WEBVTT 00:00:00.920 --> 00:00:06.520 We're going to be reading Matthew 1, 1-17, page 965. 00:00:09.960 --> 00:00:15.280 This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 00:00:16.339 --> 00:00:23.280 Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. 00:00:23.839 --> 00:00:27.640 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar. 00:00:28.400 --> 00:00:36.780 Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nashon. 00:00:37.799 --> 00:00:43.079 Nashon the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab. 00:00:43.840 --> 00:00:50.560 Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David. 00:00:52.040 --> 00:00:55.859 David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife. 00:00:55.859 --> 00:01:05.000 Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, Asa the father of Jehoshaphat. 00:01:06.299 --> 00:01:16.460 Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram, Jehoram the father of Uzziah, Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah. 00:01:16.459 --> 00:01:28.839 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Ammon, Ammon the father of Jeziah, and Jeziah the father of Jeconia, and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon. 00:01:28.840 --> 00:01:39.780 After the exile to Babylon, Jeconia was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel the father of Abihud, Abihud the father of Eliakim, 00:01:40.480 --> 00:01:50.120 Eliakim the father of Azor, Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Achim, Achim the father of Elihud, Elihud the father of Elisha, 00:01:50.120 --> 00:02:01.680 Elisha the father of Mathan, Mathan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah. 00:02:02.580 --> 00:02:12.280 Thus, there were 14 generations in all from Abraham to David, 14 from David to the exile to Babylon, and 14 from the exile to the Messiah. 00:02:14.920 --> 00:02:18.099 Some days the reading is harder than the sermon, right? 00:02:18.099 --> 00:02:23.659 So thank you to Daisy for doing the reading for us. Let's pray and ask the Lord for his help. 00:02:26.759 --> 00:02:33.859 Heavenly Father, we are conscious that every part of the Bible is breathed out by you, 00:02:34.560 --> 00:02:42.500 and it's not just what you have said in the past, but it's what you are saying today to us by your Spirit through these words. 00:02:42.500 --> 00:02:52.580 And that's true of a list of names in the beginning of Matthew's Gospel, as it's true of some of the deep truths of Romans 6 that we've been looking at this term. 00:02:53.300 --> 00:03:03.819 And so we pray with an eagerness that we would listen this morning, and that you might speak to us, encourage us, and help us, and bless us, we pray. 00:03:04.379 --> 00:03:06.300 In Jesus' name. Amen. 00:03:06.300 --> 00:03:07.380 Amen. Amen. 00:03:09.600 --> 00:03:14.820 Now, the claim of the Bible is that history is not random. 00:03:15.960 --> 00:03:22.300 Time and events aren't just spinning out of control, as they might seem to you or seem to me this week, 00:03:22.540 --> 00:03:25.980 but rather all things are in God's hands. 00:03:26.520 --> 00:03:28.080 All times are in God's hands. 00:03:28.220 --> 00:03:34.260 God is the Lord and sovereign over all history, the governor over all circumstances. 00:03:34.259 --> 00:03:38.620 Now, I don't think that's a very surprising claim. 00:03:38.719 --> 00:03:42.319 None of you are probably thinking, oh, I didn't really think I'd think to hear that in church. 00:03:42.399 --> 00:03:42.500 No. 00:03:42.759 --> 00:03:47.539 I think if someone believes in God, that is basically what they believe about God. 00:03:47.719 --> 00:03:50.299 They believe that God is in charge, right? 00:03:50.639 --> 00:03:53.479 That he can rule over situations and circumstances. 00:03:54.019 --> 00:04:00.500 It's why people who claim to not believe in God at all still get angry with God when things don't work out, 00:04:00.500 --> 00:04:01.840 as they thought they should do. 00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:09.800 Because their assumption is that God, if he is there, should be doing something, should be in charge of something. 00:04:11.039 --> 00:04:16.600 The Bible's claim is richer, then, than just the idea that God is sovereign or in charge. 00:04:17.180 --> 00:04:22.680 The Bible's claim is that God rules over all things in a particular kind of way. 00:04:23.139 --> 00:04:25.480 A way that reflects his character. 00:04:25.480 --> 00:04:28.860 A character which is exposed to us in a set of promises. 00:04:29.259 --> 00:04:31.340 Promises that he has told to us. 00:04:31.620 --> 00:04:36.680 So, while God is free to do whatever he wants in whatever way he pleases, 00:04:37.120 --> 00:04:42.120 still God in his freedom has chosen to bind himself to promises. 00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:44.780 Promises that reflect who he is. 00:04:46.040 --> 00:04:48.180 Now, again, that's not that surprising. 00:04:48.180 --> 00:04:54.980 Unless you think God is some kind of impersonal force out there in the universe that can't really be known at all, 00:04:55.199 --> 00:04:59.980 then you have to believe that God works in a way which makes him knowable. 00:05:00.460 --> 00:05:01.819 That reflects his character. 00:05:02.900 --> 00:05:05.899 I think it would be fair to say that Muslims believe that about Allah. 