Life of Christ: The Family History
In the
introduction to this series we saw how both Matthew and Luke as Gospel writers
are concerned to show how the Lord Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of God’s
good purposes towards his people.
Matthew is
addressed to the Jewish audience showing how Jesus was the fulfillment of what
God had spoken out about the Messiah through the prophets of Israel and Judah
many hundreds of years before.
Luke is
addressing a Gentile of Greek audience. He is introducing them to the work of
God and how Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s word and purposes for all
nations.
Matthew and Luke
include family histories, or genealogies to point the readers back to the
magnificent detail wherein God worked to bring Jesus, the Christ, into the
world.
Matthew shows
Jesus descent from Joseph showing the royal descent that would have been
important for a king. Luke shows it
through Mary’s family back through Abraham to Adam.
Within these two
lists, we find a number of intriguing things. Let’s look at the two
genealogies.
Matthew starts
his book with the family history of the Lord Jesus Christ. He want to set before those who would read or
would hear it read the legitimate claim of Jesus to be heir of David’s throne
and King of Israel and as the one who is the seed of Abraham who would bless
all nations. Matthew even gives us a
catalog of the family roots from Abraham to Jesus. He works from the oldest relative of
significance to the newest.
Matthew 1:1 The
book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:
2 Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot
Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. 3 Judah begot Perez and Zerah by
Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram. 4 Ram begot Amminadab,
Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon. 5 Salmon begot Boaz by
Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, 6 and Jesse begot David the
king. David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah. 7
Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam
begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa. 8 Asa begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah. 9 Uzziah
begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah. 10 Hezekiah begot
Manasseh, Manasseh begot Amon, and
Amon begot Josiah. 11 Josiah begot Jeconiah
and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon.
12 And after they were brought to
Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel. 13
Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor. 14 Azor
begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud. 15 Eliud begot Eleazar,
Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob. 16
And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is
called Christ.
17 So all the generations from Abraham
to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon
are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ
are fourteen generations.
Jesus is the son
of David the King giving him claim to the throne of David. Jesus as King is important later on in
Matthew’s Gospel. Jesus is also the son
of Abraham, the seed who will bless all nations of the earth.
Turn over to
Luke 3. Luke doesn’t place his
geneaology at the beginning of the book, but after the birth narratives
immediately following his baptism at the start of Jesus’ public ministry.
Luke starts with
Jesus and works his way back through the family to Adam. Luke links the Lord Jesus with, not just the
Jews or the nation of Israel, but with all men in all nations. Luke’s purpose is to show Jesus as the
universal savior--in the sense that if anyone is to be saved, they must be
saved by him.
Earlier I said
the Luke traces the history back through Mary, yet we don’t find Mary’s name in
the genealogy. How can this be? Well, the text does not say that Heli begat
Joseph, his son-in-law by virtue of marriage to his daughter Mary, it asserts
the family relationship. To marry into a
family is to become one with the family.
A son and a son-in-law were not always carefully distinguished. They are two types of sons. In verse 23 Luke tells us there is something
quirky about that part of the listing--he adds as was supposed.”
The family
history of Jesus through the relations of his mother Mary:
Luke 3:23-38 Now
Jesus Himself began His ministry at about
thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, the son of
Heli, 24 the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of
Janna, the son of Joseph, 25 the son of Mattathiah, the son of Amos, the son of
Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, 26 the son of Maath, the son of
Mattathiah, the son of Semei, the son of Joseph, the son of Judah, 27 the son
of Joannas, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the
son of Neri, 28 the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son
of Elmodam, the son of Er, 29 the son of Jose, the son of Eliezer, the son of
Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, 30 the son of Simeon, the son of
Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonan, the son of Eliakim, 31 the son of
Melea, the son of Menan, the son of Mattathah, the son of Nathan, the son of
David, 32 the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of
Salmon, the son of Nahshon, 33 the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram, the son of
Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, 34 the son of Jacob, the son of
Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, 35 the son of
Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, 36
the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the
son of Lamech, 37 the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared,
the son of Mahalalel, the son of Cainan, 38 the son of Enos, the son of Seth,
the son of Adam, the son of God.
What is your
first impression? Just a list of
names? Well, there are a number of
valuable lessons to be learned from these lists of names.
