WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:04.400 Good morning, everyone. My name is Sean, for those of you who don't know me. It's my joy 00:00:04.400 --> 00:00:10.359 and privilege to preach God's Word to you this morning. We just finished a sermon series in the 00:00:10.359 --> 00:00:18.379 Book of Ecclesiastes and had a break in the series for baptisms last week. And today we're starting 00:00:18.379 --> 00:00:23.620 a new sermon series for Advent in the Gospel of Matthew. So please turn with me in the Gospel of 00:00:23.620 --> 00:00:29.260 Matthew. And after Advent and Christmas, we're going to go right on ahead and go through the 00:00:29.260 --> 00:00:34.179 rest of the Gospel of Matthew, which is probably going to take us a little over a year, but it's 00:00:34.179 --> 00:00:45.299 the longest of the four Gospels. So we're in Matthew, written by one of Jesus' disciples. 00:00:48.960 --> 00:00:54.660 It's an account of the life and the ministry of Jesus. If you don't have a Bible, please raise 00:00:54.659 --> 00:01:04.459 your hand. We'd love to give you a copy that you can use. Okay. Let me pray for the reading 00:01:04.459 --> 00:01:29.759 and preaching of God's Word. Heavenly Father, your Word is truth. Your Word does not return 00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:41.680 empty. It always fulfills its promises. The purposes for which it was sent out. And we 00:01:41.680 --> 00:01:50.800 believe, Lord, that your Word here, even in Matthew 1, has your purpose to accomplish in 00:01:50.800 --> 00:01:56.640 our hearts and in our lives. And we ask that you would do that by the power of your Holy Spirit. 00:01:56.640 --> 00:02:07.519 In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. If you are able, please stand as we honor God in the reading 00:02:07.519 --> 00:02:16.060 of God's Word. I'll be reading chapter 1, verses 1 through 17. 00:02:16.060 --> 00:02:31.460 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ. The son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father 00:02:31.460 --> 00:02:38.120 of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob. And Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. And Judah the 00:02:38.120 --> 00:02:44.780 father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar. And Perez the father of Hisron, and Hisron the father of Ram. 00:02:44.780 --> 00:02:51.740 And Ram the father of Aminadab. And Aminadab the father of Nashon. And Nashon the father of Salmon. 00:02:52.159 --> 00:03:00.939 And Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab. And Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth. And Obed the father of Jesse. 00:03:01.659 --> 00:03:09.319 And Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah. 00:03:09.319 --> 00:03:16.919 And Solomon the father of Gehoboam. And Rehoboam the father of Abijah. And Abijah the father of Asaph. 00:03:17.400 --> 00:03:24.120 And Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat. And Jehoshaphat the father of Joram. And Joram the father of Uzziah. 00:03:24.659 --> 00:03:28.759 And Uzziah the father of Jotham. And Jotham the father of Ahaz. 00:03:29.180 --> 00:03:33.900 And Ahaz the father of Hezekiah. And Hezekiah the father of Manasseh. 00:03:33.900 --> 00:03:40.760 and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of 00:03:40.760 --> 00:03:47.580 Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the deportation to Babylon. And after the deportation 00:03:47.580 --> 00:03:54.300 to Babylon, Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel 00:03:54.300 --> 00:04:01.240 the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor 00:04:01.240 --> 00:04:07.900 the father of Zedok, and Zedok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud 00:04:07.900 --> 00:04:14.300 the father of Eliezer, and Eliezer the father of Methan, and Methan the father of Jacob, and 00:04:14.300 --> 00:04:22.259 Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ. 00:04:23.600 --> 00:04:29.759 So all the generations from Abraham to David were 14 generations, and from David to the 00:04:29.759 --> 00:04:36.019 deportation to Babylon, 14 generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ, 00:04:36.740 --> 00:04:41.680 14 generations. This is God's holy and authoritative word. You may be seated. 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:56.000 I was talking to Charles earlier because he just got back and hasn't slept a wink. He just got back 00:04:56.000 --> 00:05:00.839 from China, and he was telling me that I hope I can stay awake through the service this morning, 00:05:01.300 --> 00:05:09.560 and I joked with him, well, we are in the genealogy of the Gospel of Matthew, and no, I think this is, 00:05:11.060 --> 00:05:14.000 hopefully, with the Lord's help, will not be a sermon that puts you to sleep. 00:05:15.139 --> 00:05:19.500 This is an important passage, and it's important because God is included in his word, 00:05:19.500 --> 00:05:26.060 and that means it has something to say to us, and some purpose that God is seeking to accomplish 00:05:26.060 --> 00:05:33.279 in our midst. This passage begins curiously in verse one as the book of the genealogy of Jesus 00:05:33.279 --> 00:05:39.199 Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Matthew claims that this is a genealogical book, 00:05:39.639 --> 00:05:45.980 but this is the only place in the long 28 chapters of the Gospel where we find the genealogy of Jesus, 00:05:45.980 --> 00:05:52.560 and it doesn't even take the entire chapter, and that's because Matthew is making an allusion here 00:05:52.560 --> 00:05:59.720 to the book of Genesis. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the book of Genesis is organized 00:05:59.720 --> 00:06:08.900 around this recurring phrase, the book of the genealogy of dot, dot, dot. Genesis 2, 4 begins the book of the 00:06:08.900 --> 00:06:15.300 genealogy of the heavens and the earth. Genesis 5, 2 begins the book of the genealogy of Adam, 00:06:15.300 --> 00:06:22.079 and Genesis 6, 9, the book of the genealogy of Noah. Genesis 25, 19, the book of the genealogy of Isaac. 