The Son of Promise (Matthew 1:1-17)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.280 --> 00:00:04.160 Listen, for this is the word of the Lord, the book of the 2 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:08.949 Genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 3 00:00:09.029 --> 00:00:14.070 Abraham was the father of Isaac and Isaac, the father of Jacob and Jacob, 4 00:00:14.109 --> 00:00:17.910 the father of Judah and his brothers and Judah. The father of Perez 5 00:00:17.949 --> 00:00:22.539 and Zarah by Tamar and Peis, the father of Hezron and Hezron, the 6 00:00:22.660 --> 00:00:28.019 father of Ram and Ram, the father of Aminadab and Aminadab, the father 7 00:00:28.059 --> 00:00:32.380 of Nation Nation, the father of Salmon and Salmon, the father of Boaz 8 00:00:32.460 --> 00:00:37.329 by Rehab and Boas, the father of obed, by Ruth and obed, 9 00:00:37.369 --> 00:00:41.170 the father of Jesse and Jesse. The father of David, the king, 10 00:00:42.409 --> 00:00:46.210 and David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah and Solomon, 11 00:00:46.289 --> 00:00:50.679 the father of Rahaboem and Rahaboem, the father of Abijah and abide of the 12 00:00:50.679 --> 00:00:54.520 father of asuf and Aceef, the father of Jehosaphat and Josephat, the father 13 00:00:54.600 --> 00:00:58.679 of Joram and Joram, the father of Uzaiah and Uzaiah, the father of 14 00:00:58.759 --> 00:01:03.479 Jotham and Jotham, the father of Ahas and Ahas, the father of Hezekiah 15 00:01:03.000 --> 00:01:07.590 and Hezekiah, the father of Manassa and Manassa, the father of Amos and 16 00:01:07.670 --> 00:01:11.909 Amos, the father of Josiah and Josiah, the father of Jechaniah and his 17 00:01:11.030 --> 00:01:17.150 brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon and after the deportation to 18 00:01:17.230 --> 00:01:22.939 Babylon, Jaconia was the father of Sheltiel and Sheltiel was the father of Zerubabelle 19 00:01:23.299 --> 00:01:26.819 and Zoubibil, the father of Abuyat, Abud and Abudd the father of Elk 20 00:01:27.420 --> 00:01:30.939 Aliyah, Kim and Ela him the father of Azor and Az or, the 21 00:01:30.980 --> 00:01:34.810 father of Zadok Zadek, the father of Akim and Akim, the father of 22 00:01:34.890 --> 00:01:40.930 Eliud and Elieu, the father of Eliezar and Eliezar, the father of Mattan 23 00:01:41.810 --> 00:01:45.810 Mattan, the father of Jacob and Jacob, the father of Joseph, the 24 00:01:45.890 --> 00:01:49.000 husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Christ. 25 00:01:51.159 --> 00:01:53.799 So all the generations, from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and 26 00:01:53.920 --> 00:01:59.400 from David to the deportation of Aab to Babylon, fourteen generations, and from 27 00:01:59.400 --> 00:02:04.909 the deportation to Babylon to the Christ, fourteen generations. That's why the reading 28 00:02:04.909 --> 00:02:08.030 of God's word, may He bless it to us, maybe seated. This 29 00:02:08.189 --> 00:02:12.469 is the kind of time of year, this is to the sort of season 30 00:02:12.669 --> 00:02:16.219 where it's traditional, perhaps in your families, to go back and watch old 31 00:02:16.340 --> 00:02:23.219 movies, maybe the movies that you grew up with, some classics, Black 32 00:02:23.259 --> 00:02:28.460 and white pictures. Perhaps. I'm a big fan of movies and if you've 33 00:02:28.539 --> 00:02:31.610 noticed, if you go back and watch some of these older films, there's 34 00:02:31.610 --> 00:02:38.689 a distinctively different style to how they open. That may be lost if all 35 00:02:38.729 --> 00:02:43.729 you've seen are movies made in the last twenty years or so. Right around 36 00:02:43.729 --> 00:02:49.080 twenty thirty years ago, there became a big shift in how movies began. 