“What’s Christmas All About? Finding Your Place on the Family Tree”
Matthew 1:1-16; Ruth 4:13-17
Most of us, at some point in time, develop a curiosity about our heritage. We like to look at our family tree. Usually we find a mixture of good news and bad news. My family tree, for example, has on it preachers, A Royal Canadian Policeman, a local deputy sheriff, and a judge; but also a town drunk who never overcame his obsession with and addiction to drinking. On the one hand, awareness of our heritage is nothing more than knowledge – it doesn’t change us or impact us. On the other hand, it can motivate us and also give us an understanding of the context of our lives. So it’s interesting that Matthew begins his Gospel with Jesus’ lineage, by sharing Jesus’ lengthy genealogy.
It’s not the most exciting way to begin a biography. Reading these names feels almost like reading a page in the telephone book – there may be some good people in the list, but most, if not all of them, mean nothing to us. This is probably one of the most ignored and least read passages of the New Testament. Did you ever memorize it in Sunday School or Bible School? Did you ever hear it as part of the yearly Christmas program? As Dr. David Bast of Words of Hope once pointed out, this genealogy is like our appendix – we know it’s there, we think we believe it’s necessary, but we’re not sure why. We’re not certain what it’s good for. But Matthew shares Jesus’ genealogy to give us a context for Jesus’ life and in doing so gives us a context for our lives as well.
First of all, the genealogy in Matthew demonstrates that Jesus’ life is ROOTED IN DIVINE HISTORY. God has revealed Himself to every generation. He is a generational God. His truths and character are unfolded from one generation to the next. THROUGH SUCCESSIVE GENERATIONS GOD HAS FAITHFULLY PROVIDED PEOPLE FOR HIMSELF. From Abraham to David to Jesus, and all generations along the way, God worked. Perhaps that’s why Matthew made a special point of counting the generations (1:17): “Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ;” forty-two generations from Abraham to Christ – although there were in reality more than that. Matthew skips names and repeats others to stress his intended symbolism. In the Hebrew system each digit had an alphabetical equivalent – 14 was the number of David’s name. In this way Matthew could stress that the entire history of the generations was part of the flow through the line of David. The point is for nearly 2,000 years, generation after generation, God’s people waited and God acted. Through times of blessing and testing, through good kings and evil kings, through days of glory under Solomon and days of exile – God continued faithfully. He never quit moving and acting, always staying steady and on course. God never wavered, never faltered so that, according to Paul, “When the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son…”
So when we plant our roots in the soil of Jesus’ life and death, when we become His brothers and sisters; we are, in Paul’s words, grafted into the family tree. WE ARE PART OF GOD’S DIVINE HISTORY AND WORK IN THE WORLD. Our lives are not an accident; we are not moving through life by a series of chance; we are part of God’s divine plan for His world. Every time we baptize a child we are claiming this precise promise. God will act in the life of that child in his or her generation. The professions of faith we celebrate this morning testify to the fact that God honors His promises and is faithful to his word. And God will act in the life of their children – from generation to generation. We know this because God has a plan that goes up to and through the final generation. “The first time Jesus came, He came veiled in the form of a child. The next time He comes He will come unveiled, and it will be abundantly and immediately clear to all the world just who He really is. The first time He came, a star marked his arrival. The next time He comes, the whole heavens will roll up like a scroll, and all the stars will fall out of the sky, and He himself will light it. The first time He came, wise men and shepherds brought him gifts. The next time He comes, He will bring gifts, rewards for his own. The first time He came, there was no room for him. The next time He comes, the whole world will not be able to contain his glory. The first Time He came, only a few attended His arrival – some shepherds and some wise men. The next time He comes, every eye shall see Him. The first time He came as a baby. Next time He will come as a Sovereign King and Lord.” Plant your roots in the soil of Jesus’ life and death be part of God’s divine history and work in the world.
Matthew’s genealogy also points out that Jesus’ life is RECORDED IN GRACE. The names included, and omitted, in the genealogy are significant. They remind us that THROUGH SUCCESSIVE GENERATIONS GOD FAITHFULLY ACTED THROUGH SURPRISING PERSONALITIES. The names list includes questionable, scandalous, and seemingly insignificant people. In fact, it contains very few important, high-positioned, royal people. Included, for example, are Manasseh and Abijah – both evil and scandalous. Included are the seemingly insignificant, like Hezron, Salmon, and Azer – ever heard of them? Also included are questionable people – such as five women. Now women were never, ever included in official genealogies. But Matthew included them. And they were not whom you would expect! 4 were non-Jewish. And Rahab was a harlot – but she’s included; Bathsheba was David’s adulteress – but she’s included; Tamar seduced, and had a child by, her father-in-law, Judah – but she’s included. Yet they are all part of the lineage of Jesus Christ! But, for goodness’ sakes, if Matthew wanted to include women, why not the respected Jewish matriarchs – Sara, Rebekah, Leah, and Rachel?