00:06:22.620 --> 00:06:31.180 Genesis 37, 2, the book of the genealogy of Jacob. So for first century believers, 00:06:32.060 --> 00:06:36.600 immediately when they read this, the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, they would have made 00:06:36.600 --> 00:06:45.280 this connection to the book of Genesis. By using the same phrase, in Genesis, we are introduced to 00:06:45.279 --> 00:06:50.739 the beginning, the origin, and the history of the heavens and the earth of all creation, and of the 00:06:50.739 --> 00:06:56.099 creation of the people of God, really, through Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. And by using the same 00:06:56.099 --> 00:07:01.939 phrase, Matthew is now signaling to us that this, here, what he has written is the history and origin 00:07:01.939 --> 00:07:09.059 of the new creation, and the birth and the bringing about of the new covenant people of God. 00:07:09.060 --> 00:07:18.660 But why is the genealogy important, of interest to us? Probably only a handful of us, you know, 00:07:19.120 --> 00:07:24.840 come to genealogies in the Bible with eager anticipation. Nowadays, most of us, unless you're 00:07:24.840 --> 00:07:34.079 John Buckley, only have a passing interest in genealogies. Keeping a genealogical record can 00:07:34.079 --> 00:07:41.300 preserve a sense of heritage and tradition, but our ancestors moved to say little to nothing about 00:07:41.300 --> 00:07:48.360 who we are, what kind of people we are today. But there are some people in the world for whom 00:07:48.360 --> 00:07:56.459 genealogies are very important, and you can probably guess. For example, the British royal family. 00:07:56.459 --> 00:08:05.639 The genealogical record for them is critical, because their documented lineage is what provides 00:08:05.639 --> 00:08:14.019 legitimacy to their claim to the throne. There are detailed books that are updated annually, like 00:08:14.019 --> 00:08:20.379 some of our British compatriots here would know better. Debritt's Peerage, Peerage apparently 00:08:20.379 --> 00:08:26.439 is a book of nobility, like people who are of noble status, because the word peer used to mean 00:08:26.439 --> 00:08:32.559 nobles, or it's probably used that way in Britain still. Burke's Peerage, they keep a record of the 00:08:32.559 --> 00:08:39.000 British nobilities and their genealogies. Here in Matthew 1, 1 to 7, we find the genealogy of Jesus, 00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:45.639 and it's important for similar reasons. If, as verse 1 claims, verse 1 is kind of the thesis of the 00:08:45.639 --> 00:08:55.019 entire genealogy and the entire book, if, as verse 1 claims, Jesus is the Christ, which is not Jesus' last 00:08:55.019 --> 00:09:02.279 name, but it's his title. We can see that clearly in verse 16, which says, Jesus was born, who is called 00:09:02.279 --> 00:09:09.019 Christ. That's what people called him. It's his title, which means anointed one, which is a title of 00:09:09.019 --> 00:09:17.419 representing the messianic king. So then if Jesus is the Christ, he has to be a descendant of David, 00:09:17.419 --> 00:09:47.399 who is the father of all Jews, as we see in Matthew 3, 9. Is Jesus really the Christ? 00:09:48.220 --> 00:09:55.039 Is Jesus truly the one that we had all been waiting for? At the onset of the gospel, Matthew is 00:09:55.039 --> 00:10:01.539 answering that question with this genealogy. He is telling us that Jesus is the promised messianic king 00:10:01.539 --> 00:10:07.720 who restores the kingdom of God. First, we want to see how Jesus fulfills the promise to Abraham. 00:10:08.220 --> 00:10:13.299 Secondly, we'll see how Jesus fulfills the promise to David. And thirdly, we'll see how Jesus fulfills 00:10:13.299 --> 00:10:20.059 his promise, God's promise to the exiles. First, Matthew shows us that Jesus is the son of Abraham 00:10:20.059 --> 00:10:26.579 who fulfills God's promise to Abraham. Verses 2 to 6 follow the summary genealogies found in 1 Chronicles 00:10:26.580 --> 00:10:34.800 2 and Ruth 4, and they trace Jesus' lineage from Abraham to David. To a then childless Abraham, 00:10:35.240 --> 00:10:40.160 God had promised this in Genesis 12 too, I will make of you a great nation. 00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:47.360 And in Genesis 15, 5, he said, look toward heaven and number the stars. If you are able to number them, 00:10:47.779 --> 00:10:53.959 so shall your offspring be. This is what God had promised to Abraham. It was a pipe dream, 00:10:53.960 --> 00:11:02.860 a fool's fantasy by the standard of any man, except that it wasn't promised by a man. It was promised 00:11:02.860 --> 00:11:10.180 by God whose word never falls to the ground. This genealogy proves that God's promise to Abraham 00:11:10.180 --> 00:11:18.340 has been fulfilled. Abraham did become the father of a great Jewish nation of which Jesus is a member. 00:11:18.340 --> 00:11:25.160 However, this proves Jesus' Jewish heritage. But God hadn't merely promised Abraham that he would 00:11:25.160 --> 00:11:32.019 become a father of one nation. He had said to Abraham in Genesis 17, 4 to 5, behold, my covenant 00:11:32.019 --> 00:11:39.600 is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called 00:11:39.600 --> 00:11:46.220 Abraham, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 00:11:46.220 --> 00:11:52.740 God had promised to bless Abraham and through him to bless all the families of the earth so that he 00:11:52.740 --> 00:11:58.120 might be called the father of a multitude of nations. That's in fact what his new name, Abraham, means, 00:11:58.620 --> 00:12:09.000 father of multitudes. So the nation of Israel alone, ethnic Israel alone, is not sufficient evidence 00:12:09.000 --> 00:12:14.740 that all of God's promises to Abraham has been fulfilled. And it is through Jesus that Abraham, 00:12:14.740 --> 00:12:21.159 that this becoming the father of the multitude of nations will be fulfilled. Through Jesus, not only 00:12:21.159 --> 00:12:27.240 the Jews, but also the Gentiles, indeed all the nations of the earth who put their faith in him 00:12:27.240 --> 00:12:33.759 will be saved and have eternal life and become citizens of the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven. 00:12:35.320 --> 00:12:41.799 Where do I get that from this text? The unusual features of this genealogy hint at this point. 00:12:41.799 --> 00:12:47.639 Because God appointed men to be heads of their respective households, biblical genealogies are 00:12:47.639 --> 00:12:54.919 all patrilineal. They're traced through the father's genealogical line. But there's unusually here in 00:12:54.919 --> 00:13:00.359 this genealogy, four women in addition to the mother of Jesus and Mary who are included that you would not 00:13:00.359 --> 00:13:07.399 have otherwise expected to be included. First in verse three, it mentions that Judah fathered Perez by 00:13:07.399 --> 00:13:14.879 Tamar. The Bible doesn't tell us much about Tamar's background, but Genesis 38 tells us that she was a 00:13:14.879 --> 00:13:21.840 Canaanite woman, a Gentile. And this is most likely the case since Judah himself took a Canaanite wife, 00:13:21.959 --> 00:13:27.500 and then he's the one who took wives for his sons, including heir. And because there's no mention of him 00:13:27.500 --> 00:13:33.860 going back to his fatherland, homeland, to find a wife for his son. Second, verse five says that 00:13:33.860 --> 00:13:40.860 Solomon fathered Boaz by Rahab. The only human being named Rahab mentioned in the Bible is a 00:13:40.860 --> 00:13:47.779 Canaanite woman who helps the Israelite spies escape Jericho in Joshua 2. So she too is a foreigner, 00:13:48.340 --> 00:13:54.399 a Gentile. Third, verse five says that Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth. And Ruth, more famously, 00:13:54.620 --> 00:14:02.220 as many of you know, is a Moabite. She's also a Gentile. Fourth, verse six says that David was the 00:14:02.220 --> 00:14:09.100 father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, Bathsheba, we know her as, whose father was Eliam, 00:14:09.700 --> 00:14:15.899 Eliam, according to 2 Samuel 11, verse three. And if he's the same Eliam mentioned in 2 Samuel 23, 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:25.360 34, he was also a Canaanite. There are four mothers. Mary, you understand why she's mentioned. 