37 00:02:50.639 --> 00:02:57.800 It used to be that when the movie began, you might be unprepared for 38 00:02:57.919 --> 00:03:02.469 how boring they could start out. Before your movie began, you would have 39 00:03:02.550 --> 00:03:10.110 to sit through about five to maybe ten minutes of credits. Nowadays we put 40 00:03:10.150 --> 00:03:14.979 the credits at the end of the movie when you're packing up ready to turn 41 00:03:15.020 --> 00:03:17.900 off the the DVD player whatever. Back in the day they used to be 42 00:03:19.060 --> 00:03:24.939 right up front. If you're not used to that, if you put on 43 00:03:25.020 --> 00:03:28.930 one of these old movies and realize that you're forced to sit through five to 44 00:03:29.090 --> 00:03:34.370 ten minutes of just names of people that you don't really know, names of 45 00:03:34.449 --> 00:03:38.250 people that you're not all that interested in. You may feel a wave of 46 00:03:38.289 --> 00:03:42.800 boredom as you try and watch one of these older films. Well, perhaps 47 00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:46.400 you felt a bit of that wave of boredom hit you this morning as we 48 00:03:46.520 --> 00:03:53.120 read through this list of names at the beginning here of Matthew's Gospel. Why 49 00:03:53.280 --> 00:04:00.389 Begin his Gospel with a list and a list of names? What was he 50 00:04:00.509 --> 00:04:05.389 thinking? Doesn't he know you've got to start your story with something compelling? 51 00:04:05.430 --> 00:04:10.099 Doesn't he know you've got to start with with a bang? Write something excitement, 52 00:04:10.460 --> 00:04:17.339 something interesting? He starts with a genealogy, a list of family names. 53 00:04:19.860 --> 00:04:30.170 But this list of names is actually incredibly compelling. This list begins with 54 00:04:30.649 --> 00:04:36.009 an incredible bang. Did you hear how it began? The book of the 55 00:04:36.129 --> 00:04:44.279 Genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham, 56 00:04:46.360 --> 00:04:51.360 if you're familiar with your Old Testament, what matthew is saying here is astounding, 57 00:04:51.480 --> 00:04:58.230 its revolutionary. You see, we're so used to the name Jesus Christ 58 00:04:59.430 --> 00:05:04.629 that the official title being used here can often get get lost on US kids. 59 00:05:04.829 --> 00:05:12.259 Matthew is saying that Jesus is the Christ meaning the anointed one, the 60 00:05:12.779 --> 00:05:18.980 Messiah. Do you realize, then, the years of anticipation that await this 61 00:05:19.180 --> 00:05:28.009 very phrase? Do you feel how much weight these words carry, and they're 62 00:05:28.050 --> 00:05:33.290 the opening words of this Gospel, in light of the hundreds, thousands of 63 00:05:33.329 --> 00:05:41.879 years that Israel has awaited this child? Matthew Declares Right from the beginning the 64 00:05:43.040 --> 00:05:49.000 weight is over. This Jesus is the long awaited Messiah. This Jesus is 65 00:05:49.269 --> 00:05:55.829 that Royal Son promised to King David, this Jesus is that blessed son promised 66 00:05:55.870 --> 00:06:01.829 to Father Abra hand. Matthew is the first book in the New Testament. 67 00:06:02.790 --> 00:06:06.579 So the New Testament begins with with a genealogy, with with a list of 68 00:06:06.620 --> 00:06:15.100 names, and I want you to see that this is incredibly appropriate, because 69 00:06:15.139 --> 00:06:19.769 this list tells you that this Gospel is not a new story. These first 70 00:06:19.769 --> 00:06:28.850 words of the New Testament begin by pointing backwards to Tell You that Matthew's Gospel 71 00:06:29.009 --> 00:06:33.040 is but a continuation. It's a culmination of all that has come before. 