January 3, 2022

God Is At Work... Even When We Can't See It

Matthew 1

Blake Holmes
Monday's Devo

January 3, 2022

Monday's Devo

January 3, 2022

Central Truth

God's family tree reveals the Lord's grand redemptive narrative of history.

Key Verse | Matthew 1:1

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 

Matthew 1

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, 1 1:3 Greek Aram; also verse 4 and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king.

And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, 2 1:7 Asaph is probably an alternate spelling of Asa; some manuscripts Asa; also verse 8 and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 10 and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, 3 1:10 Amos is probably an alternate spelling of Amon; some manuscripts Amon; twice in this verse and Amos the father of Josiah, 11 and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

12 And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, 4 1:12 Greek Salathiel; twice in this verse and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13 and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, 14 and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, 15 and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, 16 and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.

17 So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.

The Birth of Jesus Christ

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ 5 1:18 Some manuscripts of the Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed 6 1:18 That is, legally pledged to be married to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

23  “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
    and they shall call his name Immanuel”

(which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

Footnotes

[1] 1:3 Greek Aram; also verse 4
[2] 1:7 Asaph is probably an alternate spelling of Asa; some manuscripts Asa; also verse 8
[3] 1:10 Amos is probably an alternate spelling of Amon; some manuscripts Amon; twice in this verse
[4] 1:12 Greek Salathiel; twice in this verse
[5] 1:18 Some manuscripts of the Christ
[6] 1:18 That is, legally pledged to be married

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Dive Deeper | Matthew 1

What does a genealogy reveal? Much more than we might expect!

Matthew was written to the Jews living in Palestine in order to present Jesus as the King of the Jews, the fulfillment of the Old Testament's messianic prophecies. Thanks to Matthew's account, we learn of Joseph's dream (Matthew 1:20-24), the journey of the magi (Matthew 2:1-12), Jesus' family's flight into Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15), the slaughter of the innocents (Matthew 2:16-18), Peter's attempt to walk on water (Matthew 14:28-31), and several other memorable stories unique to Matthew's Gospel that I'll challenge you to discover. Most notable is Matthew's emphasis on Jesus' teaching. Be sure not to miss Jesus' five sermons (Matthew 5-7, 10, 13, 18, and 24-25). The phrase ". . . when Jesus had finished these sayings/parables" concludes each sermon and gives structure to the book (Matthew 7:28-29, 11:1, 13:53-54, 19:1, 26:1).

But why open with a genealogy?

The genealogy reveals the Lord's grand redemptive narrative of history. Sadly, too many of us miss the theological significance of the genealogy and skip to the "action" of the story. In doing so, we miss the audacious claim the Bible makes: Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah who fulfills the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants (see Genesis 12 and 2 Samuel 7). Matthew's genealogy traces Jesus back to Abraham to show that He is the Father of the Hebrew race, their long-awaited Messiah. (Compare this with Luke's genealogy, which is traced back to Adam to show that He is also the Father of the human race, and thus, the Savior of all people). 

So what does all of this mean for us today? Matthew's Gospel shows us that the Lord is true to His promises. History is not just a random sequence of events but the fulfillment of the providential plan of a sovereign God. As children of God saved by His grace, we fit into a much bigger story than we could ever imagine. It is a grand story that began with creation, grew dark at the fall, came to light through Jesus' birth, and will find its ultimate fulfillment when He returns. Through Jesus, we find our adoption into God's family.

Discussion Questions

1. How does Matthew arrange the genealogy of Jesus? What are we to conclude from this?

2. Compare Matthew's genealogy with Luke's. How are they different? The same? How should we account for these differences?

3. How does someone enter into the family of God? (Hint: See John 1:12).