00:14:25.580 --> 00:14:31.960 Four mothers alone mentioned in this entire genealogy of Jesus, and all four of them are foreigners. 00:14:32.220 --> 00:14:39.700 Non-Jews. And that is not a coincidence. This, the inclusion of the Gentiles in this genealogy of 00:14:39.700 --> 00:14:45.139 the Christ foreshadows the inclusion of the Gentiles in the kingdom of God through the Christ. 00:14:45.620 --> 00:14:54.340 This is for me profoundly moving in two different ways. First, how is it that after all these years, 00:14:54.340 --> 00:15:04.440 God still keeps the promises he made to Abraham and to the nation of Israel? Israelites have sinned 00:15:04.440 --> 00:15:15.220 and have broken their covenant with God a hundred times over. And yet, God still keeps every last 00:15:15.220 --> 00:15:27.259 promise he made to Abraham and to Isaac, to Jacob. And the son of God. Think of what kind of privilege 00:15:27.259 --> 00:15:39.440 that is. The son of God, the savior of the world is born a Jew. So that as Jesus says in John 4, 22, 00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:50.220 salvation is from the Jews. Because Jesus is a Jewish Messiah. It's moving to me in another way. 00:15:50.220 --> 00:15:59.260 Secondly, how is this? After all these years, God grafts Gentiles into his promise of the kingdom. 00:15:59.259 --> 00:16:10.679 These Gentiles that have hated and persecuted and warred against and killed countless Jews, 00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:19.000 the people of God. I love the story of the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15. She begs Jesus to 00:16:19.000 --> 00:16:25.480 cure her daughter who is severely oppressed by a demon. And then Jesus says, I was sent only, 00:16:25.480 --> 00:16:30.879 I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, which at the time Jesus says that is true 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:36.080 because it's before Jesus' death and resurrection. It's only after that the great commission to go out 00:16:36.080 --> 00:16:46.580 to all the nations, it is given. But the woman replies, she insists, yes, Lord, it is true. I'm not one of 00:16:46.580 --> 00:16:54.379 God's people. I'm not one of your people. She says, yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall 00:16:54.379 --> 00:17:03.539 from their master's table. And dog is the derogatory way that Jews refer to Gentiles. And she applies it 00:17:03.539 --> 00:17:10.900 to herself. Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master's table. And Jesus answers, oh, woman, 00:17:11.299 --> 00:17:19.680 great is your faith. And he heals her daughter so that even this Canaanite woman, like Bathsheba, 00:17:19.680 --> 00:17:26.440 like Rahab and Ruth and Tamar before her, is included in the kingdom of God, 00:17:28.640 --> 00:17:37.980 delivered from the oppression and dominion of the evil one. We have a few Jewish brothers who are 00:17:37.980 --> 00:17:43.900 members of our church, but the rest of us are uncircumcised Gentiles 00:17:43.900 --> 00:17:52.100 who are, according to Ephesians 2.11, once separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of 00:17:52.100 --> 00:17:58.140 Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 00:18:01.300 --> 00:18:04.140 I am a Gentile dog, 00:18:04.140 --> 00:18:16.840 descended of man and woman who have opposed God and have oppressed his people all throughout human history. 00:18:19.420 --> 00:18:26.140 And yet, how is it that God, in his mercy, would count me as one of his own? 00:18:26.140 --> 00:18:36.160 In Jesus, it says in Ephesians 2, the dividing wall of hostility between Jews and Gentiles have been 00:18:36.160 --> 00:18:43.240 broken down so that there is now one new man in Jesus Christ in place of the two, so that we are no 00:18:43.240 --> 00:18:49.200 longer strangers and aliens, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. 00:18:49.200 --> 00:18:53.120 So that while salvation is from the Jews, 00:18:54.319 --> 00:18:58.319 it is no longer only for the Jews, but for all nations. 00:18:59.500 --> 00:19:04.940 Which is why Jesus commissions us to go make disciples of all nations at the end of this gospel, 00:19:05.039 --> 00:19:06.700 at the gospel of Matthew, chapter 28. 00:19:07.660 --> 00:19:13.180 And that means, it's something important, no matter how different from us people may look, 00:19:14.460 --> 00:19:18.640 no matter what language they might speak, no matter how they might dress, 00:19:19.200 --> 00:19:23.480 there is not a single person in this world that we can look at and say, 00:19:23.700 --> 00:19:25.840 you cannot come into the kingdom of God. 00:19:29.120 --> 00:19:31.100 No, every person is invited. 00:19:31.660 --> 00:19:38.519 If only he or she would repent of their sins and turn and put their faith in Jesus Christ alone. 00:19:38.519 --> 00:19:46.200 Even the Babylonians and the Persians who massacred God's people and exiled the Jews, 00:19:46.339 --> 00:19:50.740 even the Romans who oppressed and killed the Jews, including Jesus himself, 00:19:50.940 --> 00:19:53.839 even the Germans descended of the Nazis, 00:19:54.299 --> 00:19:57.579 even Hamas militants who have raped and killed Jews, 00:19:57.579 --> 00:20:01.179 all of them, by God's radical mercy, 00:20:01.500 --> 00:20:04.119 can be grafted into the family tree of the Messiah 00:20:04.119 --> 00:20:08.679 and become citizens of the kingdom of God. 00:20:10.980 --> 00:20:12.019 Isn't that amazing? 00:20:12.019 --> 00:20:20.180 Then in verses 6 to 11, Matthew traces Jesus' genealogy from King David to Jeconiah 00:20:20.180 --> 00:20:24.680 to show that Jesus is the promised messianic king who fulfills God's promise to David. 00:20:25.639 --> 00:20:31.259 There are significant discrepancies between Matthew's genealogy of Jesus and Luke's genealogy of Jesus. 00:20:31.480 --> 00:20:33.460 I was just talking with Josh about this before the service. 00:20:33.460 --> 00:20:36.799 In Luke 3, you find the genealogy of Jesus. 00:20:37.740 --> 00:20:41.620 For example, Matthew lists 41 male heads of families, 00:20:41.960 --> 00:20:43.960 while Luke lists 57. 