“…THROUGH ALL GENERATIONS” Matt. 1:1-17
FBCF – 12/4/22
Jon Daniels
INTRO – K & K missionary video – Only way they can stay where they are & do what they are doing is b/c they KNOW that God is w/ them! And that’s the subject of this sermon series for the next month: “GOD IS WITH US.”
EXPLANATION – Matthew 1:1-17 (pg. 807) – USE KJV – Then v. 18a – “Now the birth of Jesus took place in this way…”
These genealogies are some of the most boring sections of Scripture, at least for me. How many of us have just skipped over them when we’ve been reading the Bible? Or, if we read them, we just skim through them rapidly? Long sections of Scripture, particularly in the OT, w/ lists of so many hard-to-pronounce names. 1st 9 chapters of 1 Chron are nothing but these genealogical listings.
Why include them? What could they possibly add?
For original readers in biblical times, these lists had a number of purposes, like:
- Determining tax rolls & military service personnel
- Defining occupations (OT priests)
- Royal succession (“house & lineage of David” – Luke 2:4)
- Land ownership & inheritance issues
A casual reading of a biblical genealogy is practically meaningless to us today. But obviously, God had a purpose for including them in His book. These lists are not there by chance or by accident. They are there b/c God wanted them there & inspired the writers of Scripture to record them for all to see & read, no matter how boring we think they are.
Matthew was a tax collector. B/c of that, he would have been familiar w/ these lists & was meticulous in including this list at the beginning of his Gospel. One of the main reasons he included it is b/c he was writing to Jewish people. He wanted them to see that Jesus did indeed fulfill the requirements of the Messiah. John MacArthur: “If Jesus is going to be heralded & proclaimed king, there must be proof that He comes from the recognized royal family.” (Matthew 1-7, p. 2)
But there’s another, maybe less obvious purpose for this tracing of Jesus’ family tree. As you look down this list of names, you’ll find out that there are some definite “knots on the family tree.”
Knots develop on trees as the result of diseases that injure the tree, or an insect that stings the tree. The tree heals around that affected area & causes a gall, or a knot to develop there where that injured place was.
All throughout this listing of names in Jesus’ family tree, there are people whose lives had been stricken w/ the disease called sin. Their lives had been stung by sins & sinful situations. Here are just a few:
- Abraham was a liar & so was his son, Isaac
- Jacob was a schemer & a cheater
- Tamar disguised herself as a prostitute & committed incest
- Rahab was a prostitute & a Canaanite, enemy of God’s people
- Ruth was from the Moabite people, a tribe who were the product of incest
- David was an adulterer & a murderer
- Solomon had 700 wives & 300 concubines, foreign women who led him into idolatry
- Manasseh was a wicked king who built altars to Baal & burned his own sons up as a sacrifice to idols
Shocking to see that the family tree of Jesus is filled w/ sinners. But that’s exactly the point! The deeds of these people on this list are not on display – God’s GRACE is! There’s ugliness in the lives of every imperfect person on that list, & yet God used them to bring His perfect Son into the world. He was w/ them, working in them, sometimes working in spite of them, to bring about His perfect plan for our salvation. What a story of the GRACE, mercy, power, & love of God! If He was w/ THEM, we can rest assured He is w/ US now!
APPLICATION – God has been with us in generations past & will be with us now & in generations to come.
Let me be very clear: We are not celebrating or condoning the sins that these folks committed. We are not saying that a believer can just live any way they want to live & expect that God will bless them. There were terrible consequences for the sins that these people committed.
But the point is that, no matter how far you’ve strayed from God, He’s not through w/ you yet. He is still w/ you, even if you’re far away from Him.
GOD IS WITH US…
…THROUGH EVERY SITUATION – Every one of us will find ourselves in troubling, difficult situations. May be due to the sinful actions of others. May be due to our own sinful actions.
- Sometimes we give in to temptation & sin & bring hard situations into our lives & the lives of others
- Sometimes children rebel & live in sin & bring hard situations into their parents’ & family’s lives
In all of these situations, God is w/ us through the convicting power of the Holy Spirit.
