"Just a List of Names" - The Lineage of a King
Matthew: The King and The Kingdom • Sermon • Submitted
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· 5 viewsMatthew and Luke both give genaologies for Jesus of Nazareth. They differ after King David, splitting between Nathan and Solomon. It is said that Matthew may follow the legal
Notes
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I want to start today’s sermon with a critical question. This is a definitional question, and your answer will reveal a depth of information about your person and character. Think wisely before answering.
Do you read the footnotes in books? (joking)
When I was in college, I had one professor in particular who was a stickler about the footnotes. He would give us a reading requirement for the weekend, say 100 pages or something, and would always give the caveat - the footnotes are included in the required reading. Now the first time I heard him say that, my heart sunk along with many of my fellow classmates, I’m sure, because in some texts, the footnotes take up half a page or more - and it was sort of the unwritten rule that the footnotes aren’t really part of the main text, so you can skip them and it gets your page count up.
As I progressed in my education, I had many classes with this particular professor. As I got more serious about what I was studying, I started to understand his emphasis on these footnotes. There was valuable information in those little hard to read lines. There was background information, support information, other resources to consider and aid in the author’s argument. I began to enjoy reading the footnotes almost as much as reading the rest of the text. I carry that practice with me today. Reading is a big part of my job, as you would guess, and also as I continue my education.
So that’s today’s sermon. Read the footnotes. Let’s pray.
I’m joking, again, obviously. Now why do I bring that up? I bring it up because the section in Matthew’s Gospel we are looking at today is similar to the footnotes in a textbook or history book. Now, the genealogy is not a footnote, it is part of Matthew’s message. But often we (including me) are guilty of looking at the genealogies in scripture kind of like we see the footnotes in books. We read through portions of the old Testament and we get to a long genealogy, and we say “well, I guess I can get a few extra chapters in today...” Genealogies are tough reading. Especially when the names are unfamiliar. But they serve a purpose, and today’s section of Matthew puts forth one of the big purposes of Genealogies.
Why are these lists of names so critical and important? Why are they included in scripture? Why people, particularly Israelites, keep such good records of their family history? Well, it started way back at the conquest of Canaan. Remember how the land was divided up into tribes? Well, what were tribes in Israel but family designations? In order to know where their homeland truly was, they had to know their lineage.
There were tasks ordained by Tribe, specifically the priesthood for Levi. In order to rightly qualify for that task, a man had to know his lineage.
The transfer of property from generation to generation required a distinct knowledge of family history. In order to get your inheritance, you had to know your lineage.
When we come to the New Testament period, even the Roman census of the Jews was taken by tribe. Or think of Paul, who knew fully that He was from the tribe of Benjamin. There is historical evidence that at the time of Christ, there was an incredible amount of attention and value given to maintaining genealogical records.
But our question for today is, why does Matthew include this? The answer to that is another critical part of Jewish genealogy - and that is the line of the throne. We spoke last week briefly of the Davidic Covenant - that promise that one from David’s house would rule on the throne forever! Well, the Jewish people believed this, even during the times when there was no one on the throne. They knew that one day, this promise would be fulfilled. If they were more intent, they knew it would be fulfilled in a miraculous, Messianic sense. So they kept track. Especially if they knew they were in David’s line, because they knew every boy born in that line had at least some potential to be enthroned, and perhaps God would keep His promise through them. That is exactly what Matthew has in mind, and why he begins his Gospel record with this list of names.
Only Matthew and Luke really include detailed Genealogies, and Luke at least puts his a few pages in. But with Matthew, it is front and center! When I was a kid, I remember a time when I was being particularly belligerent, or annoying, to my mom. I don’t remember the exact situation, but when she asked my why I was acting that way, I said “I’m bored.” So she gave me something constructive to do. “Go copy down some Bible verses for half an hour.”
In the moment I probably saw this as some form of punishment, and not putting much though into it, i just started with Matthew 1. Half an hour is a long time when your 8 or 9 years old, so Maybe I thought I was going to have time to finish the whole New Testament. Well I got about 10 words in, looked down the page at all these names, and said “well this was a mistake!”
Hopefully at the end of this sermon, you don’t look back at the time you spent listening and say “well this was a mistake.”
Here is the big idea for today.
This list of name teaches us that Jesus Christ is the real King, and His history shows his redemption in real people.
This list of name teaches us that Jesus Christ is the real King, and His history shows his redemption in real people.