00:20:44.620 --> 00:20:48.900 And from David to Jesus, there are in fact only two overlapping names, 00:20:49.819 --> 00:20:51.180 which is surprising, right? 00:20:51.220 --> 00:20:53.240 You'd expect the genealogies to look the same. 00:20:54.360 --> 00:20:56.600 There are several reasons for these discrepancies. 00:20:56.600 --> 00:21:00.960 First, the word father can be used narrowly, 00:21:00.960 --> 00:21:04.059 more specifically to refer to one's immediate biological father, 00:21:04.299 --> 00:21:07.759 or it could refer more broadly to someone's ancestor. 00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:11.480 And that's the same in English as it is here in the Greek. 00:21:12.840 --> 00:21:18.240 So similarly, the word son can refer narrowly to one's immediate biological son 00:21:18.240 --> 00:21:20.019 or broadly to one's descendant, 00:21:20.079 --> 00:21:22.759 which is why Matthew can say that Jesus is the son of David. 00:21:22.819 --> 00:21:24.200 He's not the literal son of David. 00:21:24.259 --> 00:21:25.319 He's a descendant of David. 00:21:26.299 --> 00:21:29.960 So there's some flexibility in the way the words father and son are used. 00:21:29.960 --> 00:21:33.980 Second, genealogies are not always exhaustive. 00:21:34.299 --> 00:21:35.880 Rather, they are often selective. 00:21:36.940 --> 00:21:40.039 For example, Matthew, Matthew explicitly says in verse 17, 00:21:40.500 --> 00:21:44.440 so all the generations from Abraham to David were 14 generations. 00:21:44.900 --> 00:21:48.340 And from David to the deportation to Babylon, 14 generations. 00:21:48.720 --> 00:21:53.079 And from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ, 14 generations. 00:21:53.640 --> 00:21:56.840 So he has a clear organizational structure. 00:21:57.000 --> 00:21:58.980 He has a scheme to this genealogy. 00:21:58.980 --> 00:22:06.000 And this scheme possibly is related to the Jewish numbering system called gematria. 00:22:06.620 --> 00:22:11.620 Gematria is a method by which Jews assigned a numerical value to every Hebrew letter 00:22:11.620 --> 00:22:16.099 so that someone's name can be added up each letter into a number. 00:22:16.920 --> 00:22:21.420 According to this method, the name David has the numerical value of 14, 00:22:22.360 --> 00:22:26.360 which may be why Matthew lists three sets of 14 names. 00:22:26.359 --> 00:22:31.979 Now, just a warning, I don't want you to go home and then try to use gematria 00:22:31.979 --> 00:22:35.579 to find the hidden meaning of every single number in the Bible. 00:22:36.240 --> 00:22:39.079 I think that's a recipe for interpretive disaster. 00:22:39.879 --> 00:22:44.399 And will no doubt engender many heresies and fringe ideas. 00:22:44.400 --> 00:22:50.640 There are only two places in the Bible where I'm personally convinced that gematria is used, 00:22:50.720 --> 00:22:53.100 and that's Matthew 1.17 and Revelation 13.18. 00:22:53.200 --> 00:22:54.480 I don't think it's all over the place. 00:22:55.100 --> 00:22:59.560 And I think we should only use it when there seems to be exegetical warrant for doing so. 00:22:59.920 --> 00:23:04.300 And I think it is there here in this text because Matthew knows that we can count, 00:23:04.660 --> 00:23:07.680 and we can easily count 14 with each section. 00:23:07.680 --> 00:23:13.820 But he explicitly tells us three times in the last verse, in verse 17, 00:23:14.680 --> 00:23:19.519 that there are 14 generations with each of those sections. 00:23:19.900 --> 00:23:21.120 And I think that's his clue. 00:23:21.560 --> 00:23:25.400 He's wanting us to make the connection between 14 and David to prove 00:23:25.400 --> 00:23:28.960 that Jesus really is the son of David, to emphasize that point. 00:23:30.060 --> 00:23:32.519 So that's the second reason, because the genealogists are selective, 00:23:32.640 --> 00:23:35.160 why there's a discrepancy between Luke 3 and Matthew 1. 00:23:35.160 --> 00:23:39.300 A third reason, Jews practiced what you call levirate marriage. 00:23:40.700 --> 00:23:46.279 Deuteronomy 25, 5 to 10 stipulated that if a man dies without a son to carry on his name, 00:23:46.820 --> 00:23:51.480 then it was his brother's duty to produce a son for his deceased brother 00:23:51.480 --> 00:23:56.380 by taking to himself the surviving wife of the brother as his own wife. 00:23:57.540 --> 00:24:01.220 This was important because in Jewish inheritance laws, 00:24:01.220 --> 00:24:09.680 if you weren't included in the genealogy, you didn't have an inheritance. 00:24:11.740 --> 00:24:14.819 And so he was connected to being a part of the people of God. 00:24:15.339 --> 00:24:18.519 Although God does make an exception for the daughters of Zelophehad, 00:24:18.880 --> 00:24:20.480 who had five daughters and no son. 00:24:21.079 --> 00:24:24.480 Jeez, God does make an exception for them so that the daughters inherit there. 00:24:24.480 --> 00:24:29.279 But this rule, levirate marriage, understandably can complicate genealogies. 00:24:29.880 --> 00:24:34.160 Because a son of a levirate marriage would be the legal son of the deceased man, 00:24:34.539 --> 00:24:37.120 but the physical son of his brother. 00:24:37.880 --> 00:24:40.440 And so that may also account for some of the discrepancies. 00:24:41.559 --> 00:24:45.160 Overall, the discrepancies between Matthew and Luke's genealogies 00:24:45.160 --> 00:24:49.480 are best accounted for when we understand that Matthew's is a royal genealogy, 00:24:49.480 --> 00:24:55.920 genealogy, and that Luke's is a biological genealogy, a physical genealogy. 00:24:57.099 --> 00:25:02.059 The line of people that Joseph, Jesus' adopted father, is physically descended from. 00:25:02.779 --> 00:25:05.500 However, Matthew focuses on the royal genealogy, 00:25:06.279 --> 00:25:10.240 people who are the legal heirs of the Davidic line. 00:25:11.500 --> 00:25:13.539 I think there are several evidences of this. 00:25:13.759 --> 00:25:18.279 We can see this because the middle section of this genealogy 00:25:18.279 --> 00:25:20.460 comes from 1 Chronicles 3, 10-17, 00:25:20.940 --> 00:25:23.500 which is a summary of the succession of Judah's kings. 00:25:24.519 --> 00:25:28.839 While Luke's genealogy lists no kings, no king of Judah, save David. 00:25:29.660 --> 00:25:31.740 So Matthew starts the section with David, 00:25:31.920 --> 00:25:34.200 who is the first king of the Davidic monarchy, 00:25:34.319 --> 00:25:37.240 and then ends with Jeconiah, also called Jehoiachin, 00:25:37.859 --> 00:25:41.099 who reigned until he was taken captive to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar. 00:25:41.819 --> 00:25:45.559 So he's tracing the line of the Davidic kings. 00:25:45.559 --> 00:25:49.980 God had promised to King David in 2 Samuel 7, 12-14, 00:25:50.220 --> 00:25:52.579 I will raise up your offspring after you, 00:25:52.720 --> 00:25:56.519 who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 00:25:56.960 --> 00:25:59.359 He shall build a house for my name, 00:25:59.440 --> 00:26:02.460 and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 00:26:03.039 --> 00:26:06.619 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. 