The Lineage of Our Lord (Revised)

I. Introduction

Good morning Church! I just want to say I am so happy to be able to be back with you all today! I hate that I had to miss our New Years last week service but apparently God had other plans!

I quite a few announcements to share with you this morning before we get in to the message.

OCC - (210 Coloring Books & Crayons), Stickers, Band-aids

Men’s Night - January 15 @ Bo’s House from 4-7

TBMB Evangelism Conference - January 30-31st

Men’s Conference - February 4-5th

Valentine’s Night - February 12th

Youth Winter Jam - February 19th

St. Jude Auction - March 26th

New D-Group Study starting tonight

Now for those in our Church App, I shared our theme for the year before we left to come home from Florida.

How many of you seen that?

Our theme here at New Home for this year is “Totally Renewed in 2022!”

God kind of laid that thought on my heart a few months ago and the thought behind it is this....

My goal for us corporately and individually as we move throughout this year is that each and every person sitting here’s relationship with God would be totally renewed in 2022.

Maybe it’s a renewing of your mind that needs to take place.

Maybe it’s a renewing of your relationship with God that needs to take place.

Maybe it’s a renewing of your commitment to God and the reading of His word that needs to take place.

Whatever that area of your life is that needs to be renewed in order that you might draw closer to Him, I pray that would take place in 2022!

I pray that this year would be a year of refreshing to you and your relationship with God.

I pray that this year would be a breakout year for you in your relationship with God.

And ultimately, I pray this year would be a breakout year for us corporately as a whole here at New Home Missionary Baptist Church!

Now, as I began to pray and seek God’s guidance on how this renewing is to take place and what our focus is to be on, I kept being drawn to the Book of Matthew and the thought that came to me was this...

What better way to be renewed, refreshed and restored than to focus our attention on the one who loved us and gave Himself for us, the Lord Jesus Christ!

Paul told young Timothy in..

2 Timothy 1:12 — For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

(Expound above scripture)

And as I began to seek God’s will on where He wanted me to go in Matthew, it was as if thought came to mind… “Verse 1 would be a good place to start!”

So, if you have your Bibles with you, and I pray you do, would you please turn with me to the Book of Matthew, the very first Book of the New Testament, and we are going to be looking at the very beginning of Matthew’s Book for our message today.

We will be looking at verses 1-17 at a message I’ve entitled “The Lineage of Our Lord.”

As we get ready to read “The Lineage of Our Lord” here, there is something I want you to think about…

We are going to read 47 names listed here in Matthew 1, many of which are very hard to pronounce. Some are going to be great, some not so great. From Paupers to Princes, shepherds to slaves, kings to harlots, spanning 21 centuries of human experience, this list ends in a stable on a starlit night with one name that is above every name: Jesus! The Christmas Code – O.S. Hawkins

Read Matthew 1:1-17

Now, some may think this is where the family tree ends but what I want us to see this morning, is that if you and I have been born again, then we too, have become a part of this family tree and not just any family tree but, one that will continue on for eternity!

II. The Circumstances behind Matthew’s Lineage

Now, if I had to guess, I would say the majority of you are probably thinking to yourselves right now, “why in the world did we just read that and what in the world is he going to preach about on these names for the next 30 minutes!” Sound about right?

The majority of people, and I’ve been guilty at times myself, when we get to these sections in the Bible, we just skip over them don’t we?

We say, “well I can’t pronounce half of these names and even if I could, half way through I would get so bored of reading them that I’d just check out, so I’m just going to skip this part and get on to the good stuff!”

But what I want us to learn this morning is that God put these genealogies here for a reason and when you really understand the meaning behind why they’re there, you will realize they are the good stuff and get a blessing out them!

With that being said, the first thing I want us to see is the Circumstances behind Matthew’s Lineage of Jesus here. Why did he start out with this?

Well to understand that, you must understand who it is Matthew is writing to. You see, each gospel is written with a different perspective in mind and to a different audience.