Matthew wanted to make it clear that GOD IS A GOD WHO ACTS WITH GRACE. Jesus’ line, His heritage, was impure – just like ours. He left the glories of heaven to come all the way down to, and through, our sinful environment to demonstrate God’s grace. It doesn’t matter where you’re from, how insignificant you feel, how popular or well known you are, or even how pure – God can use you. So you’ve sinned – seek forgiveness, get up, and move on. It doesn’t matter where you’ve been – it’s where God will lead you that counts. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done – it’s what you will do that counts. God can use you. There is a place for you in God’s plan.
The lineage of Jesus also shows that His life is RECOGNIZED IN PROVIDENCE. The Jews, for whom Matthew was writing His Gospel, viewed genealogies as testimonies to the providence of God. They, in fact, believed that a man and woman came together and were married not by chance, but by providence. So they would read this genealogy of Jesus and know that Matthew was claiming that these 2000 years of history didn’t just happen – that it was under the control, direction, and working of God. GOD FAITHFULLY ACTED THROUGH VARYING CIRCUMSTANCES TO WORK ALL THINGS FOR HIS PURPOSE. According to Matthew, God had planned and worked out the birth of Jesus for a special purpose. And God did so casually and leisurely. He didn’t force the action and He didn’t hurry it. He let it happen and then directed it. Certainly this helps explain why it took so many years for the time to be right for Jesus’ birth.
One classic illustration of this working of God is the life of Ruth. Ruth was a Moabite woman who married a Jewish man. He died and her mother-in-law, Naomi, was willing to release her back to her own people. But Ruth committed to remaining true to Naomi (1:16-17): “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.” Because of Ruth’s commitment, she ended up working in a field belonging to a relative of Naomi, named Boaz. According to Jewish law he was a ‘kinsman-redeemer’, one who was responsible for seeing that Ruth was well cared for. Ultimately Boaz married Ruth and, as we read in the fourth chapter, Ruth had a son named Obed who became the grandfather of King David. Ruth, in other words, kept the divine lineage intact. God worked things out in the most surprising and unexpected way. God has granted freedom to people and He must therefore wait on them to act. He will not violate our freedom.
When my parents had me baptized an infant, they were acknowledging that God would be faithful in working in my life. They did not know what shape or form my life would take, but they knew it would be in His hands and under His guidance. When I made my profession of faith I thought I was laying a claim on God – and I was – but more significantly God at that moment laid a greater claim on me. He saw my profession as an invitation to work His will in my life. So He has been pushing, shoving, prodding, leading, and loving me ever since. That’s the way God works – He never violates our freedom but He works out His purpose in and through us.
LIFE IS NEVER HOPELESS OR WITHOUT PURPOSE. Nothing goes unnoticed or unused by God. Indeed, as Paul so confidently and majestically wrote: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Whatever your situation at this moment, God will use it. There is no such thing as failure in God’s plan. So whatever the cause of your discouragement, despair, or hopelessness, give it to God. Move on. Plant your roots in the soil of Jesus’ life and death be part of God’s divine history and work in the world. There is a place for you in God’s plan.
Through Matthew’s genealogy we discover that Jesus’ lineage is also REALIZED IN SALVATION. Back in Genesis 12, God said to Abram: “"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."” GOD’S PURPOSE IS ALWAYS TO BRING SALVATION INTO THE WORLD. Having made that promise to Abram, God later reiterated it, in Genesis 15: Abram said, "You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir." Then the word of the LORD came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir." He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars-if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Years later God told David, who was from Abraham’s lineage: “’The LORD declares to you that the LORD himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’ " Generations later, the angel Gabriel said to Mary, “You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." Significantly, Matthew ends his genealogy (16): “And Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.”
Because he was writing his Gospel for a Jewish audience, Matthew was building to this point. Jesus is the Messiah, the promised seed, the Savior. He is God in the flesh. He entered the world in the same way as everyone in the genealogy. He experienced life the same way they did – and the same way we do – so he could secure our salvation. God came down to us to save us. It has always been that way with God and it’s always been by His initiative. As Andrew Kuyvenhoven wrote: “In the beginning the devil fired the pride of humanity by saying: ‘You will be like God.’ But in the fullness of time God became like us. The road of redemption runs from heaven to earth and not from earth to heaven.” JESUS CAME TO SAVE SINNERS. Luke 19:10: "For the Son of man came to seek and to save what was lost." 1 Timothy 1:15: "Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners…” Jesus came to save you! Zig Ziglar put it this way; "On the planet earth there are many kinds of people. But in God’s sight, there are only two kinds. Not rich or poor, old or young, tall or short, fat or thin, black or white -- only saved or lost. In God’s Kingdom the mighty and the humble join hands when all of them become the children of God." You can have eternal life. You can have a place in God’s family tree. Plant your roots in the soil of Jesus’ life and death be part of God’s divine history and work in the world. There is a place for you in God’s plan.
What could happen in your life if you were really committed to and trusted Jesus? This invitation from “It Came Upon A Midnight Clear” is for you: “And ye, beneath life’s crushing load, Whose forms are bending low, Who toil along the climbing way with painful steps and slow, Look now! For glad and golden hours Come swiftly on the wing;
O rest beside the weary road, And hear the angels sing.”
Let’s respond to Jesus. Let’s pray.
