Mat 1:1-17; The Terrible Pedigree of the Son of God.
length: 78:40 - taught on Oct, 29 2023
Class Outline:
Sunday October 30, 2023
Two main subjects are discussed by Matthew in the early chapters (1-4) of his Gospel - the birth of the King and the preparation of the King for His ministry and manifestation to Israel.
There is something more here than the lineage that qualifies Christ’s birth as of Abraham, in the house of David, born of a virgin (ISA 7:14). The uniqueness of Christ is in comparison to all who come before Him, and not so insignificant, there are none to come after Him.
Is it Christ’s line alone who are all failures (sinners)?
All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
Let’s look at the status and character of fallen humanity in light of one of its most frequent claims - the progressive idea that man and his society can get better (without God) and that value is not from God but within each enlightened person.
A world without God’s law, the value that only God can give, will be the end of what it means to be human.
The abolition of man is in the idea that statements about true value and beauty are only emotional states and are unimportant.
To be human is to be able to discern right from wrong.
Beauty from despicable.
Value from worthlessness.
What progressivism fails to see is that important things merit approval or disapproval and that the standard for determining the appropriate judgment comes from outside of ourselves, outside of this universe.
And, not only right and wrong, but beautiful, true, appropriate, wise, etc., are the things that each soul must discern if he or she is to live their best life.
But how are we to attain abundant life? You cannot.
We must know that we are nothing and worthless.
Blessed are the poor (Luke) - we own nothing.
You can be a humble nothing or a prideful nothing.
So we do nothing with nothing? (Chapter 6-7)
We own nothing, but treasure in heaven. What is treasure in heaven? Righteousness (6:33)!
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; 21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. 25 "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
In the lineage of Christ, they all beget and beget, while Mary is passively “by whom Jesus was born who is called the Christ.”
Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.
So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." 33 They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, 'You will become free'?"
34 Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.
And there we all are. Slaves of sin. The religious leaders in the crowd though that lineage from Abraham was the solution.
How do we get free?
What is freedom? The ability to discern value, goodness, abundant life.
What value are you guarding, promoting, polishing that is not of God?
Keep the entire unit (chapters 1-4; qualifications of the King and preparation of His ministry) in view when studying each sub-unit (genealogy, virgin birth, flight to Egypt, etc.).
Main unit is 1:1-4:22 (ish - the point that large crowds are following Him throughout Galilee.)
A Jew who was told that Jesus was the Messiah would ask, “Is he a son of Abraham from the house of David?”
Role of 1:1-17 in the book?
Reveal that Jesus is qualified as Messiah and King by birth.
Virgin birth is hinted at (then directly stated).
Inclusion of women and Gentiles and allusion to sin broaden the scope of the salvation of the Messiah outside the religious opinions of the day.
Where Matthew’s genealogy fits into his Gospel. The plan which God fostered in the creation of mankind, all of human history, is to be completed by on Man, the Man, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham:
The first words:
biblos geneseos - “the book of the genealogy of…”
This refers to our Lord’s family tree. This subscription is formed with the Septuagint version of the Book of Genesis in mind, for the identical phrase is in GEN 2:4 and 5:1.
[click in] GEN 5:1
This is the book of the generations of Adam.
“Son of David Son of Abraham,” there is a definite purpose in inverting the names. Jesus restricted His ministry entirely to Israel (10:5-7), but after His rejection, emphasis fell on the universal character of the offer of salvation (Gentiles).
The emphasis falls on royalty and then on universality.
Starting with Abraham (Luke ends with Adam) there is a decidedly Jewish character to this lineage.
Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers (Judah singled out). 3 Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez (beat his brother out of the womb) was the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram. 4 Ram was the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon. 5 Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse. 6 Jesse was the father of David the king.
David is the 14th name.
The number of David’s name = 14.
MAT 1:6b-11
David was the father of Solomon by Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah (“Bathsheba” is not here. It is literally “of her of Uriah”). 7 Solomon was the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asa. 8 Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah. 9 Uzziah was the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah. 10 Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, and Amon the father of Josiah. 11 Josiah became the father of Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.
Mention of 14 (vs. 17) draws attention to David.
“Uriah” draws attention to David’s sin.
After the deportation to Babylon: Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel. 13 Zerubbabel was the father of Abihud, Abihud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor. 14 Azor was the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud. 15 Eliud was the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob. 16 Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.
Joseph is called the husband of whom was born Jesus - hinting at the virgin birth which he later openly declares (1:23).
“by whom Jesus was born” - only passive use of verb = hints at virgin birth and uniqueness of Christ to the others.
Active “begat” occurs 39 times up to this point.
So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations ; from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.
The divisions are significant.
In David the family rose to royal power … At the captivity it lost it again. Christ regained it. Matthew traces the faithful purpose of God in fulfilling His promise despite the rebellion of His people.
A major covenant was given in each of the three periods.
In the first the Abrahamic covenant was established.
In the second the Davidic.
In the third the new covenant.
All are fulfilled in the person and work of Christ.
What value are you guarding, promoting, polishing that is not of God? What is it today that you value that is not from God?
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