00:05:06.660 --> 00:05:09.259 Allah has made promises to people. 00:05:09.819 --> 00:05:14.199 Promises of prosperity and forgiveness for the earnest and the repentant. 00:05:14.199 --> 00:05:17.979 And then he is bound to keep those promises. 00:05:19.019 --> 00:05:21.199 But that's then where the similarities end. 00:05:21.300 --> 00:05:27.399 Because uniquely in the Bible, we're told that not only is God suffering and in charge of all things, 00:05:27.719 --> 00:05:31.879 not only are we told that God has bound himself to certain promises in his freedom, 00:05:32.219 --> 00:05:36.699 but we are told that those promises reflect a characteristic of God, 00:05:37.039 --> 00:05:39.800 a thing about God that we would not otherwise know. 00:05:39.800 --> 00:05:41.960 And that is that God is gracious. 00:05:43.560 --> 00:05:46.300 His promises are promises of grace. 00:05:47.520 --> 00:05:51.639 This is what makes this God, the God to whom the world belongs, the God of the Bible, 00:05:51.920 --> 00:05:54.420 this is what stands him apart from all others, 00:05:54.759 --> 00:05:58.920 is that his promises are not made to the deserving, but the undeserving. 00:05:59.980 --> 00:06:02.860 His promises are not made to the earnest and the religious, 00:06:03.439 --> 00:06:05.600 but they're made to the rebel and the irreligious. 00:06:05.600 --> 00:06:12.180 In other words, the God of the Bible and his total freedom ties the outcome of the universe, 00:06:12.780 --> 00:06:19.180 not to our obedience, but to his generosity and grace. 00:06:19.260 --> 00:06:21.439 That is a unique claim. 00:06:21.760 --> 00:06:23.400 That's a one-in-one of history. 00:06:24.340 --> 00:06:30.360 That the almighty God bound himself to a promise to save and rescue people from this broken world, 00:06:30.360 --> 00:06:35.560 not by their merits as credit for their behavior, but by his kindness and his grace. 00:06:36.120 --> 00:06:40.720 And that promise of grace runs all the way through the Bible, from the beginning to the end. 00:06:41.280 --> 00:06:43.360 And it gets fleshed out at key points. 00:06:43.580 --> 00:06:49.000 And Matthew starts his book by pointing to the two biggest articulations and expansions of that promise, 00:06:49.480 --> 00:06:51.759 one to Abraham and the other to David. 00:06:52.840 --> 00:06:56.740 Now, we've not got time to say everything that could be said about those two characters of history, 00:06:56.740 --> 00:06:58.840 but let's just think about Abraham firstly. 00:06:59.800 --> 00:07:02.560 Abraham, you might know, is called the father of God's people. 00:07:03.060 --> 00:07:06.560 Abraham is the first to receive the articulation of this promise of grace. 00:07:06.960 --> 00:07:09.519 God says to him, I will bless you, he says. 00:07:10.139 --> 00:07:13.000 I will make you into a great nation that cannot be numbered. 00:07:13.400 --> 00:07:17.639 I will make your name great, and through you, the world will be blessed. 00:07:18.939 --> 00:07:25.240 This, if you like, is the, I will be your God, you will be my people promise of the Bible. 00:07:25.240 --> 00:07:29.240 And what's remarkable about that promise is there's no if. 00:07:30.360 --> 00:07:32.720 There's no if you're good. 00:07:33.180 --> 00:07:35.460 There's no if you'll keep my rules. 00:07:35.639 --> 00:07:37.780 There's no if you're earnest enough. 00:07:38.079 --> 00:07:39.900 There's no if you pray enough. 00:07:40.600 --> 00:07:46.540 Instead, when the point comes in the Bible for God and Abraham, if you like, to shake hands on the covenant, 00:07:47.079 --> 00:07:51.460 they do that by cutting animals in half and separating them and walking through them. 00:07:51.740 --> 00:07:53.720 It was how the ancients sealed a covenant. 00:07:53.720 --> 00:07:58.860 And the idea was, you know, if I break this covenant, make my body like one of these, right? 00:07:58.940 --> 00:08:00.780 I am sealing it in blood. 00:08:01.440 --> 00:08:08.640 And when the point came for God and Abraham to do that, Abraham is fast asleep and doesn't do it. 00:08:09.500 --> 00:08:11.660 Because the promise is a gracious promise. 00:08:11.960 --> 00:08:14.420 God walks through the animals, not Abraham. 00:08:14.920 --> 00:08:16.280 God shakes on it. 00:08:16.279 --> 00:08:22.500 God says, I will meet the requirement of generosity and the requirement of obedience, says God. 00:08:22.500 --> 00:08:22.660 God. 00:08:23.839 --> 00:08:26.720 The second character in Matthew's opening verse is David. 00:08:27.699 --> 00:08:31.680 And similarly, God speaks to David and promises him an eternal throne. 00:08:32.820 --> 00:08:37.360 Weirdly, this happens for David when David is saying to God that he's going to do something for him. 00:08:38.080 --> 00:08:40.200 So David says to God, I'm going to build you a temple. 00:08:40.200 --> 00:08:43.820 You know, I live in a house, you live in a tent, God. 00:08:43.879 --> 00:08:45.780 So I'm going to make you a temple. 00:08:46.840 --> 00:08:49.440 A gesture of his commitment and passion for God. 00:08:49.840 --> 00:08:53.780 But God says, no, listen, don't you build me a house. 00:08:53.920 --> 00:08:56.400 I am going to build you a house, he says. 00:08:57.160 --> 00:08:58.759 I will do it, says God. 00:08:59.100 --> 00:09:00.920 I'm going to be your king. 00:09:01.580 --> 00:09:03.600 You will be in my forever kingdom. 