00:26:07.539 --> 00:26:09.539 That was the promise that God had given to King David. 00:26:09.539 --> 00:26:14.559 In the immediate term, that prophecy is fulfilled by Solomon, 00:26:14.700 --> 00:26:18.440 who builds the temple, and who reigns in his father's stead, 00:26:18.539 --> 00:26:19.359 his father's place. 00:26:19.920 --> 00:26:23.500 However, that prophecy is not ultimately fulfilled by Solomon, 00:26:23.839 --> 00:26:26.039 because Solomon's reign ends, 00:26:26.579 --> 00:26:32.279 and so does all the kings, their reign come to an end with Jehoiachin. 00:26:33.659 --> 00:26:36.720 Because God's promise to establish his kingdom forever 00:26:36.720 --> 00:26:38.180 is not going to be fulfilled through them, 00:26:38.279 --> 00:26:41.140 but through Jesus, who is the greater son of David, 00:26:41.400 --> 00:26:43.440 and the final son of David. 00:26:44.059 --> 00:26:46.000 In fact, he is greater than David himself, 00:26:46.400 --> 00:26:48.660 because he's not merely man, but God. 00:26:49.960 --> 00:26:51.900 That's why he's called the Christ, 00:26:52.380 --> 00:26:56.440 the prophesied king who would come to rescue the people of God. 00:26:57.860 --> 00:26:59.779 Think about it this way, 00:26:59.779 --> 00:27:02.940 how long awaited Jesus was as the Messiah. 00:27:02.940 --> 00:27:06.740 In Tolkien's novel, The Lord of the Rings, 00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:09.059 only the heir of Elendil, 00:27:09.940 --> 00:27:13.180 who can claim, can claim the leadership of the Dúnedain. 00:27:14.200 --> 00:27:18.320 Only the heir of Elendil can claim the kingship of Gondor. 00:27:19.480 --> 00:27:23.080 Only the heir of Elendil can wield the sword, Narsil, 00:27:23.620 --> 00:27:25.880 which once defeated Sauron, 00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:29.259 and can be used again to finally defeat him and destroy him. 00:27:29.320 --> 00:27:30.820 And that's why it's so exciting, 00:27:30.880 --> 00:27:32.779 as you're reading through the novel or watching the movies, 00:27:32.779 --> 00:27:38.059 when Aragorn Elessar is revealed to be the true heir of Elendil. 00:27:40.059 --> 00:27:43.799 Perhaps now, finally after all these years, 00:27:43.899 --> 00:27:45.680 it raises the hope among the characters 00:27:45.680 --> 00:27:47.599 that Sauron can be destroyed for good, 00:27:48.039 --> 00:27:50.839 because the true king has returned. 00:27:51.980 --> 00:27:54.059 That's the premise of the book, The Return of the King. 00:27:54.980 --> 00:27:56.160 Similarly, for centuries, 00:27:56.859 --> 00:28:00.339 the Jews had been suffering the consequences of their sin and rebellion. 00:28:00.339 --> 00:28:03.419 Because of their idolatry and unfaithfulness to God, 00:28:03.619 --> 00:28:06.319 they were conquered and oppressed by foreign nations, 00:28:06.439 --> 00:28:08.980 the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, and the Greeks, 00:28:09.220 --> 00:28:10.159 and then the Romans. 00:28:11.139 --> 00:28:15.059 They would return to the Lord and repent for brief periods of time, 00:28:15.119 --> 00:28:16.679 but then they would backslide again, 00:28:16.819 --> 00:28:17.619 and then in their suffering, 00:28:17.619 --> 00:28:21.859 they were yearning and waiting for the Christ to come. 00:28:21.859 --> 00:28:25.879 Now, you could imagine some of the conversations 00:28:25.879 --> 00:28:28.419 that housewives would have, 00:28:28.559 --> 00:28:30.539 or people at the bar would have, 00:28:30.639 --> 00:28:32.759 or a conversation that workers would have 00:28:32.759 --> 00:28:34.819 as they're doing their duties together. 00:28:36.019 --> 00:28:37.699 When the Christ comes, 00:28:38.019 --> 00:28:39.759 he will make all things right. 00:28:41.799 --> 00:28:43.500 When the Christ comes, 00:28:43.839 --> 00:28:45.740 he will establish his kingdom forever. 00:28:45.740 --> 00:28:48.819 When the Christ comes, 00:28:48.900 --> 00:28:51.259 he will rescue us once and for all. 00:28:51.720 --> 00:28:52.920 When the Christ comes, 00:28:53.019 --> 00:28:53.819 he will rule. 00:28:54.160 --> 00:28:55.720 This government is unrighteous, 00:28:55.839 --> 00:28:57.019 but when the Christ comes, 00:28:57.120 --> 00:28:59.539 he will rule with righteousness and justice. 00:29:00.400 --> 00:29:02.319 We don't have a true king right now, 00:29:02.359 --> 00:29:03.740 but when the Christ comes, 00:29:04.019 --> 00:29:05.160 we will have a king. 00:29:05.900 --> 00:29:07.359 We will have a king, all right, 00:29:07.500 --> 00:29:08.700 and we will have a kingdom, 00:29:09.099 --> 00:29:11.019 and we will be citizens there, 00:29:11.220 --> 00:29:11.880 not aliens. 00:29:11.880 --> 00:29:15.780 And here, Matthew is announcing, 00:29:16.260 --> 00:29:17.700 unmistakably to all, 00:29:18.620 --> 00:29:21.200 Christ, the Christ has come. 00:29:22.220 --> 00:29:24.900 The king that you've been waiting for has come. 00:29:27.000 --> 00:29:30.620 And Jesus came not to abolish the Roman Empire, 00:29:30.780 --> 00:29:32.320 to establish an earthly kingdom, 00:29:32.580 --> 00:29:35.320 but he came to establish a heavenly kingdom, 00:29:35.800 --> 00:29:36.840 and in order to do that, 00:29:36.900 --> 00:29:39.400 he needed to wage war against Satan, 00:29:39.400 --> 00:29:41.920 to unseat him, 00:29:42.660 --> 00:29:44.720 because Satan is called the ruler of this world 00:29:44.720 --> 00:29:45.700 in the Gospel of John. 00:29:45.960 --> 00:29:46.640 In Ephesians 2, 00:29:46.700 --> 00:29:48.560 he's called the prince of the power of the air, 00:29:48.620 --> 00:29:50.759 who is now at work in the sons of disobedience. 00:29:51.580 --> 00:29:53.720 Jesus dons the crown of thorns, 00:29:53.880 --> 00:29:55.900 and then he hangs on the cross, 00:29:56.060 --> 00:29:58.220 and he dies to pay the penalty 00:29:58.220 --> 00:30:00.040 for the sins of his people. 00:30:00.400 --> 00:30:02.860 And then he rises again from the dead 00:30:02.860 --> 00:30:04.120 to defeat sin, 00:30:04.180 --> 00:30:05.820 and to defeat death, 00:30:05.819 --> 00:30:09.899 and to destroy Satan's claim over his people, 00:30:10.439 --> 00:30:13.319 to transfer us from the dominion of darkness 00:30:13.319 --> 00:30:14.639 to the dominion of light 00:30:14.639 --> 00:30:15.679 and the kingdom of light. 00:30:17.119 --> 00:30:19.500 This is how Jesus sets into motion 00:30:19.500 --> 00:30:22.960 the restoration of the kingdom of God. 00:30:25.079 --> 00:30:27.379 And that's why the evil one 00:30:27.379 --> 00:30:29.299 has no longer any claim on us. 00:30:29.519 --> 00:30:30.460 We have a king, 00:30:31.119 --> 00:30:32.159 and it's not Satan. 