1. Questions about this List of Names
1. Questions about this List of Names
I mentioned that only Matthew and Luke give detailed genealogies leading up to the birth of Christ. We’re not studying Luke, but if you’ve been a student of the Bible for any time, you know that they present these in two different ways.
For starters, the two lists run in different directions. Luke starts at Jesus and works back in history, Matthew starts in History and works forward to Jesus.
Luke goes all the way back to Adam, while Matthew starts at Abraham. It seems that Luke is really trying to place Jesus Christ in the whole of human history, while Matthew is trying to place Jesus as he specifically relates to God’s major promises. Again, The promise to Abraham that in his family all the nations would be blessed, and the promise to David that his family would rule forever.
Those are the first, noticeable, major differences. But there is something else that you will come across if you read them.
If you were to follow both genealogies in the same order, once you get to Abraham and then down through David, they are the same. They follow the same line, probably referring back to the same records in the Old Testament. After David, though, they split. So they both have David clearly in the line of Christ, and they both end up in the same place with Joseph, the husband of Mary who gave birth to Christ, but between David and Joseph, they only converge on a couple of names. Shealtiel, and Zerubbabel.
Shouldn’t they be exactly the same? Shouldn’t they follow the same names all the way down through? Why does Luke go through David’s son Nathan, and Matthew goes through King Solomon?
Now, Let me say that while some use this as an argument to disprove the accuracy of scripture, there is plenty of evidence and reason to believe that both Matthew and Luke were tracing accurate genealogical records, but perhaps with different emphases.
Matthew is clearly trying to follow the Royal line, through Solomon, and then coming down through a list of the kings until the deportation to Babylon. Luke, however, chooses the “legal” bloodline. Nathan was older than Solomon. Nathan was closer to the direct line of legal lineage than Solomon, but Solomon was chosen to become King. So both are descendents of David, both can potentially produce heirs to the throne, but One became the Royal line, and the other became, well, cousins to the royal line. Another way to put it, Matthew is following the line of the actual kings, and the descendents who would have been King, while Luke is following a more direct line of “father/son” relationship.
Some have come to the conclusion that Luke was following Mary’s line back to David, and Matthew was following Joseph’s. That is definitely a possibility, I tend to think it may be accurate - Jesus wasn’t a blood child of Joseph, but He was of Mary, and Luke’s Gospel focuses greatly on Jesus’ humanity. Regardless, here is the important thing. Both Luke and Matthew trace a line from David. All of these cousins are right in the line of the promise. They come down through land on this little family in Nazareth. Nathan’s line stops at Jesus, and Solomon’s line stops at Jesus. That is, these two parallel lines with potential for the throne find themselves exhausted in the same Son of David - a son who had a mother from David’s family, and a son who had an adopted Father from David’s family. This Son, of course, is Jesus Christ.
2. Highlights in this List of Names
2. Highlights in this List of Names
Time and patience wouldn’t permit to do an in-depth look at each of the names that we have information about, so I want to give a few highlights. I’m going to go backwards with these highlights, so let’s start with verse 17.
A. 14 Generations
A. 14 Generations
At the end of this list, Matthew is very intent on including this note. He has 14 generations listed from Abraham to David, 14 Generations listed from David to the Exile, and 14 Generations listed from the Exile to Jesus Christ.
At first glance you may say, well Matthew just made this observation and found it interesting, so he jotted it down. Except that’s not really the case. Both Matthew and Luke skip over some generations in their lists. Now, they follow the line just as accurately, they just jump a few here and there. There are examples of this in other ancient Genealogies. It wasn’t bad practice or slight of hand. But regardless, in doing this, Matthew specifically highlights this number 14. Why would he do that?
Disclaimer - I try to avoid numerology - I think a lot of damage has been done with people trying to find hidden messages and decoding prophecies to locate otherwise unknowable things through cryptic numbers in the Bible. You will only very rarely hear me speak of the significance of numbers in scripture, this is one of those times.
I think the most compelling reason has to do with the name David. The Hebrew name for King David, when paralleled with the Hebrew numbering system, adds up to 14. Is it a stretch to think people would have been aware of this? I don’t think so. Matthew is so clearly tying Jesus to the Kingship, the throne, particularly David’s throne, that in this case I think He is making a very Jewish point. Jesus is the culmination of David’s line. The 14’s aren’t the message, but the are like neon lights pointing to it. Also notable regarding another of Jesus’ roles, there were 14 high priests from Aaron to the building of Solomon’s temple, and 14 high priests from that point until the last one mentioned in the Old Testament. Well-studied readers of Matthew would have known both of these things off hand - Matthew is pointing them to Jesus, the ultimate King and Priest.