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:10.639 This is about me doing this for you, not you doing this for me, says God to David. 00:09:11.840 --> 00:09:17.279 Now, if you look at Matthew chapter 1, verse 1, you'll see then that it starts with this huge, huge claim. 00:09:18.040 --> 00:09:26.360 Matthew writes, this is the genealogy of Jesus, the Messiah, son of David, the son of Abraham. 00:09:27.620 --> 00:09:32.000 Now, at first glance, you might just think, oh, that's just a historical note. 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:34.940 But hopefully now you can see it's much bigger than that. 00:09:35.679 --> 00:09:42.399 Matthew's point, right from the opening verse of his book, is that the Jesus that you will meet as you read his book, 00:09:42.740 --> 00:09:49.820 the Jesus that he met, that he is witness to, Jesus is the promised king, the Messiah, the Christ. 00:09:50.179 --> 00:09:54.279 He is the king that David was promised, the fulfillment of David's promise, 00:09:54.600 --> 00:09:57.559 and the fulfillment of Abraham's promise, the name. 00:09:57.559 --> 00:10:03.379 And Matthew's claim is that this promise of grace, which has run all the way through the scriptures, 00:10:03.899 --> 00:10:06.839 comes now down to this one man. 00:10:07.979 --> 00:10:09.019 One man. 00:10:10.099 --> 00:10:11.939 The unique man. 00:10:12.079 --> 00:10:18.259 This claim that God has bound himself to a promise where he saves and rescues is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, 00:10:18.699 --> 00:10:21.179 son of Abraham, son of David. 00:10:21.179 --> 00:10:23.699 This is the funnel, right? 00:10:24.479 --> 00:10:28.779 My hope is that you might forget everything else, but you might at least remember that. 00:10:29.259 --> 00:10:35.939 Can you remember when we got a parachute out in church and we were throwing balls into it and saying weird names? 00:10:36.459 --> 00:10:39.500 That is because all of it comes down to this one man. 00:10:39.679 --> 00:10:44.859 Everything in history, all the great and gracious promises of God are met in Jesus, the Messiah. 00:10:45.519 --> 00:10:50.179 Abraham, David, and all of those names funnel down to this one man, the man Christ Jesus. 00:10:50.179 --> 00:10:59.419 And that man, that man delivers God's gracious promise because he substitutes himself in the place of his people 00:10:59.419 --> 00:11:06.639 and meets both the holy requirements of the holy God and also the obedience requirements of his people. 00:11:07.339 --> 00:11:09.379 And so he is able to keep the promise. 00:11:11.159 --> 00:11:15.879 We're going to come on to the list of names in a moment, but let's just see whether we've reckoned with this for a moment. 00:11:17.139 --> 00:11:19.399 Have you really thought about this point that Matthew is making? 00:11:20.179 --> 00:11:24.599 You know, this claim that all of history is funneling down to Jesus, the keeper of God's gracious promise. 00:11:25.019 --> 00:11:34.739 It means that for everybody who went before, all of their hopes and expectations that God would be gracious come down to Jesus. 00:11:36.279 --> 00:11:39.459 I want to kind of labor this for a moment and just try and impress this upon you. 00:11:39.859 --> 00:11:42.439 Turn, if you can, in your Bibles to Acts chapter 3. 00:11:42.440 --> 00:11:43.960 It's on page 1085. 00:11:44.420 --> 00:11:48.500 The words will come up on the screen behind me, but I think it's better to look at them in your Bibles. 00:11:48.960 --> 00:11:51.360 Page 1095, Acts chapter 3. 00:11:51.500 --> 00:11:57.160 Peter here, speaking to a crowd of Jewish people who have seen him heal a lame man. 00:11:58.100 --> 00:11:59.540 Listen to what he says. 00:12:00.380 --> 00:12:02.720 We'll pick it up in verse 19 of chapter 3. 00:12:02.720 --> 00:12:06.740 He writes this, or he says this, it's written, 00:12:06.740 --> 00:12:18.460 Listen, repent then and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped away, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah who has been appointed for you, even Jesus. 00:12:19.240 --> 00:12:25.779 Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. 00:12:25.779 --> 00:12:32.740 For Moses said, the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people. 00:12:33.199 --> 00:12:35.299 You must listen to everything he tells you. 00:12:35.759 --> 00:12:42.100 Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people. 00:12:42.679 --> 00:12:43.220 Do you see this? 00:12:43.319 --> 00:12:44.659 Peter's claim is extraordinary. 00:12:45.919 --> 00:12:51.159 Peter's claim is that for everybody who considers themselves part of the Jewish nation, 00:12:51.159 --> 00:12:57.100 if they don't trust in Christ, they will be cut off from the very thing they think they are a part of. 00:12:57.939 --> 00:12:59.980 They'll be cut off from amongst God's people. 00:13:01.679 --> 00:13:07.159 Peter's claim then is that Jesus is the Messiah, that heaven has received him for a time before he returns. 00:13:07.980 --> 00:13:16.519 And in that time, in that time of waiting, membership of God's people depends on your response to one man, the man Christ Jesus. 00:13:16.519 --> 00:13:22.039 And verse 23, if you don't listen to him, it's not just that things will rumble on as they always have, 00:13:22.100 --> 00:13:25.139 but you will be cut off from the very people you say you belong to. 00:13:25.860 --> 00:13:30.699 Access to God's gracious promise through one man, Jesus Christ. 