72 00:06:35.000 --> 00:06:41.639 The old and the new testaments are inseparably connected. The New Testament doesn't just 73 00:06:41.680 --> 00:06:46.589 arrive out of thin air. It's not some unexpected twist. It's not the 74 00:06:46.629 --> 00:06:53.189 old testament part two, nor is the New Testament God's second chance or some 75 00:06:53.350 --> 00:06:57.269 secondary plan. Now, as Isaiah, Forty six first ten, tells us, 76 00:06:58.589 --> 00:07:01.459 I am God and there is none like me, declaring the end from 77 00:07:01.459 --> 00:07:05.779 the beginning and from ancient times, the things not yet done, saying my 78 00:07:06.060 --> 00:07:14.420 counsel shall stand and I will accomplish all my purpose. The old and new 79 00:07:14.459 --> 00:07:21.129 testaments of your Bible Tell One story. This is what it means to say 80 00:07:21.170 --> 00:07:27.410 that God is omniscient. To put Isaiah's words another way, God cannot start 81 00:07:27.529 --> 00:07:33.600 something without seeing and declaring the end from the beginning. For God, there 82 00:07:33.639 --> 00:07:39.920 is no such thing as an afterthought, a surprise, a correction in the 83 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:46.350 omniscient mind and plan of God. What Matthew tells us this morning is how 84 00:07:46.509 --> 00:07:51.990 God brings about his plan and his purposes. This morning were shown how this 85 00:07:53.350 --> 00:07:57.430 story, which began at the beginning of history itself, will take one more 86 00:07:57.550 --> 00:08:03.100 step towards its conclusion. The narrative that began in a garden of Eden is 87 00:08:03.180 --> 00:08:09.620 coming to a close, and so your New Testament begins with an old testament 88 00:08:09.779 --> 00:08:13.529 genealogy, so that we see that we cannot fully understand the new without the 89 00:08:13.769 --> 00:08:20.170 old. And yet there is an incredible shift that's taking place in our passage 90 00:08:20.209 --> 00:08:28.160 as we just read. It is imminently connected to the Old Testament, but 91 00:08:28.279 --> 00:08:33.200 there's also something new going on in this Gospel. And what makes it new 92 00:08:33.279 --> 00:08:37.960 is not simply that it occurs later on in time. You See, what 93 00:08:39.240 --> 00:08:46.230 makes the new testament new is that foundational shift which occurs when you go from 94 00:08:46.350 --> 00:08:54.110 shadows to the reality. Matthews describing this incredible shift from from prophecy to fulfill 95 00:08:54.350 --> 00:08:58.860 it. It's the same kind of shift that go that occurs when you go 96 00:09:00.019 --> 00:09:07.500 from an architectural blueprint to having the building in place and on site. Is 97 00:09:07.539 --> 00:09:11.490 there an intimate connection between the blue print and the building? Of course there 98 00:09:11.649 --> 00:09:18.610 is. Are they the same thing? Not at all. So look at 99 00:09:18.610 --> 00:09:24.320 the way in which Matthew looks backwards. Do you see how intimately connected his 100 00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:31.440 narrative is to the history of Israel itself? He lists Jesus is lineage, 101 00:09:31.559 --> 00:09:37.669 is his genealogy. He wants us to know who this Jesus is. He 102 00:09:37.789 --> 00:09:41.830 wants us to know this Jesus, and this means knowing where he came from. 103 00:09:45.230 --> 00:09:48.870 That's how Matthew says in verse one the Book of the Genealogy of Jesus 104 00:09:48.909 --> 00:09:56.340 Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. This is not 105 00:09:56.460 --> 00:10:01.179 just a son, this is not just a son of Abraham. Anyone who 106 00:10:01.179 --> 00:10:07.250 is Jewish could claim that lineage. This is the son of Abraham. For 107 00:10:07.330 --> 00:10:13.210 you see, long ago the Lord promised to Abraham, for instance in genesis 108 00:10:13.210 --> 00:10:16.929 twenty two, verse seventeen. I will surely bless you, I will surely 109 00:10:16.009 --> 00:10:20.090 multiply your offspring as the stars of Heaven and as the sand that is on 110 00:10:20.210 --> 00:10:24.559 the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his Emmy's and in 111 00:10:24.679 --> 00:10:31.039 your offspring shall all the nations of the Earth be blessed. And so who 112 00:10:31.080 --> 00:10:39.669 is this offspring of Abraham? Does it refer to many descendants, descendants outnumbering 113 00:10:39.750 --> 00:10:46.029 the stars and on the sand, or is it referring to one? Is 114 00:10:46.110 --> 00:10:52.259 it Isaac, or is it the nation of Israel? I love it here 115 00:10:52.299 --> 00:10:56.539 that when Matthew Calls Jesus the Son of Abraham, he's agreeing with what Paul 116 00:10:56.580 --> 00:11:01.059 says in glaciers, Chapter Three, Verse Sixteen, where he says the promises 117 00:11:01.100 --> 00:11:05.730 were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say and to 118 00:11:05.929 --> 00:11:11.889 offsprings, referring to many, but referring to one and to your offspring, 119 00:11:13.769 --> 00:11:20.240 as Paul says, who is Christ, the promised offspring of Abraham, has 120 00:11:20.279 --> 00:11:26.279 arrived in the birth of Jesus. Now King David. King David was also 121 00:11:26.360 --> 00:11:30.519 given a promise regarding a son. And Second Samuel Seven, verse twelve, 122 00:11:30.600 --> 00:11:35.590 I will raise up from your offspring after you, who shall come from your 123 00:11:35.710 --> 00:11:39.830 body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for 124 00:11:39.950 --> 00:11:46.029 my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will 125 00:11:46.070 --> 00:11:52.860 be to him a father and he shall be to me a son. Do 126 00:11:52.940 --> 00:11:58.100 you hear a similar are kind of ambiguity in that promise? Now, not 127 00:11:58.220 --> 00:12:03.289 with regard to the many or the one offspring. Here the ambiguities regarding to 128 00:12:03.690 --> 00:12:09.809 to whose son the Lord is describing. On the one hand, he says, 129 00:12:09.850 --> 00:12:13.450 I will raise up your offspring, who shall come from your body, 130 00:12:15.049 --> 00:12:18.159 but I will be to him a father, he shall be to me a 131 00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:22.960 son. Do you hear attention in those words? WHOSE SON is this? 132 00:12:24.039 --> 00:12:28.440 Is this is ultimately David's son, or is it God's? Well, we 133 00:12:28.559 --> 00:12:33.870 know the answer to that it's both, and this is what's matthews genealogy is 134 00:12:33.950 --> 00:12:37.870 making clear. This is the son of Abraham, this is the alongawaited son 135 00:12:37.950 --> 00:12:43.070 of David. And yet did you notice a break in the pattern of this 136 00:12:43.230 --> 00:12:50.259 genealogy? The phrase gets kind of monotonous as you read it and as you 137 00:12:50.379 --> 00:12:52.740 hear it, the phrase getting repeated over and over. Is a the father 138 00:12:52.940 --> 00:12:58.570 be be the father of see, so on and so forth, until you 139 00:12:58.610 --> 00:13:05.570 get to Joseph. When you get to Joseph and Jesus, in Verse Sixteen, 140 00:13:07.049 --> 00:13:13.759 it does not say Joseph the father of Jesus, it says Joseph, 141 00:13:15.360 --> 00:13:22.360 the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born. And then verse eighteen 142 00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:26.269 and the rest of chapter one tells us why, why there's this break in 143 00:13:26.389 --> 00:13:31.149 the phrasing of this