Grace and the Incarnation
Matthew 1:1-17
Introduction: A
little boy and his slightly older sister were singing their favorite Christmas
carol the week before Christmas one year. When they got to the final line, the
boy sang, “Sleep in heavenly beans!” His
sister corrected him, “No, no, no, not beans,
it’s PEAS, sleep in heavenly peas!” Sometimes, in the midst of our
celebrations and shopping, we can lose track of the true reason for the season!
In one of my favorite Christmas classics, A Charlie Brown Christmas,
Charlie Brown asks in the midst of his celebrating friends, “What is Christmas
all about?!” Linus answers by citing Scripture.
I decided to start our Advent series this year with the opening verses
of the New Testament, the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew. A genealogy? That sounds riveting! I remember
when I first came to faith in Christ, as a new believer, I would typically
“skim over” the genealogies in the Bible. Then I remember being blessed when I heard
a sermon on this passage in Matthew, and I was amazed by the insights that were
shared from these verses (some of which are reflected in this study!). Even the genealogies are in the Bible for
a purpose, and as we look briefly at this one I think we’ll see Matthew laying
a foundation for the gospel of grace that is at the heart of the NT. In
fact, we’ll take two weeks to look at the genealogy, and I’ll call the two
messages, “God’s Grace in the Incarnation.” This week we’ll focus on two men, and three epochs,
next week, we’ll consider the four women, five including Mary, who are mentioned.
God’s story of graciously guiding human history is revealed in the
genealogy of Jesus here in the first Gospel. Some scholars suggest that Matthew
is tracing the genealogy of Joseph, which establishes Jesus’ legal right as a descendant
of David to be qualified for the throne, whereas Luke traces Jesus’ physical
descent through Mary. For these two weeks, I want to focus on Matthew’s
account, how he lays it out, and consider the message that is implicit as God
guided history to carry out His plan.
Unlike Luke, who works backwards from Jesus to Adam, Matthew starts with
Abraham, emphasizes David and the exile to Babylon, and culminates in the birth
of Jesus. He points out three periods of the history of God’s people that
together point to the need for God’s intervention in their history. Next week
we’ll focus on the fact that he includes the story of four women, four
outcasts, two (or three) are foreigners, all are sinners. At the end mentions a
fifth woman, a young Jewish virgin named Mary, who gives birth to Messiah
Jesus. As he shows God’s unfolding story, He emphasizes man’s need, and also God’s
sovereignty and grace.
The BIG Idea: History is His Story, and the genealogy of Jesus highlights the depth of our
need and the extent of God’s grace. His grace is the true message of Christmas.
I. We see God’s grace in the prominence of two men (1:1). Matthew’s gospel is the only
one of the four that begins with a genealogy (Luke also includes a
genealogy, but it appears in chapter 3). The opening verse of the New Testament
says,
“The book of the genealogy of Jesus
Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.”
The book [or, the record] of the genealogy of Jesus Christ – Matthew begins by
asserting what the genealogy and the Gospel that follows will prove: Jesus is
the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God.
He is the promised King, the One who the Scriptures had anticipated. The
story will reveal the meaning of his name—Jesus—Yeshua
— “salvation.” He came not to condemn the world, but that the world,
through Him, might be saved. Immediately after the genealogy that will come
front and center…
1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary
had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be
with child from the Holy Spirit. 19
And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame,
resolved to divorce her quietly. 20
But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him
in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as
your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you
shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:18-21).
We will look at those verses in a couple of weeks considering what that
says, what it means. On this first Sunday of advent, we’ll start at the
beginning. Matthew begins by stating the name of the subject of his book—a name
that tells us already what he came to do. Humans were lost, separated from God,
walking in darkness. As Paul told the
Ephesians, “...we were by nature children
of wrath, even as the rest...” That
is what you were, that is what I was. But God, being rich in mercy, because
of His great love with which He loved us, breathed life into our hearts and
made us his children—by grace, through faith. His name, “Jesus” is derived from
the Hebrew root, yasha, “to save,” and there is no other name under
heaven given among men by which we must be saved! I think we would agree this Christmas
season, the Sunday after Thanksgiving, that with all the good blessings he
gives us, the first and greatest gift, the purpose for which He came, needs to
be first in our hearts and minds. That
is the message of Christmas, “THIS is how
God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that
we might live through him” (I John 4:9).
Matthew also states his title,
“Christ,” i.e. “Messiah,” “Anointed One.” The Jews had long awaited the
coming of a deliverer, the Son of David, the promised seed. Matthew states that
it is His story that is being presented, the fullness of time had come, and God
had, in fact, sent forth His Son. The genealogy of Jesus in Matthew apparently
is Joseph’s, highlighting the legal standing of Jesus as a descendant of David
(Luke makes the same connection to David, but through his biological descent
through Mary).