When you look at Marks gospel, he is writing to the gentiles who weren’t big on genealogy, and his main goal is to show Jesus as the Suffering Servant, so he leaves out the genealogy section.

When you look at Luke’s gospel, you’ll find his main goal is show that Jesus was the Son of Man and so his lineage actually goes all the way back to Adam to prove that not only was he fully God, but he was fully man wrapped in the same robes of flesh as Adam yet without sin!

Then when you look John’s gospel it’s all about proving Jesus is the Son of God, so his lineage actually predates any of the others by stating that in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God and this word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory as the glory of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth!

Then we have Matthew’s gospel which we are looking at here today which was all about proving that Jesus was the Sovereign King!

Now, to understand why Matthew starts his gospel out this way, you must realize that Matthew was a Jew.

For over 400 years there had been no prophet in Israel and when looking at the throne of David, it looked as if hope were all but gone that the Messiah would come through the Davidic line of succession.

Matthew was a Jew writing to a Jewish audience about a Jewish Messiah and so the reason he starts his gospel out this way, with the lineage of our Lord, is to prove to the unbelieving Jews that Jesus was actually the Anointed One, the prophesied Messiah.

You see, genealogies were very important to the nation of Israel, and through them it could be established whether a person had a legitimate claim to a particular line or not.

For example, when Israel returned from captivity in Ezra 2:62, the Bible says, "These sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but they were not found: therefore were they, as polluted, put from the priesthood". It was possible in Ezra's day to check the register of the tribe of Levi and remove those who made a false claim. – J Vernon McGee

Also, these genealogies were important to keep up with so that people would know who was rightful heirs to the royal throne.

With such detailed genealogies, there is no doubt that these records were accessible to the public and also there is no doubt that the naysayers of Jesus checked them to see if the claims he made were true and here’s the interesting thing…they challenged every move the Lord Jesus made, even offering a substitute explanation for his Resurrection, but they never questioned His genealogy!

If you’ll remember, in John 10:1-2 Jesus said, “the Shepherd of the sheep enters in by the door but the thief and the robber climb up some other way to get into the sheepfold.”

The "sheepfold" he is speaking of is the nation Israel and listen church, He didn't climb into the sheepfold over a fence in the back, and He didn't come in through the alley way. He came in through the gate. He was born into the line of David and into the line of Abraham. – J Vernon McGee

They had taunted Jesus and mocked him of his claim to be the Messiah, but Matthew says, “look here, the proof is in the pudding!

You say you know the scriptures but if you knew them, then you would understand that his lineage lines up with everything that had to come to pass!

Jesus truly was the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the prophesied Messiah and you just crucified him!”

III. The Characteristics of Matthew’s Lineage – (Verse 1)

Now that we understand the Circumstances behind Matthew’s lineage of Jesus, next let’s look at the Characteristics of Jesus Lineage.

Notice how verse 1 starts out here…it says, "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ."

The phrase “the book of the generation” is a phrase which is peculiar to Matthew in the New Testament and if you start going back through the Old Testament, the only other place you will find it is in the fifth chapter of Genesis and it says "This is the book of the generations of Adam..." (Gen. 5:1).

You see Church, there are two books: the book of the generations of Adam and the book of the generation of Jesus Christ.

Now every man, woman and child that has ever been born was born into the Book of the generations of Adam.

We had no control over it and had no say in it but we were all born into that book by a natural birth but the problem is that the Bible says in Adam all die (Rom. 5:12).

You see, Adam's book is a book of death.

Then there is the other book, the book of the generation of Jesus Christ. Now the way to get into this book is also by birth but instead of a natural birth it must be by a Spiritual birth!

Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:3 that we must be born again in order to see the Kingdom of God.

And when a man, woman or child is born again by trusting in Christ, that puts them in the Lamb's Book of Life.

The Bible says in:

1 Corinthians 15:22 – For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Adam’s book is a book of death, Jesus’ book is a book of life!