00:13:30.879 --> 00:13:35.240 Promises to Abraham and David now exclusively available through Jesus. 00:13:36.939 --> 00:13:43.579 Now my point is, if that's what it was like for everybody then, how much more is it like for us now? 00:13:43.580 --> 00:13:49.060 All of our hopes and expectations that God would be gracious to us. 00:13:49.759 --> 00:13:57.000 Your hope and expectation that your sins will be forgiven, that you will have life with him, eternal life with him when you die. 00:13:58.280 --> 00:14:02.100 Your hope and expectation that you will not be lost, that you will not be condemned. 00:14:02.360 --> 00:14:07.240 All of those hopes come down to Jesus because all of history comes down to him. 00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:09.980 And then all of my life comes down to him too. 00:14:09.980 --> 00:14:15.580 So much so that the most important thing about you or me this morning is not the colour of our skin, 00:14:15.700 --> 00:14:21.700 it's not the country we were born in, it's not the language that we speak or the job that we do or the relationships that we have. 00:14:21.980 --> 00:14:26.100 The central thing is what do I make of this one man? 00:14:26.879 --> 00:14:28.039 And what does he make of me? 00:14:29.920 --> 00:14:32.659 Everything else in your life is a sideshow to that. 00:14:32.659 --> 00:14:39.199 That's why Christmas has the potential to be so good for you. 00:14:40.240 --> 00:14:45.699 To laser focus you on Jesus Christ who stands at the centre and asks you this question. 00:14:45.919 --> 00:14:49.559 Will you let this God be your God? 00:14:50.299 --> 00:14:55.539 Will you see that all the rivers of life and existence flow from him and to him and for him? 00:14:55.839 --> 00:14:57.839 And will you bow the knee to him? 00:14:59.100 --> 00:14:59.899 That's verse one. 00:14:59.899 --> 00:15:02.879 Let's have a look at the list of names together. 00:15:03.740 --> 00:15:06.019 I want to show you just three things from this list of names. 00:15:06.079 --> 00:15:08.019 We're not going to work through each one in turn. 00:15:08.740 --> 00:15:10.740 Let's think about perfect timing. 00:15:10.980 --> 00:15:11.579 Perfect timing. 00:15:11.699 --> 00:15:13.419 I think this seems to be the main point of the list. 00:15:13.500 --> 00:15:19.360 So if you jump to the note at the end of the list in verse 17, Matthew tells you why it's there. 00:15:19.360 --> 00:15:30.840 He says, thus there were 14 generations in all from Abraham to David, 14 from David to the exile to Babylon, and 14 from the exile to the Messiah. 00:15:30.840 --> 00:15:43.139 Now, what's quite interesting here is that if you work through the list and if you cross reference back to the Old Testament, you'll see that in order to make these neat number 14s, Matthew has actually missed a few characters out. 00:15:43.540 --> 00:15:45.840 Not everyone in the kingly line gets a mention. 00:15:46.820 --> 00:15:50.940 If you want to kind of nerd out particularly, you can work out which ones they are. 00:15:51.019 --> 00:15:52.519 Don't please do it now, but you can do it later. 00:15:53.019 --> 00:15:55.519 And you can come and talk to me about it afterwards if you want to. 00:15:55.519 --> 00:15:58.039 But the point is not that Matthew is lying to you, right? 00:15:58.079 --> 00:15:59.639 He's not trying to deceive you. 00:15:59.840 --> 00:16:02.460 He's not hoping that you wouldn't notice that he'd miss them out. 00:16:02.779 --> 00:16:04.759 Rather, what he's trying to do is he's making a point. 00:16:04.840 --> 00:16:05.639 He's a preacher, right? 00:16:05.699 --> 00:16:16.299 He's making a point and he's trying to show you the symmetry that Abraham to the rise of King David, the rise of King David came at just the right time. 00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:19.340 14 generations, give or take. 00:16:20.480 --> 00:16:25.299 King David's kingdom to the decline in exile, that was just the right time. 00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:27.419 Just the time that God had appointed it. 00:16:27.500 --> 00:16:28.879 14 generations, give or take. 00:16:29.939 --> 00:16:34.980 The exile to the arrival of the fulfillment of Abraham and David, just the right length of time. 00:16:35.079 --> 00:16:35.939 14 generations. 00:16:37.899 --> 00:16:40.879 Now you can see why that's so important to Matthew as you read his book. 00:16:41.559 --> 00:16:47.899 One of the things that goes on in the Gospels is that people object to Jesus and call into question his background and his heritage. 00:16:48.759 --> 00:16:49.879 Some people claim he's demonic. 00:16:51.019 --> 00:16:53.579 And others say things like, you know, who even is this guy? 00:16:54.220 --> 00:16:54.540 All right. 00:16:54.980 --> 00:16:56.280 We know he's a carpenter. 00:16:57.040 --> 00:16:58.820 Well, why are we listening to him? 00:17:00.320 --> 00:17:05.539 And yet here at the beginning of Matthew's book, his point is, no, listen, if you've been carefully thinking about this, 00:17:06.079 --> 00:17:12.420 if you've been reading a Bible up until this point, you know the time is exactly right for the Messiah. 00:17:13.059 --> 00:17:15.840 This is exactly the right time. 00:17:15.839 --> 00:17:26.679 This is the covenantal equivalent of, you know, walking up to the crossroads at Salisbury Road and Harvest Road just as the lights turn green. 