The King Has Come (Matthew 1:1-17)

But this morning, as we think about Christmas, and we think about Advent, and we think about all of those things that go along with this time of the year,

We're going to do something a little bit different this year as we work our way through Scripture.

For the past few years, we've basically taken Matthew and Luke's Gospel accounts, and we've kind of ping-ponged back and forth a little bit as we've worked our way through these Christmas stories, these Christmas passages,

that we oftentimes think of, and much of what we've done is kind of like skipping a rock across a pond, where you're going pretty fast in a great distance, but not going very deep into the passages.

And I think there's benefit to that. I think there's something to be said because you get to see the overarching picture, the big picture of what is going on in the passage,

But I believe there's also some benefit of slowing down and taking our time and going through some of these passages in greater depth.

And that's what we're going to be doing today.

We're going to, over the next four weeks, be looking at Matthew's account specifically in the birth narrative and taking those passages in smaller bite-sized chunks and working our way through it.

And today, we're going to be focusing on the genealogy section of Matthew 1.

Now, how many in, well, we won't make you raise your hand for that, but many of you in here have started Bible reading plans and have worked your way through reading through Scripture.

And if you've ever done that, when you get to a genealogy section, what do you typically do?

By your laughter, it kind of tells me what you typically do.

You skim through it as quick as you possibly can just so you can check off that box and say, all right, I read today's passage.

Or you get to that section, you're like, oh, my goodness.

Here we go. All of these names.

This person had this son. This person had this son.

You just go over and over and over again as you read through it.

But today, I want us to look at this passage because this passage is in here for a reason.

This passage tells us something incredible about who Christ is and what he came to do.

And so if you have a copy of God's word, I want to invite you to open with me this morning to Matthew chapter 1.

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

And we're going to be reading verses 1 through 17.

And this is what the word of the Lord says.

It says this.

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,

and Ram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nashon, and Nashon 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,

and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram,

and Joram the father of Uzziah.

And Uzziah was the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz,

and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,

Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah,

and Josiah the father of Jeconiah,

and his brothers at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

And after the deportation to Babylon, Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,

and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,

and Zerubbabel the father of Abiod,

and Abiod the father of Eliakim,

and Eliakim the father of Azor,

and Azor the father of Zadok,

and Zadok the father of Akim,

and Akim the father of Eliud.

Eliud the father of Eleazar,

and Eleazar the father of Matin,

and Matin the father of Jacob,

and Jacob the father of Joseph,

the husband of Mary,

of whom Jesus was born,

who is called Christ.

And 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.

Whew!

And so when you get to a passage like this,

many of you are probably thinking,

I'm glad we didn't have a prayer prompt,

where somebody had to read all of these this morning,

but when you get to a passage like this,

it's oftentimes really easy to just skip over it.

And again, you may be thinking,

what in the world?

This just sounds like a big list of names.

Why are we focusing on this passage today?

Well, for one,

there is a reason that these names were included in Scripture.

It wasn't just a filler.

In fact, it helps us see one of the dominant themes

throughout the book of Matthew,

and that one of those dominant themes

said that Jesus is the long-awaited,

much-anticipated King who was coming.

Several have simplified the different gospel themes

of Matthew, Martin, Luke, and John,

and simplified those down to some basic themes,

and sometimes probably a little oversimplification.

But when you look at the different gospel accounts,

you'll see these themes begin to play out.

For example, the gospel according to Mark,

the theme of this is Jesus is the suffering servant.

You know, Mark doesn't include a genealogy

or a birth narrative,

but goes right into Jesus ministering to people,

goes right into him serving people

and loving people in some really powerful ways.

Then you get to the gospel according to Luke,

and Dr. Luke, he emphasizes the humanity of Jesus,

and there's a large emphasis

on the humanity of Jesus in Luke.

The gospel according to John,

Jesus is the Son of God.

It starts, in the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God,

and the Word was God.

And so you have this big emphasis

on Jesus being the Son of God,

and then you get to Matthew's account here,

which we're looking at this morning,

and we clearly see what is going to be

the first evidence of hope in this passage,

and that is this.

And this is one of the dominant themes

throughout the book of Matthew,

and it is this.

The King has come.

The King has come.

It says,

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.

Now, other than making it difficult

for future pastors to read this portion of Scripture,

Matthew has a reason for including these names

in his gospel.

