The IDENTITY of Jesus Christ: Part 2

LAST WEEK...

The gospel of Matthew operates on this very principle. Events make sense if and only if we know who the characters are.

This Child is SAVIOR

Matthew 1:1 ESV

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

“Jesus” - Savior, deliverer, Messiah

As the name “Jesus” announces salvation… Jesus, fittingly, in his incarnation has come to save people from their sin.

This Child is ANOINTED

Matthew 1:1 ESV

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

“Christ” - Anointed One

To be anointed is to be set apart and empowered by God for a task he appoints.

In Israel, priests were always anointed (Ex. 28–30),

kings were always anointed (1 Sam. 9, 16),

and prophets were sometimes anointed (1 Kings 19:16).

JESUS FULFILLS ALL THREE OFFICES

He is the prophet, anointed to tell the truth about humanity and himself.

He is the priest, anointed to offer a sacrifice to remove the guilt of sin.

He is the king, anointed to defeat our greatest foes—sin and death.

TODAY… CONTINUE LOOKING AT MATT 1:1 to answer the question

WHAT CHILD IS THIS?

This Child brings HEALING

Matthew 1:1 ESV

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

On the side of his father Joseph (v.17), Jesus descended, by human accounting, from the royal line of David.

He is the offspring of the kingly line.

PAUSE! Wait, if Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit, then he would have had NO BLOOD RELATION to Joseph. CORRECT!

Why do we have JOSEPH’S Lineage in Matthew 1???

First of all, Joseph was not Jesus biological father in any understanding since Mary conceived by a miraculous intervention of the Holy Spirit before she was joined to Joseph and the text tells us they refrained from intercourse until after Jesus birth.

However in the eyes of the law of the time, Joseph was the father.

More than just a legal guardian, by later taking Mary as his wife, he also claimed Jesus as his son.

This gave him a standing in relation to the child that—in the eyes of the Jews at least—must be accounted for.

The fact that Joseph was himself of the line of David would put many doubts about the validity of Jesus' claims to rest.

The excuse that there was no blood relation would have been overshadowed by the fact that Joseph was the lawful father and within the prophesied lineage.

Therefore, Joseph being in the line of David makes Jesus the rightful legal heir to the throne of David even though he wasn't biologically related to his earthly father.

“I’M STILL NOT CONVINCED

Secondly, there is actually a huge difference between the genealogies found in Matthew and Luke.

If you read them, there are only a couple names in common from David to Jesus. And it’s not even believed that most of those common names are even the same people.

BUT WE DO KNOW THAT KING DAVID IS LISTEN IN BOTH.

However the other idea that many scholars agree (I also believe) on is that the record found in Luke is actually a trace of Mary's family tree.

It wasn't common to trace the maternal side, but then again the virgin birth was hardly a normal occurrence!

This would mean we have both the paternal and maternal genealogies and all the bases are covered.

JESUS IS THE SON OF DAVID (And Abraham) FROM EITHER SIDE OF THE FAMILY TREE.

He is the heir of all Israel’s godly kings: Solomon, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, Josiah, and the rest. He is the king of the Jews.

But Jesus is not just any king. He is the son of David (1:1). “Son of David” seems to organize the entire genealogy.

There was a strong hope, in Jesus’ day, for a king who would restore Israel to its former glory and liberate the nation from Roman oppression and degradation.

Israel based this hope on a promise the Lord gave David: that David would one day have an heir, a son who would bring a golden age of strength and blessing

Jesus is called “son of David” nine times in Matthew, and that underlines two points.

First, he is the long-promised heir of David (1:1, 20). Through him Israel hoped for restoration.

He is mighty to defeat the powers of Satan (12:23) and perhaps the powers of Rome.

Second, the people expected the king to heal the land, when he removed the Romans and other pagans who defiled it.

They also expected healing for the people, one by one.

They believed, to use Tolkein’s Words...

“The hands of the king are the hands of a healer.”

So the people asked Jesus for mercy and for healing.

Early in his ministry, in Galilee, two blind men followed Jesus and called out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” (9:27).

Even when Jesus traveled to neighboring regions, the people expected him to heal.

Once a Canaanite woman approached him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession” (15:22).

Again, just before Jesus entered Jerusalem, “Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, ‘Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!’ The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, ‘Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!’ ” (20:30–31).

There is a pattern in these encounters.

First, the outsiders of Jewish society and the occasional Gentile “appeal to Jesus as Son of David and are thereby healed.”

Second, the crowds “generally respond to these healings with doubt.”

For example, when Jesus cast demons out of a man who was blind and mute, so he could see and talk, the people asked, “Could this be the Son of David?” (12:23).

Third, “the religious authorities respond with anger (21:15) and blasphemy” (12:22–32).

In the last week of his ministry, Jesus healed many in the temple precincts.

He saw twisted, broken limbs, and he mended them with a word.