1. A lesson about the details of life
2. A lesson about literacy
3. A lesson about History
4. A lesson about sinners
5. A lesson about God
6. A lesson about the Lord Jesus Christ
1. A lesson about the details of life
Even in the
details regarding who begat whom, God’s good purposes are found to be working
themselves out. Speaking of details, how
many times does God use the little insignificant insects to accomplish his
purposes? Nothing happens by accident in
God’s world. We don’t rally have traffic
accidents, either. We have unforseen providences that God brings into our lives
in order to work out that which is for your good?
Even when we
read lists of names we should read the Word of God with great awe and
reverence. No part of the Bible is
insignificant. Not a jot or a title.
These folk did not appear by accident.
God was the one who opened the womb at the right time and brought forth
a succession of men and women in order for God’s son to come at his appointed
time. In all of the details of all these
generations representing countless conceptions and births, God's Word says, in Galatians 4:4-5 But when the
fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born
under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive
the adoption as sons.
It was when time
was fully ripe that God sent forth his son.
He was not a moment too early nor too late. He came forth at the time of
time’s ripeness. Like a fruit ready to
be plucked before it falls off the branch.
Just at that perfect moment, God sent his Son. Behind that moment is an eternity of God’s purpose
and since the creation, a succession of births to godly and ungodly men. Why? In order that God might be found to be
God of the details.
People stumble
over the idea that God controls even the details of life. How can he be Lord of all, if he is not Lord
of the details. Men give God credit for
being able to deal in the big things while leaving the little details and
choices to man. But in these genealogies
we infer that God was even in the details of a man having a proper marital
desire for his wife many times and many places.
For the succession of births there had to be the details that brought
them about infallibly. Why are these
people included in the family history of our Lord and not any others? Because it was God working in and through the
mundane details of life in order to bring forth his son at his appointed time.
What was that purpose? To redeem men from the bondage of the Law and to adopt
them into his family.
If you are a
believer, whose family history is this?
It is Jesus, our brother spiritually, and that makes it our genealogy as
well. Have you ever read this as your
own family history? It is also another
lesson......
2. A lesson about literacy
Since it is your
family history too, how many of the people did you know as we read through the
lists? Most will have known some like
Abraham and David and Adam and Noah.
Some may not have known many.
Many may have known many because they have been acquainted with the
Bible for a good while. Nobody knew
everybody. There are some in the lists
who are unknown to us except for these genealogies.
These lists of
Jesus family history can show us how familiar we really are with the history of
the Bible. They can be a gauge to show us how literate we are in the content of
God’s Holy Word. It can be an
encouragement to us as we see God has taught us so much, or it can be a
motivation to us to get going in order to learn more about God by seeing how he
dealt with others before us. We can
learn from their good examples and imitate their faith when it is
commended. We can also learn to not
commit the same sins as we seek God;s grace where others have fallen. Speaking
of History.......
3. A lesson about History
Strictly
speaking, history is the study of mankind through the record left in written
materials. These genealogies are a
remarkable record of thousands of years of God’s faithfulness. Each name carries with it a piece of history. Who were they? Who was Rahab? A prostitute to whom God gave
faith in action that she would save the spies.
Who is Enoch? One who walked with God in faith. Who was Zerubabbel? Or
Boaz? What place did they have outside
of this list. Did they love God and his
people? Where they good or were they wicked?
We are not the
first generation wherein we find the grace of God and the presence of
faith. There is often an arrogance about
modern times. Most modern people think
that they have come so far beyond the past to reach new heights of
understanding. We are just like the men
and women in these lists. A mixture of
those in who God has worked and those in whom God may work.
The Gospels give
us the entire of history of the created world in these genealogies. It doesn’t give us all of the details, but it
shows us that there is a powerful God working in and through all things,
including time, to bring about his desired end.
History is moving towards a goal. That goal is the consummation of all
things when men will stand before God in judgment. At the end of history they will be sorted
into two groups, the one--those who have faith in the pivotal man in all of
creation, the Lord Jesus Christ; the other group will be those who God does not
know who will be cast from his comfortable presence to a place where there will
be great weeping and gnashing of teeth--Everlasting hell.
The coming of
the Lord Jesus Christ as God’s appointed Messiah, is the most important event
in all of history. If you miss that, you
would have better off having never been born.
Jesus is a true historical figure who actually came to earth, who
actually had parents and grandparents who were known to their
contemporaries. Jesus was not created by
the desires of a religious community after the fact. Jesus was a real live historical man who
walked upon the earth at God’s appointed time.
There is a great
deal of debate about the veracity of these genealogies in academic
circles. Suffice it to say that Matthew
and Luke are real historical figures dealing with another real live historical
figure so men might see how the God of all entered into history to accomplish
for man what man could not do for himself.
