Savage Street Church of Christ

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10042017TheSonOfDavidTheSonOfAbrahamMatthew1.1-17DonRuhl

The Son of David, The Son of Abraham 

The significance of the genealogy of Jesus of Nazareth

Matthew 1.1–17

Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • October 4, In the year of our Lord, 2017

Persuasion: 

1. Matthew 1.1 | David and Abraham
   
   1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:
   
   1. Matthew said that his work was of Jesus Christ.
      1. However, by declaring Jesus the son of David and the son of Abraham,
         1. Matthew helped connect what we see in the Hebrew Bible
         2. with what we read in the Christian Scriptures.
      2. As we dig further into both the Old and New Testaments,
         1. we discover that the whole thing presents one story and
         2. Jesus of Nazareth stands as the leading character.
   2. The moment we begin reading the New Testament,
      1. the first sentence shows that we know have to know all that preceded it.
      2. If we say that we do not need to know Genesis through Malachi,
         1. how do we explain the significance of Jesus as the son of David and the son of Abraham?
         2. What is the significance of Jesus being the son of both?
            1. Showing Jesus as the descendant of Abraham
               1. begins to show that God sent Jesus
               2. to fulfill the promises that God gave to Abraham,
                  1. starting with Genesis 12.3.
            2. Showing Jesus as the descendant of David
               1. begins to show that Jesus was qualified
               2. as the King of Israel
2. Matthew 1.2–6a | From Abraham to David
   
   2 Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. 3 Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram. 4 Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon. 5 Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, 6a and Jesse begot David the king.
   
   1. Matthew added something to David that he did not add to the others:
      1. David was the king.
      2. Therefore, that is what Matthew emphasizes here.
         1. He shall also emphasize it in his Gospel Account.
         2. What is the significance of David to Israel and to the Hebrew Bible?
            1. The Old Testament names Abraham 216 times.
            2. The Old Testament names David 1028 times.
   2. What was the relationship between Judah and Tamar?
      1. She was his daughter-in-law.
      2. She had twins by Judah.
         1. Yet, from this relationship God brought the Christ into the world.
         2. Does that legitimatize what happened between Judah and Tamar?
            1. If not, what does it show?
   3. What women did Matthew list?
      1. He listed Rahab and Ruth.
      2. Matthew did not mention other women, such as Sarah, or Rebekah, or Rachel.
         1. Why mention Rahab and Ruth?
         2. They were outsiders initially to Israel.
            1. This shows that genealogies of Israel were not about blood.
            2. Yes, Jesus had to be a son of Abraham and of David, but
               1. for God the genealogy shows that Jesus Christ is for all.
               2. If He could include those Gentile women before,
                  1. He could include Gentile women and men after Christ.
                  2. Is that not what the promise to Abraham included?
3. Matthew 1.6b–11 | From David to the Captivity
   
   6b David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah. 7 Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa. 8 Asa begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah. 9 Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah. 10 Hezekiah begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot Amon, and Amon begot Josiah. 11 Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon.
   
   1. What did Matthew add about Solomon?
      1. That David begot Solomon by Bathsheba.
      2. Yet, Matthew did not mention her name.
         1. He named Uriah.
         2. Why mention Uriah but not Bathsheba?
            1. Uriah, a Gentile, had been more righteous than David
               1. in their approach to Bathsheba.
            2. Uriah was a godly man.
            3. Uriah was one of David’s mighty men.
         3. Therefore, the Lord honored Uriah by naming him in the genealogy of the Savior of the world.
      3. I wonder…what kind of discussions have David and Uriah had in heaven.
   2. Why would Matthew insert the time of the Babylonian captivity?
      1. Previous to the Babylonian captivity the greatest event in Israel’s history was the exodus.
      2. However, note Jeremiah 23,
         1. that the Lord told Israel that they would no longer refer to Him
         2. as the God who delivered them from Egypt,
            
            7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “that they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ 8 but, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ And they shall dwell in their own land” (Jer 23.7–8).
            
            1. Satan seemed to do all that he could
            2. to keep the Christ from entering the world, but
               1. even in captivity, the Lord preserved the seed and
               2. later brought the Jews back.
                  1. The Messiah was not to be born in Babylon, but
                  2. in Bethlehem.
                     1. So the Lord worked to make that possible,
                     2. although it may have seemed impossible at the time.
4. Matthew 1.12–16 | From Babylon to Jesus
   
   12 And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel. 13 Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor. 14 Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud. 15 Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob. 16 And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.
   
   1. While Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus,
      1. he did function as the father of Jesus (Luke 2.48, et al.).
      2. Both Joseph and Mary descended from David,
         1. so that Jesus was of the right tribe to serve as king, but
         2. it was through Joseph’s line that Judah had kings.
   2. What do you think of the Lord choosing to enter the world in this manner?
      1. He knew that He would end up in a manger!
      2. He knew that He would be born where the animals were!
         1. What does this tell you about Him?
         2. He had all confidence in the Father that everything would work as planned.
         3. His humble beginning shows His comfort around the humble.
5. Matthew 1.17 | Fourteen Generations
   
   17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations (Matt 1.1–17).
   
   1. What do you think about the fourteen generation-intervals?
   2. We know that God likes the number 7 and multiples of it.
   3. However, to get the three groups of 14, Matthew did some interesting things:
      1. He left out several names, leaving out Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah (See 1Ch 3.11–12).
         1. This is not too unusual in the Bible.
         2. Deuteronomy 33 leaves Simeon out of the blessing of Moses.
         3. First Chronicles 1–9 do not list the descendants of Zebulun and Dan.
         4. Revelation 7.5–8 does not list Dan.
      2. He counted David twice.
6. Further Insight into the Genealogy of Jesus 
   1. Oran Rhodes in the Annual Denton Lectures said that the genealogies:
      1. Provide absolute certification of Jesus
      2. Emphasize the humanity of Jesus
      3. Proclaim the faithfulness of God
      4. Hint at the sinfulness of men
      5. Show God’s purposes in His dealings with Israel
      6. Declare that Jesus is no mere creature of His environment
      7. Support and complement the virgin birth narrative
   2. Willoughby C. Allen in The International Critical Commentary explained,
      1. “The artificial character of the genealogy is obvious from this verse. The arrangement into three will be found to be characteristic of this Gospel. The grouping into three fourteens may be due to the fact that in the Hebrew name David…there are three letters, and that the numerical value of these letters is 4 + 6 + 4 = 14” (page 6).
      2. Allen quoted G. H. Box, “By this means the genealogy was invested with the character of a sort of numerical acrostic on the name David.”