You and I had no choice whether or not we would be born into the first book, Adam’s book, but we do have control over whether or not we will be born into the second book, Jesus book!

Romans 5:12,19 — By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.... As by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

Everyone sitting here this morning is in the first book, the Book of Death but the question is this…have you chosen to have your name written in the second book, the Book of Life?

Next, we see here, Matthew says Jesus is "the son of David, the son of Abraham."

Now, we all know that Abraham came before David, right? So, why did he put it this way? Why did he list David first and not Abraham?

He is presenting the Lord Jesus as the Messiah, the One who is the King, the One who is to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and that comes first.

He must be in the line of David in fulfillment of the prophecies that God made to David. God told David in:

2 Samuel 7:12-13 – 12 And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom forever.

If Jesus hadn’t of been from the lineage of David, then he wouldn’t have been fulfilling the prophecy of God concerning his promise to David here. Now, here’s the best part of this!

Not only did Jesus fulfill this prophecy by being from the lineage of Joseph who was a direct descendant of David’s but Mary, his mother, was also a direct descendant of David’s as well!

If you look in Luke 3 you will see the lineage of Mary and when followed, you will find that she was through the bloodline of Nathan, David’s other son!

So, either way you go, you will find that Jesus was truly the Son (descendant) of David!

The Bible says he is also the Son of Abraham and it is very important that He be the Son of Abraham, because God had said to Abraham, "...in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed..." (Gen. 22:18).

Paul states exactly who that seed is in:

Galatians 3:16 – Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

Paul makes it plain that Jesus Christ is the Son of Abraham.

Now that we’ve looked at The Circumstances of Matthew’s Lineage of Jesus and The Characteristics of Matthew’s Lineage of Jesus, next let’s look at The Crowd of Matthew’s Lineage.

IV. The Crowd of Matthew’s Lineage – (Verses 2-16)

Now as we read through these names did any of them stand out to you?

Chances are you didn’t notice it and that’s because we don’t set and study genealogy every day but for a group of Jews, which was the audience Matthew was writing to, there would have been 4 names that would have just jumped off the page at you!

They are the names of Tamar, Rachab (Rahab), Ruth and the last one doesn’t even list her name, but we know who she is from her story and that is the wife of Uriah, which was Bathsheba!

Now, you may be wondering why these 4 names would have such an impact when noticed by the Jews and the first reason is because they were women!

When looking at a list of Jewish genealogies you wouldn’t ever see women on there for the same reason you wouldn’t see them on a list today.

Think about this with me for a second…when a woman gets married what happens? Her last name changes to the husband’s, right? So, if there are no men in that lineage, eventually that last name will die out because there is no one to carry it on.

And because of this, seeing a woman’s name on this list would have automatically caused a rise of attention to any Jew who would have been reading it!

You know, nowadays they say that people’s attention spans are so short that if you don’t grab their attention in the first 8-15 seconds you’ll lose them altogether and for some of us, when we opened our Bibles this morning and seen all these names, you went ahead and automatically checked out but for a Jew who would have started reading this, he would have been hooked by verse 3 when he seen the name Tamar!

Now, not only is it the fact that there are women listed in the lineage of our Lord that stands out, but to take it a step further, all of these women were gentiles!

On top of that, one committed incest, one was a harlot, one was a Moabitess who was forbidden to be in the congregation with the Jews and the fourth committed adultery!

These women weren’t Mother Teresa’s if you get my drift! So, it begs us to ask the question, why in the world would Matthew list these women here in the lineage of our Lord?

Well, I believe they are here for us to learn a valuable lesson.

Let me start by saying, there are many men on this list as well who were dirty, rotten scoundrels! A few of which the Bible says were some of the worst kings in history!

So, to say the least, this family tree was not without its imperfections!

But I believe these names are here to show us this valuable lesson this morning…God’s grace & mercy is extended to all!

Listen friend, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, it doesn’t matter if you are a prostitute or a saint, it doesn’t matter what sin you’ve committed in your past or what kind of rotten fruit is hanging in your family tree, if you are willing, as Rahab and Ruth were, to put your faith in the God of mercies and his Son Jesus Christ, then ye can also have your name written in the eternal family tree!