00:17:26.899 --> 00:17:29.879 You know, a green man comes on and you don't even break your stride. 00:17:29.959 --> 00:17:31.859 You just walk diagonally across. 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:33.819 You're like, you could fly across. 00:17:33.939 --> 00:17:34.079 Right? 00:17:34.579 --> 00:17:35.919 I nailed that. 00:17:36.179 --> 00:17:36.279 Right? 00:17:36.279 --> 00:17:38.240 That's what's going on here. 00:17:38.940 --> 00:17:42.139 And just think about what is involved for that. 00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:42.579 Right? 00:17:43.819 --> 00:17:47.000 Think about what is involved in making that happen for Jesus. 00:17:47.319 --> 00:17:53.399 Not just a bit of swift timing between the walk between the underground station and the traffic lights, 00:17:53.400 --> 00:17:59.660 but 42 generations, thousands of years, different battles, different countries, families, people, 00:18:00.080 --> 00:18:04.780 the rise and fall of whole empires, earthquakes, famines, prophets, priests and kings. 00:18:05.200 --> 00:18:10.360 And yet just at the right time, Ram became the father of Amminidab, who became the father of Nashon. 00:18:10.880 --> 00:18:14.940 And then later, Rehoboam followed Solomon and himself was followed by Abijah and Asa. 00:18:15.440 --> 00:18:21.740 All to come down to Jacob, the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus, who is called the Messiah. 00:18:21.740 --> 00:18:25.620 Messiah, God, keeping his promise with impeccable timing. 00:18:26.500 --> 00:18:29.539 Mind-blowing control over the course of all of history. 00:18:30.240 --> 00:18:32.660 The exact right time for God to send the Messiah. 00:18:35.859 --> 00:18:41.420 I have to confess, and this is not a good thing, but at times I think I can get, and maybe you feel this, 00:18:41.500 --> 00:18:45.220 I can get weary of this sort of application of the Bible. 00:18:45.400 --> 00:18:48.940 You know, God always keeps his promises, that kind of thing. 00:18:49.079 --> 00:18:50.980 Can feel a bit twee, kind of a bit pedestrian. 00:18:50.980 --> 00:18:53.980 Sometimes it can feel a bit unkind when people say it, you know. 00:18:54.740 --> 00:18:55.779 God always keeps his promises. 00:18:57.420 --> 00:18:59.759 But that is, I think, the point here. 00:19:00.420 --> 00:19:02.559 I think this is the big point. 00:19:02.680 --> 00:19:08.500 Matthew is at pains to show you from the 14, 14, 14, that God keeps his promise at the right time. 00:19:08.920 --> 00:19:13.599 And why would he, with such urgency, make a point that you probably knew already? 00:19:13.599 --> 00:19:25.819 Well, I think it's because what's going on in Matthew 1 is that God, by the Spirit, is inviting you and me to live all of our lives based on the reality that God keeps his promise with perfect timing. 00:19:25.819 --> 00:19:35.379 In other words, you're being invited, you know, to use a confusing sentence in English, but to put all your eggs in this basket. 00:19:35.799 --> 00:19:39.200 None of us put eggs in a basket, but it's a kind of Englishism, isn't it? 00:19:39.939 --> 00:19:48.119 You know, that the God, the God who is there, who can be trusted, the one who rules and reigns, that God has a promise of grace that comes to pass with perfect timing. 00:19:48.119 --> 00:19:50.679 You don't need a plan B for your life, right? 00:19:51.199 --> 00:19:52.500 You don't need to hedge your bets. 00:19:52.579 --> 00:19:55.759 You don't need to put half a toe in the water to use some other English idioms. 00:19:56.179 --> 00:19:57.779 You can just jump right in. 00:19:58.619 --> 00:20:06.059 Just at the right time, just at the expected time, just at the time it was needed, Christ came and he will come again. 00:20:08.119 --> 00:20:15.139 So let me ask you, let Matthew ask you, let the Spirit ask you from Matthew 1, are you living like that is true? 00:20:15.140 --> 00:20:20.759 Will you let this God be your God? 00:20:21.259 --> 00:20:24.160 Will you bow the knee to the God who keeps his promise? 00:20:25.240 --> 00:20:31.920 And will those promises sink deep into your heart, deep enough to transform and shape your life and your priorities? 00:20:32.840 --> 00:20:37.580 You know, I think so often we live our lives as if life belongs to the strong and the brave. 00:20:38.400 --> 00:20:44.759 When really you know from Matthew 1 that life belongs to the God of grace who keeps his promise to the undeserving. 00:20:45.660 --> 00:20:46.700 That's what life is about. 00:20:47.400 --> 00:20:51.540 God with perfect timing bringing to pass his plan of grace and mercy. 00:20:52.520 --> 00:20:53.220 That's the first point. 00:20:53.340 --> 00:20:55.860 Second point then, generous grace. 00:20:56.700 --> 00:21:00.620 One of the other standout things about Matthew's genealogy is the mention of four women. 00:21:01.540 --> 00:21:06.420 Bible genealogies normally link the refrain, the father of, the father of, the father of, the father of. 00:21:06.420 --> 00:21:08.920 And this is no different except for four occasions. 00:21:09.220 --> 00:21:10.720 So verse three, look down at it. 00:21:11.200 --> 00:21:15.300 Judah was the father of Perez and Zariah, whose mother was Tamar. 00:21:16.019 --> 00:21:17.900 Then again in verse five, twice. 