First, Jesus is described
as the “...son of David...”
David’s name in fact appears five times in the genealogy, and his relationship
with “...the wife of Uriah...” stands
out (1:1, twice in 1:6, and twice in 1:17 is his name mentioned). He is one of
the most prominent people in the Bible. David’s name appears over a thousand
times (to put that into perspective, the name “Jesus” appears just over 950
times!). We know many of the stories of his life well, how God chose him, the
youngest of the sons of Jesse, not because of his outward appearance, but
because of his heart. We remember how he stood up against Goliath with a stone
and a sling, and in the name of the Lord was victorious. We remember Saul’s
jealousy of him when David’s fame began to spread among the people, and the
attempts the king made to kill him, and in contrast, David’s refusal to raise
his hand against Saul. We also remember his heartbreak, when his beloved son
Absalom led a rebellion against him, and his heart wrenching tears when Absalom
was killed. David. Of all the gospels, Matthew mentions him the most times.
“Son
of David” had become one of many titles the Jews of Jesus’ day would use to
speak of the coming Messiah. David was the greatest of Israel’s kings, but you
can’t think of David without thinking of the sins he committed, especially the grievous
sins of adultery and murder. Still this man was called “a man after God’s own
heart,” and to him God promised a Son who would have an eternal reign. David
reminds us that even the best of the kings, and the best of humans, falls
short, we all desperately need grace.
In the initial sentence of the Gospel,
Matthew works backward, the son of David, the son of Abraham . In fact,
the opening words, “The book of the geneaology…” highlights the word that was
used for title of the Greek translation of the first book of the Bible, Genesis.
Like Mark and John, Matthew apparently wanted to evoke the first book of the
Bible in the minds of his readers. The early chapters of Genesis highlight four
great events – Creation – the Fall – The Flood – and Babel. The consequences of
sin are spelled out in the early genealogies of the Bible with the repeated
refrain, “...[so and so lived X number of years] and then he died...” God had warned that sin would bring death, and
Genesis 1-11 makes it clear that the effects were universal and total. Humans
were sinners, lost, and could do nothing to save themselves. Then chapter 12
begins with God calling Abraham. His name appears about 250 times in the
Bible, 7 of those in Matthew’s gospel, and three times in the genealogy.
Abraham is pointed to in the NT
as an example of faith, a man who believed God, taking Him at His word. But
Abraham wasn’t without his failures. Twice he lied about Sarah being his wife
(calling her his sister) because he feared for his own life. Still, as the
story goes on, his faith grows. And God’s promise to him was unilateral, there
were no conditions, God simply said, “I will do it,” He would give him a
multitude of descendants and life in the land. It was God’s sovereign
commitment to carry out his plan. Abraham and Sarah his wife had some challenges
of faith, it wasn’t always easy to take God at his word. As they grew older and
had no children, Sarah gave her maid Hagar to her husband so that through her
she might have a son. But Ishmael was not to be the promised one. Sarah laughed
at the idea of giving birth when she and Abraham were old, but the angelic
messenger asked, “Is anything too
difficult for the Lord?” (Gen 18:14). Those words would be echoed 2 millennia
later, when Mary asked, “How can these things be?” To which the angel
replied, “Nothing is impossible with God.” God was teaching them
to trust. He was reminding them of His power and sovereignty. And so God’s
choice of Abraham, and his prominence in the history of the nation and in the
genealogy of Jesus, shows us God’s grace.
How can we read the phrase, “son of Abraham,” and not think of
another son, born to Abraham in his old age? Isaac was the son of promise.
Remember how God called Abraham to sacrifice his son, his beloved Isaac, as a
burnt offering. You know the story in Genesis 22, Isaac asked his father, “Here
is the wood and the fire, where is the lamb?” Knowing how that story
unfolds, then, and then again centuries later… God himself will provide the
Lamb for the offering… That is why He came! Have you thought about it this
Christmas? The same God who chose Abraham and David, who was so patient with
them, despite their sin and failures, chastening, but always loving and guiding
and drawing them back, that same God knows you and loves you? He sent His
Son so that you could live! What grace! That is reason to celebrate! History
is His Story, and the genealogy of
Jesus highlights the depth of our need and the extent of God’s grace. His grace
is the true message of Christmas.
II. We see God’s grace in the
highlighting of three eras (1:17). Genealogies in the ancient world were not necessarily complete
family trees, but rather they were intended to show a line of descent,
establishing a connection between the past and the present. Matthew’s genealogy
of Jesus is interesting in that it is structured to highlight three specific
blocks of history...
“So all the
generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to
the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to
Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.”
Why such a breakdown? What was Matthew trying to emphasize? Why not point
to other events, like the Flood or the Exodus, which seemed so foundational to the
history of the world and of Israel?
