The Christmas (Family) Tree of Jesus
Preaching Passage: Matthew 1:1-17
Sermonic Process: Analytical
I. Charlie Brown didn’t have much of an eye for trees. But then are there really any perfect Christmas trees out there. Strange how a tree that looks so good in the lot can suddenly develop a gaping hole in your living room. Amazing how the drive home seems to stretch the trunk, so the tree your husband said was almost too short in the field has to be cut down twice before it can be stood up at home. Who hasn’t wrestled with a tree in the stand trying to turn it so the best side faces forward, or using the lights to pull a branch up or down to cover a shoddy spot. No matter what we do we find that every tree will have some flaw. But regardless, in my home, the appearance of a Christmas tree is the signal that the Christmas season has begun.
II. Today we’re going to talk about a different sort of Christmas tree. It’s a tree that is most often neglected at Christmas time, but from a biblical perspective it is the first thing recorded in our New Testament. It’s Jesus’ family tree, and since it ultimately concludes with the story of Jesus birth, I suppose we could say that it is the first ‘Christmas Tree’ in scripture.
III. Open your Bibles with me to Matthew, chapter 1. The fact that Matthew opens his gospel with a list of names tells us that he feels this is something important, something worth listening to. If we understand the Jewish people, in Jesus day, and today, we know that family trees were very important. A persons lineage gave them certain rights and responsibilities. Land was owned by families and passed along the family tree, so knowing your ancestors was like owning a title deed. Also certain families held promise or responsibility. To the descendants of Levi fell the responsibility of caring for the temple. To the descendant’s of David a promise was given that an eternal king would be drawn from their ranks. In fact as we consider this list we see many great ‘boughs’ of family history.
IV. Abraham tops the list. To Abraham was given the initial promise of a people more numerous than the stars who would be to God a chosen people. The promise was perpetuated through Isaac and Jacob.
V. To Jacobs son Judah came the promise that the scepter, the right to rule, would not depart from his family. While the names, Boaz and Obed don’t always stir memory, most of us know Jesse and his famous son David. To David God promised that a descendant of his would sit on an eternal throne and rule over an eternal kingdom.
VI. The line drops into obscurity then after Solomon. Punctuated by a reminder that the sin of Israel had brought about exile, and the repentance of Israel had resulted in a return from exile. The line continues to meander through history until it settles upon an unlikely carpenter, and his expectant fiancée. We read that Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.
VII. But in the midst of these great branches of Jesus family tree we find something unexpected, something that seems flawed. In the great family tree from which sprang the Saviour of humanity we discover what appear to be withered and gnarled branches. The name of four women appear. This was a rare occurrence in a Jewish genealogy, but rarer yet the character of the women mentioned. What can these women possibly share in common with the Saviour of the world to merit mention in a selective genealogy?
VIII. We live in a world that is starving for love. Take a moment to surf the web and read the adds that pop open on every search engine. People don’t want to be forgotten. Nothing is more terrible than to be alone. Every national newspaper carries a page of personals, someone looking for someone, anyone, willing to do almost anything to be remembered.
IX. Throughout our community you will find people who are forsaken, left alone, pushed away, or abandoned. What would they do to be popular, loved, needed or even remembered. What would you do, if it were you?
X. In Genesis 38 we read the story of a forsaken woman, her name is Tamar, it means Palm. As a young Canaanite women Tamar hoped she would be an oasis, a palm of fertility. But when her first husband dies and leaves her alone her dreams are broken.
XI. According to the customs of that time Judah, her father-in-law, gave her his second son as a husband. But this man did not love her. He was willing to share the pleasures of her bed, but determined that he would never give her children, for fear that his own inheritance would be divided to his children. When he died Tamar, the Palm, began to feel more like a desert wasteland.
XII. The rustle of whispers seemed to follow her everywhere. Tamar is a black-widow. She is devoid of life, no children escape her womb, no man survives her company. With only one son left Judah makes a promise he has no intention of honoring.
XIII. “Wait until my youngest son grows up,” he lies, “then I will give you to him. For now, live as a widow in your fathers home.”
XIV. Weeks turn to months, months to years, Tamar has long since passed the mourning period for her husbands. Now she mourns for herself. She is a forsaken woman, living out loneliness one aching day at a time.
XV. One by one the young women are married to young men. Babies become children, children teenagers. Sorrow turns to anger and anger to bitterness. Tamar’s biological clock is ticking… ticking… ticking… and almost stopped.
XVI. Then word comes that Judah’s wife is dead. He has mourned for her and now is headed to the sheep shearing. Tamar, the forsaken woman, has been forgotten. No wedding is coming, no feast, no groom, no wedding night, no children; Tamar is to be left alone.
XVII. Is it lust that drives Tamar to disguise herself as a prostitute and wait on the road for her father-in-law; no, not lust. Is it anger? No, anger requires passion, Tamar is too bitter for passion. It is emptiness, loneliness and desperation. How can he leave her alone? She has waited half her life.