00:21:18.380 --> 00:21:21.060 Salmon, the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab. 00:21:21.560 --> 00:21:24.039 Boaz, the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth. 00:21:24.220 --> 00:21:25.580 Obed, the father of Jesse. 00:21:26.680 --> 00:21:28.019 Then again in verse six. 00:21:28.019 --> 00:21:34.519 David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife, Bathsheba, to give her a name. 00:21:35.720 --> 00:21:41.059 Now what's notable is not just that Matthew includes these women, which on its own would be quite surprising, 00:21:41.619 --> 00:21:47.059 but that there are lots of women who could have been included in the genealogy, but they don't get mentioned. 00:21:47.420 --> 00:21:49.079 So the question is why these ones? 00:21:49.200 --> 00:21:50.119 Why these women? 00:21:50.859 --> 00:21:56.359 Well, because Matthew wants to point to you the grace of God, because of who these women are. 00:21:57.199 --> 00:22:00.639 These women are not the squeaky clean women of the Old Testament, not at all. 00:22:00.979 --> 00:22:02.119 Tamar, for example. 00:22:02.919 --> 00:22:04.579 She's the daughter-in-law of Judah. 00:22:05.199 --> 00:22:08.359 She'd been married to two of his sons, both of whom died. 00:22:08.459 --> 00:22:10.000 She was a foreigner to the people of God. 00:22:10.399 --> 00:22:13.459 But what's noted here is that she took matters into her own hands. 00:22:13.879 --> 00:22:18.419 She tricked her father-in-law, Judah, into having sex with her by dressing as a prostitute. 00:22:18.420 --> 00:22:22.360 She got pregnant and gave birth to twins, Perez and Zariah. 00:22:23.320 --> 00:22:25.640 They don't put that in the children's Bibles, right? 00:22:26.120 --> 00:22:30.740 It's not a story from the children's Bible stories that you'll be reading with your kids if you have them. 00:22:32.440 --> 00:22:34.539 But it's here in Matthew's genealogy. 00:22:36.240 --> 00:22:37.539 Rahab is here as well. 00:22:38.320 --> 00:22:42.360 She too was a prostitute living on the wall of Jericho at the time of the conquest. 00:22:43.320 --> 00:22:47.160 She also was a foreigner to God's people and not someone you'd have expected to have been included. 00:22:47.160 --> 00:22:53.100 How do you know that Rahab is part of God's people and became a believer? 00:22:53.240 --> 00:22:53.820 How do you know? 00:22:54.620 --> 00:22:58.320 Well, as the story is recorded, you know because she tells a lie, right? 00:22:58.840 --> 00:23:01.400 She lies about the location of the spies. 00:23:02.900 --> 00:23:04.980 That would be her testimony. 00:23:05.779 --> 00:23:07.200 When did you become a Christian, Rahab? 00:23:07.440 --> 00:23:10.060 Well, I told a lie and that's how I became a Christian. 00:23:10.380 --> 00:23:11.259 What about you? 00:23:11.259 --> 00:23:14.720 Is this showing her allegiance to God? 00:23:15.220 --> 00:23:17.400 She's not a squeaky clean person at all. 00:23:18.079 --> 00:23:21.539 And yet she had faith in God and trusted in him. 00:23:21.640 --> 00:23:23.519 And Matthew includes her too. 00:23:24.460 --> 00:23:25.539 Ruth was a Moabite. 00:23:25.720 --> 00:23:26.759 She also was a foreigner. 00:23:26.960 --> 00:23:31.859 She joined God's people from outside the nation after marrying into a family who were on the run from Israel. 00:23:32.500 --> 00:23:33.259 She was poor. 00:23:33.339 --> 00:23:34.160 She was an outcast. 00:23:34.160 --> 00:23:38.960 And she was related to the family that had done the opposite of what you were supposed to do when times were hard. 00:23:39.460 --> 00:23:40.480 Matthew includes her. 00:23:42.019 --> 00:23:45.880 Matthew doesn't mention Bathsheba by name, instead calling her by her husband's name. 00:23:46.040 --> 00:23:51.200 Presumably, I think, to underline the fact that he was a Hittite and not an Israelite, another outsider. 00:23:52.140 --> 00:23:55.480 And Bathsheba had sex with King David despite being married to another man. 00:23:55.980 --> 00:23:57.800 Possibly against her will, we don't know. 00:23:57.799 --> 00:23:59.200 She falls pregnant. 00:24:00.139 --> 00:24:01.419 David kills her husband. 00:24:02.079 --> 00:24:03.139 Takes her as his wife. 00:24:03.240 --> 00:24:04.299 And the baby dies. 00:24:04.859 --> 00:24:06.539 Matthew references that story as well. 00:24:07.799 --> 00:24:09.240 And what are you to make of all of that? 00:24:10.200 --> 00:24:15.240 Well, these women are here to teach us this unique characteristic of the God of the Bible. 00:24:16.440 --> 00:24:17.720 God is full of grace. 00:24:18.740 --> 00:24:19.700 He is full of grace. 00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:24.680 Without condoning any of this, without being morally responsible for the wickedness, 00:24:24.680 --> 00:24:30.200 still he can include the broken and the sinful, the weak and the forgotten in his plans of grace and mercy. 00:24:30.740 --> 00:24:37.400 God's promise does not depend on the quality of the lives of God's people, but on his mercy. 00:24:38.840 --> 00:24:41.039 This is brilliant if you think about it. 00:24:41.960 --> 00:24:47.940 If you or I have been writing out Matthew chapter 1 just on our own, with our own imaginations, 00:24:48.799 --> 00:24:52.519 you and I would pick out the best people in the Old Testament, wouldn't we? 00:24:52.519 --> 00:24:55.200 And these are the stories that we would miss out. 00:24:55.720 --> 00:24:58.440 We'd make heroes of the strong and the perfect. 