00:30:32.160 --> 00:30:33.980 It's the Christ, 00:30:34.380 --> 00:30:35.259 because he has come. 00:30:36.580 --> 00:30:37.240 So Jesus, 00:30:38.060 --> 00:30:39.480 to use some analogies, 00:30:39.640 --> 00:30:41.820 establishes during his ministry, 00:30:41.940 --> 00:30:43.080 during his life here on earth, 00:30:43.380 --> 00:30:44.420 a beachhead, 00:30:44.980 --> 00:30:47.640 a beachhead in the spiritual warfare. 00:30:49.220 --> 00:30:50.519 Beachhead is when, 00:30:50.860 --> 00:30:51.800 like, you know, 00:30:51.940 --> 00:30:53.340 an army goes in 00:30:53.340 --> 00:30:54.800 and establishes some ground, 00:30:54.920 --> 00:30:55.880 takes some ground 00:30:55.880 --> 00:30:57.440 of the enemy territory 00:30:57.440 --> 00:30:59.779 from which then they can operate further 00:30:59.779 --> 00:31:01.660 to take over the rest of the territory. 00:31:02.160 --> 00:31:03.640 That's what Jesus does. 00:31:03.700 --> 00:31:05.200 He establishes a beachhead 00:31:05.200 --> 00:31:06.380 for the kingdom of God. 00:31:07.460 --> 00:31:09.920 He establishes his church. 00:31:10.019 --> 00:31:11.040 He builds his church. 00:31:11.640 --> 00:31:15.380 And this church is representative 00:31:15.380 --> 00:31:17.900 of the ultimate kingdom 00:31:17.900 --> 00:31:18.840 and the rule of God. 00:31:19.200 --> 00:31:20.500 And we are an outpost 00:31:20.500 --> 00:31:22.980 or an embassy of the kingdom of God. 00:31:22.980 --> 00:31:25.660 Because in this world, 00:31:25.779 --> 00:31:27.720 there is still much rebellion against God. 00:31:28.059 --> 00:31:32.880 And we daily endure countless indignities 00:31:32.880 --> 00:31:33.620 to our Lord 00:31:33.620 --> 00:31:34.900 and to our Lord's name 00:31:34.900 --> 00:31:35.880 and to his glory 00:31:35.880 --> 00:31:37.200 and to his people. 00:31:37.460 --> 00:31:38.360 In this world, 00:31:38.460 --> 00:31:39.400 we have persecutions 00:31:39.400 --> 00:31:40.240 and we have trials 00:31:40.240 --> 00:31:41.160 and we have tribulations 00:31:41.160 --> 00:31:42.579 and we have temptations. 00:31:42.920 --> 00:31:44.680 But whenever we gather together 00:31:44.680 --> 00:31:46.079 in the name of Jesus Christ 00:31:46.079 --> 00:31:46.980 as the church 00:31:46.980 --> 00:31:48.740 and we lay aside our burdens 00:31:48.740 --> 00:31:49.579 and distractions 00:31:49.579 --> 00:31:51.919 and we look and fix our eyes 00:31:51.919 --> 00:31:53.220 on Christ our King, 00:31:53.299 --> 00:31:54.740 we are declaring to the world, 00:31:55.240 --> 00:31:56.279 here is the beachhead. 00:31:56.879 --> 00:31:58.019 Here is the embassy. 00:31:58.500 --> 00:31:59.779 We have a king 00:31:59.779 --> 00:32:01.759 and we are citizens of a kingdom. 00:32:02.259 --> 00:32:03.359 It's not this one. 00:32:03.359 --> 00:32:08.359 And as we celebrate Advent, 00:32:08.559 --> 00:32:10.839 the first coming of Jesus the King 00:32:10.839 --> 00:32:12.479 to establish this beachhead, 00:32:12.679 --> 00:32:13.659 we also celebrate 00:32:13.659 --> 00:32:16.419 and we await the second coming, 00:32:16.919 --> 00:32:17.819 the second Advent 00:32:17.819 --> 00:32:20.399 when Jesus will return 00:32:20.399 --> 00:32:23.240 this time to complete, 00:32:23.879 --> 00:32:25.679 to usher in, 00:32:25.819 --> 00:32:28.439 to complete the kingdom of God fully. 00:32:29.339 --> 00:32:31.139 The kingdom of God is already here 00:32:31.139 --> 00:32:33.319 but then it will be fully here 00:32:33.319 --> 00:32:34.279 when Jesus returns 00:32:34.279 --> 00:32:35.659 and he will wipe away 00:32:35.659 --> 00:32:36.879 every tear from our eyes. 00:32:39.779 --> 00:32:40.559 And finally, 00:32:40.700 --> 00:32:41.899 in verses 12 to 17, 00:32:42.039 --> 00:32:43.720 Matthew traces Jesus' genealogy 00:32:43.720 --> 00:32:44.819 from Jeconiah to Christ 00:32:44.819 --> 00:32:46.200 to show that Jesus is 00:32:46.200 --> 00:32:48.019 the promised messianic king 00:32:48.019 --> 00:32:49.759 who fulfills God's promise 00:32:49.759 --> 00:32:50.519 to the exiles. 00:32:51.740 --> 00:32:54.399 Even though none of Jeconiah's seven sons 00:32:54.399 --> 00:32:55.759 would sit on Judah's throne, 00:32:56.659 --> 00:32:57.980 the Davidic line continued 00:32:57.980 --> 00:32:59.559 through his eldest son, 00:33:00.119 --> 00:33:00.799 Shealtiel. 00:33:01.639 --> 00:33:03.659 And Shealtiel fathered Zerubbabel. 00:33:04.539 --> 00:33:06.460 Zerubbabel played a significant role 00:33:06.460 --> 00:33:07.899 among the Jewish exiles. 00:33:08.799 --> 00:33:09.799 Ezra and Nehemiah 00:33:09.799 --> 00:33:11.460 recount in their respective books 00:33:11.460 --> 00:33:13.960 how Zerubbabel led the first round 00:33:13.960 --> 00:33:15.639 of the first band of Jews 00:33:15.639 --> 00:33:17.379 that returned from Babylonian exile 00:33:17.379 --> 00:33:19.079 to Jerusalem and Judah. 00:33:19.799 --> 00:33:20.539 And then he served 00:33:20.539 --> 00:33:21.700 as the governor of Judah. 00:33:22.599 --> 00:33:24.680 And in Haggai 2, 21 to 23, 00:33:24.819 --> 00:33:26.180 God says to Zerubbabel, 00:33:26.180 --> 00:33:27.539 on that day declares 00:33:27.539 --> 00:33:28.360 the Lord of armies, 00:33:28.920 --> 00:33:29.860 I will take you, 00:33:29.960 --> 00:33:30.420 Zerubbabel, 00:33:30.640 --> 00:33:31.799 son of Shealtiel, 00:33:32.220 --> 00:33:33.039 my servant, 00:33:33.580 --> 00:33:34.320 declares the Lord. 00:33:34.720 --> 00:33:35.779 And I will make you 00:33:35.779 --> 00:33:37.160 like a signet ring, 00:33:37.580 --> 00:33:38.779 for I have chosen you, 00:33:38.960 --> 00:33:40.480 declares the Lord of hosts, 00:33:40.680 --> 00:33:41.400 Lord of the armies. 00:33:42.140 --> 00:33:43.820 God's choice of Zerubbabel 00:33:43.820 --> 00:33:45.440 and his description of Zerubbabel 00:33:45.440 --> 00:33:47.200 as his signet ring 00:33:47.200 --> 00:33:49.259 shows that that Davidic line, 00:33:49.400 --> 00:33:50.120 God's chosen line, 00:33:50.200 --> 00:33:52.019 continues through him, 00:33:52.360 --> 00:33:53.440 even though it has officially 00:33:53.440 --> 00:33:54.420 ceased to exist 00:33:54.420 --> 00:33:55.880 after the reign of Jehoiachin. 00:33:57.460 --> 00:33:58.700 And we have to remember 00:33:58.700 --> 00:34:00.200 what desperate situation 00:34:00.200 --> 00:34:01.840 these exiles were in, 00:34:01.920 --> 00:34:03.039 these Jewish exiles were in. 00:34:04.460 --> 00:34:05.660 They were thinking to themselves, 00:34:05.759 --> 00:34:06.940 they lost the temple, 00:34:07.060 --> 00:34:08.800 they lost the promised land, 00:34:09.460 --> 00:34:10.340 they're in exile 00:34:10.340 --> 00:34:11.320 in a foreign land, 00:34:11.619 --> 00:34:12.760 and they're thinking to themselves, 00:34:12.900 --> 00:34:13.680 well, this time 00:34:13.680 --> 00:34:14.559 we've really done it. 00:34:15.980 --> 00:34:17.880 We've sinned too many times. 00:34:18.840 --> 00:34:22.119 We've messed up once too many times. 