Scripture: Matthew 1:1-18
Sermon Series: Son of David, Son of God – Sermon 04
My nephew, Taylor Carson (picture) is a gifted musician. A few years ago, he wrote an album, Defending the Name, about our whole family. The first song, Moonshiner, was about my grandfather who really was a moonshiner in South Georgia. In fact, he was drunk at church one time and pulled a gun on a sheriff. He was arrested for something and ended up on a chain gang (picture). Taylor’s song is about how a couple of guys were shooting at my grandfather’s house in the middle of night, trying to kill him and my grandfather stood on his front porch with a double-barreled shotgun and killed both of them in self-defense.
So, how’s your family tree? Mine has a few skeletons in the closet. This morning we want to work through Jesus’ family tree.
This passage is easily, “The forgotten chapter of the Christmas story.” At Christmas, we typically jump to Luke 2 or study Mary, Joseph, the shepherds and the manger. In Matthew 1, just before the account of the birth of Jesus, is a genealogy. Most of us skip it. It feels like reading the Hebrew phone book. It’s not often read in public and rarely read it in private unless we’re following one of those “read the Bible in a year” plans.
Unless we know the Old Testament, most of these names are unknown to us. Then, the ones in the last few verses lived during the intertestamental period. The only thing we know about them are their names.
Reading someone’s genealogy seems boring, especially if we don’t know the stories behind the names. Bible translator, J. B. Phillips (picture) must have felt that way. When he first published his translation of the New Testament, he left out Jesus’ genealogies in Matthew and Luke, thinking they were nothing more than trivia. He got so much criticism that he put them back in and rightfully so, as 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” That simply means, even the genealogies in the Bible are filled with God’s truth.
Have you ever wondered why Matthew began the story of Jesus with a genealogy before Jesus’ birth? He did that because it’s truly The Genealogy of Grace. It’s a Jesus story and it’s just like Jesus. If you’re taking notes…
1.Genealogies were important to the Jews and vital to know the royal line. In the ancient world, it was very important that the resume of your family tree looked pristine. Just as people today tinker with their resumes to cover up bad work experiences, back then it was common to alter your family tree, trimming out the bad apples. Herod the Great purged names from his public genealogy because he didn’t want anyone to know people of bad character were in his family, which is ironic because Herod was such a rat.
The purpose of a genealogy was to impress others with the respectability of your roots. The Jews paid very close attention to questions of genealogy.
Whenever land was bought or sold, the genealogical records were consulted to ensure that land belonging to one tribe wasn’t being sold to members of another tribe. You couldn’t just put the money down and take the deed. You had to prove that your ancestors came from the same tribe.
Genealogies were crucial in determining the priesthood. The Law specified that the priests must come from the tribe of Levi.
Genealogies also determined the bloodline to the throne. It’s why Ezra 2 and Nehemiah 7 have lengthy listings of the people returning from captivity. As the Jews re-established themselves in Israel, it was crucial that they know which families had historically held positions in the nation.
That principle applies directly to the Christmas narrative. “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world…And everyone went to his own town to register.” (Luke 2:1, 3) That meant each man must return to his ancestral hometown—the one his family had originally come from. The only way to be sure about your ancestral hometown was to trace your genealogy. It’s why Mary and Joseph had to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem. They had to make that long, dangerous journey because Bethlehem was Joseph’s ancestral hometown—a fact they knew from studying their genealogy.
2. This passage is still important today. Although it was important 2000 years ago, what relevance does it have today? Let me suggest three answers.
It establishes Jesus as part of the royal family of David. That’s obviously the main purpose of Matthew 1. For a Jewish reader, no question was more important to them.
God had promised 1000 years earlier that the Messiah must come from the line of David. In the time of Christ, Jesus wasn’t the only one claiming to be the Messiah. Other men—imposters—claimed to be Israel’s Messiah. How would the people know who to believe? One answer: Check his genealogy. If he’s not from the line of David, forget it. He can’t be the Messiah.
That’s why Matthew 1 begins this way: “A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” David is listed first, even though chronologically Abraham came first in history. Why? The crucial issue wasn’t, “Is Jesus a Jew (a son of Abraham)?” but “Is he a direct descendant of David?” For Jesus to qualify as the Messiah, He must be a physical descendant of David.
That principle was true when Prince Charles and Princess Diana (picture) got divorced in 1996. It created a constitutional crisis for the royal family. Because the sovereign is also the head of the Church of England, a divorced person couldn’t sit on the throne. But the Church of England changed their guidelines in 2002, so Charles could become King.
Rulers in England must come from the house of Windsor. Those rulers are determined strictly by genealogy. The same is true for Jesus Christ. His “right to the throne” is determined by His genealogy, which establishes that He is indeed a literal descendant of King David.’
