JESUS The MESSIANIC KING-I—Matthew 1:1-17
Attention:
For many, Christmas is about the change of physical seasons. With our sentiments being stirred by specific & secular, holiday songs & stories. White Christmas, Winter Wonderland, Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, etc., & of course the Night Before Christmas.
But none of these even approach the magnificent mystery of Christ's taking on human flesh to redeem us for God's works & heaven!
Those secular appropriations are a paltry attempt by the lost, to redeem the celebration for themselves.
Matthew’s audience is provided a telling look at Jesus’ right to Messianic rule.
Jesus is uniquely the Messianic King.
?Why is Jesus uniquely the Messianic King?
OR...?What makes Jesus uniquely the Messianic King?
4 qualifiers making Jesus uniquely the Messianic King.
1—Jesus is uniquely the Messianic King by...
COVENANT(:1)
Explanation: (:1) Forebears/Ancestors
:1—“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:”
This portion of Matthew’s gospel is a record/scroll/“book” of Jesus’ genealogy.
“Jesus” is a given name. Yet it is not a non-sensical name. His name has very definite meaning, which speaks directly to His purpose in coming to earth. “Jesus” is a very specific name which both Mary & Joseph were told, in separate angelic events, to name her first child(cf.-Mat. 1:20-21; Lk. 1:30-31).
“Jesus”(Ihsouv)—is Greek a translation of the Hebrew name—‘Yehoshua’(ewvwhy)—meaning ‘YHWH/Jehovah is salvation’ or ‘YHWH/Jehovah saves.’ Thus understandably, ‘Jesus’ was a name often used in Jewish culture during the historical timeframe that is recorded in Matthew.
However given this particular Jesus’ status as ‘God in human flesh’, & combined with His divine purpose of saving mankind, “Jesus” expressly means ‘Savior.’
The particular ‘Savior’(“Jesus”) whose “genealogy” we have before us, is that of ‘Jesus of Nazareth.’
Here Matthew specifically tells us that this “Jesus”(Savior) is also the “Christ”(:1, 16-17). “Christ”(in Greek) refers to the word ‘Messiah’(in Hebrew).
•’Messiah’—xyvm maw-shee'-akh— is the original Hebrew term, & ‘Christ’ is it’s Greek translation. So both mean the same thing: That is...‘Anointed’ or ‘Anointed One.’ That is, the One specifically chosen(‘anointed’) by the Almighty, Triune God to be the Savior is none other than this “Jesus”(of Nazareth).
The term, ‘Messiah’ is used ‘directly’ in—Dan. 9:25-26; Jn. 1:42; Jn. 4:25-26.
Jn. 1:29-41—“.....John saw Jesus coming toward him, & said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! “This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ “I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.” And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, & He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, & remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ “And I have seen & testified that this is the Son of God.” Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him speak, & they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, & seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi”(which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?” He said to them, “Come & see.” They came & saw where He was staying, & remained with Him that day(now it was about the tenth hour[10AM Roman Time]). One of the two who heard John speak, & followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon, & said to him, “We have found the Messiah”(which is translated, the Christ).”
•So Jesus of Nazareth(>2000 yrs. ago) was & remains THE ‘Anointed’ One of God, FOR the grand purpose of mankind’s complete salvation from personal sin.
Thus “Jesus Christ” is actually a title of the person, whom the Bible & Christians readily recognize as the ‘Anointed Savior.’
The Jews were sticklers for maintaining their genealogies due to the fact that their entire religious, ceremonial, & civil lifestyles were built around tribal familial kinships. Their theocratic society—‘rule by God’, or ‘God at the helm’—demanded it.
This Jesus, who is Christ, also has a viable Hebrew pedigree. He is the “son of David” as well as “of Abraham.” These are two obvious progenitors/benchmarks/hallmarks in establishing Judaic history. Such a pedigree, particularly in regard to kingship, would garner the person great respect.
*Both “David” & “Abraham” are the two progenitors/ancestors/forefathers thru whom the Messianic expectation originates.
Though “David” follows “Abraham” by 12 generations(or rather 14 per :17 including Abraham & David themselves), Matthew finds it central to his purpose, that he records for his audience, that first & foremost, “Jesus Christ” is “the son of David.”
And why does Matthew state that “David” is the “son of Abraham”(by genealogy)—which he indeed is—something he restates thru the actual genealogy below(:2-6)? It is to emphasize the genealogy’s purpose...
*...And that purpose is to show Matthew’s audience—throughout the ages—that ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ is the true & rightful & King of Israel. By His being that King, He is obviously the promised ‘Anointed One’(Messiah/Christ) of God!
Jn. 18:33-38—“Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, & said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered him, “Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?” Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation & the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.” Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?” Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, & for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, & said to them, “I find no fault in Him at all.”
A:—DAVIDIC Covenant
“David” plays heavily into Jewish identification. “David” was the first the king of Israel who was a man after God’s own heart(1Sam. 13:14).
1Sam. 13:14—““But now your[Saul] kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, & the LORD has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.””
Acts 13:21-22—Paul, in declaring a concise history of Israel to those attending the synagogue in Pisidia, said,—“And afterward they asked for a king; so God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony & said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’”
Please keep in mind that David sinned horribly against God. Yet generally speaking, David’s heart was aligned with God. David’s heart compelled him to seek the desire of God...to repent & act appropriately, even after sinning so horribly.
