Unfolding Grace Through Generations | Matthew 1:1-17

Gospel of Matthew:

• This Gospel is addressed to Jewish Christians.
• The main focus of this gospel is the Great Commission:

Matthew 28:18-20

¹⁸Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

The Great Commission is one commandment carried out in 3 ways:

Make disciples:

• By Going. The good news needs to go out to all nations.
• By Baptizing (evangelism)
• By teaching (Christian education)

This is an amazing season for all of us to be greatly involved in the Great Commission.

Author & Purpose: The Gospel of Matthew was written by Matthew the tax collector. The Gospel according to Matthew is written to demonstrate the fact that Jesus is the Christ, the predicted Messiah, the King of the Jews. It is the story of the King who comes, the King who is rejected, and the King who will return.

The presentation of the King. If a king is to be heralded as a king, then it must start with the proof that he comes from the royal line. Matthew is doing that in Matthew 1:1-17.

Matthew 1:1 This is the genealogy (Genesis) of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:

Genealogy of Jesus

In Greek, it is the book of Genesis/Origins of Jesus.

This reminds us of another Genesis, in Genesis 1. Genesis 1 is about creation of life where there was no life. This is unique.

Jesus the Messiah: Iēsous Christos is the Greek equivalent of the Old Testament Yeshua which means “Jehovah saves.” It looks like God saves, but the passage says that Jesus is going to save his people. Jesus is his personal name. Messiah is his title.

• Messiah talks about anointing of a King or a Priest for office in the OT.
• Messiah is the title for the divinely endorsed king/prophet.
• Jesus is presented as the Messiah.
• Jesus the Messiah fulfills OT Prophesies.

Jesus, the Son of Abraham: Jesus is the true Israel.

Jesus, the Son of David: This is the messianic title for Jesus in this Gospel.

Matthew gives whole list of genealogy in Matthew 1. The gospel opens with Jesus’ ancestors in Matthew 1.

Matthew 1:1-17 The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah

• Source: Ruth 4 & 1 Chronicles 3:10-19

Where did Matthew get this Genealogy? In the OT there are several such lists.

In Ruth 4:18-22, you have genealogy of 10 names, Perez all the way to David. Matthew could have taken names from here.

In 1 Chronicles 10:10-19 we have a whole list of names. 16 names could have been taken from there. Do you know that the Hebrew Bible ended with Chronicles?

Matthew does some editing here as well:

V7 & 8 – He adds one letter. He makes Asa was a king of Judah to Aasph, Asaph was a psalmist.

V10 – Amon. He changes one letter of Amon to Amos. Amon was a wicked king; Amos was a prophet.

So, Jesus is not only the heir of the Davidic line, but spiritually he is also the heir of the prophets and the psalms.

Sometimes the names are different from the OT. This is because some people had different names. For example: King Uzziah is also called king Azariah.

Sometimes the line is not through the first born. Both Isaac and Jacob are not the first born.

Two Genealogies Of Jesus In The NT: Mt. 1 & Lk. 3

Matthew is His official, royal lineage through Joseph. His genetic lineage through is given in Luke 3.

The Genealogy in Matthew is a descending record from Abraham to David to Joseph to Jesus. But the genealogy in Luke is the reverse. It is an ascending genealogy. It starts with Jesus and back through Mary, to David, to Abraham to Adam.

David’s two sons have come in both these genealogies. Matthew follows the royal line through David and Solomon. Through Solomon Mathew leads us to Joseph. But David had other sons, one was Nathan. And Mary’s line came through Nathan. So what you have is one line coming down through David, Solomon, Joseph and Jesus. You have another line going up through Mary, Nathan, David. So both Mary and Joseph are in the line of David.

So lineally blood line Jesus is of David. Legally as heir to the throne he is of David, both by his mother and his father. He is the actual seed of David through Mary. He is the legal heir of David through Joseph.

Three Prominent People in the Genealogy.

The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah

Matthew 1:1

This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:

Matthew 1:17

Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.

We have three prominent people here: Abraham, David, Jesus Christ

The genealogy starts from Abraham, the Patriarch. Gen. 12:1-3

David – the high point of Israel’s history and power. 2 Samuel 7:16

Babylon – the low point of Israel’s history.

Ends in Jesus.

• Abraham to David.
• David to Exile.
• Return of Exile to Jesus

14 Generations

Matthew 1:17 Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah. Notice that? Three eras.

Genealogies usually skip some generations. From 2 Chronicles we see that Matthew skips some generations. He is coming up with roughly 14 generations into two from Abraham to David to the Exile to the time of Jesus.

Actually speaking 14 generations are not 14 generations. Jehoram the father of Uzziah, (there are three generations in between. Sometimes it is the grandfather instead of the father. So these 14 generations is not only 14. So, Matthew has some other meaning of 14. Hebrew alphabet has numbers associated with it. This is the name of David which is 14 in the Hebrew alphabet.