It demonstrates that Jesus Christ had historical roots. Galatians 4:4 says, “But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law.” When God had perfectly prepared every detail of history, He sent His Son into the world. Historians tell us that at the time of Christ, there was a widespread expectation that “something” was about to happen. The now-extinct religions of Greece and Rome held out hope that a deliverer would come from heaven. The Jews knew that the Messiah would come according to the Old Testament prophecies. The Persians studied the heavens and knew the time was near. There was a desire, a hope, in the heart of humanity, that someone would appear who’d radically change the world. While they weren’t consciously expecting Jesus, there was a longing there. And into that expectant world God sent His Son, at just the right time and in just the right way.
Matthew 1 tells us that Jesus Christ had roots. He had a family tree. He didn’t just drop out of heaven or appear magically on the scene, but at the perfect moment of history, Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
The Lord Jesus had a human family with a mother and a father and a history. He’s not some fictional character, like the gods on Mount Olympus. He was a real person born into a real family. Galatians 4:4 teaches us that behind it all stood God superintending the whole process.
It’s a historical record of the grace of God. If you study these names, it’s as if God has pulled together a rogue’s gallery. While we don’t know about every person in this list, of the ones we know about, nearly all of them were notable moral failures. For instance, Abraham lied about his wife, Sarah. Isaac did the same thing. Jacob was a cheater, Judah was immoral. David was an adulterer. Solomon was a polygamist. Manasseh was the wickedest king Israel ever had…on and on we could go. This isn’t a list of super saints. Some were un-saints. The best of them had flaws. Some were so flawed it’s impossible to see any good points. So, how does that show the grace of God?
God’s grace can even use individuals like this as limbs in Jesus’ family tree. A murderer is on the list, along with an immoral guy, an adulterer, a liar and a deceiver. Most of these people were a hot mess!
3. These individuals are signposts of the grace of God. Do you have a lot of regret for your sin? You’ll fit right in with Jesus’ family tree.
Like compost, sinful defeats seem rotten on the surface. But underneath, God uses them to be rich soil of His grace where lasting fruit can be planted, nourished, and harvested. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross (picture) observed: “The most beautiful people…are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern.”
Anne Lamott (picture) said, “Everyone is screwed up, broken, clingy, and scared, even the people who seem to have it more or less together.”
In the Bible, many screwed up and damaged people became notable servants of God. Christ’s genealogy was recorded by Matthew the tax collector. Tax collectors were some of the worst of the worst in Jesus’ day.
There are five women in this genealogy, all publicly connected with Jesus. That may not strike you as unusual but in an ancient patriarchal society, women were usually never named in a genealogy, much less five of them.
During His ministry Jesus closely connected Himself to women. In that day, giving high value to women, particularly like these women was unthinkable. Most of the women in Jesus’ genealogy were Gentiles. They were the type of women a good Jew would ignore in public and never take the time to have a conversation with, much less claim as an important part of his family tree!
Something else Matthew did by including these particular women in Jesus’ genealogy was that he deliberately wanted us to remember some of the nastiest, most immoral events in the Bible, and then let everyone know Jesus was connected to these evil people and sinful moments in history.
Tamar: Paganism, prostitution, and incest. Her story—unknown to most of us—is found in Genesis 38. Tamar was the daughter-in-law of Judah who was the son of Jacob, grandson of Abraham. Matthew 1 says that Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar.
Why did Matthew expand this section and add these extra family details? Because the circumstances of Perez and Zerah’s birth are the kind of evil that you’d find today on TMZ (picture). At the time, Judah was a hard-core rebel that left home. In rebellion against his family and God, he married a pagan Canaanite woman that was far from God. They had three sons, two of which were so evil God struck them dead. Tamar was Judah’s daughter-in-law from his oldest son’s marriage. According to the custom of Levirate marriage in that day, Tamar was to become the wife of Judah’s youngest son so the younger brother would allow her to conceive and bear children for her late husband and the family line would continue.
Judah, with his first two sons struck dead by God and with only one son left, decided to not give Tamar to his third and last son. He refused to let the family line continue with his daughter-in-law. After years of waiting Tamar was desperate to have children and pass on her deceased husband’s name.
Eventually Judah’s own wife died, and he’s left alone. Since Judah was now single, Tamar hatched a plan to bear children and continue the family line. She pretended to be a prostitute and seduced her own father-in-law. She conceived the twins—Perez and Zerah, through Judah.
