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[0:00] Amen. We are beginning our series here, O Come Emmanuel, for Christmas, for Advent, and we are starting with Matthew chapter 1.

[0:13] ! Now, for the sake of time, I'm not going to read the entire section here. It's verses 1-17 we're looking at. I'm going to read a select portion, the first six verses, and then we'll jump down, I think, to verse 16.

[0:27] Hear now the word of the living God.

[1:27] So all the generations from Abraham to David were 14 generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon, 14 generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ, 14 generations.

[1:47] That is the word of the Lord. You may be seated. As I said this morning, we're beginning our series for Advent, and we're beginning the series with somewhat of a difficult passage, the genealogy of Jesus.

[2:11] Because I didn't read the whole passage because of time, but let's be honest, reading genealogies in the Bible is boring.

[2:23] After all, they're just names, right? Many times we skip them. This one begat this one, and this one was the father of this one, etc.

[2:33] Yet, the genealogies serve important functions. Inheritance rights, particularly the right to leadership, a priesthood, and kings.

[2:48] Genealogies were important for those things. You see, our God is a covenantal God, and part of that means is he makes promises and works through a family structure.

[2:58] God gave us the covenant of grace, meaning we didn't initiate it, deserve it, nor are we able to keep the covenant.

[3:10] He must do it all. And the genealogy of Jesus is his ancestry test, demonstrating that Christmas is God keeping his covenantal promise with his people.

[3:26] Christmas is a promise kept from God. It also demonstrates the historical reality, and therefore the supreme importance of Jesus of Nazareth.

[3:41] Because after all, some have said it's a myth. He's a myth. He's not historical, but he is. Because after all, myths don't have genealogies. God did it all at Christmas.

[3:55] And Jesus' genealogy shouts that Emmanuel has come. So we're spending Christmas with Matthew. He's the former tax collector, made apostle.

[4:08] Likely his inclusion among the disciples of Jesus would have been controversial. Because tax collectors worked for the Romans and were considered traitors to the Jewish people.

[4:22] Jesus brought a traitor into his band. But Matthew's gospel is the most Jewish of all the gospels. He goes out of his way to show that from the Old Testament that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah.

[4:37] I want you to notice he begins his book literally with words every Jew would have recognized. Literally, he says this, the book of the Genesis of Jesus Christ.

[4:51] The first book of the Bible, of course, is Genesis, which speaks of the beginning of all creation. What Matthew is saying is that now that Jesus has come, we have the beginning of a new creation.

[5:04] The kingdom of God has broken in and is being revealed through the birth, the miracles, the preaching, the death, the resurrection, and the ascension of the king of creation, our Lord Jesus.

[5:18] This is the message of the gospel. And all who believe it are brought into the new creation, living differently now. And guess what?

[5:30] There's more to come. Jesus is setting all things new, all things right, making. And Matthew starts off by highlighting that if we have eyes to see.

[5:44] But he also gives us the breakdown for the passage, for this genealogy. He gives us the breakdown for it. He wants to show through this ancestry test the identity of Jesus of Nazareth.

[5:57] Matthew says he is the Christ, the son of David, and the son of Abraham. And these titles are all essential.

[6:08] So I'm going to take them in chronological order, just as our text does. First of all, Jesus is the promised son, is the son promised to Abraham.

[6:19] Anyway, Adam and Eve's sin, plunge the whole race into sin, because now we're all born sinners. And Genesis reminds us, chapter 3, that God didn't want to leave it that way.

[6:31] He wasn't going to let sin have the last word over us, over his creation. So in Genesis chapter 3, he says, the Lord God said to the serpent, this is after the fall.

[6:42] God is meeting with Adam, Eve, but he's also meeting with the devil. The Lord God said to the serpent, because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock, above all beasts of the field.

[6:55] On your belly you shall go, and thus you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity, that's war, between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring.

[7:08] He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. Theologians called that the proto-evangelium, that is the first preaching of the gospel.

[7:21] And keep in mind, talking snakes aren't normal. The enemy, the devil, Satan, inhabited that creature so that he could lead Adam and Eve astray.

[7:34] Why? Humanity, but God said now humanity and snakes would be at war, biting and crushing each other. I don't like snakes. And if I see one, if I don't run, believe me, I'm getting something to kill it.

[7:50] But that's only indicative of the greater battle. Satan against humanity. Why do people do such evil things? I mean, we have a sin nature, but some things, you gotta wonder, where did that come from?