God’s Grace in The History Of Three Eras.

• Abraham to David.
• David to Exile.
• Return of Exile to Jesus

Matthew 1:17

Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah. Notice that? Three eras.

The first period is the period from Abraham to David. That’s the period of the patriarchs and the period of the Judges. Patriarchs like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses and Joshua and the great judges like Deborah, Barak, Samson, Jephthah etc.. It’s that great period of heroism when Israel was made famous. You have people even like Ruth and people like Jesse, the father of David. Ah, it was a period of greatness. Israel became a glorious nation.

The second period is the period from David to the exile of Babylon. It’s a period of decline. The first is a period of ascendency, as Israel goes from non-existence at Abraham’s time and oblivion to fame where Israel goes from victory after victory. The second period is the period of the monarchy which was a period of decline. And as soon as the monarchy came with Saul, things started to go downhill. Israel ends up in Assyrian and Babylonian captivity.

The third period is from the captivity unto Christ. You don’t know anything about that period. It’s a period of 600 years. Names we don’t even know: Abihud, Eliakim, Azor, Zadok, Achim, Akim, Eliud, Eliud, Eleazar, Matthan, Jacob. We don’t know these people. Oblivion.

So the story of Israel is the story of three eras of glory, decline, and oblivion; nevertheless through that nation that the Messiah comes. That is amazing grace. God has worked through great and not so great people to bring his son, Jesus into the world. He’s the King of grace.

So Matthew has creatively put three parts to this genealogy based on the name of David, so that we will know that the line of Jesus is through David.

Grace of God in this Geneology

There are so many people mentioned in this genealogy or family tree of Jesus. If you take a character study of all these people, not all are good people. God used them in his amazing grace to bring forth his son.

Abraham: Abraham was a man of faith but he is not the best example. He did so many mistakes.

• Twice Abraham lied to rulers that Sarah was his sister to save his life.
• In Genesis 12, Abraham lied to Pharaoh that Sarah is his sister.
• In Genesis 20, Abraham lied to Abimelek that Sarah was his sister.
• He did not protect his wife and was willing to give her to Pharaoh.
• Abraham had a son through Hagar, the bond servant.

Judah: The line of Jesus is through Judah, son of Jacob, not Joseph the favorite son. Jesus is called the lion of the tribe of Judah. Judah is not a nice guy. It was Judah’s idea to sell Joseph into slavery. It was Judah who committed incest with Tamar, his daughter-in-law.

David: David is a man after God’s own heart, but David is not a good example David did so many mistakes and the greatest was his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, Uriah.

Solomon: Solomon was not wise.

Yes, he built the temple of God but in 1 Kings 11:7-8, he dedicated other temples for other gods.

1 Kings 11:3, Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines

1 Kings 9:15, he made people do forced and bonded labor for building the Lord’s temple, his own palace, the terraces, the wall of Jerusalem etc.

Rehoboam: The son of Solomon was worse than his father.

Hezekiah & Manasseh: Hezekiah was a very good king. The Bible says that the Lord instructed the prophet Isaiah to tell King Hezekiah of Judah that he was going to die, 2 Kings 20:1. Hezekiah pleaded for his life. The Lord then responded to his prayer and told him that he would live an additional fifteen years. In those 15 years, he had another son, Manasseh, he ruled 50 plus years, a very evil king. The good things Hezekiah did, his son overturned it. His son Amon was worse but he was killed early.

Jeconiah: He cut the prophesy scroll of Jeremiah. So there is a curse on the family line of Jeconiah.

Jeremiah 36:30

Therefore this is what the Lord says about Jehoiakim king of Judah: He will have no one to sit on the throne of David; his body will be thrown out and exposed to the heat by day and the frost by night.

Jeremiah 22:30

This is what the Lord says: “Record this man as if childless, a man who will not prosper in his lifetime, for none of his offspring will prosper, none will sit on the throne of David or rule anymore in Judah.

Judah’s and Israel’s kings were so wicked that God did not want their seed to sit on the throne of David or the Messiah to come in their line. Finally, Jesus came in the same line. This is amazing grace. When the Messiah comes even the curses are overturned.

So in this list of genealogy there is no hiding of anything. It is Amazing grace that Jesus came in this line. God worked with imperfect people to accomplish his purpose.

Women Are Mentioned In This Genealogy

4 Women in Genealogy. Women are pulled into the family line of Jesus. In our world women suffer the most. In Patriarchal world women are dispensable.