•This scenario reminds us that, ‘once you are saved you are always saved’, & is affirmed by the presence of the Holy Spirit within the believer.
•However, as with David, God’s people are permanently God’s people, BUT they will ultimately fail God at times, even though we are His people. That’s why they need God’s salvation, which is not dependent upon any ‘effort’ by man except by man’s personal faith.
•Php. 2:12-16—“Therefore, my[Paul] beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear & trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will & to do for His good pleasure. Do all things without complaining & disputing, that you may become blameless & harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked & perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.”
*Just as importantly & probably more pertinent to Matthew’s purpose, is that King David is promised an ETERNAL kingdom.
2Sam. 7:12-16—YHWH, to Nathan the prophet, for King David—““When your[David’s] days are fulfilled & you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you[Solomon], who will come from your body, & I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, & I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, & he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men & with the blows of the sons of men. But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. And your house & your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.”’””
1 Chron. 17:11-14—““And it shall be, when your days are fulfilled, when you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up your seed after you, who will be of your sons; & I will establish his kingdom. “He shall build Me a house, & I will establish his throne forever. “I will be his Father, & he shall be My son; & I will not take My mercy away from him, as I took it from him[Saul] who was before you. “And I will establish him in My house & in My kingdom forever; & his throne shall be established forever.”’””
*Thus David is the king, thru whom his future Messiah was promised, by means of this ‘Davidic Covenant/promise.’...
*That ‘Davidic Covenant’ signifies & specifies a genealogically verifiable & an ETERNAL kingship!...
•And because David’s genealogical line is actually completely exhausted with Jesus, there can never be any other claimant to that Messianic Kingship!
DAVIDIC Argumentation:
Mat. 12:23-28 “And all the multitudes were amazed & said, “Could this be the Son of David?” Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.” But Jesus knew their thoughts, & said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, & every city or house divided against itself will not stand. “If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
Mat. 22:41-46—“While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?” They said to Him, “The Son of David.” He said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying: ‘The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool”’? “If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his Son?” And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore.”
•We must Recognize the Divine aspects of the Messianic King.
B:—ABRAHAMIC Covenant—?Why is it noteworthy that Jesus is also the Son of Abraham?:
Gen. 12:1-3—“Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.””
Gen. 22:16-18—“& said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, & have not withheld your son, your only son-- “blessing I will bless you, & multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven & as the sand which is on the seashore; & your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.””
God’s promise to Abram/Abraham promise is directly reiterated at least 4X in the OT. And specifically to Abraham’s only son Isaac(Gen. 26:4) as well as to Isaac’s son, Jacob(Gen. 28:14).
So thru the Jews, by Jesus, Abraham’s “blessing” is made AVAILABLE to all of humanity!
Jn. 4:21—Jesus said,—“...Salvation is of the Jews.”
Rom. 9:1-8—“I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow & continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, & the promises; of whom are the fathers & from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen. But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.” That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.”
Rom. 4:13-18—“For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void & the promise made of no effect, because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression. Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all(as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed--God, who gives life to the dead & calls those things which do not exist as though they did; who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.””
ABRAHAMIC Argumentation:
Acts 3:22-26—Peter said to those gathered in Jerusalem at Pentecost—““For Moses truly said to the fathers, ‘The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ “Yes, & all the prophets, from Samuel & those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days. “You are sons of the prophets, & of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ “To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.””
Gal. 3:7-18—“Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.” But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.” Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them.” Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us(for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), *that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: Though it is only a man’s covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it. Now to Abraham & his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ. And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred & thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.”
Argumentation:
NT APPROPRIATION:
Mat. 16:13-20—“When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, & others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered & said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered & said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh & blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. “And I also say to you that you are Peter, & on this rock I will build My church, & the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, & whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, & whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.”
*Jesus is the culmination/fulfillment of both the Davidic & Abrahamic Covenants. THE eternal King & THE source of blessing for the entire world!
Illustration:
To make a Covenant or Promise ‘binding’ in our American society, you must have the foundational blessings of the judicial branch of federal, state, county, & municipal governments...A binding Covenant must also be officially ‘in writing’...A binding Covenant must also be confirmed by ‘official’ lawyers who are recognized by the governing authorities/by COVENANT
When God says, ‘You are saved by grace thru faith in Christ Jesus’(Eph. 2:8), then by Jesus’ ushering in the New Covenant by His blood(Jer. 31:33-34; Mat. 26:28), you are INDEED saved!...IF & ONLY IF you trust your life to that Covenant of God that is secured thru Jesus Christ!
Marriage Covenant/Vows/COVENANT
Application:
?Is Jesus the Messianic King by COVENANT for You?
Why? Why not?
Jesus IS THE Messianic King!
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
What does Christmas mean to you?
?Do secular, holiday songs & stories epitomize & convey your reality?...?Or is God’s word confirmed in your reality?
Action:
Jesus is uniquely the Messianic King by...
1. COVENANT(:1)
Presented12/06/2020am to:
1BCCbelle
206 SE Ave. A(Storrs Ave.)
Carrabelle, FL 32322
Presented12/11/2011am to:
Needmore Baptist Church
1620 Mt. Vernon Rd.
Woodleaf, NC 27054