XVIII. When the act is done Tamar is pregnant by her father-in-law. He is unaware of who the prostitute was that took his seal and staff as a deposit for payment. But when she can’t be found he decides to let these things go rather than risk playing the fool.
XIX. When the news breaks of her pregnancy Judah is outwardly furious, and inwardly delighted. Finally he will be rid of this black widow that has taken two of his sons and returned no heirs. Perhaps now his final son will have a chance of producing offspring. It is as a betrothed women, not a widow that Judah judges her. It is Judah that sets the penalty; and the penalty will be death by fire.
XX. As the flames crackle in the background, the family is assembled to witness the grizzly execution. Tamar, the three month pregnant betrothed widow stands with a smugness about her. In the final second she draws from her robes the seal and the staff, pronouncing, “These belong to the father of my child, perhaps you will ensure they are returned to the rightful owner.”
XXI. Judah’s statement is both a pardon and a confession. “She is more righteous than I.” Judah sees the line of sin. Because of sin Tamar is forgotten and forsaken. Because of sin she is widowed twice. Because of sin she seduces Judah. Because of sin SHE is judged and HE is found guilty. And as a result of sin she gives birth to twin sons, Perez and Zerah.
XXII. Matthew would remind us that among the branches of Jesus family tree is the branch of Tamar, a forsaken woman. In Jesus none will be forsaken. Ephesians 1:6 tells us that we have been accepted in the beloved. To a world that is starving for love and acceptance, the message of Christmas calls the lonely to come to the one who knows them best.
XXIII. Our world is a fearful place. Today billions of dollars are being spent world-wide to prepare for the possibility of biological warfare. It is an industry motivated by fear. What do you fear? If we’re honest most of us can name something. We fear failure, we fear disgrace, we fear rejection, ultimately we fear death. Death destroys everything we have worked to accomplish. We insure against losses. House insurance, car insurance, credit-card insurance, travel insurance, employment insurance, even life insurance.
XXIV. There will come a time, however, in our lives and the lives of those around us when the chinks in the armor are impossible to hide. That niggling fear that all we have done to prepare for the end might not be sufficient. That when the God of this universe demands final payment, we might not have enough to cover the cost. That all we have come to value and trust may indeed be fools gold.
XXV. Rahab was a fearful woman. Make no mistake, Rahab was a prostitute, but unlike modern prostitutes Rahab was a wealthy and respected woman among the people of Jericho. As a temple prostitute she was a living idol for the Canaanite gods. Men worshipped through her, and lavished gifts upon her. She was radiant in beauty and ravished with wealth.
XXVI. We read her story in Joshua 2 and 6. She is the one who hid the spies sent to scout out the city of Jericho. It is as these spies hid in her home that Rahab reveals to us that in spite of her beauty and her wealth Rahab is a fearful woman. She expresses the terror that she and her countrymen feel as Israel approaches. There is an understanding that nothing can stop the God that Israel serves and intrinsically she knows that the God of Israel is more than a match for the idols of Canaan.
XXVII. Rahab the fearful begs the spies for her life and the lives of those close to her. The spies agree to spare her, so long as she is willing to display the scarlet cord from her window when the Israelites arrive at Jericho.
XXVIII. Joshua 6 tells of the magnificent defeat God inflicts on the Canaanites at Jericho when the walls came down. The only survivors are Rahab and her family. We read in Joshua 6:22-23 that they were taken from Jericho and set outside the camp of Israel. But this isn’t the end of the story. If it were to end here we might assume that Rahab and her family went their way and began anew. But Matthew gives us the surprising end when he reveals that Rahab the temple prostitute of Jericho is a great ancestral grandmother in the line of Christ.
XXIX. There was a man named Salmon, a descendant of the union between Judah and Tamar at the battle of Jericho. When he looked on Rahab he loved her. According to the law of Moses Rahab the beautiful, Rahab the wealthy, Rahab the living shrine to idolatry would have had to permit her head to be shaved, her finger-nails cut, her jewelry and fine clothing exchanged for Israelite robes. She would have to live as a betrothed woman for a month to ensure that she had rid herself of idolatry and only then would an Israelite man be permitted to make her his wife. But so deep is the gratitude and faith of Rahab that she becomes the wife of Salmon, and unwittingly, a member in the genealogy of Jesus.
XXX. Among the branches of Jesus family tree we find Rahab, the fearful woman. But in Jesus we discover that perfect love drives out fear, and according to I John 4:17-18, in Christ we have a boldness to come before God. We discover that when we come to Jesus he strips away the artificial trappings of power and prestige and instead marks us as his own and makes a part of his bride the church.