In Jewish geologies women did not matter. Here 4 women are mentioned but some important women are not mentioned. Sarah, Rebecca, Leah the mother of Judah is not mentioned. These women regularly appear in Jewish literature. Instead, we have Tamar v3, Rahab v5, Ruth v5, Mrs. Uriah v6..

Who are these women?

Tamar: Tamar was the wife of Judah’s son and Tamar was a Canaanite. The story in Genesis 38 regarding Tamar is not a nice story. Tamar’s twin boys are born because Tamar dresses as a prostitute and seduces her own father-in-law. Her story is in Genesis 38. God uses her to bring Judah to repentance.

Rahab: Rahab is mentioned in Joshua 2 & 6. She is from Jericho. Remember the 2 spies stayed in her house. She is a Canaanite, a professional prostitute. Not a nice story. She decided to stand for the Lord and God brought her into his lineage. Her story is directly adjacent to the story of Achan. Achan was from the time of Judah. He hid the loot he had taken from Jericho under his tent. In contrast Rahab hid the spies on her roof. Her act led to the deliverance of her family and the betrayal of her people. Achan however betrayed his people and lead to the destruction of his family.

Ruth: Ruth was a Moabitess.

Deuteronomy 23:3

No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord, not even in the tenth generation.

If you read Genesis 19, the beginning of Moab is not at all nice, they are descendants of Lot. Not a good story. Ruth was welcome to enter the line of Jesus because she cleaved to the God of Israel.

Ruth 1:16

But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.

Bathsheba, 2 Sam. 11: If you ask Solomon who is your father? He would say, “King David.” Who is your mother? Mrs. Uriah, Bathsheba. Bathsheba was married to Uriah, the Hittite. She was probably a Jew, from the tribe of Judah but she married into a Hittite family. Here she becomes a gentile. The woman whom David took from his loyal soldier. Not only he took someone’s wife but he devised a wicked plan to kill him.

All these 4 women are Gentiles.

• Here we find God’s plan for the gentiles.
• In almost all the culture of the world, women are helpless. But in the line of Jesus, women are pulled inside. Not only that, gentiles are not an afterthought in God’s plan.

In Matthew 2 we see the wise men who come to worship Jesus. they are the first ones to worship Jesus. The wise men who are not from the Jewish people, they are the ones to worship him. Even today, we who are not Jews have come to worship the Lord. Gentiles are not an afterthought; we are in the plan of God.

That is why Matthew says in 28 in the Great Commission of Jesus Christ to go and make disciples of all nations.

In the genealogy of Jesus Christ:

• You have the descendants of Abraham, not all of them have great testimony.
• You have gentiles, women not of great testimony.
• You have got some wicked kings whose deeds are so bad.
• Yet this God we worship is a God who comes form this like who is working in and through ungodly people. He was called a friend of sinners.

Jesus identified with sinful Israel. Matthew 9:12-13

Now what do you think the message is? God is a God of Amazing Grace.

1. God Is A God Of Grace.

The birth of Jesus, the genealogy of Jesus is a message of God’s Amazing grace. Are you glad about that amazing grace? We are not adopted by God because we are perfect or great, we are chosen by God just because of God’s grace.

Usually from ancestors the generations flow but here the genealogy ends in Jesus. Where does this genealogy go? This genealogy then flows into all who believe in Jesus.

Psalm 130:3-4

³If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? ⁴But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you.

This morning this Amazing grace is available for those who turn to him. You may have messed up, you may have blown it up but God is willing to give you his grace this morning. This great and magnificent king works with messy people.

When Jesus come into this world he identified with us sinner. Let it be known to anybody who listens Jesus Christ is the friend of sinners. While we were yet sinners Christ died for us. And he himself said it. “I have not come to call the righteous, but – ” what? “ sinners to repentance.” Jesus said in Mark 2, “The sick need a doctor.” Jesus is here for those of us who are sick. The good thing is that we need the healing of the doctor. How does Jesus heal us, by his love and grace.

The Grace Of God Is Available To Us Through Jesus Christ.

Titus 2:11-12

11For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,

Titus 3:7

so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

We are invited to the story of Israel. God is a God of love and grace, so we are pulled into his grace by his royalty. Once we are pulled into his royalty, his grace starts working in our lives. Our identity now is in Christ. In this kingdom, our biological and other identities are secondary. We are one in Christ.

2. God Works with the Ungodly and God Redeems the Ungodly;

Romans 5:1-11

¹Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ²through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we^[ boast in the hope of the glory of God. ³Not only so, but we^[ also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

⁶You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

⁹Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! ¹⁰For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! ¹¹Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

This is the story of the gospel. We who were sinners were saved by His grace.

When we are saved, we do not become sinless; but the Spirit starts working in us to make us like Jesus, make us godly, make us holy.

The Good news is a God is a god of mercy, grace and love and he is pulling us into him so that we can live a Godly life.