And before you get too bent out of shape,

if you've been reading the Old Testament

or an Old Testament scholar,

yes, this does not include

every single person in those lineages.

There's names that are omitted here,

and I think Matthew does this for a reason.

And so you look at these 14 generations

through each of these sections

that he breaks it down to,

and he does this for a reason.

He does this to clearly put an emphasis on Jesus,

to clearly draw a circle around Jesus

and say,

This is the long-awaited King.

This is the one that we've been waiting for.

And many scholars have different opinions

on why it is that he included 14 generations.

Several have noted that it could be

because of King David's name.

A lot of times in Hebrew culture,

in Jewish culture,

they would assign numbers to go along with letters.

And so that when those numbers were associated

with the alphabet,

you could add up those.

And so David's name,

King David's name,

it would have been,

if you added up the numeric value

of all of those letters,

it would be 14.

And so people are,

some people really emphasize that.

He's showing that Jesus is from the royal lineage,

the king's lineage.

He is from,

he is the king.

Others,

and I think probably more accurately,

have stated the fact that

14 would be a sign of double perfection,

of double completion,

where seven would be the complete number,

seven days in creation,

and many other examples

of seven being this perfect complete number.

And so what they're showing is

with two sevens that you see this,

this complete completion

or perfect perfection,

or maybe even like this complete perfection

that is placed in Jesus.

And so whatever the case may be,

Matthew is clearly showing us

that all of this is focused on Jesus

as the coming king.

Matthew is clearly showing us

that Jesus is the focus of all history.

And it is vital to our satisfaction in life,

to our purpose,

to our salvation,

to the way that we interact with our families,

that we set our eyes on him

to make sure that he is the hope

that we cling to in this life.

He is the one that we build our lives on,

just like Matthew is showing

that everything revolves around Jesus here.

We too must make sure

that is evident in our lives.

See, Paul in Colossians,

after telling us who Christ is,

telling us what Christ has done for us,

he makes this emphasis in Colossians 3

to make sure that we focus on the things of God.

He says,

if then you've been raised with Christ,

seek the things that are above,

where Christ is,

seated at the right hand of God.

Set your minds on things that are above,

not on things that are on earth.

Paul is making sure that we know

that what we set our minds on,

that what we give our attention to,

what our gaze is fixed on,

will be the direction that we go with our lives.

He's letting us know very clearly,

whatever it is that we focus our attention on

is the direction that we will go with our lives.

If we set our minds on the things of God,

then our lives will be spent living for him.

If he becomes the focus of our lives,

then our lives will be spent,

will be given living for him.

If we set our minds on the things of this world

and what it values,

then our lives will be spent elsewhere.

And if you've ever had the opportunity

to teach a child how to ride a bicycle,

then you will probably understand this idea very well.

What you set your focus on,

what you set your mind on,

where you focus your attention on,

will be the direction that you go.

I'm convinced that one of the hardest things to do

with teaching a kid to ride a bike

is telling them to look where they're going.

You know, to begin with,

they're trying to get this whole concept

of pedaling the bicycle.

And so to begin with,

their eyes are fixed downward,

where they're just looking at their legs.

It's kind of hard to illustrate

pedaling a bicycle standing,

but they're looking down at their legs,

trying to pedal this bicycle,

trying to keep up with the spinning gears

and all of those things.

And so all of their attention is focused down

and you keep telling them,

look up, look up,

look where you're going,

see where you're going.

And then all of a sudden,

they get this pedaling down,

they figure this out,

and then they start looking up.

But as most kids do,

their attention goes all over the place.

Whatever shiny thing or moving thing

gets their attention,

and all of a sudden,

they're pedaling and looking at something,

and guess what happens?

They start going wherever it is

that they're looking.

And what makes it really dangerous

when you have other kids

who are riding bicycles out there

because they're wanting to look at them

and let's say there's some

really close encounters that happen

when you're learning to ride a bicycle

because you always go where you're looking.

And like kids riding bikes,

we as adults often find ourselves

going in the direction of our focus.

We oftentimes find ourselves

going in the direction

of whatever our attention is on,

whatever we see is most important,

whatever we see is most valuable.

All of a sudden,

where our focus is,

that's where our lives begin to go.