It was an act of incest. Judah fathered his own grandsons. Matthew could have just mentioned Perez as the next person in the family tree, but he didn’t. He named Judah, Perez, Zerah and Tamar to bring the whole story of this moral trainwreck back to mind. It was his way saying, “If you come from a crazy mixed up dysfunctional family, so does Jesus. He understands.”
Rahab: An Enemy, Harlot and Liar. The second woman on the list is Rahab. Most of us know about her. Rahab is almost always mentioned by a certain phrase in the Bible, Rahab the harlot. How many people would intentionally include a prostitute in their public family tree? Matthew wanted everyone to know Jesus doesn’t abandon those struggling with sexual sins. He even claims those struggling with sexual sin as part of his family tree.
That’s not all. Rahab was a Canaanite, part of the despised enemies of Israel. Her most heroic deed was the telling of a lie. Think about that. A Harlot, a Canaanite and enemy, and a liar. You wouldn’t think she would have much chance of making the list, but there she is.
Her story is tied in with the larger story of Joshua’s conquest of the walled city of Jericho. When Joshua sent spies into Jericho, Rahab hid them in her house that was on the wall. In exchange for safe passage out of the city, they promised to spare her and her family when the invasion took place. All she had to do was to hang a scarlet cord from her window so the Israelites could identify her house. She agreed, hid the spies, and when the king of Jericho sent messengers asking her to bring out the men, she lied and said they’d already left the city, though they were really hiding on the roof. She let them out of a window with a rope, whereupon they returned to Joshua.
It’s a great story with so many lessons, but we mustn’t miss the point that Rahab was a harlot. That was her “trade.” These spies hid there because people would be accustomed to seeing strangers come and go at all hours of the night. We also can’t deny the fact that Rahab told a bald-faced lie. Is there anything good we can say about her? Yes! She was a woman of faith. Hebrews 11:31 says, “By faith Rahab…” She was a believer! Even her lie was motivated by her faith! When the invasion came, Rahab was spared and in the course of time became the great-great grandmother of King David. A harlot…a Canaanite and enemy…and a liar. Yet also a woman of faith. She made the list and she’s a part of Jesus’ family tree.
I love the words of Charles Spurgeon (picture) about Rahab, “God has a people where we little dream of it, and He has chosen ones among a sort of people whom we dare not hope for; who would think that grace could grow in the heart of one who was a harlot by name, as though her sin was openly known to all? Yet it grew there, like a fair flower blooming upon a dunghill, or a bright star glittering on the brow of night! There her faith grew and brought forth glory to God!”
Ruth: A Hated People Group. The most significant fact about Ruth is that she was from the country of Moab. That takes us back to Genesis 19 and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. On that dreadful day Lot escaped Sodom with his wife and two daughters. His wife was turned into a pillar of salt, but Lot and his daughters found refuge in a cave. His daughters had been spiritually contaminated from living in Sodom. It’s a warning to us. Though Lot left Sodom, his daughters carried the evil of Sodom in their hearts. They conspired to lure their father into sleeping with them. On successive nights they got Lot drunk and slept with him. Both sisters got pregnant and gave birth to sons – one named Moab, the other named Ammon. Those two boys—born of incest—grew up to found nations that would become both incredibly evil and bitter enemies of Israel.
The book which bears Ruth’s name tells of the romance that blossomed between Ruth the Moabitess and Boaz the Israelite. They were the most unlikely couple but in God’s providence, were brought together in marriage. They had a son named Obed who had a son named Jesse who had a son named David. Ruth was King David’s great-grandmother. That’s how a person from the hated nation of Moab entered the line of the Messiah.
Bathsheba: Adulterer and Widow of a Murdered Husband. This woman isn’t mentioned by name, but she’s clearly identified as the woman “who had been Uriah’s wife.” Bathsheba’s adultery with King David is so well-known we don’t need to repeat it today. But adultery was only the beginning. Before the scandal was over it included lying, a royal cover-up, and murder. As a result, the child conceived that night died soon after birth and David’s family and empire began to crumble. Eventually David married Bathsheba and they had another son—Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived. Quite an outcome of a union that began in adultery. There’s scandal all over this episode. But don’t miss the main point: Bathsheba made the list. Though her name isn’t there, she’s mentioned, nonetheless.
The reason Matthew refers to Bathsheba as Uriah’s wife isn’t to slight her. It was to slam David and remind everyone of the evil David committed to make her his wife. It was out of that immoral union and from one of David’s darkest moments that Jesus traced his family line.
Today Bathsheba might be a Monica Lewinsky (picture), taken advantage of and used by a powerful man. Biola University Professor Nell Sunukjian (picture) suggests, “She had been seduced by Israel’s greatest king, and to some extent, she was complicit, though as the powerful one in the ‘relationship’ David clearly carries the blame.”
