The Joy Journey (Part 1)

Introduction

Attention:

Raise your hand if you have a pretty decent idea of your families ancestry (AKA where your ancestor came from)

As far as I can tell, I am of the Celts. So that’s good… right?

One thing that I think is really funny is when people act like their ancestors are their grandparents or something. It seems like the one that I hear the most is “yeah I’m Irish.”

And yeah… what they mean by that is “WAY back, I am of Irish decent,” but they make it sound like their grandpa was a Lepricon

There are ways for us to try and make sense out of all of this stuff too; you can use websites like ancestry.com to try and track down your family history

That way, when your friends don’t believe you when you say that you’re Irish, you can prove it to them!

In the same way, Jesus actually proves who He is through His ancestry, which is EXACTLY what we will be looking at today!

The Joy Journey is all the joy that results from realizing and reflecting upon the truth that Christ is the Messiah. Tonight’s text (Matthew 1:1-17), demonstrates the first of three ways that we will see Christ prove Himself as the legit Messiah.

And the way that He does this is through a genealogy!

It is easy for us to skip past sections like this in the Bible because they seem boring, but what we are going to see tonight is that this is one of the most important parts of the Christmas story, and that it represents some profound truths that every Christian can find confidence in

Need:

You may not realize it, but you need this genealogy in your life

This past year has been pretty crazy, and because of that, its easy for us to lose sight of who Christ is, and to even begin to doubt Him

Maybe we allow difficult things at school to be at the forefront of our mind, or difficult stuff at home, and the continuation of COVID certainly hasn’t helped any of this

And at Christmas time, we are supposed to remember the reason for the season, but because of how its like “Jesus, are you really there? Jesus, are you really who you say you are?”

This Christmas season provides a beautiful opportunity for you to regain confidence in who Christ is!

This Christmas is an opportunity to allow Jesus to prove Himself as true to you! Allow Him to do this

Body

The Big Idea: Jesus’s Ancestry Proves Who He Is

The Question: What Do We See About Who Jesus is From His Ancestry?

1. He is faithful (1:1-6a)

Matthew 1:1

This is a record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of David and of Abraham:

Explanation:

At the very beginning of the book, we see three very important about Jesus (1) He is the Messiah, (2) He is a descendant of David, and (3) He is a descendent of Abraham

To say that a baby born in a manger was the Messiah, or as Jesus called Himself, “The King of the Jews,” the one that they had been waiting for, is quite the claim. It demands evidence

And that’s exactly what Matthew sets out to do at the beginning of His Gospel, and He is going to do this by connecting Him with both Abraham and David

And He starts by by connecting Jesus with Genesis. The literal Greek phrase for “the record of the ancestors” is the same as the Greek title of Genesis (keep this in mind; it will be helpful).

This leads us to the first section of the Genealogy: The genealogy is split into three sections of 14 generations, and it is from the first of these that we Abraham and Christ’s faithfulness

Matthew 1:2-6

Abraham was the father of Isaac. Isaac was the father of Jacob. Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers. Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (whose mother was Tamar). Perez was the father of Hezron. Hezron was the father of Ram. Ram was the father of Amminadab. Amminadab was the father of Nahshon. Nahshon was the father of Salmon. Salmon was the father of Boaz (whose mother was Rahab). Boaz was the father of Obed (whose mother was Ruth). Obed was the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon (whose mother was Bathsheba, the widow of Uriah).

Explanation:

Don’t get overwhelmed by all of these names: the most important thing for us to see in this section is that it begins with Abraham and ends with David (also, note Tamar. Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba; these will be important later)

After first connecting Jesus to Genesis in verse 1, he does this even more by beginning to trace the line of Christ through Abraham

Abraham is one of the most important characters in Genesis, and this is because God makes a covenant with Him and promises to “bless all the nations” through Him

This promise led to the expectation of a Messiah who would come and save His people. This is something that Israel heavily looked forward to

For hundreds of years, people waited for this descendant of Abraham to come and bless everyone

and then finally, it happens through Christ! Matthew wants us to see that Jesus is descendant of Abraham, and He is the one through whom He will keep His promise to bless all nations

God is faithful to the promise He made to Abraham; He is faithful to us!