genealogy. Joseph, the son of David, is told 144 00:13:31.190 --> 00:13:41.019 amazing things. His bride to be will give birth to a son. His 145 00:13:41.100 --> 00:13:46.259 name shall be called Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins, 146 00:13:46.580 --> 00:13:50.019 and the name Emmanuel, taken from Isaiah's prophecy, is recalled, for 147 00:13:50.139 --> 00:13:54.659 that name means God with us. This son of Abraham, this son of 148 00:13:54.659 --> 00:14:01.809 David, is also the son of God, he has to be called Jesus, 149 00:14:01.129 --> 00:14:05.769 which means yahway saves. He had to be called Jesus because of what 150 00:14:05.850 --> 00:14:11.600 he would do. And so the tied to Jesus's identity, tied to his 151 00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:18.200 very name, is this task. Even the name Jesus is tied not to 152 00:14:18.320 --> 00:14:22.320 his philosophy, not to his ethics, not to his teachings, but to 153 00:14:22.480 --> 00:14:28.950 his work. God Send Jesus into this world for a very specific purpose, 154 00:14:28.230 --> 00:14:35.230 to save his people from their sin, and this becomes so evident to us 155 00:14:37.429 --> 00:14:43.539 when we read through this genealogy of Jesus. We find great people in this 156 00:14:43.779 --> 00:14:50.019 list, but these same Greek great people are also great sinners. Notice how 157 00:14:50.059 --> 00:14:56.049 certain names are include it in this genealogy. In verse three, it describes 158 00:14:56.049 --> 00:15:05.049 Judah, the father of Peis and Zerah, by Tamar. It references this 159 00:15:05.289 --> 00:15:09.240 mother as well. Tamar was his daughter in law who posed as a prostitute 160 00:15:09.240 --> 00:15:13.000 to trick Judah into getting her pregnant. And then, notice we even went 161 00:15:13.159 --> 00:15:16.639 the Great King David is listed in verse six. David was the father of 162 00:15:16.759 --> 00:15:26.149 Solomon, by WHO? By the wife of Uriah. Bathsheba was her name. 163 00:15:26.549 --> 00:15:30.309 She's not listed by name, rather her husband is listed. The same 164 00:15:30.350 --> 00:15:35.110 one David had killed so that he could get you, Riah's wife, Bathsheba, 165 00:15:35.980 --> 00:15:41.500 and David Sin would throw his kingdom into turmoil. We hear of the 166 00:15:41.659 --> 00:15:46.700 the greatness of kings who come from this line of David and from Solomon, 167 00:15:46.980 --> 00:15:54.330 but where does their kingdom lead? To? The Babylonian exile. That's listed 168 00:15:54.409 --> 00:15:58.049 here as well. They are the failure of the people of Judah and the 169 00:15:58.129 --> 00:16:03.360 failure of the Kings of Judah were on full display. And what would our 170 00:16:03.399 --> 00:16:12.200 own genealogies reveal? Kings, princes, priests, pastors? Does your own 171 00:16:12.240 --> 00:16:19.070 lineage reveal pagans? Do you descend from royalty nobility? Do you descend from 172 00:16:19.190 --> 00:16:26.470 beggars and orphans? Whoever we are, whoever is in our family tree, 173 00:16:27.029 --> 00:16:33.779 the one thing we all cannot escape is that first root, the one thing 174 00:16:33.860 --> 00:16:37.179 that binds all of humanity in an unfortunate unity, is our relationship to Adam. 175 00:16:40.460 --> 00:16:42.899 And so Jesus came, the son of David, the son of Abraham, 176 00:16:44.500 --> 00:16:48.049 the son of Adam. In Jesus is one greater than all of these. 177 00:16:49.690 --> 00:16:52.769 In Jesus we find a son of Adam who is also the son of 178 00:16:53.009 --> 00:17:00.960 God, the one who is fully Adam's son and fully God's son. And 179 00:17:02.080 --> 00:17:06.680 so do you see what's going on here? Jesus is the final figure in 180 00:17:06.759 --> 00:17:14.880 the genealogy of Abraham and David, because Jesus is the last Adam. After 181 00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:19.829 Jesus, there's no one listed in this genealogy. Why? Because Jesus is 182 00:17:19.910 --> 00:17:25.309 the goal, he's he's the purpose, he's the reason of this genealogy. 