David – Psalm 32:1-5 – “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight! Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty! When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, & I groaned all day long. Day & night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Finally, I confessed all my sins to you & stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, ‘I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.’ And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.” (NLT)
Even when the Prodigal Son had rebelled against his father & left him to go live a raucous life of sin & immorality, his father still loved him & waited & watched for him to come home. In that way, his father was still w/ him.
…IN ALL OUR STRUGGLES – It goes w/out saying that the people in the family tree of Jesus had their fair share of struggles. They faced enemies, fought battles, dealt w/ massive family struggles. They had governmental leaders come after them. There were moments when their faith was tested to the limit. They experienced sickness, disease, heartache, grief, loneliness, despair, depression, loss. Whatever struggles you have faced or are facing, I can guarantee that someone on that family tree faced it, too.
What is your struggle today? If you’re taking notes or have something to write with, write your #1 struggle down. Whatever you wrote down or whatever is in the forefront of your mind right now, know this: God is w/ you in that struggle. Depending on the depth & severity of your struggle, that one sentence may be your lifeline. It may be the thread of hope that you need to be able to take another step. It may be the nugget of truth you need to hold on another day. It may be the seed of faith you need for your confidence to grow just a little bit today.
Many times on Wed nights in Refresh, we pray through a Psalm. Prayed through first part of Psalm 30 this past week. Last verse we prayed & proclaimed was v. 5 – “Weeping may endure through the night, but joy comes in the morning.” The joy WILL COME b/c God is w/ you in your struggle. When you’re weeping, He’s w/ you. When you’re stressing, He’s w/ you. When you’re hurting, He’s w/ you. When you’re struggling, HE IS W/ YOU!
And on the other end of the spectrum, God is w/ us…
…WHEN WE ARE STRONG – We need to remember that, in those times when we are strong, we are only strong b/c our strength comes from Him. Give Him glory for that! Give Him praise for that! Give Him thanks for that!
OT tells us:
- Exodus 15:2 – “The Lord is my strength and my song, & he has become my salvation…”
- Joshua 1:9 – “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
- Isaiah 40:29 – “He gives strength to the weary & increases the power of the weak.”
NT tells us:
- Ephesians 6:10 – “Be strong in the Lord & in the strength of His power…”
- Philippians 4:13 – “I can do all things…”
- 1 Peter 5:10 – “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.”
CONCLUSION – A drunk named Joe was miraculously converted at a Bowery mission. Prior to his conversion, Joe had gained the reputation of being a dirty wino for whom there was no hope, only a miserable existence in the ghetto. But following his conversion to a new life with God, everything changed. Joe became the most caring person that anyone associated with the mission had ever known. Joe spent his days and nights hanging out at the mission doing whatever needed to be done. There was never any task that was too lowly for Joe to take on. There was never anything that he was asked to do that he considered beneath him. Whether it was cleaning up the vomit left by some violently sick alcoholic or scrubbing the toilets after careless men left the bathroom filthy, Joe did what was asked with a soft smile on his face and with a seeming gratitude for the chance to help. He could be counted on to feed feeble men who wandered into the mission off the street, and to undress and tuck into bed men who were too out of it to take care of themselves.
One evening, when the director of the mission was delivering his evening evangelistic message to the usual crowd of still and sullen men with drooped heads, there was one man who looked up, came down the aisle to the altar and knelt to pray, crying out for God to help him to change. The repentant drunk kept shouting, “Oh God, make me like Joe! Make me like Joe! Make me like Joe! Make me like Joe!”
The director of the mission leaned over and said to the man, “Son, I think it would be better if you prayed, ‘Make me like Jesus!’”
The man looked up at the director with a quizzical expression on his face and asked, “Is he like Joe?” (Tony Campolo)
When you KNOW that God is w/ you in every situation, in all your struggles, & in your times of strength, the one whose very name, Immanuel, means, “God w/ us”, will change your life forever!