Illustration:

In my childhood, God’s faithfulness collided with my dad’s unfaithfulness my mother

This all happened when I was 8, and it was very difficult to go through. My structure of familial safety and comfort was being torn apart.

And this made it hard for me to believe that Christ was truly faithful; if my Dad was unfaithful to us, who’s to say that Christ will be faithful?

But what I couldn’t find in my dad, I found in my Heavenly Father; he has proven Himself to be faithful to me

And when I am reminded of Christ’s connection with Abraham, I can’t help but get in the Christmas Spirit. Jesus really is faithful! That’s not just something for us to put on a bumper sticker; its a truth that we come face to face with as we reflect upon the manger

Application:

Are you actively aware of God’s faithfulness in your life?

Or, on account of the unfaithfulness of others, is it difficult to see God this way?

This might be your parents, your siblings, your friends, your significant other. You fill in the blank. At some point, we all have had someone be unfaithful towards us in some way

And is their unfaithfulness impacting the way that you view God? Do you have specific doubts about the faithfulness of Christ that you are dealing with?

Christmas is a time to remember that Jesus has been proven to be faithful! Others will fail us, but He never will. Find joy in this!

Stop focusing on how much other people have proven themselves to be unfaithful and start focusing on how much Jesus has proven Himself to be faithful!

Table Question #1: What are some things that make it challenging for you to trust in the faithfulness of God this time of year?

2. He is King (1:6-11)

Matthew 1:6-11

Jesse was the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon (whose mother was Bathsheba, the widow of Uriah). Solomon was the father of Rehoboam. Rehoboam was the father of Abijah. Abijah was the father of Asa. Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat was the father of Jehoram. Jehoram was the father of Uzziah. Uzziah was the father of Jotham. Jotham was the father of Ahaz. Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah. Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh. Manasseh was the father of Amon. Amon was the father of Josiah. Josiah was the father of Jehoiachin and his brothers (born at the time of the exile to Babylon).

Explanation:

The first of the two most important figures that Jesus is connected with is Abraham, and the second is David

So while the first section of the genealogy traced the line from Abraham to David, this section traces the line from David to the Babylonian exile.

In the OT, the first time that it says that the Messiah will come from someone’s family is when it says this about Abraham. And the last family that this is spoken about is that of David

And the kingship of David is emphasized here; it specifically calls Him “King David!”

This gives Jesus even more street cred; he comes from the same line as the most famous Jewish King ever!

This all points to the fact that Jesus is the ultimate King; He has ultimate authority, and is even more of a king than David ever was

Christmas is a time to remember that Christ is our King; AKA, He has authority! He wasn’t just a baby, He was the the royal heir of David from the very beginning! He didn’t have to earn this title; He was this way in His infancy (AND in eternity past!). And this, again, is something that Christians have to be joyful about! He has proven His authority, and thus, He is worth giving the keys of your life too!

Illustration:

Giving someone else the keys is very hard; its hard to trust people enough to do that

I remember one time, in college, I had a friend who was going through a very difficult time, and he consequently didn’t have a car

He asks if he can use my use my convertible. And while I was hesitant to hand the keys over to him, I did it, anyways

And you’ll never guess what he kept saying after he got back from driving my car: “Your car is speedy!” He wouldn’t shut up about it.

Gosh, like that makes me trust him any more!

But when we hand the keys of our lives over to Christ’s authority, we have nothing to fear! In fact, we have something to be very joyful about, because He has proven Himself to have even greater authority than David had

Application:

Who has the keys to the life that you’re currently living? You, or Christ?

As you grow in your independence, there will be the temptation to try and take the reign of your life; to be your own king (this is even true for people who are Christians!)

But Christmas is a time for you to remember that Christ has proven Himself to be the ultimate King! And it is only when you submit to His authority that you will experience true joy; if you try and do it all yourself, you’ll end up empty and broken every time.

So as you reflect upon the birth of Jesus this Christmas season, use this time as an opportunity to surrender to Christ’s authority, and give yourself space to experience the joy that comes along with this.