And Matthew,

by giving us the genealogy,

is making sure we know

that Jesus is the right focus

to set our eyes on.

Beyond the numerical or mnemonic value,

Matthew's structure

has a theological value with it.

He has intentionally selected names,

real historical people

who are really part of Joseph

and Mary's line,

and arranged them

to make the same theological point

that Paul made in Galatians,

which is honestly one of my favorite

Christmas passages,

where he says,

but when the fullness of time

had come,

God sent forth his son.

In other words,

God has designed all of history

around the birth of Jesus.

All of history

is focused on the coming

of the king.

You see,

God was designing

all of history

for this moment

when he would most fully display

his love for humanity

by sending his son

to ultimately die

to give us the greatest gift

of all,

salvation.

So as we anticipate

with great excitement

Christmas Day,

let it be because

of what a baby born

2,000 years ago

did for us

on a cross

because he loves us.

This message of Jesus

being the focus

of our lives

and the focus

of all of history

is for the believer,

is for us to praise God,

is to set our aim,

to set our eyes,

to set our focus

on following Jesus.

And so if you came here today

unsure or skeptical

of your faith in Christ,

then I want to encourage you

to give your life to him.

You may think,

Brad,

you don't know the sins

that I've committed.

You don't know

how far

and how long

I have been running

from God.

You don't know

what I have done

with my life.

And you're right.

I don't know

all the things

that you've done

just like you don't know

all the things

that I've done.

But I do know

that this king,

the one true king,

came for all of us.

And that's what I want us

to see next

in this passage.

The next example of hope

I want us to clearly see

in this passage

is this,

that the king

that has come

is a king

who restores.

The king

that has come

is a king

who restores.

And so I want to

encourage you,

let me encourage you

to take a closer look

at some of these characters

in this lineage,

in this story

that Matthew

chooses to highlight.

what you will find

is some very

interesting characters

that God

in his infinite wisdom

inspired Matthew

to include.

To begin with,

you have Abraham,

Isaac,

and Jacob.

Men who in many ways

show great faith,

but the Bible also

doesn't sugarcoat

their moments

of weakness either.

We can go back

and look at their stories

and realize,

yes,

they were men

of great faith,

but they were also men

who struggled in some

incredible ways as well.

Then,

we see Judah and Tamar

included in this story.

Evan briefly mentioned

the significance

of this last week,

but in Genesis 38,

there seems to be

this random story

that's included

in the middle

of Joseph's story.

You have this story

of Joseph

where they're following

what God is doing

in Joseph's life,

and then in the middle

of this story,

in chapter 38

of Genesis,

you have this story

of Judah and Tamar,

and it almost seems

out of place

as you're reading

through it.

You're reading

through this,

and all of a sudden,

wow,

this is a pretty

graphic and interesting

story that we've chosen

to place right here

in the midst of this,

and it's a story

of incest,

of Judah having

an incestuous relationship

with his daughter-in-law,

Tamar,

and so Matthew

decides to include

this in the lineage

of Jesus.

Jesus.

It's pretty remarkable

that this is included,

and then just skipping

over a few,

you have Rahab,

the prostitute,

as mentioned.

You have Ruth,

the Moabite,

as mentioned,

and Bathsheba,

in a roundabout way,

as mentioned.

You notice how it says,

how it mentions Bathsheba,

the wife of Uriah?

It's showing,

it's highlighting

a pretty dark time

in King David's life.

It would be easy

just to skip through this

and say,

all right,

well,

this is a part

of King David's lineage

as well.

But what you see

is a highlight

to a difficult time

in King David's life,

a time where he

had an adulterous

relationship

with Bathsheba,

the wife of Uriah,

and then he essentially

committed murder

by having Uriah

sent to the front

battle line

so that they could

then marry Bathsheba

and cover up

this whole incident

that had taken place.

And so he chooses

to include this

in this story.

We could go on

and on and on,

but what you will find

is adulterers,

murderers,

prostitutes,

those involved

in incest,

Jews and Gentiles,

men and women,

those who were

well thought of

and those that

would surprise you.

In other words,

when you look

at this list,

you will find

a list that is

chock full of sinners,

chock full of people

who have some

interesting past.

And so what this

reminds us of

is your past

does not have

to define you.

Your sin

does not have

to become

your identity.