00:24:58.980 --> 00:25:01.079 Not the weak and the sexually deviant. 00:25:01.799 --> 00:25:02.759 But not God. 00:25:03.500 --> 00:25:11.059 Because remember, the free promises of God, which reveal what he is like, show that he is gracious. 00:25:11.220 --> 00:25:12.339 They are gracious promises. 00:25:13.519 --> 00:25:17.379 And if you want people to understand that, then you've got to remind them over and over again 00:25:17.379 --> 00:25:19.559 of the kind of people who are involved in its fulfillment. 00:25:19.559 --> 00:25:26.460 So maybe you this morning, maybe you just think, I am too weak to be a Christian. 00:25:28.079 --> 00:25:29.980 Perhaps you feel like you're a terrible Christian. 00:25:30.099 --> 00:25:35.000 Perhaps you think, look, if the people sat around me this morning know where I've been this week 00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:42.059 in my thoughts or my actions or my words, they would not want to sit next to me in church. 00:25:42.059 --> 00:25:45.899 And you can think of all the terrible ways you've let God down. 00:25:46.740 --> 00:25:47.940 Maybe you feel them acutely. 00:25:49.240 --> 00:25:51.700 Perhaps you just think, I don't know as much as I should. 00:25:51.779 --> 00:25:54.000 I've been a Christian for years and I don't know my Bible. 00:25:54.679 --> 00:25:56.519 Perhaps you recognize you don't live as you should. 00:25:57.379 --> 00:25:58.859 Listen, the truth is, right? 00:25:59.839 --> 00:26:03.759 You are, I am a terrible Christian, right? 00:26:03.759 --> 00:26:05.400 We are too weak. 00:26:05.920 --> 00:26:07.180 We are too sinful. 00:26:07.799 --> 00:26:09.000 We are too wayward. 00:26:09.559 --> 00:26:11.940 We are too double-minded to deserve God's promise. 00:26:12.099 --> 00:26:15.319 But still, God's promise is for the undeserving. 00:26:16.140 --> 00:26:19.759 God's promise is for the Rahabs, the Tamars, the Bathshebas and the Ruths. 00:26:21.220 --> 00:26:21.759 It's for the abused. 00:26:22.619 --> 00:26:23.519 It's for the broken. 00:26:24.059 --> 00:26:26.039 It's for the sexually immoral and the wayward. 00:26:26.140 --> 00:26:28.059 It's for the outsider and the outcast. 00:26:28.539 --> 00:26:32.039 And notice it's not to cover up those stories or pretend they don't matter. 00:26:32.039 --> 00:26:33.819 It's not to leave us in that mess. 00:26:33.899 --> 00:26:36.639 It's not to condone the immorality either. 00:26:36.879 --> 00:26:40.259 But it is to eclipse them with redemption. 00:26:41.240 --> 00:26:43.740 The perfectly timed, generous grace of God. 00:26:45.079 --> 00:26:47.319 Again, let's just pause here for a moment. 00:26:47.420 --> 00:26:48.899 Let's try and labor this if we can. 00:26:49.899 --> 00:26:53.339 I think, if you think like me, we tend to think, don't we, 00:26:53.359 --> 00:26:57.039 that life starts perfectly and then we mess it up. 00:26:57.200 --> 00:27:00.299 And it gets kind of worse and worse as the years go by. 00:27:00.299 --> 00:27:04.359 But notice in the story of the Bible, the story of the Christian is, 00:27:04.500 --> 00:27:06.960 it doesn't start perfect, right? 00:27:07.579 --> 00:27:09.339 Perfection comes at the end. 00:27:10.359 --> 00:27:15.059 And God's redeeming promise to you, to me, is so good 00:27:15.059 --> 00:27:18.940 that it means that you will be able to look back at your life. 00:27:19.339 --> 00:27:22.480 And even the worst things that have happened in your life, 00:27:22.819 --> 00:27:24.299 the sin in your life, 00:27:24.299 --> 00:27:27.700 the fact that you were a prostitute on the walls of Jericho, 00:27:27.919 --> 00:27:31.859 the fact that you tricked your father-in-law into having sex with you, 00:27:31.940 --> 00:27:35.279 whatever it is, you will look back and see that that is the location 00:27:35.279 --> 00:27:38.139 of God's grace and his mercy to you. 00:27:39.099 --> 00:27:39.500 You know what? 00:27:39.539 --> 00:27:40.579 I think we think, don't we, 00:27:40.639 --> 00:27:42.919 because of the way we think about our life, 00:27:42.980 --> 00:27:47.659 is that we will try and airbrush out some of the things that have happened to us. 00:27:47.660 --> 00:27:51.259 But actually, the gracious promise of God means that those, 00:27:51.400 --> 00:27:53.080 even those most painful things, 00:27:53.360 --> 00:27:57.779 are the master brushstrokes of the great artist 00:27:57.779 --> 00:28:02.040 who is painting something beautiful and wonderful by his grace. 00:28:02.039 --> 00:28:04.879 And you and I get to be part of it. 00:28:06.180 --> 00:28:08.799 God's promise is not for the deserving. 00:28:09.119 --> 00:28:10.799 It's a promise of generous grace. 00:28:13.159 --> 00:28:16.099 Thirdly, and finally, an important distinction. 00:28:16.940 --> 00:28:18.440 Now, this is a little trickier to see, 00:28:18.539 --> 00:28:19.460 but I think it's important. 00:28:19.599 --> 00:28:21.440 It kind of sets up next week, right? 00:28:21.779 --> 00:28:23.799 So let me read to you verse 16 again. 00:28:24.559 --> 00:28:27.579 And Jacob, the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, 00:28:27.579 --> 00:28:31.359 and Mary was the mother of Jesus, who is called the Messiah. 00:28:32.980 --> 00:28:34.359 Now, that verse stands out, 00:28:34.359 --> 00:28:36.779 not just because it's the conclusion ending with Jesus, 00:28:36.920 --> 00:28:40.059 but because notice that Joseph isn't actually called the father of Jesus. 