If you’ve never accepted Christ, use this as an opportunity to surrender to Him for the first time. Or if you have already accepted Him, use this as an opportunity to realign your life to Christ’s authority

Give your keys to the proven royal King, Jesus!

Table Question # 2: What can you do to respond to the authority of Christ this Christmas season?

3. He is gracious (1:12-17)

Matthew 1:12-17

After the Babylonian exile: Jehoiachin was the father of Shealtiel. Shealtiel was the father of Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud. Abiud was the father of Eliakim. Eliakim was the father of Azor. Azor was the father of Zadok. Zadok was the father of Akim. Akim was the father of Eliud. Eliud was the father of Eleazar. Eleazar was the father of Matthan. Matthan was the father of Jacob. Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Mary gave birth to Jesus, who is called the Messiah. All those listed above include fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the Babylonian exile, and fourteen from the Babylonian exile to the Messiah.

Explanation:

There are two main ways that we see the grace of Jesus at work in His genealogy

First, while the first section traces the line from Abraham and the second section traces the line from David, this third and final section traces the line from the Babylonian exile (When the nation of Babylon came to take Israel into exile).

This was a HUGE turning point in the history of Israel; the nation that rose to prominence through the Kingship of David had fallen, and it all happened on account of Israel’s sin and unfaithfulness to God

But, even after this fall, Christ would one day come to pick up the pieces left by Babylon and to prove His graciousness to His people by giving them dignity and a purpose.

There is one more way that we see the grace of God at work in this passage, however

Remember the four women that I told you to take note of in the first section? This is where they come in

So we have four unusual women: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Solomon’s mother (whom we know is Bathsheba)

What all four of these women have in common is that they are questionable in some way: “Tamar and Rahab were prostitutes, Ruth was a foreigner, a Moabitess (Ruth 1:4), and Bathsheba committed adultery.“

Woah! And your telling me that Jesus came from this line? That’s some pretty sketchy family history

But through this, Jesus proves that He is not only a God above us, but that He is also a God among us who graciously extends His arm out towards us for the forgiveness of our sins

Now THAT is something to remember and be joyful about!

Illustration:

Have you ever received a trophy that you didn’t deserve?

This happened a lot to me when I played church league basketball; I always got a participation trophy (actually, I am pretty sure that every player received one)

Which is funny, because the only thing that I participated in is losing.

But at the very least, these trophies proved that I was a part of that basketball league (which is more than many of you would believe about me)

The grace of God is something that Christians don’t deserve, but we get it, and Christmas time is a time for you to look upon the shelf and to remember how He has proven Himself to be gracious

Application:

As you journey closer and closer towards Christmas Day, how is it that you need to cross paths with the grace of God?

The birth of Jesus is God’s ultimate demonstration of grace.

In what ways do you need grace?

Maybe, if you are being completely honest, there is something that you have done recently that you are not proud of; maybe there is guilt in your heart as the result of this.

And to be honest, its been hard for you to experience the grace of God. Its like “Can God really forgive what I’ve done?”

This Christmas season, YOU can be reminded of God’s proven grace! Jesus was born so that He could die for that thing that you regret. So now, if you have truthfully accepted Christ, the price has truly been paid!

Allow this Christmas season to be one of rest; not just rest from school, but spiritual rest that results from grace! You don’t have to be good enough; Christ was good enough in your place.

Feel the joy that results from His proven immeasurable grace!

Table Question #3: What is it going to look like for you to rest in His grace during winter break?

Conclusion

Visualization

Unlike most genealogies, this one is exciting!

Reiteration

Don’t skip this part of the Christmas story

Reflect on how God worked through the people mentioned in this list and proved Himself to be the Faithful King of Grace. Then, begin thinking about how the Lord has worked in your own life personally by proving Himself to be YOUR Faithful King of Grace. This is personal!

Make this Christmas a time of remembrance; a time of regained confidence, and a time of reflecting upon who Jesus is and what He has done

We are going to pray, and as we do this, make a commitment to spend some time each day this month remembering God’s proven faithfulness, authority, and grace

Pray