[8:06] There's a spiritual force of darkness at work, whether people want to acknowledge him or not. And we can't win this battle on our own. Because if our first parents, in their innocence, no sin, fell before him, what chance do the rest of us have who are born in sin and know nothing but sin and selfishness?

[8:27] How in the world can we defeat what they couldn't? St. Clair Ferguson said this so well. He said, Adam and Eve's calling was to turn the dust of the earth into a garden.

[8:41] Instead, they sinned and became part of that dust themselves. That's why I say ashes to ashes and dust to dust when I bury you.

[8:55] And you're going to do it to me. Yet there will come one. There will come a human, one of Eve's sons, who would bruise, that is, crush the serpent's head with his heel, dealing a death blow to the serpent, and even then receiving a death blow himself, a grievous wound.

[9:16] And notice this. He receives the wound in his heel. And the very thing, the very instrument used to crush the serpent, he's wounded. That's a picture of the cross, is it not?

[9:29] The cross would be the instrument of Satan's defeat, even though it would mean the death of the one on the cross. But that is not the end.

[9:41] For he would not stay dead. Now, in order for all this to happen, in order for this one, this one who would crush the serpent's head to come, God had to start with someone.

[9:52] He had to create a nation. And he started with a pagan. He started with a guy who was born in what we call today Iraq. He was born there. He was on a worship of the one true God.

[10:04] And God snatched him and said, come follow me. God chose him by grace. Abraham, or Abram at this time, did nothing to earn God's choice.

[10:16] But God chose him and decided to make of him a great nation through whom he would bring this one. He said to Abraham, now the Lord said to him, go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.

[10:35] Now, listen to this. And I will make of you a great nation. And I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you.

[10:47] And him who curses you, I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Notice the I wills. God is at work in the covenant.

[10:59] It's not up to Abe. He's a mess. He's a mess. We can't have time to talk about that. But he's a mess. But God is not. He's working all things for his glory and even for our good.

[11:13] This is a covenant promise. A covenant is an agreement made between two parties in which promises are made for keeping the covenant. And curses are given for breaking the covenant.

[11:24] But when God makes this covenant with this covenant of grace with Abraham and thus with us, he takes all the curses upon himself.

[11:35] He said he doesn't let Abraham receive in you. He says, no, I'm going to take responsibility for making sure this covenant is kept because God was at work.

[11:47] He wanted to bring his son through Abraham. No matter what. And God would create, therefore, this Jewish people and through them bring forth one who would save us all.

[12:03] Paul calls this prophecy given to Abraham the gospel. The gospel. Galatians chapter 3 verse 8. And the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham saying, in you shall all the nations be blessed.

[12:25] That is the gospel in the Old Testament. It is pointing towards one who would come. And Paul is saying, I know who that one is.

[12:38] Because he's come. He's come. That's why he says in Galatians 3 verse 16. Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring.

[12:49] It does not say, and to offsprings. Referring to many, but referring to one. And to your offspring, who is Christ. That's the offspring.

[13:01] Abraham thought it was Isaac. Isaac was only a type. A shadow of the one to come. Who would fulfill all of Abraham's dreams.

[13:13] And keep the promise that God made to him. That this one. This descendant of Abraham would be a blessing to all the nations.

[13:25] Jesus is the greatest and the best son of Abraham. For the gospel is not just for the Jews, but also for the Gentiles. For all nations, tribes, and tongues. Whomsoever will put their faith in Jesus will be saved.

[13:38] Therefore, Matthew is saying to us that Jesus passes this part of the ancestry test. Showing he is Abraham's descendant who brings the blessing that Adam lost and that was promised to Abraham.

[13:52] All of the world shall be blessed. But then he says Jesus is the king and son promised to king to David. The great king, David. The greatest of all of Israel's kings.

[14:06] God raised him up and God made him a promise. And I don't have time to read it all, but in 2 Samuel chapter 7, you'll see what happens there. It's a tender scene. It's like David looks around and he looks at his big old house that he's built.

[14:20] And then he looks out and he says, hold it. There's no house for God. See, remember the tabernacle. God, the ark of the covenant and all this utensils and furnishings were all under a tent called the tabernacle.

[14:37] And David felt like that's just, that's not permanent. That's not a permanent home. I want to build something grand, something great for God. I want to build a temple. And God, and God says, David, that's, he calls him at night, wakes him up in the middle of the night and says, David, that's, well, he actually tells the prophet to tell him.

[14:58] But he says, tell David, that's really cute. I'm glad he wants to build. But you know something, tell David, you're not going to build me a house. I'm going to build you one. What he meant was he was going to build David's dynasty from his own loins would come a dynasty of kings.