00:28:40.920 --> 00:28:43.339 He's called rather the husband of his mother. 00:28:43.639 --> 00:28:44.200 Do you see that? 00:28:44.899 --> 00:28:47.460 And that's what sets up next week's passage, 00:28:47.859 --> 00:28:50.720 where Matthew is clear to underline that Joseph and Mary 00:28:50.720 --> 00:28:53.420 didn't consummate their marriage until after the birth of Jesus, 00:28:53.680 --> 00:28:56.039 because Jesus was not his son. 00:28:56.779 --> 00:29:00.420 As verse 18 puts it, she is pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 00:29:00.420 --> 00:29:04.300 Now, that means that Matthew wants you to know, 00:29:04.380 --> 00:29:08.759 wants me to know that this both is and isn't Jesus' family tree at the same time. 00:29:09.180 --> 00:29:12.539 Jesus is both from this line and not from this line. 00:29:12.940 --> 00:29:17.600 Jesus is both fully human with the fallen humanity before him, 00:29:17.840 --> 00:29:20.700 and yet stands apart because he's born through the Spirit. 00:29:21.340 --> 00:29:25.380 He is the second Adam of Romans 5 that we were looking at a few weeks ago. 00:29:25.380 --> 00:29:28.100 This is such an important distinction, isn't it? 00:29:28.140 --> 00:29:30.100 Jesus is one of us, one with us. 00:29:30.520 --> 00:29:35.080 He has the same flesh and blood, the same human weakness and frailty. 00:29:35.220 --> 00:29:38.440 He is the same crying baby who is hungry for his mother's milk. 00:29:38.840 --> 00:29:40.820 He has the same stumbling first steps. 00:29:40.920 --> 00:29:42.860 He still has to learn to speak. 00:29:42.980 --> 00:29:46.740 He still hit his thumb with a hammer as he was learning to drive in nails. 00:29:46.740 --> 00:29:51.620 And yet he is different to us because he is the Son of God, 00:29:52.259 --> 00:29:55.240 born of a woman but eternally begotten of the Father. 00:29:56.259 --> 00:30:02.680 Jesus here at this point, he is in flesh arriving in the creation that he created. 00:30:03.579 --> 00:30:07.799 The God of eternity past who spoke into being the world in which we live. 00:30:08.200 --> 00:30:13.599 The God who sustains it now surrendered to a small, helpless baby. 00:30:13.599 --> 00:30:20.379 And all so that you and I can receive the gracious promise made to Abraham and David. 00:30:21.439 --> 00:30:26.959 It's a list, isn't it, really, of chapter one of could have beens and would have beens. 00:30:27.500 --> 00:30:29.859 And we don't need another one of those, do we? 00:30:30.399 --> 00:30:37.379 We need somebody who is both like us, enough to understand the human experience and relate to us 00:30:37.379 --> 00:30:41.759 and take on from us all of our sin and our wickedness. 00:30:41.759 --> 00:30:46.240 But we need someone who also is different to us. 00:30:46.740 --> 00:30:49.700 Someone with the atoning power of God himself. 00:30:50.319 --> 00:30:54.940 Someone whose sacrifice would be infinitely valuable in the eyes of the Father. 00:30:55.299 --> 00:31:00.039 And that's who Jesus is, God in flesh, to make good on his promise of grace. 00:31:01.299 --> 00:31:04.160 And that's what we're going to be finding out more about next week. 00:31:04.619 --> 00:31:06.779 Let me pray as we finish. 00:31:06.779 --> 00:31:06.839 Amen. 00:31:06.839 --> 00:31:06.940 Amen. 00:31:06.940 --> 00:31:06.940 00:31:11.759 --> 00:31:13.879 So may we just take a few moments of quiet. 00:31:14.039 --> 00:31:15.379 You can pray in your own heart. 00:31:16.339 --> 00:31:19.259 Thank God for his perfect timing, for his generous grace. 00:31:19.920 --> 00:31:23.240 For the person of the Son, come to fulfill his promise. 00:31:23.240 --> 00:31:23.440 Amen. 00:31:23.440 --> 00:31:23.559 Amen. 00:31:23.559 --> 00:31:23.559 00:31:23.559 --> 00:31:23.559 00:31:23.559 --> 00:31:23.559 00:31:23.559 --> 00:31:23.559 00:31:23.559 --> 00:31:23.559 00:31:23.559 --> 00:31:23.559 00:31:23.559 --> 00:31:23.559 00:31:23.559 --> 00:31:23.559 00:31:23.559 --> 00:31:23.559 00:31:41.759 --> 00:32:03.779 Heavenly Father, we come to you. 00:32:03.779 --> 00:32:09.259 As the ruler and Lord over all history. 00:32:10.799 --> 00:32:13.039 He has revealed himself in promises. 00:32:13.339 --> 00:32:15.519 Promises unlike any other. 00:32:15.759 --> 00:32:18.779 Promises of grace and mercy and kindness. 00:32:19.960 --> 00:32:24.180 Promises which now rule over all of history and all of our lives. 00:32:24.420 --> 00:32:28.039 Promises centred on the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:32:28.039 --> 00:32:31.740 And we come and thank you for your grace and your kindness. 00:32:32.599 --> 00:32:39.039 Thank you that men and women, people like us, can find a place in your covenant of grace. 00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:41.700 As we come to the Lord Jesus. 00:32:43.440 --> 00:32:44.579 Oh, we pray please. 00:32:44.720 --> 00:32:50.500 Over these weeks of Christmas, might you fix our eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:32:50.500 --> 00:32:50.619 Christ. 00:32:52.839 --> 00:32:56.940 We want to pray that we would see him to be the treasure that he really is. 00:32:57.640 --> 00:33:00.480 And that we would live lives for his praise and his glory. 00:33:00.980 --> 00:33:02.259 As we pray in his name. 00:33:03.079 --> 00:33:03.420 Amen. 00:33:03.420 --> 00:33:03.579 Amen.