We see clearly

that Jesus came

to seek

and save

the lost.

And this is good news

for all of us

because apart from Christ,

we are all lost.

James Montgomery Boyce

also mentions

the significance

of this

when he says,

he says,

since Matthew's

genealogy

contains the names

of women,

Gentiles,

and even noted sinners,

the book shows us

that the barriers

between men and women,

Jews and Gentiles,

saints and sinners

were falling through

the work

of Jesus Christ.

Jesus' ancestry

also provides

a clue

on this matter,

showing that God

chooses his servants

from a wide spectrum

of those

from who the

respectively orthodox

would turn away

in horror.

Isn't this wonderful

news for us today?

This means

that Jesus

came

for all of us.

There's no one

that's too far gone.

There's no one

that has sinned

too much

or run for too long

that Jesus

isn't willing

to bring them back.

Isn't it wonderful

to know

that our past,

that our weakest moments,

don't have to define us.

Those parts

that we're most ashamed of

don't have to become

who we are.

And that as believers,

as those who've placed

their faith

and our trust in Christ,

God can still use us

in powerful ways.

Now yes,

there are consequences

to past sin.

There are things

that we've done

that may prevent us

from doing things

in the present,

but that doesn't mean

that God can't use us

in different

and powerful ways.

It doesn't mean

that our lives

are shot.

It doesn't mean

that our lives

are gone,

that we can still

be used by God

in powerful ways.

And so if you're here today

and you've been letting

a past sin

become your identity,

become what defines you,

then let me encourage you,

turn to Jesus.

Turn to Him.

Let Him be

what becomes our identity,

following Him.

And also let me encourage you,

if somebody has wronged you

or you've seen something

that somebody's done

and you're letting that

take control

of how you see them

and how you view them,

then let me encourage you

to turn to Jesus.

Let me encourage you

to keep your eyes

fixed on Jesus,

to encourage those around us,

no matter what it is

that we're going through,

that God can still use us

in powerful ways.

Yes, there are consequences

to sin.

Yes, it can prevent us

from doing certain things

in this life

that we will have

to live with.

But that doesn't mean

that God doesn't want

to continue to use us

in powerful ways.

I remember from my days

as a youth pastor,

walking,

I can vividly remember

walking around

in the yard,

talking with a former student

on the phone,

who had been away

from church for a long time

and had gotten involved

with a lot of things

that he shouldn't

have been doing.

And I remember telling him,

I remember him telling me

that he wanted to come back

and get involved

in church again,

but he said,

he says,

but I've got to get my life

in order first.

I've got to fix some things

in my life

before I can come back

and I can remember

just wanting to scream

through the phone,

no you don't.

That's the point

of the gospel.

That's what makes

the good news

of the gospel so good

is that we can't

save ourselves.

We can't do this

on our own.

There's nothing

that we can do

to get our lives right.

It's impossible

and that is quite literally

why Jesus came.

Because we can't do this

on our own.

We must turn to him,

let Christ be what changes

us from the inside

and let Christ be

what continues to mold us

and make us more

and more into his image.

There is hope

for all of us.

Being the first week

of that,

we have lit the candle

of hope to remind us

of the hope

that can only be found

in Jesus.

Not a hope

of a good grade,

a new job

or a better car,

but the hope

that the great rescuer

has come to seek

and save those

who are created

in his image.

And here in this passage,

Matthew has masterfully

shown us

where to look

for hope in this life.

He has clearly shown us

that Jesus

is the focal point

of all history.

That history

is his story.

That all of history

is centered around

the coming of Christ.

For us to be able

to experience

hope,

peace,

joy,

joy,

and love,

Jesus must be

what we focus

our lives on

as well.

It must be

what we give

our lives.

Matthew is clearly

showing us

that Jesus

is the king.

That he is the king

that has come

for us.

For those who place

their faith

and their trust

in him,

Jesus is

the king.

So the question

we must ask,

are you

following him today?

Have you given

your life to the king?

To the one

true king?

Have you,

as Paul clearly

states,

set your mind

on the things

that are above

and not on the things

that are below?

What we must remember

is that

your direction

leads to a destination.

Your direction

leads to a destination.

It always does.

It always does.

What you set

your focus on

will determine

where you go.

In other words,

your direction,

not your intention,

determines

your destination.