00:34:22.980 --> 00:34:24.360 Now all hope is lost. 00:34:25.420 --> 00:34:27.659 The Davidic line is terminated 00:34:27.659 --> 00:34:30.159 and we shall never be saved. 00:34:32.059 --> 00:34:33.740 And yet God promises 00:34:33.740 --> 00:34:35.220 to these exiles 00:34:35.220 --> 00:34:37.559 in Jeremiah 33, 14 to 17, 00:34:38.260 --> 00:34:39.880 behold, the days are coming, 00:34:39.960 --> 00:34:40.659 declares the Lord, 00:34:40.960 --> 00:34:42.079 when I will fulfill 00:34:42.079 --> 00:34:43.180 the promise I made 00:34:43.180 --> 00:34:44.159 to the house of Israel 00:34:44.159 --> 00:34:45.139 and the house of Judah 00:34:45.139 --> 00:34:46.300 in those days 00:34:46.300 --> 00:34:47.200 and at that time 00:34:47.200 --> 00:34:48.860 I will cause a righteous branch 00:34:48.860 --> 00:34:50.000 to spring up for David 00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:52.099 and he shall execute justice 00:34:52.099 --> 00:34:52.819 and righteousness 00:34:52.819 --> 00:34:53.519 in the land. 00:34:53.900 --> 00:34:54.880 In those days, 00:34:54.980 --> 00:34:55.860 Judah will be saved 00:34:55.860 --> 00:34:57.400 and Jerusalem will dwell securely. 00:34:57.799 --> 00:34:59.159 And this is the name 00:34:59.159 --> 00:35:00.279 by which it will be called, 00:35:00.360 --> 00:35:01.839 the Lord is our righteousness. 00:35:02.519 --> 00:35:03.579 For thus says the Lord, 00:35:03.980 --> 00:35:06.139 David shall never lack a man 00:35:06.139 --> 00:35:07.039 to sit on the throne 00:35:07.039 --> 00:35:08.159 of the house of Israel. 00:35:08.159 --> 00:35:11.319 Another amazing promise, 00:35:11.960 --> 00:35:14.079 a pipe dream by human standards. 00:35:14.839 --> 00:35:15.639 They're in exile. 00:35:15.799 --> 00:35:16.819 How can you, God, 00:35:16.899 --> 00:35:18.460 make sure that there's no one, 00:35:19.059 --> 00:35:20.879 that the Davidic line continues 00:35:20.879 --> 00:35:22.199 when it's clearly ended? 00:35:23.159 --> 00:35:24.519 And God's promising here 00:35:24.519 --> 00:35:26.139 about Jesus, 00:35:26.279 --> 00:35:26.739 the Messiah, 00:35:26.899 --> 00:35:27.739 the righteous branch 00:35:27.739 --> 00:35:28.440 who is to come, 00:35:28.980 --> 00:35:30.639 through whom the new Israel 00:35:30.639 --> 00:35:32.059 is established in him 00:35:32.059 --> 00:35:35.059 and the new Jerusalem also. 00:35:37.179 --> 00:35:39.000 For those struggling sinners 00:35:39.000 --> 00:35:40.039 in our midst 00:35:40.039 --> 00:35:41.619 who struggle 00:35:41.619 --> 00:35:42.460 and who think 00:35:42.460 --> 00:35:44.480 that they've struggled, 00:35:44.779 --> 00:35:45.579 that they have strayed 00:35:45.579 --> 00:35:46.259 a little too far, 00:35:46.619 --> 00:35:47.840 far beyond restoration. 00:35:48.500 --> 00:35:50.259 For those exiles in our midst 00:35:50.259 --> 00:35:51.900 who think that they are forgotten 00:35:51.900 --> 00:35:55.279 and that they can never 00:35:55.279 --> 00:35:57.279 be restored to the fatherland. 00:35:57.880 --> 00:35:58.960 For people who think 00:35:58.960 --> 00:36:00.159 that they are damaged goods, 00:36:00.159 --> 00:36:04.440 this is a reassurance 00:36:04.440 --> 00:36:06.980 and a promise from God 00:36:06.980 --> 00:36:08.379 that Jesus did come 00:36:08.379 --> 00:36:09.799 to redeem and reclaim 00:36:09.799 --> 00:36:10.679 such people. 00:36:11.539 --> 00:36:13.039 We read from Hebrews 2 00:36:13.039 --> 00:36:14.759 from the assurance of pardon 00:36:14.759 --> 00:36:16.719 that in order to redeem 00:36:16.719 --> 00:36:17.779 human beings 00:36:17.779 --> 00:36:18.599 who have sinned, 00:36:18.659 --> 00:36:19.579 who are flesh and blood, 00:36:19.879 --> 00:36:21.359 that Jesus had to himself 00:36:21.359 --> 00:36:23.299 take on flesh and blood. 00:36:23.679 --> 00:36:25.099 And it's only by sharing 00:36:25.099 --> 00:36:25.819 in our humanity 00:36:25.819 --> 00:36:27.539 that he then lifts up 00:36:27.539 --> 00:36:29.440 those who put their trust in him 00:36:29.440 --> 00:36:32.360 out of their quagmire of sin 00:36:32.360 --> 00:36:32.920 and death 00:36:32.920 --> 00:36:35.119 to the kingdom of God. 00:36:36.119 --> 00:36:37.200 And that's the wonder 00:36:37.200 --> 00:36:37.980 of the incarnation. 00:36:39.340 --> 00:36:40.519 That the creator 00:36:40.519 --> 00:36:43.039 put on the robes 00:36:43.039 --> 00:36:44.059 of human flesh 00:36:44.059 --> 00:36:46.099 and became a creature. 00:36:46.780 --> 00:36:48.039 That the son of God 00:36:48.039 --> 00:36:49.079 became a son of man. 00:36:50.039 --> 00:36:51.000 That Jesus, 00:36:51.220 --> 00:36:52.360 the word of God 00:36:52.360 --> 00:36:53.519 who braces 00:36:53.519 --> 00:36:54.760 all of the cosmos 00:36:54.760 --> 00:36:56.600 and upholds it, 00:36:57.520 --> 00:36:59.080 became a babbling infant 00:36:59.080 --> 00:37:00.960 in the arms of 00:37:00.960 --> 00:37:01.820 Virgin Mary. 00:37:05.180 --> 00:37:06.420 And we can see 00:37:06.420 --> 00:37:08.080 the wonder of the incarnation 00:37:08.080 --> 00:37:10.820 in the genealogy itself. 00:37:14.620 --> 00:37:15.740 Let's look at some of the 00:37:15.740 --> 00:37:16.540 fine characters 00:37:16.540 --> 00:37:17.040 that are mentioned 00:37:17.040 --> 00:37:18.300 in this genealogy. 00:37:19.660 --> 00:37:20.800 Verse 7 tells us 00:37:20.800 --> 00:37:22.140 that Jesus' ancestor, 00:37:22.280 --> 00:37:22.660 one of them, 00:37:22.659 --> 00:37:23.500 was Rehoboam. 00:37:24.519 --> 00:37:25.579 You might remember 00:37:25.579 --> 00:37:26.579 that Rehoboam 00:37:26.579 --> 00:37:27.940 was the son of Solomon. 00:37:28.639 --> 00:37:30.299 It was Rehoboam's folly 00:37:30.299 --> 00:37:32.079 and unnecessary cruelty 00:37:32.079 --> 00:37:32.920 that split 00:37:32.920 --> 00:37:33.960 the kingdom of Israel 00:37:33.960 --> 00:37:34.500 in half. 00:37:35.139 --> 00:37:35.899 Northern kingdom 00:37:35.899 --> 00:37:37.159 of Israel 00:37:37.159 --> 00:37:37.899 and the southern kingdom 00:37:37.899 --> 00:37:38.279 of Judah 00:37:38.279 --> 00:37:39.679 in 1 Kings 12. 00:37:41.460 --> 00:37:41.980 And according 00:37:41.980 --> 00:37:43.099 to 1 Kings 14, 00:37:43.179 --> 00:37:44.099 under his reign, 00:37:44.239 --> 00:37:44.899 Judah was led 00:37:44.899 --> 00:37:45.639 into all kinds 00:37:45.639 --> 00:37:46.339 of idolatry 00:37:46.339 --> 00:37:47.420 and cult prostitution 00:37:47.420 --> 00:37:48.619 and abominations. 00:37:48.619 --> 00:37:52.699 He was succeeded 00:37:52.699 --> 00:37:54.940 later by Ahaz 00:37:54.940 --> 00:37:56.799 who succeeded 00:37:56.799 --> 00:37:57.739 Jotham 00:37:57.739 --> 00:37:59.579 and then Ahaz 00:37:59.579 --> 00:38:00.859 even burned his son 00:38:00.859 --> 00:38:01.619 as an offering 00:38:01.619 --> 00:38:02.380 according to the 00:38:02.380 --> 00:38:03.299 despicable practices 00:38:03.299 --> 00:38:04.059 of the nations 00:38:04.059 --> 00:38:04.539 whom the Lord 00:38:04.539 --> 00:38:05.039 drove out 00:38:05.039 --> 00:38:05.619 before the people 00:38:05.619 --> 00:38:06.099 of Israel. 