XXXI. Racism is sin. Yet it pervades our world. Our attitudes towards others based on the colour of their skin, the slant of their eyes, the language they speak, the clothing they wear. Racism takes many forms, and until you have lived as a minority you may never understand. While there are many minorities in our world, and many who live as foreigners in Canada, there is a greater spiritual reality. It is the reality that we have all lived as spiritual foreigners to God. Not only as foreigners, but as enemies and rebels to God’s plans and purpose in the world.
XXXII. Ruth is the third woman mentioned in Jesus family tree. Ruth stands apart from the others in that she is shown in a positive light, however Ruth had one Achilles heel. Ruth was a foreigner. Not only a foreigner, but a Moabitess, a member of the race that had proved to be an enemy and oppressor to Israel.
XXXIII. How strange it must have been for her to travel, as a widow, with her mother-in-law, to the land of Judah. To walk the streets of Bethlehem and notice the stares and side-long glances at her unusual complexion. To know that every word she spoke revealed her foreign descent. To know that she was the foreigner, the outsider, the enemy.
XXXIV. Naomi had tried to warn her of the treatment she might expect. Naomi had even tried to persuade to her to remain in Moab. Concern is in the voice of Naomi when she tells Ruth to be cautious of which fields she gleans in, to stay near the other young women. Ruth is not entirely safe among the inhabitants of the land. But in the fields of Boaz the foreigner finds safety and provision.
XXXV. Ruth’s initial words to Boaz are, “Why do you show such favor to me? A foreigner?” Revealing that Ruth recognized her own status and position in the land of Israel.
XXXVI. It is at her mother-in-laws bidding that she finds Boaz and asks that he take her as his wife. What fear must have pounded in her heart at the thought of making such a request. What relief must have flooded through her when Boaz immediately agreed to make the necessary arrangements.
XXXVII. Among the branches of Jesus’ family tree we find Ruth, whose name means friendship. We are reminded that just as Ruth was a foreigner who was redeemed by a righteous man and became a friend of Israel. So in Jesus we have been reconciled with God, to reconcile means to return to friendship. Jesus takes the foreigner and makes them friend.
XXXVIII. We live in a world that is seared with sin. Despite appearances to the contrary, most people carry a deep seated sense of guilt. Every one of us has moments in our life that we are ashamed of. Painfully aware that we intentionally chose a path which was wrong. For some it is an ache that may never entirely leave them. I have to wonder if Bathsheba’s sin was like that.
XXXIX. One moment Bathsheba was simply bathing. It was not uncommon for people in those days to bathe on the flat roof tops. Most rooftops were built in such a way as to be inaccessible to prying eyes, and what better place than the roof where the afternoon sun would warm the water for a late evening bath. Then came the knock at the door, the invitation of the king. Scripture spares us all the details. But in a few hours Bathsheba had fallen. Fallen from virtuous woman to shameless concubine. Fallen from a faithful wife to a guilty adulteress. Fallen from a nameless Jewess to a famous pariah of Old Testament History.
XL. Did she go home immediately? Did she cry herself to sleep? Did she plead with God for forgiveness? Did she shudder at the very thought? Did she hope that no one would ever know? Did she wonder if King David would call again? Were her thoughts with her husband? Did she wrestle with how she would tell him, or if she would tell him?
XLI. Bathsheba does not bear the guilt alone, but she must bear an equal share. More than a month passes before she is sure. A message to the king. “I’m pregnant.” Sin’s consequence carries a heavy weight for Bathsheba the fallen one. But the weight has not reached its crushing load. First there will be news that her husband has been killed in battle, at the command of the king. To conceal her sin, her beloved is killed. But the consequence will grow still. A short time after its birth, her child grows sick and dies.
XLII. But in his graciousness God permits Bathsheba’s second child to live. His given name is Solomon, but he is called Jedediah, the One the God loves. It is through Solomon, the child born to Bathsheba that the Messianic line continues. It is through Bathsheba that we are reminded that God’s plan of salvation came neither through perfect people, nor for perfect people.
XLIII. It is because of Jesus, the Saviour of the world that Isaiah was able to sob out his triumphant lament: Surely He has borne our grief And carried our sorrows; Yes we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
XLIV. What similarity is there between Jesus, the Christ, the Saviour of the world and these four women? He was made a human, just as they were human. He was tempted in every way, but was without sin. He was a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief. Here are four women who can tell us what sorrow and grief are.
XLV. But I believe that Matthew includes these women, not because of what they share in common with the Christ, but what they share in common with every one of us. For every one of us is like them in many ways. They were sinful, had nothing to merit their inclusion with the Saviour, and they were powerless to change their situation.
XLVI. We to are sinful. We know what it is to be forsaken, to be fearful, to be foreign and to be fallen. We too have nothing to merit our inclusion with the Saviour. We too our powerless to affect our situation. But for Christmas, but for the manger, but for God’s only begotten son, but for the cross. Jesus was born for the likes of these. Jesus was born for the likes of me!
