Sound The Trumpet : Matthew 1: Pt. 5

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“Matthew 1: Pt. 5”
by Art Sadlier
March 7th, 2010

The Geneology of the King

Matthew wrote his gospel to reveal that Christ is the King of Israel. Later in the book Matthew presents the credentials of Christ in the miracles He performed. In the first chapter of the book, Matthew presents another kind of credential of the king. That credential is His genealogy, that genealogy presents the family tree of Christ as the Royal Family line. There was a Royal line in Israel and it came through David.

2 Samuel 7:12-13, "And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever." The Messiah, the king of Israel had to be of the line of David's family. This was not fulfilled by Solomon, David's heir, until the time of Christ that promise had never been fulfilled. A king that would reign forever. If Jesus was that king, as both He and Matthew claimed He was, His right to the throne, His royal lineage, must be proven. The proof of His royal lineage appears in Matthew 1:1-17.

A - The importance of genealogy's in Israel.

The Jews tenaciously valued their pedigrees. Consequently, if anybody was to be presented as their king, it was essential that he have the pedigree to prove it. In fact, prior to Matthews writing his book the pedigree of Jesus had been challenged. "Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, we be not born of fornication; we have one father, even God." John 8:41 This was a clear charge that Jesus was an illegitimate child. If that were true he no credentials to be the king of Israel. Matthew gives the genealogy of Christ to answer that accusation.

Four things Jewsish Genealogy's were used for.

1 - Tribal location - After the conquest of Canaan it was essential to determine a families place of residence according it's tribe. Remember, all of the land had been divided into tribal boundaries. In Numbers 34-35, it is explained how one had to know his tribe and his family line and his father's house so that he could be identified in his right location in the land.

2 - Transaction of land - Under certain circumstances according to Ruth 3-4, transfer of property required accurate knowledge of the family tree, so that tribal land would not be sold outside the tribe.

3 - Testing of lineage - Another interesting thing is indicated in Ezra 2:62. After the Babylonian captivity many Jews began to come back to the land. Many had claimed to be priests from the tribe of Levi. Because God was serious about having only Levites serving as priests, the people claiming to priests had to prove there genealogy. Those who could not prove by the registration that they were of the tribe of Levi were removed from the priethood.

4 - Taxation Laws - It is interesting to note that even as the new testament begins Joseph and Mary are going to Judea to be registered according their own ancestry. See luke 2:1-4 The genealogical identifcations were still being made at the time of Christ. This explains why there are at least 50 genealogies in the old testament.

Now all of this has been changed, in 70 AD the Romans sacked and burned the Temple and with all of the genealogical records. Consequently from that time onward no Jewish man could claim to be the Messiah, because he could not prove his genealogy and his right to the throne.

B - The Implications of the Genealogies of Christ - We have two genealogies of Christ recorded. In Matthew 1: we have a decending record strating with Abraham and descending down through David and Joseph to Christ. In Luke 3: we have an ascending record. It is reversed, it starts with Jesus and goes back through Mary and ascends all the way back to Adam. One is traced through Joseph and one is traced through Mary. One begins with Jesus and one ends with Jesus. It is as if the Spirit of God is saying, any way you look at it folks, this is the King!

Mathew is showing the legal descent of Jesus, as the king of Israel through Joseph - the royal line.

Luke is showing the lineal descent through Mary - the blood line.

Through Joseph - The royal line was passed through Joseph, the father passed on the legal right to rule. Inspite of the fact that Jesus had no earthly father, (Joseph was not His biological father) yet Joseph had legally adopted Christ (The Jews called him the son of Joseph). Consequently, Jesus had a legal right to the throne through Joseph.

Through Mary - Jesus was made a partaker of the blood line of David. He was a physical descendant of David, but not a partaker of Adam's seed, which is physically passed through the man.

Mary descended from David through David's son Nathan. Joseph descended from David through David's son Solomon.

Notice four things

1 - The Child of Mary - Notice in Matthew 1:16, "And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary", it doesn't say, 'Joseph begat Jesus', that word is usedof everyone in the genealogy. When it comes to Joseph it does not say 'Joseph begat Jesus'. Again notice what it does say, "And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary", it plainly says, "Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called the Christ". It could not be clearer! He was born of Mary, not of Joseph.

He was Joseph's child legally, by adoption. To be adopted into the family entitled him to all of the rights and priviledges of His father. Jesus had every right to rule, His father granted Him the Royal line and His mother granted Him the royal blood.

2 - The Curse of Jeconiah -There is a perfect fulfillment in prophecy that is very fascinating. In Matthew 1:11-12, we see that Joseph was a descendant of Jeconiah. Though Jesus was in David's line through Joseph he would have been unable to reign if He had been of Joseph's blood. There was a divine curse on Jeconiah's offspring. We read about that curse in Jeremiah 22:30a, "Thus saith the Lord, Write this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting on the throne of David, and rule anymore in Judah."

If Jesus had been a blood son of Joseph He never could have sat on the throne of David, because He would have been under the curse of Jeconiah. According God's plan, Jesus would receive the legal right to the throne through Joseph and the blood line of David through Mary who was not a descendant of Jeconiah, but was a descendant of David through David's son Solomon.

All of this is proof of the virgin birth without which Christ could not be our Savior. Christ was not a partaker of Adam's nature but of the divine nature through conception by the Holy Spirit. If Christ had been a partaker of Adam's nature He would have been a sinner himself and could not even have atoned for his own sin. The sin nature of Adam is passed on through the man, not through the woman. One infinite man could atone for an infinite number of sins in one sacrifice. A sinful finite man can never atone for even one sin. All of this takes a little sorting out for us, but to theJewish mind the implications are instantly understood.

3 - The Revelation of the Genealogy - Matthew begins his genealogy with these words, "The book of the generation (genealogy) of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham". 'Jesus' - the greek = iesous (hey-soos) The old testament equivalent - Jeshua or Joshua which means Jehovah is salvation. His name describes what He was sent to do. Matthew 1:21, "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins." their was a billboard on the main street of Safed, a bastion of Jewish orthodoxy, it read "Yeshua (savior) come now". The problem is that Israel is looking for a political or military savior.

'Christ' = the Greek word Christos = the annointed. Christ was divinely commissioned (appointed) as a Prophet, Priest and King. So this genealogy is about one who will save and who was annointed Prophet, Priest and King.

4 - The Response of Ridicule -Inspite of His credentials Israel rejected Him. See Matthew 13:54-57a. Over and over the Jews rejected Christ as their Messiah, inspite of His credentials. Their is an aspect of this genealogy that is thrilling. Jesus is a king unlike any other king. He does not rule at this time by law but by grace. Understand He did not force Himself on Israel. He offered himself to Israel as a savior and king. They rejected Him and the kingdom was postponed. Understand that Christ will not forceHimself onmen and women today. For those who will not receive Him as their savior and king he will not be their savior and king.

He is a gracious king, he offers himself to those who desire Him as their king.

Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13