00:38:08.359 --> 00:38:09.639 2 Kings 16, 00:38:09.759 --> 00:38:10.139 3-4, 00:38:10.239 --> 00:38:11.480 Manasseh was even worse. 00:38:12.279 --> 00:38:13.079 Even though his father, 00:38:13.219 --> 00:38:13.599 Hezekiah, 00:38:13.719 --> 00:38:14.759 sought to bring reform 00:38:14.759 --> 00:38:15.199 to Israel 00:38:15.199 --> 00:38:16.000 and get rid of the idols, 00:38:16.119 --> 00:38:17.259 Manasseh rebuilt 00:38:17.260 --> 00:38:17.940 all of them 00:38:17.940 --> 00:38:20.180 and even desecrated 00:38:20.180 --> 00:38:21.080 the temple of God 00:38:21.080 --> 00:38:22.560 by building pagan altars 00:38:22.560 --> 00:38:23.760 and idols inside it. 00:38:25.360 --> 00:38:26.600 2 Kings 21, 00:38:26.740 --> 00:38:27.480 9 summarizes 00:38:27.480 --> 00:38:28.100 this way, 00:38:28.200 --> 00:38:29.440 Manasseh led Judah 00:38:29.440 --> 00:38:30.160 astray to do 00:38:30.160 --> 00:38:31.200 more evil 00:38:31.200 --> 00:38:32.440 than the pagan nations 00:38:32.440 --> 00:38:32.900 had done 00:38:32.900 --> 00:38:33.640 whom the Lord 00:38:33.640 --> 00:38:34.440 destroyed before 00:38:34.440 --> 00:38:35.380 the people of Israel. 00:38:38.460 --> 00:38:39.120 And then, 00:38:39.220 --> 00:38:39.440 of course, 00:38:39.540 --> 00:38:40.340 famous Jeconiah 00:38:40.340 --> 00:38:41.340 under whom Israel 00:38:41.340 --> 00:38:42.280 is sent into exile 00:38:42.280 --> 00:38:43.280 in Babylonian exile 00:38:43.280 --> 00:38:44.420 due to Nebuchadnezzar. 00:38:45.520 --> 00:38:47.040 And in Genesis 38, 00:38:47.400 --> 00:38:48.860 Judah sleeps with 00:38:48.860 --> 00:38:49.179 the woman 00:38:49.179 --> 00:38:49.759 that he thinks 00:38:49.759 --> 00:38:50.599 is a prostitute 00:38:50.599 --> 00:38:53.019 only to discover 00:38:53.019 --> 00:38:54.159 that she was Tamar, 00:38:55.199 --> 00:38:56.779 his daughter-in-law, 00:38:57.340 --> 00:38:58.619 who had disguised herself 00:38:58.619 --> 00:38:59.259 in order to get 00:38:59.259 --> 00:39:00.579 impregnated by him 00:39:00.579 --> 00:39:03.420 since Judah 00:39:03.420 --> 00:39:04.519 had been unjustly 00:39:04.519 --> 00:39:05.820 withholding his son 00:39:05.820 --> 00:39:06.579 from her 00:39:06.579 --> 00:39:09.219 that he owed to her 00:39:09.219 --> 00:39:09.800 according to 00:39:09.800 --> 00:39:11.059 the Levitic marriage principle. 00:39:12.019 --> 00:39:12.679 So Tamar 00:39:12.679 --> 00:39:14.019 is included in Jesus' 00:39:14.219 --> 00:39:14.739 genealogy, 00:39:14.739 --> 00:39:16.439 the woman 00:39:16.439 --> 00:39:17.539 who prostituted herself, 00:39:18.099 --> 00:39:19.939 and Perez, 00:39:20.059 --> 00:39:20.639 who was born 00:39:20.639 --> 00:39:23.019 through their incest 00:39:23.019 --> 00:39:23.759 between Judah 00:39:23.759 --> 00:39:24.259 and Tamar. 00:39:26.139 --> 00:39:27.079 Verse 5 00:39:27.079 --> 00:39:27.739 tells us 00:39:27.739 --> 00:39:28.839 that King David's 00:39:28.839 --> 00:39:29.819 great-great-grandfather 00:39:29.819 --> 00:39:30.159 Salmon, 00:39:30.279 --> 00:39:30.839 father Boaz, 00:39:30.919 --> 00:39:31.699 by Rahab, 00:39:32.319 --> 00:39:32.839 and some of you 00:39:32.839 --> 00:39:33.399 know the story 00:39:33.399 --> 00:39:34.500 from Joshua 2.1, 00:39:34.979 --> 00:39:35.619 she was also 00:39:35.619 --> 00:39:37.299 a Canaanite prostitute. 00:39:37.300 --> 00:39:41.200 And verse 6 00:39:41.200 --> 00:39:41.780 is the kicker 00:39:41.780 --> 00:39:42.280 of them all. 00:39:43.440 --> 00:39:43.600 It says, 00:39:43.960 --> 00:39:45.380 David was the father 00:39:45.380 --> 00:39:45.960 of Solomon 00:39:45.960 --> 00:39:46.760 by the wife 00:39:46.760 --> 00:39:47.440 of Uriah. 00:39:50.019 --> 00:39:51.120 He could have said 00:39:51.120 --> 00:39:51.660 Bathsheba, 00:39:51.740 --> 00:39:52.860 he doesn't say Bathsheba. 00:39:53.360 --> 00:39:54.460 The wife of Uriah. 00:39:56.960 --> 00:39:58.780 To make the point 00:39:58.780 --> 00:39:59.700 abundantly clear, 00:40:01.120 --> 00:40:01.500 that David 00:40:01.500 --> 00:40:02.420 committed adultery. 00:40:03.300 --> 00:40:04.160 Bathsheba was not 00:40:04.160 --> 00:40:05.160 his wife, 00:40:05.940 --> 00:40:07.019 the wife of Uriah. 00:40:07.300 --> 00:40:08.340 And then David 00:40:08.340 --> 00:40:09.500 tried to cover it up 00:40:09.500 --> 00:40:11.180 by committing murder, 00:40:11.620 --> 00:40:12.580 by killing Uriah. 00:40:17.860 --> 00:40:19.360 Look at this genealogy. 00:40:20.160 --> 00:40:20.580 David, 00:40:22.160 --> 00:40:23.180 wife of Uriah, 00:40:23.740 --> 00:40:24.320 Rahab, 00:40:26.039 --> 00:40:26.580 Tamar, 00:40:27.340 --> 00:40:27.620 Judah. 00:40:28.500 --> 00:40:29.420 It's a very 00:40:29.420 --> 00:40:30.560 checkered genealogy. 00:40:31.900 --> 00:40:33.280 It's the kind of stuff 00:40:33.280 --> 00:40:34.080 that if you were 00:40:34.080 --> 00:40:34.860 trying to establish 00:40:34.860 --> 00:40:35.840 your royal kingship, 00:40:35.840 --> 00:40:37.360 you might want to 00:40:37.360 --> 00:40:38.700 take a sharpie 00:40:38.700 --> 00:40:39.700 and let's get 00:40:39.700 --> 00:40:40.360 rid of that. 00:40:42.360 --> 00:40:43.600 Let's erase this one. 00:40:47.200 --> 00:40:48.480 But it's all in here. 00:40:49.640 --> 00:40:51.780 Because in his genealogy, 00:40:51.940 --> 00:40:53.220 Jesus embraces 00:40:53.220 --> 00:40:54.220 all of our humanity 00:40:54.220 --> 00:40:56.240 and all of our sin 00:40:56.240 --> 00:40:58.019 so that he can 00:40:58.019 --> 00:40:58.640 carry us 00:40:58.640 --> 00:40:59.320 and he can take 00:40:59.320 --> 00:40:59.940 that sin 00:40:59.940 --> 00:41:00.880 upon himself 00:41:00.880 --> 00:41:01.860 and die 00:41:01.860 --> 00:41:02.539 and hang 00:41:02.539 --> 00:41:03.640 on the cross. 00:41:07.019 --> 00:41:07.800 So no matter 00:41:07.800 --> 00:41:08.740 where you came from, 00:41:08.800 --> 00:41:09.340 no matter how 00:41:09.340 --> 00:41:09.720 checkered 00:41:09.720 --> 00:41:11.039 your own history is, 00:41:11.680 --> 00:41:12.420 no matter how 00:41:12.420 --> 00:41:13.000 checkered 00:41:13.000 --> 00:41:13.619 your own 00:41:13.619 --> 00:41:14.840 genealogy is, 00:41:15.599 --> 00:41:16.039 no matter 00:41:16.039 --> 00:41:17.360 what sort of sins 00:41:17.360 --> 00:41:18.280 are in your past 00:41:18.280 --> 00:41:19.599 or even in the present, 00:41:20.619 --> 00:41:21.500 that if you repent 00:41:21.500 --> 00:41:22.059 of your sins 00:41:22.059 --> 00:41:22.780 and turn to Jesus, 00:41:22.940 --> 00:41:23.980 Jesus is a savior 00:41:23.980 --> 00:41:25.160 who can embrace you, 00:41:25.720 --> 00:41:27.039 who can lift you, 00:41:27.599 --> 00:41:28.720 who can save you. 00:41:28.719 --> 00:41:36.179 I pray that all of you 00:41:36.179 --> 00:41:36.799 will embrace 00:41:36.799 --> 00:41:37.899 Jesus as your savior 00:41:37.899 --> 00:41:38.739 this morning. 00:41:38.859 --> 00:41:39.239 Let's pray.