The first period of
history highlighted extends from Abraham to David – We see the birth of a
people, and the transition from a “theocracy,” one nation under God, to a
monarchy. It is a period marked by election, by promise, and by initial
fulfillments… and by human failure. The stories of the patriarchs and of
Egypt, of Moses and the Exodus, of the failures in the wilderness, and of God’s
preserving grace. The conquest under Joshua showed that God was faithful to his
promises. Yet the people struggled to follow God, and without a king “every man did that which right in his own
eyes.”
Remember the little girl who
was frightened by a thunderstorm in the night and came to her parents’ bedroom.
Her mother assured her, “Don’t be afraid dear, God is with you!” The little
girl said, “Why don’t you go to my room and sleep with God, and I’ll stay here
with Daddy, I need someone with skin on!” Having God as their king was a nice idea in
theory, but they wanted a king “with skin on,” a powerful leader, a king like
the nations around them. They wanted someone they could see and rally around,
who could bring comfort and courage when they faced their enemies. God first
gave them Saul, a man who stood “head and shoulders” above the others. But God
had another idea, he didn’t look on the outward appearance, but rather upon the
heart.
And David, the youngest son of Jesse was chosen. He was even called “a
man after God’s own heart.” He was the best of the kings, the one to whom God
promised would be born a “son” who would have an eternal kingdom. The Davidic
covenant offered hope, but the affair with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah
exposed the depravity of humans. Even
the best of the kings sinned and fell short. There is none
righteous, no not one. Humans could never save themselves by their own
“goodness,” they desperately needed mercy, their only hope was grace. And God
promised David a Son, an ideal Son who would also be the Son of God. He would
one day have an eternal kingdom.
The second time period goes from David to the Exile—This is the period
when the nation had human kings, and it points out the failure of
the monarchy. Repeatedly through the OT we see the kings doing “evil in the
sight of the Lord” and “going the way of their fathers,” falling
into sin and apostasy. Ultimately the division of the kingdom after Solomon’s
death was only a step in a downward spiral, until the northern capital, Samaria,
fell in 722 to the Assyrians, followed by the southern capital, Jerusalem, falling
to the Babylonians in 586 B.C. Even
though they were carried into exile, the Bible makes it clear that God did not
forget His people, He did not fail them, he preserved a remnant. He allowed the
Exile as a time chastening, but promised to bring them back.
The third period highlighted in the genealogy goes from the exile to
Christ. If the first period, from
Abraham to David revealed hope, along with the grace of God, and if the
period from David to the exile showed human failure and our need for the
kingship of God and His mercy and grace, the third period points to God’s
faithfulness to his promises, and shows the extent of His grace. God did not
forget His people. His promises would not fail. He preserved a remnant and at
the right time brought them back to the land. He allowed the walls of the city
to be rebuilt and the temple to be slowly restored. If He did all that, what
of the promises of a deliverer?
After 400 years of silence, in the fullness of time, He sent forth
His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, that He might redeem those who
were under the Law... Redemption implies the payment of a price. This is
how God showed his love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world
that we might live through him.
These three eras really point to the gospel: first promise, as
from the fall and throughout the Old Testament, there were allusions and
references to the Coming Deliverer. Their history also exposed failure,
as even when He came, He was despised and rejected by men, they would not have this man to be their king! He came to his own, and they did not
receive Him. And finally, we see grace, as God’s plan reaches a
climax in the cross and resurrection.
History is His Story, and the
genealogy highlights the depth of our need and the extent of God’s grace. Grace
is the message of Christmas.
What is God saying to me in this passage?
All of history
was pointing to coming of the a Savior, the Messiah, the King of all Grace. And
in the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son. Yet we know the story.
The Scriptures pointed to His coming, and though “He came unto
his own, ...His own received him not...” That did not surprise God. He gave his only Son.
He knew exactly what would happen. History is His Story, and the genealogy of Jesus shows our need and God’s
grace. His grace is at the heart of the message of Christmas.
What would God have me to do in response to this passage? We get so busy this time of the
year, don’t we? Travel, visits, family get-togethers, shopping, decorations. All of that is fine, none of it is bad, that
is unless in all of our busyness we forget the One who is the reason for the
season, Jesus. Reflect on Him, remember who he is, and why he came. We deserved
only judgment, but He loved us, and lavished his grace upon us.
One practical step we can take is as families or individuals, is to do
daily advent readings during December. Memorize some Bible verses that point to
His coming. Thank him every day, during this month, for the gift of His grace. Might
our desire this advent season be, above all, to know Him better, and to love
Him more. And as we rejoice in what
He has done for us in Jesus, look for opportunities to share a word, or a
gospel tract, or to invite someone to a Christmas service. This is how God showed his love among
us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him (I Jn 4:9). May it be true this Christmas as we share His truth that “the people who walk in darkness
would see a great Light” — the true Light of the World, JESUS.
Think about that. Amen.
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