Today we take a break from Genesis (the first book of the Old Testament) and instead look to the Gospel of Matthew (the first book of the New Testament). Now, let us consider two points from this first chapter.

The Genealogy

The book of Matthew opens up with a genealogy, which is essentially a family tree, a list of one’s lineage. Genealogies are ubiquitous within the Bible (we will see plenty of these in the book of Genesis); at first glance, they can seem unimportant and worth skipping over; however, God has given us genealogies for a purpose, and no part of God’s word should be considered inferior to another. Now, this genealogy, along with the one found in Luke 3, are arguably more important than any other due to the fact that they regard Jesus Christ himself. So what is Matthew’s specific purpose in giving us this genealogy, and what is he trying to emphasize?

There are four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), and while they all testify about the same good news about the work of Jesus Christ, they each slightly differ regarding their emphasis. For instance, the Gospel of John emphasizes the divinity of Christ more than the rest; this is why we find it beginning with statements such as this, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:1-3). The Gospel of Luke, on the other hand, seeks to emphasize the fact that Jesus is the long-awaited messiah; this is why Luke begins by giving us lots of testimonies from different people who recognize and confirm that Jesus truly is the Messiah. Examples of this include the angel Gabriel’s testimony about Jesus to Mary, John the Baptist’s testimony about Jesus, Simeon’s testimony, and Anna the prophetess’s testimony; it is all to point to the fact that Jesus Christ is the true savior. The Gospel of Matthew emphasizes this point, that Jesus is the true king; how does Matthew do this? He does this by giving us a genealogy that traces Christ back to King David and thus proves that Jesus Christ comes from a royal lineage. 

This is all to fulfill what was written in the Old Testament that the Messiah would come from the house of David (2 Samuel 7:12-16, Isaiah 9:7, Jeremiah 33:14-26, Jeremiah 23:5-6). This is also why he introduces the genealogy with this statement, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David.” In fact, Jesus is often referred to by others as the Son of David (Matthew 9:27, Matthew 12:23, Matthew 15:22, Matthew 20:30-31, Matthew 21:9-15). Jesus Christ is the true and better Adam, priest, prophet, and king!

Noel

We have just finished celebrating Christmas, and when we, who are the people of God, consider the birth of Christ, we learn much about who God is. We learn, for instance, that he is a God of great wrath who demands punishment for sin, and we learn that he is a God of great love who pays for the sins of his people, even the Father giving up his Son for unworthy sinners like us. But, the attribute of God that struck me most as I was reading this chapter is the fact that God is a promise keeper! We just read Genesis chapter 3, and as sad and negatively consequential as that chapter was, pastor Caleb did not forget to highlight the promise that God made there, the promise of the Gospel (Proto Evangelion). The promise that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent and, in doing so, would have his heel bruised. When we read this chapter and find the birth of Christ, brothers and sisters, let us not dilute it down to a quaint little story. This is not some silly bedtime story; rather, this is a mighty promise of God coming to fruition. The promise that God made all the way back in the beginning of Genesis begins to be fulfilled at the birth of Jesus Christ. God is not like us; every promise he makes, he keeps. He promised the flood would come in the days of Noah, and it did. He promised that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent's head, and he did. He promises he will come again soon; do you think he will fail now? God is a promise keeper! I’ll end today’s notes with the lyrics of  this song which we recently sang on Sunday service

On a starlit hillside, shepherds watched their sheep

Slowly, David's city drifted off to sleep

But to this little town of no great renown

The Lord had a promise to keep

And indeed, that promise was kept. Thank God it was, Amen.