B. Joseph and Mary
B. Joseph and Mary
Joseph, Mary’s husband, is interesting for two reasons. Like many people in this list, he was not a notable person. He was a carpenter. Not that carpenters aren’t significant or valuable, I would like to think that they are. But he wasn’t a high-ranking citizen, nor was he from a significant place. Joseph from Nazareth wasn’t a household name in Israel. And that is the case with all the descendents from the Exile on. An unadorned list of regular people, but faithful people. We will speak more of Mary next week, but she also was relatively unknown. Isn’t it remarkable how God works like this?
Also, the way Joseph is listed here tips the hat to next week. All the other names in the list follow the same pattern - Abraham fathered Isaac, Isaac fathered Jacob, Jacob fathered Judah… etc. The word “fathered” can mean specifically father, or it can mean “produced” as in a grandfather, or even more distant ways. But when we get to Joseph, the language stops and says “Jacob fathered Joseph the husband of Mary.” Matthew is very particular here, leading in to the narrative of Jesus’ miraculous birth which was a real birth, but of course, there was something significant and wonderful about it!
C. Jeconiah
C. Jeconiah
That the man Jeconiah is listed in Jesus Genealogy is one of the most interesting footnotes of redemptive history. Jeconiah was a man cursed by God.
Thus says the Lord:
“Write this man down as childless,
a man who shall not succeed in his days,
for none of his offspring shall succeed
in sitting on the throne of David
and ruling again in Judah.”
The fact that Joseph was a descendent of Jeconiah mean’s that Joseph himself could not have been eligible for the throne. Also, Joseph’s biological children were also excluded. Yet, in his wisdom and might, God overcame the physical boundaries of this curse by making Joseph not the physical father, but the step-father, the adoptive father of Jesus Christ. Jesus was not Joseph’s offspring, but he was a son of David. Isn’t it just like our Lord to take a family which was cursed, and redeem their history through miraculous means? This pattern points us to the Gospel, in which our curse is redeemed through the miraculous means of Jesus Christ.
D. The Women
D. The Women
The fact that Matthew highlights 4 women, 5 if you include Mary, in this genealogy just can’t be ignored. It wasn’t unprecedented to mention women in a genealogy, but it also wasn’t usual or normal. Matthew took the road less traveled in doing so. He must have had a reason.
Who are these women?
Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba
Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba
There are several ways to connect all these women.
Tamar was the mother of twins, Perez and Zerah, by Judah. But Tamar wasn’t Judah’s wife, she was Judah’s daughter-in-law. If you’ve read Genesis 38, you know that is a chapter full of wrongdoing by both Judah and Tamar. Tamar played a prostitute, and Judah was looking for one. Trickery, deception, immorality. Yet Tamar and Judah find themselves in the line of the Messiah, and their wicked action produced children who were in the line also.
Rahab, if Matthew is referring to Rahab of Jericho, actually was a prostitute. Yet, she had a spark of faith. She was not Jewish, yet she came to believe in the God of Israel. So God saw it fit to place her name in Christ’s line also.
Ruth was also not a Jew by birth - she was a a Moabite. Her lineage was a result of the sinful relationship of Lot and his daughters. She found a kinsman in Boaz to marry after the death of her husband.
The wife of Uriah, of course, is Bathsheba. We know the story of David and Bathsheba. We can probably assume that Bathsheba was a Hittite like her husband. The bible clearly records David’s sin of adultery and murder, and the illicit relationship that took place. Yet, their children are in the line of Christ both here and in Luke’s Gospel.
Now, why these four women? Whether you link them together because they are “outsiders” or because they might have had “questionable reputations,” we certainly can say they are there because of Grace. All four of these women, either because of sin or heritage, could have been seen as “embarrassing” to some. People could say “they aren’t supposed to be part of this story!” Yet God had another plan. Also, the fact that Matthew gives us these four women primes us for two parts of the Birth story of Jesus.
A questionable birth. Jesus was accused all through his life of being illegitimate. Now, we know that accusation wasn’t accurate - and Matthew goes to lengths to show that - but regardless, to include these women is to make the point “things don’t always happen as you think they might in God’s redemptive plan.”