He came into the world to seek and to save that which was lost. Jesus is a real verifiable historical
figure.
4. A lesson about sinners
In Matthew’s
genealogy we find Reheboam, Joram, Amon and Jechonias. Even though these men had good fathers,
Solomon, Jehosophat, Mannaseh, Josiah, they ended up as miserably wicked
men. God’s grace does not run in family
lines by natural descent from one man to another. God’s grace is not passed on through the
process of procreation. God’s grace is
dispensed when and where he sees fit. It
is through regeneration that men are found to have active faith. A Child needs something more than good
examples and techniques of manipulation, they need the God of grace to be
merciful towards them. Children of
believing parents are tremendously blessed to have all sorts of means to grace
at their disposal, but to be numbered among God’s elect, they need grace themselves.
All men who know
God and enter heaven through the new birth will not do either because they were
born of the will of man, but because they were born by the will of God.
5. A lesson about God
To Eve in the
fall of our first Parents in that Garden of Eden, God promised to send one who
would be her deliverer. It was not an
empty promise. God sent forth that one
in the appointed time to be born of a woman.
We learn that God always keeps his word.
The Lord said,
Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity Between
you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your
head, And you shall bruise His heel."
When we read the
genealogy back to Adam we see the promise was kept.
God also
promised to Abraham, Genesis 12:1 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. 2 I will make you a
great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a
blessing. 3 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."
For this Abraham
was commended and in this Jesus fulfills what Abraham never saw while he was on
the earth. Through Abraham’s greater son
all the nations would be blessed. God kept
another promise.
To Jesse’s
family it was spoken, Isaiah 11:1-5 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem
of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots. 2 The Spirit of the LORD
shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of
counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. 3 His
delight is in the fear of the LORD, And He shall not judge by the sight of His
eyes, Nor decide by the hearing of His ears; 4 But with righteousness He shall
judge the poor, And decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall
strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He
shall slay the wicked. 5 Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, And
faithfulness the belt of His waist.
What a
comfort! Whenever God has spoken he has
kept his word. It should encourage us to
seek after the God who has promised his people so much.
The mission of
Jesus according to Luke 19:10, was to come to seek and to save the lost. We
don’t celebrate Jesus in a manger. He didn’t stay there. He grew up to
accomplish the will of his Father, God. He is the Lord and Savior, whether you
believe that or not. But, you ought to. One day you will stand before him, and
him alone, to give an account of your life and what you did with the good news
of his coming to earth. What will you say to him who knows all? No human excuse
will suffice--especially because you were here this morning to hear of his grace
and to listen to his truth.
God requires all
men everywhere to repent and believe. Will you obey God’s outward call? AMEN!
Mundane
genealogies show us that God remained faithful to his promises. NUM 23:19 "God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should
repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make
it good?
6. A lesson about the Lord Jesus Christ
We saw a few
weeks ago that Jesus was eternal God present at and active in the creation of
all things. Here we meet his other
nature. He is a man like you and me. He is made of the same stuff as us.
Jesus is truly
God, yet he is truly man. Two natures
present in one being without confusion or mixture of them both. As God he knows the glories of
inter-Trinitarian love and harmony, as man he knows temptation and the frailty
of creatureliness. He alone is equipped
to be what we really need--a mediator, the one and only, who can sympathize
with us is order to represent us before God.
He is what we need to bring us to God. HEB 12:24 to Jesus the Mediator of
the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than
that of Abel.
You remember
Abel, the older brother of Seth, the second to the last in the genealogy of
Luke? What does this mean? Well, Abel was murdered by his brother before
he could have any children himself, presumably. Yet he is part of the family
tree. From Abel until the present, God
requires sacrifices that please him.
Abel offered a better sacrifice than his brother. For this Cain went into a rage and killed him. Abel’s gift to God was pleasing--Jesus’s
giving of himself as a sacrifice and the sacrificer was even more pleasing to
God. Jesus, the subject of both family
trees is the one and only one who can bring us to God. To him we should look, in him we should
believe.
From the two
genealogies we saw:
1. A lesson about the details of life
2. A lesson about literacy
3. A lesson about History
4. A lesson about sinners
5. A lesson about God
6. A lesson about the Lord Jesus Christ
There is only
one more thing to consider
7. A lesson about ourselves
As we work
through the life of Christ, with whom will you identify? The Gospels tell us about the Lords Jesus
Christ and our need to believe in him that we might know God whom to know is
life eternal.
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