[15:16] Until one would come who would be the king of kings, lord of lords. And so he promised, he promised him that when your days are fulfilled, I'm going to raise up offspring after you.

[15:30] I'm going to establish his kingdom. And his kingdom, his kingdom will never end. Your throne will be established forever. Now here's the thing. David's son, Solomon, split the kingdom.

[15:46] And if you follow the Old Testament, you'll find that some of David's descendants as kings were good. And some of them were downright horrible, evil and wicked. So who, so what did, what was going on here?

[16:02] It is like Israel fell on hard times. So either God didn't keep his promise or he's referring to someone else. A thousand years after King David, another prophet named Daniel would give a vision of an eternal king and the eternal kingdom.

[16:18] In Daniel chapter 7, verses 13 and 14, Daniel says, I saw in the night visions. And behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man. And he came to the ancient of days and was presented before him.

[16:33] And to him, that is this son of man, was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him.

[16:43] His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. Daniel saw the son of man.

[16:57] He saw the coming of Christ in this first coming. He saw him coming. And all he saw, of course, the end of all time as well. Jesus is this son of man, this son of David that David was hoping for.

[17:13] Now listen, the people understood that the son of man was pointing to David's great son, this great king. The people understood that.

[17:25] You see, Jesus healed people. And they often cried out to him. Matthew says like at least three or four verses. 9, 27, 15, 22, 20, 30. He says they cry out to him when they're in need of his blessing.

[17:38] They say, have mercy on us, son of David. Now hold it. That's because they expected their Messiah king to be a merciful healer whose kingdom would cover the world and never end.

[17:55] They knew that the son of man, the son of David would be one who would help them. And so they cried out when they saw Jesus come by.

[18:05] Touch us. Touch us. Because they believed. Or at least they hoped he would be that son of David. Tolkien saw this.

[18:16] Believe it or not. Tolkien got this. J.R.R. Tolkien in his wonderful classic, The Lord of the Rings. He got it. And in that great book at the end, the return of the king, his character who's called Aragon.

[18:31] Aragon is the future king. He is the one that they've been waiting for. He's been hidden. But now he's come forth. And now he's leading these troops into battle. And they notice.

[18:42] And so what happened in one battle, some of his friends are wounded grievously. And Aragon goes in and begins bathing them and using special herbs to bring healing to them.

[18:55] And watch this. The proverb that Tolkien wrote in that moment. The hands of the king are the hands of a healer. You see?

[19:06] That's Jesus. Tolkien was a Christian. He was pointing to Christ. The hands of the king is the hands of a healer. And the people in Jesus' time recognize that.

[19:17] Son of David, have mercy on us. Matthew is telling us again that Jesus passes the ancestry test showing he is the son of David.

[19:28] He is the king who heals the world starting with your life. Starting with you. Have you cried out, son of David?

[19:38] Have mercy on me. Have you felt his touch? And then lastly, Jesus is the Christ, the son of God promised to the world. Christ is often treated like our Lord's last name.

[19:55] Jesus Christ. He was known as Jesus bar Joseph. And as his popularity spread, he was called Jesus of Nazareth.

[20:05] Nazareth being the place where he grew up. Jesus was a common name, folks. It was a common name. Joshua. This is Greek. It's Jesus. It's Jesus. And Hebrew, Joshua.

[20:17] It's a common name among the Jewish people. And probably still is today. It's not a name. Christ is not a name. It's a title. It means anointed one.

[20:29] It's the same word, Christ and Messiah. Both of them mean anointed one. One's Greek and one's Hebrew. Anointed one. You see, what does that mean? Literally, it means what we did today.

[20:40] It means to pour oil or rub oil on a person or thing. You were anointed this morning if you came down for prayers for healing. And the old covenant, it was used often for offices of kings and prophets and priests.

[20:58] They will all be anointed with oil because the oil in religious service implied that a person or thing is set apart for God alone. Set apart for holy service to God.

[21:11] It confers authority upon a person in office as well. It can signify the giving of the spirit, which would mean a changed heart. A change has come over this person.

[21:23] That's what happened even to the first king, Saul. When he was anointed, the spirit came upon him and he was transformed. You see, the Jews are waiting for the anointed one.

[21:40] Not just one, but the anointed one. The Messiah who would save them from all their enemies and restore their nation. They were waiting for it with bating breath.

[21:51] They were sick of suffering. They were sick of being put down. They were sick of being oppressed. They were sick of having people run over them. I mean, so many nations conquered that land.