Much of this

comes down

to the fact

that if you don't

head in the right

direction,

you'll never get

to where you want

to go.

You may say,

Brett,

I want to give

my life to Christ.

I want to live

a life that points

people to faith

in Christ.

I want to raise

my family

in a way

that shows

my children

that Christ

is the most

important thing

in my life.

I want to live

a life where

I'm following

God's will

and everything

that I say

and do.

And that's all

well and good.

And I'm thankful

that that's your

intention,

that's your desire.

But your direction

is going to have

a lot more

to do with

where you end up

than your intention

ever does.

I've said it

this way

before,

but I think

it bears repeating.

If you're wanting

to go to

Greenville,

South Carolina

today,

and you head

down to

Livonia,

and you get

ready to get

on I-85,

and you're

wanting to go

to Greenville,

but you get

on I-85 South,

guess where

you're never

going to end up?

You're never

going to end up

in Greenville,

South Carolina

because you're

going in the

wrong direction.

Now,

you may think

in your heart,

oh,

this is taking

me to Greenville.

I'm going to

Greenville.

I've got warm,

fuzzy feelings

about Greenville.

I can't wait

to get to

Greenville.

But if you're

headed in the

wrong direction,

you're never

going to reach

your desired

destination.

And so I want

to encourage you

today to think

about your life.

Think about what

it is that you're

giving your life

to.

Matthew clearly

shows us in

this passage that

Jesus is the

focal point of

all history,

that Jesus is the

focus,

of all of

history,

that it all

revolves around

him.

But does it all

revolve around

him in your

life?

Are you giving

your life to

him and saying

my focus,

my desire,

everything I

have,

I want to

give to Jesus.

I want him to

be everything.

I want to

give my life to

him.

I genuinely

want to follow

his plan for

my life.

I genuinely

want to raise

my children in a

way where they

look at my

life and they

see that Jesus

is the most

important thing

to me.

I want to go

in that direction.

I want that to

be where I am

headed.

So I want to

ask you this

morning,

are you giving

your life to

Jesus?

Have you given

your life to

the king?

Are you following

him in everything

in your life?

I want you to

seriously consider

this morning what

it is that you're

giving your life

to.

Is the focus of

your life Jesus

Christ?

Or are you giving

your life to the

things of this

world?

Things that will

perish, things that

have no eternal

significance.

What is it that

you're giving your

life to?

Father, thank you so

very much for your

word, for what it

teaches us about

you.

Lord, I thank you

that you've included

this genealogy in

Matthew's account

here, where it

clearly shows us

that you are the

focal point of all

of history, where

it clearly shows us

that you are the

one true king.

And Lord, I thank

you for the names

that were included

on this list.

names of people

who struggled in

some pretty

disastrous ways.

People who have

struggled with sin

and corruption,

Lord, but that

you, as the one

true king, can

redeem those

things.

And so, Lord, I

pray that if

there's someone here

today that maybe

has never given

their life to you,

that you would

reveal yourself to

them in a powerful

way.

Lord, that you

would help them to

see their sin

clearly, that their

sin is real, that

their sin separates

them from you, that

there's nothing that

we can do about that

on our own.

But that is why you

came, because we

couldn't do anything

about it.

And so, Lord, I pray

that as they see

their sin in a clear

and powerful way,

that they'll see your

grace in an even

clearer and an even

more powerful way.

and give their

life to you.

And, Lord, I pray

that there's someone

here today that is

struggling to give

their life to you

because they see

their sin is too

great, that they

see that they've

gone too far down a

direction away from

you, that for too

long they've been

following the ways of

this world, that for

too long they have

turned their back on

you, Lord, that you

would help them to

clearly see that

because of what you

accomplished on the

cross, none of us are

too far gone, that we

can give our life to

you.

And so, Lord, I pray

that you be with all

of us.

Help us to clearly see

you for who you are.

Help us to clearly see

that you are worthy of

giving our lives to in

everything that we say

and do.

And so, God, thank you

so much for Jesus.

Thank you that he is,

Emmanuel, God, with us.

And so, help us to

honor you with our

lives.

We ask all this in

Jesus' name.

Amen.

I'm going to invite you

to stand.

We're going to sing a

song of invitation.

If God is speaking to

you this morning, won't

you respond as we stand

together and sing?