David, the one Scripture describes as “a man after God’s own heart, committed adultery and had Bathsheba’s husband Uriah murdered to cover up his sin. Yet Bathsheba too is mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus.
Why isn’t Bathsheba mentioned by name? Perhaps it’s because God wanted to honor Uriah. Though he wasn’t one of Jesus’ ancestors, he’s mentioned by name. Leaving out her name brought added emphasis to Uriah’s name.
Mary: The Teenage Virgin. A teenage virgin was chosen to be the mother of the Savior. It doesn’t get any more unlikely than that. Her story is incredible. She was betrothed to someone when an angel told her that she’d become the mother of the Messiah. As such, she likely faced daily shame and scorn for what others assumed about her. She was probably scared and uncertain of her future, and yet she expressed a deep faith in God who always made and delivered on His promises. When the angel appears to Mary, her response shows her faith: “‘I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true’” (Luke 1:38, NLT). Mary recognized her unlikeliness, singing out praises to God, later in Luke 1:48: “For [God] took notice of His lowly servant girl, and from now on all generations will call me blessed” (NLT).
Mary was an ordinary girl, who planned to live an ordinary life. Yet, God never sees anyone as “ordinary.” The world considered Mary to be a simple peasant on the threshold of marriage, but God rewarded her faith and planned for her life to be anything but ordinary. G. Campbell Morgan (picture) wrote, “Jesus came from a race that could not by itself produce Him. So, through the miracle of the virgin conception, God did what could otherwise never have been done by the members of a fallen race.”
Fallen is the right word to describe those in this genealogy. What a radical thing for the Messiah to come from a line of broken people with broken stories, and ultimately be given life by a virgin that’s favored by God.
In Jesus’ genealogy there are adulterers and adulteresses, incestuous relationships, prostitutes, and moral wrecks. The Law of Moses excluded all of them from God’s presence, yet Matthew wanted everyone to know that these are the roots that Jesus’ chose to have in His family tree.
Conclusion: Why did Matthew want everyone to know Jesus claimed these people as His roots? As we tie this up, let me suggest…
That as great sinners were part of Jesus’ family tree in the past, He wants to graft that same kind of people into His family tree in the future. If you’re a mess, far from God, that’s the family line Jesus came from and who He wants in His family in the future. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done. It doesn’t matter if you killed people or were even on the paid staff of hell. If you repent of your sin and trust in Jesus’ death to save you from your sin, His grace will cover your sin and graft you into His family tree.
After seeing the sordid pasts of those in this list, each of us should realize we’re in good company in Jesus’ family. He won’t reject us because of our sin but is willing to graft us into His family tree. There’s hope for all of us!
None of us are holy or good. In the Old Testament, there was something called ceremonial uncleanness. If you wanted to stay holy and respectable, you avoided contact with anything unholy or unclean. The filth of sin or someone’s uncleanness was contagious. You caught it like a cold. The uncleanness of others polluted you. So, God’s people went out of their way to avoid contact with those with a bad background or involved in sin. Contact with uncleanness contaminated you.
Jesus turns this whole thing around. Our moral filth can’t pollute Him when we become part of His family tree. Instead, His holiness and purity spread to us when we’re born-again and become part of His family. Isaiah 1:18 says, “Though our sins are as red as scarlet, Jesus cleans us up and makes us whiter than snow.” The most sinful can’t pollute Jesus, instead they’re made righteous by coming to Him and being grafted into His family tree.
Jesus’ family tree doesn’t just remind us that moral and social outsiders need Jesus. It reminds us that everyone needs Jesus. Even people like King David, desperately need to be connected to Jesus. While David wrote many psalms in our Bible and was called a man after God’s own heart, David needed to be connected to Jesus as much as anyone else in the genealogy!
The only way David was part of Jesus’ family tree was by receiving grace from God that he didn’t deserve. The only way David was made right with God was by connecting to Jesus to have his sins made clean and washed whiter than snow. Becoming part of Jesus family tree is the only way our sins can be washed away, and we’re made righteous.
At Christmas, we remember one of the greatest moments in the history of the universe. The One who created the universe moved from outside of His creation to inside of His creation by taking on a human body forever so He could die on a cross and rise from the grave to save us forever.
Let’s not just remember why He came, let’s remember the family He came from. Those are the ones He came to save, people just like us. If we repent and confess our sin and trust that He died on the cross for our sin, we’ll be forgiven and grafted into His family tree. His sacrifice makes us clean.
Christmas is the season of giving. But God gave the first and greatest gift. He gave Jesus to die for our sins. My friend, will you receive the greatest gift of all? Will you repent and confess your sins, asking Jesus to be forgiven and grafted into His forever family? Will you do that today?