Hope for outsiders. All of these women were “outsiders” in one way or another. They “shouldn’t have been there.” Which is interesting, because right after Matthew tells us about Jesus’ birth, he tells us about a group of “outsiders” who come to worship Him. In fact, Matthew’s Gospel includes much hope for “outsiders” to enter the Kingdom of this King in a miraculous way.
E. Judah
E. Judah
Very quickly, but importantly. Why Does the line come from Jacob’s fourth son, Judah, not his first? Well, do you remember the blessing of Jacob on Judah?
Genesis 49:10, Jacob says to Judah - “the scepter will not depart from Judah until Shiloh comes” or some translations have “until he who to whom it belongs comes.” Well, Judah’s blessing finds its completion in Jesus. Just as David’s lines are exhausted and fulfilled in Jesus, so is the promise to Judah.
3. Takeaway’s from this List of Names
3. Takeaway’s from this List of Names
So what can be said of all this? How can we apply this list of names to our life today?
A. God works his plan of redemption in and through people.
A. God works his plan of redemption in and through people.
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
We find in scripture God’s eye toward people is always shaded with the lens of Redemption. He has his eyes set on people. Yes, his creation is beautiful. Yes, the trees are vital and important. Yes, the rocks could cry out if he so chose, and yes, your pets are precious and sweet - but God’s redemption plan works through, centers on, and is aimed at people. And as we have seen, it works through imperfect people and for imperfect people.
How can that be? How can imperfect people be part of the redemption plan for other imperfect people? Because the catalyst, the fuel, the substance of the redemption is in the perfect one - the King, the Messiah, Jesus Christ. All of God’s history led up to Jesus, and all history since then is hopeful because of Jesus.
B. God as Sovereign Keep his Covenant Promises.
B. God as Sovereign Keep his Covenant Promises.
When God promised that one of David’s offspring would rule forever, He wasn’t just saying that to make David feel better. He said it because He meant it, and it was and is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the son of David, the Son of Abraham. God didn’t circumvent history to declare Jesus as King. God sovereignly worked in History because Jesus Christ is King. That promise to David took place hundreds of years before Jesus, and there were many years where it seemed hopeless - many years where a son of David was not on the throne. Yet, the plan worked out. And it wasn’t plan b - God’s promises are not a bandaid on the tragedy of human history. They are according to ultimate wisdom, ultimate power, ultimate authority - that his plans come to fruition is not evidence of luck or coordination, it is evidence of his power and might.
And if God keeps his covenant promises in the past, he keeps them in the future also. Jesus purchased the New Covenant - a covenant of redemption through his blood. A covenant of eternal promises of life and light in Him. A promise of eternal joy, dwelling with Him forever. Jesus is the sovereign King, and what He says he will do.
C. God does not bring perfect people into His Kingdom.
C. God does not bring perfect people into His Kingdom.
There is only one perfect person involved in the Kingdom of God, and that is Jesus Christ - who is God himself. Apart from Jesus, every single citizen of the Kingdom is deeply and inherently flawed. Every single person in the Kingdom has entered into it by the Covenant of Grace, their entrance purchased by the blood of Christ.
Think of the History of Jesus we just read. From Abraham to Joseph and Mary, every individual in Jesus’ line was a sinner - some monumentally so. A perfect personal or family past isn’t a requirement to enter the Kingdom, nor is it a requirement to be used of God.
If that was the requirement, none of the authors of scripture would have been qualified to serve the Lord. None of the apostles would have been qualified to follow the Lord. None of the leaders in Church history would have been qualified to serve the Lord. Even myself as your pastor wouldn’t be qualified. If you think I’m perfect, just hang around me for a while. And over the last 6 months, I’ve had to toss out the idea that any of you are perfect either.
Yet, we have one hope and one thing in common - that our King does not use the perfect ones, he calls and redeems the imperfect. He causes them to grow in grace each step of their lives. And one day, when we enter the fulness of the Kingdom, we will reach the end of our imperfect existence and dwell in holiness.
So don’t be too put off by lists of names in the Bible. You, after all, are in a list of names. If you are a follower of Christ, a citizen of His Kingdom, you are in the list of names of the Redeemed.
If you don’t know this King, if you’ve never come to grips with who he is - the Son of God, God in flesh. If you’ve never come to grips with what he has done - lived perfectly, died sacrificially, and rose victoriously - then may you see Christ the King and take Him for who He is, the Redeemer.