“The Family Tree of Jesus”

Series: The Gospel Truth

Text: Matt. 1:1-17

Introduction: (What?)

The Gospel of Matthew is largely (40+%) derived from the Gospel of Mark. While Mark mostly told stories that he had heard from Peter, Matthew seems more interested in the data surrounding the stories which fits perfectly with his background as a tax collector who kept meticulous logs of all tax transactions. Being Jewish and writing primarily to Jews, Matthew presented the genealogy of Jesus from a Jewish perspective, although he did include some Gentile women. When we get to the Gospel of Luke, we will find that his genealogy of Jesus is more from a Gentile perspective.

Examination: (Why?)

1. From Patriarchs to Gentile Women (vv 2-6)

As mentioned in the introduction, Matthew, a Jew, was interested mostly in introducing Jesus to the Jews as the promised “Son of David” and “Son of Abraham”. Consequently his genealogy began with the patriarchs. Matthew’s genealogy is divided into three parts with fourteen entries in each part. This method is in keeping with the Jewish numerical system which counts the numbers 3 and 7 as meaning perfection or completion. This was Matthew’s way of saying to the Jews, “This is the perfect and complete genealogy of Jesus Christ.” This also established Jesus as a legitimate descendant of David and the rightful candidate for the Messianic throne.

“An account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.

Abraham fathered Isaac, Isaac fathered Jacob, Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers; Judah fathered Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez fathered Hezron, Hezron fathered Aram, Aram fathered Amminadab, Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab, Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth, Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse, and Jesse fathered King David.

The two women in this first part of the genealogy have interesting back stories. Tamar was a Canaanite and was actually the daughter in law of Judah. We find her story in Gen. 38:6-26 To make a long story short, she was married to Judah’s oldest son whom God killed because he was evil. He died before they had children. In keeping with the Jewish custom, when this happened, if Judah had other sons, the next oldest was to take Tamar as wife and bear children in his brother’s name. The next son, Onan, was devious in his dealings with Tamar and God killed him also. Judah had one other son, but he was too young to marry. He sent Tamar back to her father’s house to live as a widow until his son came of age. Realizing that Judah was not going to give her his youngest son, Tamar devised a plan to trick Judah into sleeping with her by pretending to be a prostitute. Judah promised her a goat from his herd as payment and left his ring, belt and staff as surety. Later when Judah sent the goat by a friend, Tamar was nowhere to be found. Judah just shrugged it off and said, “Well, I tried to pay her.” Later Judah was told that Tamar was pregnant. Again, operating according to Jewish law, he demanded that she be brought to him and be burned to death. When she was brought to him she produced his ring, belt and staff and said, “I am pregnant by the man to whom these belong.” Realizing that she was more honorable than he was, Judah took her into his home but was never intimate with her again. God saw fit to include Tamar in the genealogy of Jesus.

The second woman in the genealogy of Jesus was a Rahab, a Gentile woman whom you might recognize as the prostitute who hid the spies which Moses had sent into the Promised Land. Because of her faith, God preserved both her and her family when Israel came into the land. Thus she also was included in the genealogy of Jesus. Ruth was a Moabite woman who came from a background of idol worship. The point is that God uses whom He chooses to accomplish His purposes. No matter what you may have done, God can still use you.

2. The Kingly lineage (vv 7-11)

Not only did Jesus have the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in his lineage, but He also had numerous kings of Israel.

“David fathered Solomon by Uriah’s wife, Solomon fathered Rehoboam, Rehoboam fathered Abijah, Abijah fathered Asa, Asa fathered Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat fathered Joram, Joram fathered Uzziah, Uzziah fathered Jotham, Jotham fathered Ahaz, Ahaz fathered Hezekiah, Hezekiah fathered Manasseh, Manasseh, fathered Amon, Amon fathered Josiah, and Josiah fathered Jechoniah at the time of the exile to Babylon.

Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba, committed adultery with David. Even though her paramour was the King of Israel, she still had a choice in the matter. If we walk through the books of 1 & 2 Kings we find some interesting things regarding some of the kings in Jesus’s genealogy. Solomon, while wise, rich and greatly used by God eventually turned away from God in 1 Ki 11:1-2 “King Solomon loved many foreign women in addition to Pharaoh’s daughter: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women from the nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, and they must not intermarry with you, because they will turn your heart away to follow their gods.” To these women Solomon was deeply attached in love.”

King Rehoboam, who followed Solomon and became King , took advice from some evil young men and treated the people horribly thus causing the split in Israel into two kingdoms. His son, Abijam “walked in all the sins his father before him had committed, and he was not whole-heartedly devoted to the LORD his God as his ancestor David had been.” Following Abijam was King Asa who was a righteous king who did what was right in the LORD’s sight. He ruled in Judah for 41 years and was followed by his son Jehoshaphat who also “walked in the former ways of his father David.”

Jehoshaphat’s son, Joram (Jehoram) became king of Judah but did not follow the LORD. Matthew skipped several kings and went directly to Uzziah (Azariah). This seems to be intentional so that he can make a symmetrical 3 fold division in this genealogy. The point to derive from this kingly descent of Jesus is that not all of these kings were righteous in God’s sight, and yet they are in the genealogy of the Messiah. Once again we see God using whom He chooses to accomplish His purposes.

3. A Man of the People (vv 12-17)

The third segment of Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus depicts Jesus as the “Son of Man”.

Matt. 1:12-17 “After the exile to Babylon Jeconiah fathered Shealtiel, Shealtiel fathered Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel fathered Abiud, Abiud fathered Eliakim, Eliakim fathered Azor, Azor fathered Zadok, Zadok fathered Achim, Achim fathered Eliud, Eliud fathered Eleazar, Eleazar fathered Matthan, Matthan fathered Jacob, and Jacob fathered Joseph the husband of Mary, who gave birth to Jesus who is called the Messiah. So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations; and from David until the exile to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the exile to Babylon until the Messiah, fourteen generations.”

It is interesting to note that through Jeremiah God pronounced a curse on Jeconiah when he was king. That curse, found in Jeremiah 22:24-27 “As I live”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“though you, Coniah son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, were a signet ring on my right hand, I would tear you from it. In fact, I will hand you over to those you dread, who intend to take your life, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Chaldeans. I will hurl you and the mother who gave birth to you into another land, where neither of you were born, and there you will both die. They will never return to the land they long to return to.””

One would think that this would mean that there was no way that Jeconiah could possibly be in the genealogy of Jesus. However, according to Haggai 2:23 “On that day”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies—“I will take you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, my servant”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and make you like my signet ring, for I have chosen you.” This is the declaration of the Lord of Armies.” The curse is reversed. The metaphor of “signet ring” is used in both instances. If, in fact the curse were reversed, then Jeconiah could then be included in the genealogy of Jesus.

Again we find flawed people in the lineage of Jesus. This is a prime example of the grace of God by which any flawed, sinful person who repents and believes in Jesus can be saved.

By God’s grace prostitutes and former idol worshippers were included in the line of Jesus. By God’s grace a child of adultery who became a serial polygamist (Solomon) was included in the line of Jesus. By God’s grace a king whom God once cursed was included in the line of Jesus.

Application: (How does this impact my life?)

Eph. 2:8-9 “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—not from works, so that no one can boast.”

It is by that same grace of God that inserted sinful people in the genealogy of His Son that, when activated by faith that He makes available to every person, results in salvation. My questions to you today are:

Have you surrendered your life to Jesus as LORD and thus received salvation through God’s grace?

Are you daily becoming more and more like Jesus? We find in the epistle of 1 John 2:6 “The one who says he remains in him should walk just as he walked.”

Are you beginning to resemble Jesus more and more? In Ro. 8:29 “For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”