The Bibles says: there is none righteous, no not one for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God and because of that sin, we all deserve death, hell and the grave but praise be to God that he didn’t leave us lost in our sins but rather gave us greatest gift that has ever been given which was his one and only Son, Jesus Christ our Lord & Savior!

Going back to the very beginning, do you know why it says “the generation of Jesus Christ” singular when in Genesis it says “the generations of Adam” in the plural form?

It’s because dear friend the buck stops with Jesus!

He is the way, the truth and the life and no man comes to the Father but by him!

He was made sin for us who knew no sin that we might become the righteousness of God in him and therefore, if you want your name written in the Lambs Book of Life, joined together with Jesus’ genealogy for all eternity, you must believe in him!

The crowd that Matthew lists in his genealogy was intentional to let the Jews know, that the one and only Son of God had came to earth to save sinners of all nationalities, races, creeds and backgrounds! Red, Yellow, Black & White we all bleed red and are precious in his sight, Amen!

Listen to me this morning friend, Adrian Rogers used to say, “there is no one here so good that he need not be saved and there is also no one here so bad that he cannot be saved!”

Paul told Timothy, Jesus came to save sinners of whom I am chief and this morning friend, if you are here and lost, stop wasting time and come to Christ at once, for none of us are guaranteed another second in this wretched world!

V. The Culmination of Matthew’s Lineage – (Verse 16-17)

We’ve seen the Circumstances for which Matthew’s Lineage was written, we’ve seen the Characteristics of Matthew’s Lineage, we’ve seen the Crowd of Matthew’s Lineage and finally this morning, we come to the Culmination of Matthew’s Lineage!

Look with me at our final two verses today, verses 16-17.

Notice that this verse breaks the pattern which began as far back as verse 2 where it says that Abraham begat Isaac.

From then on, it was just a whole lot of "begetting," and verse 16 begins by saying, "And Jacob begat Joseph." Now, you would expect it to continue by saying that Joseph begat Jesus, but it doesn’t say that.

Instead, it says, "Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ."

"Of whom" is a translation of the Greek “ex hēs” and since ex hēs is a feminine form, what it’s doing is referring to Mary.

Suddenly here, there is a change in the form of the word, since it refers to the mother in the sense of bringing forth into the world.

Matthew, in his opening genealogy, emphasized the fact of the virgin birth and the fact that Joseph was not the father of Jesus.

As Matthew traced the genealogy of Jesus, he kept introducing women's names. He was hinting at something, but would the Jews grasp it?

The first promise and prophecy of Scripture stated in:

Genesis 3:15 said this, — I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Jesus had come, not as the son of Joseph, but as the seed of the woman.

So, simply by listing names, Matthew confronted the Jews with the fact that the One they had murdered was indeed the Son of David—the promised Messiah, the virgin-born seed of the woman, the rightful claimant to David's throne.

And this morning, we would do well to understand that this lineage is here to prove to us that Jesus is the one and only Son of God, born of a virgin, the greatest gift ever given to mankind and all for the sake of saving a fallen race of sinners like you and I!

Can you honestly say this morning, that one day when the roll is called up yonder, your name will be listed with the Lineage of Our Lord?

If not, then you have some things to take care of this morning!

For the saved this morning, I hope you have gained a deeper understanding of the where and the why behind the lineage of our Lord.

This year is all about finding that deeper connection with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and my prayer is that this morning’s message has been a blessing to you and helped you to gain a deeper understanding of His story.

For the Lost, I pray that you will understand this morning that Jesus came to die for you!

It doesn’t matter where you came from or what kind of sin you got hanging in your family tree, Jesus died for you and if you will but trust in Him, those sins will be cast as far as the east is from the west, never to be remembered again!

As we com to a close this morning, whatever need it is that you may have, won’t you come and lay it at the foot of the cross!