[22:03] And in the time of Jesus, it was the Romans. The anointed one. They were waiting for him. Isaiah 11 reminds us, And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him.

[22:13] The spirit of wisdom and understanding. The spirit of counsel and might. The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. That's speaking of the Messiah. That's speaking of the Christ.

[22:24] He will be anointed with the Holy Spirit. And that's what we see, isn't it? At his baptism. When John, his cousin, baptized him in the water, you see the heavens open and the spirit of God descend upon him.

[22:40] And his father speaks from heaven. This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. He has been given anointed with the ultimate anointing. Not with oil.

[22:53] With the spirit of the living God. And isn't it beautiful that when you put your faith in Jesus, that's what happens to you. You are anointed. You're the spirit of God.

[23:04] Takes up residence in you. You are given the spirit so that you might be transformed. You might be changed. Because you can't change yourself. You've probably tried that over time and time again.

[23:15] But you fail. Why? Because it goes beyond your human strength. Oh, you can make yourself cosmetically better. You can do a little bit better.

[23:27] But not for God. You'll never be good enough for him. Because he's perfect and holy. And the only way you can be right with him is if you are perfect and holy. And you can't be.

[23:39] You need the king. You need one to come to deliver you too. Who will set you free from all of your enemies. Behold it. Who are your enemies?

[23:51] Your boss at work who drives you crazy. Your spouse. Y'all not getting along. Who are your enemies? No, your greatest enemies are not flesh and blood.

[24:06] Your greatest enemies are your fallen nature. Your sin. Satan, the devil himself. Those are your greatest enemies.

[24:18] And death. And death is your great enemy. And before those forces, you have no hope. You can't defeat them. Ashes to ashes and dust to dust is your calling.

[24:32] But in Jesus, he defeats them. Your enemies. He defeats your sinful nature.

[24:42] He begins to transform you. You're not perfect, but you will be. When he comes again, you will be perfected. He begins to work in you. So, Dan, the devil does not have the power over you because you are in Christ.

[24:55] You are with the king. You have choices. You can make choices now. You're not a slave to your drives. You're not a slave to your wants and desires. I can't help myself.

[25:07] A Christian should never say that. Oh, you have a power at working you. The power of God. Jesus' genealogy demands for him to be recognized as the Christ, the one who saves his people from their greatest enemy, which is their sins.

[25:27] Well, just a couple of thoughts and then we'll finish up. Because I read those first six verses for a reason. Because I wanted you to notice that there were some women named in this genealogy.

[25:43] And at the end, there was another woman named. There were five women named in this genealogy. And that's not normal for that culture. You didn't normally put women in this genealogy.

[25:53] It was always through the father. But in this genealogy, in the Lord's genealogy, you have Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and the wife of Uriah, and ultimately Mary mentioned in this genealogy.

[26:07] I don't have time to develop all of it, but I want you to notice something just real quick. One, that except Mary, those other four women were likely Gentiles. They were likely not part of the covenant community.

[26:20] They were outsiders brought in by marriage into the covenantal people. And that means people whom God had called to himself.

[26:31] Covenantal people, that's what I'm talking about. God had called these people to himself. And so they were brought in to that covenant. Their inclusion teaches us that even under the old covenant, Jesus is the savior of all people, including the marginalized and Gentiles, and even the scandalous.

[26:52] Because several of these women were scandalous. Tamar dressed up as a, I can't tell the whole story, I don't have time, but Tamar dressed up like a prostitute in order to get her father-in-law to impregnate her so she could raise up children for his son.

[27:11] Rahab was called, and Joshua, in Jericho, she was known as a prostitute. And she converted to Judaism. She converted to follow the one true God and let the spies in, and the city was destroyed later.

[27:25] Remember her? And this next lady, it's funny, she's not, I mean, she's not even really named. She's simply called the wife of Uriah.

[27:39] Now that's highlighting David's sin because David had no right to her. The wife of Uriah. Uriah was one of David's mighty men, one of his great warriors, and David did him dirty.

[27:50] He did him real dirty. And so he committed adultery, and so he takes this woman whose name is Bathsheba. He takes her to be his wife and covers up the murder of her husband that David committed.

[28:04] Scandalous. These women are scandalous. And then Mary. Mary is scandalous because virgins don't give birth to babies. Mary was considered a hoe too.

[28:20] The mother of Jesus. What does this all mean then? And of course, there are wicked kings in here too. Manasseh and Ahab, the husband of Jezebel.

