:24) so that her condition was not widely known
a potential life and death situation!
(Lev 20:10; Dt 22:22)
sexual purity highly regarded in both Testaments
God’s holy and good plan for sex: complete sexual abstinence outside of marriage and sexual fidelity within
the importance of Mary’s sexual purity:
had Jesus been conceived as all other people have he could not have been divine and could not have been the Saviour
his own claims about himself would have been lies
his resurrection would have been a hoax
all humankind would remain lost in their sin and damed to hell
“she was found to be with child from the HS”
this was the explanation Mary gave to Joseph
not surprisingly, Joseph was not convinced!
Jesus’ Genealogies Threatened
“a just man”
3 possibilities:
an upright man, a man of character, one obedient to the commands of God
kind or compassionate
good
Joseph’s choices:
1. bring charges against her in a public court
although the punishment Deuteronomy for adultery was death by stoning it is likely this was no longer practiced at that time
public shame seems like nothing in comparison to the death penalty but in that culture it was like a living death
a stigma never forgotten
2. or end their betrothal privately in the presences of 2 witnesses, in order to spare Mary and her family the public shame and embarrassment
The answer as to what motivated Joseph, justice or compassion, is given in the phrase, “and unwilling to put her to shame”.
if justice and the commands of God were Joseph’s motivation, he would have exposed Mary and left her and her family to suffer the consequences
that he was unwilling to put her to shame shows that Joseph was a man of kindness and compassion
being a kind and compassionate man he did not want to put Mary and her family through the ordeal of a public trial and so chose a private divorce
and so Matthew tells us, Joseph “resolved to divorce her quietly”
there is no indication that Joseph was angry, resentful or bitter
though he had been shamed his concern was not for his honour but for Mary’s and her family
though many men would have disgraced her publicly he resolved to end the marriage secretly
rather than make her condition public and bring great shame upon her and her family he purposed not to exact revenge
without Joseph, Jesus’ connection to the royal line would have been lost
without Joseph, Mary would have been considered an adulterer and her baby, illegitimate
without Joseph Jesus’ life and ministry would have ended before he was even born!
Jesus’ Divine Genealogy Affirmed by the Holy Spirit
“behold”
Matthew’s cue to his readers that something extraordinary was about to be revealed
it was as if he were saying, “pay attention!”
or “take note of this!”
“an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream”
this “messenger” was sent by God to speak directly to Joseph about his decision to divorce Mary quietly
This appearance of the angel of the Lord to Joseph was the first of 4! (Mt 2:13, 19, 22)
although some might have doubted the first appearance, the subsequent 3 appearance gave Joseph certain assurance that Mary’s pregnancy was indeed brought about by the Holy Spirit and not some sinful act
“Joseph, son of David”
as outlined in the genealogy Matthew presented in vv.
2-17
it was God’s will that Jesus become a legitimate descendant of King David
therefore God impressed on Joseph that he had been specifically chosen just as much as Mary had
As the “son of David”, Joseph was to become Jesus’ legal father and so entitle him to the throne of David.
Joseph’s obedience also served to protect Mary and Jesus from shameful accusations
and so the angel’s message to Joseph was “do not fear to take Mary as your wife”
Joseph was very doubtful about continuing his relationship with Mary
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