Jesus Is The Messiah Series

Introduction

Perhaps you enjoy watching a series of shows on television. There are all kinds of different series.

My preference is for murder mysteries. Ordinarily, each episode is self-contained; it has a beginning, a middle, and an end. But, once in a while, the television producers decide to stretch one story over two episodes. So, in the first episode, you will see the beginning and the build-up of the drama. Then, when time runs out, you are left on a cliffhanger. The next episode begins with a recap of the storyline so that viewers can remember where they are in the story. Then, once they have done a review, the second episode will continue to its conclusion.

It seems to me that this is exactly what we have with the opening of Matthew’s Gospel. When modern readers see the opening sentences of Matthew’s Gospel, they think that it is just a list of names. But to the ancient reader when Matthew wrote his Gospel, it was a review of the two-episode drama. By beginning with the genealogy of Jesus Christ, Matthew reviewed for the people of God what had taken place before because it was essential for what was about to follow.

Scripture

Let us read Matthew 1:1-17:

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

2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, 4 and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, 6 and Jesse the father of David the king.

And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, 7 and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, 8 and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, 9 and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 10 and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, 11 and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

12 And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13 and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, 14 and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, 15 and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, 16 and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.

17 So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.

Lesson

One commentator begins his commentary on Matthew’s Gospel with these words:

What an amazing way to start a Gospel—with a great long list of names! But, to Jews, that was not surprising at all, as we shall see. It sets Jesus of Nazareth in the context of what God had been doing for his people from the earliest days. It ushers in the theme of fulfillment, which is so prominent in this Gospel. The climax of God’s work for humankind throughout the centuries is—Jesus.

It is very unlikely that we would start a story about someone with a genealogy. But that is exactly what Matthew did. Matthew wanted God’s people to see right from the start that Jesus was the fulfillment of the expectations of God’s people for millennia. Jesus was the one for whom they had been waiting.

Today, I am starting a new series of sermons that I am calling, “Bloodlines: The Genealogy of Jesus.” We will spend the next six weeks on this genealogy of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel. You will be amazed at what you will learn in the coming six weeks from this portion of God’s word.

Matthew 1:1-17 teaches us that Jesus is the Christ the people of God were anticipating.

Let’s use the following outline:

1. God Takes His Time

2. God Breaks into History

I. God Takes His Time

The first thing I want you to see today is that God takes his time.

Matthew began his Gospel with these words, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1). If you knew nothing at all about Jesus or the Bible or Christianity or Judaism, you might think that Jesus’ father was David and that David’s father was Abraham.