[28:34] They're all in Jesus' genealogy. What is that telling you? The presence of these women and wicked kings would have encouraged Matthew because Matthew was an outsider, remember?

[28:46] He's a tax collector. He did it for the money. It would have been great. He was considered a big sinner. Hated by the Jews. But this genealogy shows that Jesus came to save little and big sinners.

[29:00] It shows that no matter your shame or guilt, he has a place for you with him in this kingdom. You may not be welcome in your family. You may not be welcome in your neighborhood.

[29:11] You may not be welcome in your city or nation, but you are welcome in the kingdom of God. The king understands what it means to have skeletons in your closet because he's got skeletons in his family closet.

[29:25] He came to save and cleanse them as well as to cleanse you. Oh, lastly, what else did we learn? A couple more things and we're done. God is the master of history.

[29:38] That's what we learn. From Abraham to Jesus, even though the nation failed and committed great sin and went into exile and came back, it looked gloom and doom.

[29:51] God's purposes had failed, but no, he had not failed. God knew where he was going and he got there. He's also the master of your story. If he's the master of the big story, he's certainly the master of your little story.

[30:05] It may look dark at times. You may feel lost. You may feel confused. You may lack faith and you may feel forgotten, but don't worry. He knows where he's taking you. He hasn't forgotten you and he will get you where you belong with him and his kingdom.

[30:22] Here in this great genealogy, number two, we have proof that Jesus was a man, a human being, a historical figure. Yes, God, but yet a man because myths don't have a family tree.

[30:33] Jesus, because he is not a myth, does. Meaning the good news is this. He's like us. Except for sin, Jesus is like us.

[30:48] He understands your frailties and your fears because he had a body too that was frail and could break, got hungry. And the Bible says he's not ashamed to call you brothers.

[31:03] Hebrews 2.11. Not ashamed and all your frailty and all your phobias and all your screw-ups and hang-ups. He is not ashamed to call you brothers if you trust in him.

[31:19] Hallelujah. Let me ask you a question. Do you qualify as a sinner? That's what he came to say. Do you qualify? If you won't admit you're a sinner, you don't qualify.

[31:33] You are one, but you don't qualify to be his brother or sister because you refuse to acknowledge that you're a mess-up and that you can't change yourself and you can't please God.

[31:46] You can barely please the people who know you and love you. But you certainly can't please God. Jesus came for people just like you and me.

[31:59] Listen, if he is your, if you have put your faith in Jesus and trust in him, you're his family, you're his brother, you're his sister, his life is in you.

[32:12] His life is in you now and you're being transformed. Listen, little by little bit, you are being, you are not the same. You are being transformed and he's not done with you. Don't give up.

[32:22] He's not done with you. When he's done, you will know. It's not done. But let me ask you a question. If I gave you a spiritual ancestry test, would Jesus show up in your DNA?

[32:37] If I gave you a spiritual ancestry test, if we could do such a thing, would Jesus show up in your family tree? Do you bear the family resemblance, the family likeness?

[32:48] Who do you look like? Who's your daddy? So many people name the name of Christ, but they don't bear the resemblance to Jesus.

[33:04] They're religious people. They go to church, but they don't know the Savior. They don't know the King of Kings and the Son of David. They don't know him. Do you know him?

[33:15] Is he really your king? Or are you perpetrating a fraud? As we used to say in West Philly. Don't do that.

[33:28] Call out to him now. Let him transform you. Let him change your life. And listen, if you know him, if you are in the family of God, if Jesus is in your family tree, be encouraged.

[33:42] Because this genealogy shows that he is faithful. That God will be faithful to you. That God is as faithful as the sun shining in the sky.

[33:54] Constantly, God is faithful. I know sometimes you feel like you're in the doom and gloom and doom. Sometimes you feel like, oh my goodness, where's the light?

[34:04] Sometimes life gets like that. Sometimes it's pain and suffering. Sometimes it's illness. Whatever it is, sometimes you feel like, where is God? But listen, the light is still shining.

[34:15] What happens sometimes, you know what happens on the earth, right? When the light is shining, but the earth turns away. The earth is spinning. And when the earth turns away from the sun, there's darkness on that side away from the sun.

[34:29] The side that's facing away from the sun is in darkness. But the light's still shining. Some of us are like that. You may be experiencing that. I'm in darkness, but here's the thing.

[34:41] Turn and face the light. If you will turn, the light's still shining. He hasn't forgotten you. He will keep covering it. Turn. Repent. Turn. Turn. Stop looking at your problems.

[34:53]  Stop looking at your diseases. Turn and face the light. And he's always...