Instantly, muscles strengthened and sinews tightened.

Eyes bleared and broken with disease and injury could see again.

The children (of small account in that day), seeing that the lame walked and the blind could see, began to shout praise to the healer, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”

But the chief priests and scribes became indignant and asked, “Do you hear what these children are saying?” That is to say, “Tell them to stop.”

Jesus replied that he did hear them and saw God’s purpose in it, for Psalm 8 says, “From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise” (Matt 21:14–16).

The son of David offers his strength to the weak and wounded.

LIKE THE TWISTED, BROKEN LIMBS HEALED AT THE TEMPLE… JESUS HEALS TWISTED, BROKEN LIVES

He offers hope to the hopeless heart, HELP TO THE HELPLESS, because the mighty king, the son of David, is a tender healer.

To this day, “son of David” is a title of healing strength.

In God’s economy, the strength of Jesus appeals especially to the weak—to the no-accounts… To the hurting… to the helpless

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28 ESV)

THIS CHILD BRINGS HEALING

This Child brings BLESSING

Matthew 1:1 ESV

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

“The Son of Abraham”

The genealogy in Matthew starts with Abraham, the father of Israel.

Yet the point in Matthew is not that Jesus is only for the Jews, but that Jesus is for all the children of Abraham.

Matthew is the gospel for the Jews, so he starts with Abraham, the father of the Jews.

Every Israelite called himself a son of Abraham, but especially those who sought to live by faith and walk with God.

Yet Matthew expects us to know that Abraham was a pagan, a Gentile, before God called him.

He was the father of the covenant people, but he was born outside the covenant and stayed there until God brought him in.

Abraham began life as a pagan, chosen by God to establish his people, Israel.

But from the beginning, God swore he would give Abraham back to the nations.

God’s greatest promise to Abraham says, “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Gen. 12:2–3).

God also promised Abraham that through his offspring “all nations on earth will be blessed” (Gen. 22:18). The gospel of Matthew ends with this very idea: Jesus will bless the nations. He commands the apostles to make disciples of “all nations” (Matt. 28:19).

Matthew starts to make this point already in the genealogy, in the first lines of his gospel.

As it traces Jesus’ ancestry, there is a twist.

As we mentioned, three of the four are flagrant sinners. And three of them share something else—they are not Israelites.

Rahab was a Canaanite, from Jericho.

Ruth was a Moabitess.

Bathsheba married a Hittite, ergo probably (not certainly) was a Hittite herself.

So Jesus has Gentiles in the family line!

If Matthew is the gospel for the Jews, it is for a certain kind of Jew: the Jewish believer

But it’s not just for the Jews… Its for ALL who hopes all who will taste the blessings God offers through faith in Jesus.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TITLES

Most American Christians are Gentiles.

Most of us are the descendants of pagans, not Israelites.

Centuries ago, our ancestors worshiped Zeus or Thor, natural or ancestral deities.

We were outside the covenant—strangers and aliens to God.

The promise to Abraham that “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” was our sole hope.

We are sons and daughters of Abraham, sons and daughters of the covenant, through the grace of God that reaches out to the lost.

A funny thing happens to churchgoers in America. It begins to seem obvious to us that we are Christians. It seems like our birthright. But from another perspective, most of us need to remember that we are Gentiles, not Israelites—outsiders, not insiders. Therefore we should be awestruck by His grace.

If we are in awe of his Grace, if we give thanks that we are included in the family of God, then we will include others and give thanks for the presence of others as well.

The Christmas season, along with Easter, certainly gives us an opportunity to welcome outsiders into our church.

It is tempting to joke about, to mock, even to scorn the “Christmas and Easter Christians.” But why? We should welcome all who stand outside the covenant, for the Lord calls outsiders to himself.

At some point, most of us have tasted the angst of waiting to hear whether we gained entry to some desirable but exclusive group. It might have been a tree house club for ten-year-olds, a basketball team, a student government, an elite college. After people enter an exclusive club, they can turn one of two ways. They can think, “What a great club—and they let a marginal character like me in. I need to welcome the other marginal characters, the folks who wonder whether they will be accepted, so they can gain the benefits I have.”

We need to take that king of approach.

What a joy to enter the family of God. Let us hold the blessing with humble, grateful hearts and pray, “Thank you, Lord, for adopting me into your family.

Help me remember that your family is always open.

Help me welcome to it both those who seem worthy and those who seem unworthy. For I know that I am not worthy, but I am beloved.”

The Lord’s titles both tell us who Jesus is and suggest the proper responses to him.

He is Jesus, the Savior. Therefore let us receive his salvation.

He is the Christ, the one anointed to restore his people. Let us turn to him to restore us when we falter.

He is the son of David, the mighty yet tender healer. Therefore, let us turn to him for healing.

He is the son of Abraham, the father of all the faithful, sent to Bless God’s people with Salvation. Therefore, let us welcome all to the family of God.