183 00:17:26.990 --> 00:17:30.019 In fact, Jesus is the goal and purpose of the nation of Israel itself. 184 00:17:30.380 --> 00:17:36.299 In Him, God's promises to Abraham and to David are finally fulfilled. 185 00:17:37.579 --> 00:17:41.539 Now that Jesus, the Christ, came, there's no need for that genealogy 186 00:17:41.579 --> 00:17:47.490 to carry on. Christ came to bring an end to this sinful genealogy at 187 00:17:47.569 --> 00:17:52.490 his cross by paying the penalty for our sin, when he would truly save 188 00:17:52.609 --> 00:17:59.359 his people from their sins. You See, the new is not simply new 189 00:18:00.039 --> 00:18:03.839 because it comes after the old. It's new in the sense that it will 190 00:18:03.839 --> 00:18:08.839 never grow old, it will never be replaced by something else that is newer 191 00:18:08.880 --> 00:18:14.710 than it or better than it. It's new because it is eternal, imperishable 192 00:18:14.950 --> 00:18:19.869 and cannot never be defiled. What is new, therefore, is spiritual and 193 00:18:21.109 --> 00:18:26.579 and heavenly as he has fulfilled his promises. In the coming of Jesus Christ, 194 00:18:29.380 --> 00:18:33.299 he will not fail to bring all of his promises to their intended culmination. 195 00:18:36.859 --> 00:18:40.940 Therefore, this, this story of Christmas, this story of Christ being 196 00:18:41.059 --> 00:18:47.410 bored born, it's not just something that makes us feel good. This is 197 00:18:47.690 --> 00:18:51.490 the truth about you and your lives. As we are caught up in this 198 00:18:51.650 --> 00:18:59.599 March of history towards its intended finish line. The history of your savior does 199 00:18:59.720 --> 00:19:04.519 not simply look back upon the pages of the Old Testament. It also looks 200 00:19:06.119 --> 00:19:15.150 forward. And the history of your savior includes you. As one of my 201 00:19:15.230 --> 00:19:22.029 professor's told US frequently, Jesus does not ask to be made a part of 202 00:19:22.349 --> 00:19:26.619 your story. Whither, you are being made a part of his story. 203 00:19:26.980 --> 00:19:33.339 You are being called and gathered together as his people, as his gospel goes 204 00:19:33.460 --> 00:19:40.250 forth, as he claims you for himself, he is uniting himself to you 205 00:19:41.049 --> 00:19:48.130 and you to him, so that your names are recorded as well. No, 206 00:19:48.289 --> 00:19:52.839 not in Matthew's genealogy, in a book that's even better, in the 207 00:19:52.880 --> 00:19:59.960 lamb's book of life, and there your name sits alongside those of Abraham and 208 00:20:00.440 --> 00:20:06.480 David. Your name sits alongside those who have looked to the sun for their 209 00:20:06.680 --> 00:20:12.509 salvation, for such is the purpose and plan of God. Nothing can ruin 210 00:20:14.109 --> 00:20:19.789 God's plan. No Evil Schemes, none of our mistakes, not even our 211 00:20:19.869 --> 00:20:27.099 sins, nothing can separate us from the love of our sovereign God. So 212 00:20:27.140 --> 00:20:30.059 let us rest in the assurance, by this assurance, by resting in the 213 00:20:30.099 --> 00:20:36.930 finished work of our Savior, and let this assurance not lead us to treat 214 00:20:36.970 --> 00:20:41.369 sin lightly. Rather, let this assurance motivate us to be courageous, to 215 00:20:41.490 --> 00:20:44.890 do what is right in the eyes of the Lord and to obey his will. 216 00:20:44.930 --> 00:20:48.450 Amen, let's pray