There are many ways to begin a book. Tozer’s famous opening line in The Knowledge of the Holy is, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”1 Piper begins his preface to the tenth anniversary edition of Desiring God with the words, “This is a serious book about being happy in God.”2 Perhaps most famous are Dickens’ opening words to A Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.” My personal favorite opening words are found in John Owens’ work The Death of Death in the Death of Christ. He opens with an address to the reader that I’ll translate for us into more modern English. He writes, “Reader, if you intend to go any farther, I would entreat you to stay here a little. If you are, as many in this pretending age, a sign or title gazer, and come into books as Cato into the theatre, to go out again,—you have had your entertainment; farewell!”3 I love that, and every time I read it I think that no publisher since would allow the author to tell the reader to put down the book he’s holding in his hands – with his opening lines! I mean, at least get the person to buy the book before you tell them to put it down.
But another way to begin a book is with a genealogy. That’s how Matthew begins his gospel. And if we think Matthew must just not know how to start a book, it’s worth noting that he isn’t the first biblical author to start with a genealogy. First Chronicles begins with nine chapters of genealogy. And what I said about a year ago when we worked through 1-2 Chronicles I still think is true, namely, that the Chronicler, who sets out to retell Israel’s history, actually retells it twice. He first tells their history in the form of a genealogy (1 Chronicles 1-9) and then in the form of a narrative (1 Chr. 10 – 2 Chr. 36). Well, that’s what I think Matthew is doing here. He’s telling the story of Scripture in the form of a genealogy as he begins his gospel. In fact, if you wanted to know Israel’s history, up to the coming of Jesus, just let Matthew’s genealogy be your guide, look up the individuals and their stories in the Old Testament, and you’ll find yourself learning the storyline of the Old Testament.
And for those who know the Old Testament, Matthew’s opening words, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (1:1) are thrilling. After all, the Lord had made promises hundreds and even thousands of years before to Abraham and David about one to come who would come from their line, who would be a king, through whom all the nations would be blessed, and then there was waiting and waiting and waiting for this one to come, for God’s promise to be fulfilled in the coming son of David and son of Abraham. And Matthew begins, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the son of Abraham.” It doesn’t take a biblical scholar to see what Matthew is saying. He’s telling us that Jesus of Nazareth, is the one God had been talking about. He’s the promised Messiah. He’s the king God declared would come and the one through whom all the nations will be blessed. Matthew says all those promises of God are now fulfilled in one person, the God-man, Jesus the Christ.
This is what (or better, who) Matthew’s gospel is about – Jesus. If in our slow trek through this gospel we lose sight of him, we will have lost sight of the one Matthew wants us to see. Therefore, this morning, I want to begin our study through this book of Matthew just by stating three declarations about Jesus and the promises God had made to David and Abraham years before the incarnation. And the main reason I want to make these declarations is because I think these points are precisely what Matthew wanted his readers to see.
So, first, I want us to see that:
Second only to Jesus, David is really a prominent figure in this opening genealogy that leads to the birth of Jesus. First, the opening way that Matthew identifies Jesus is as “the son of David.” Then, the genealogy divides in two places, the first of which is found with David. Then, in case you miss this division, Matthew makes it explicit in verse 17 when he notes that the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen, the generations from David to the deportation to Babylon were fourteen, and the generations from the exile to Jesus were fourteen. David is the one individuals chosen as a marker at which to pause once Matthew begins his genealogy that starts with Abraham and ends with Jesus.
Some have even suggested that the number fourteen was Matthew’s way of screaming “David” throughout these first seventeen verses. After all, it is somewhat of an artificial number. Matthew leaves out some names, which is okay in the sense that we can rightly call our ancestors our “fathers” in one sense, but shows that Matthew has some kind of point to make. So, what point is Matthew making? Maybe it’s just that he likes symmetry. I’m a bit OCD about such things and can appreciate that. But several commentators suggest that Matthew is sending a subtle yet repeated message. You see, in Hebrew, each letter had a corresponding numerical value. We might create the same system if you make, in our alphabet, A=1, B=2, etc. And guess what the numerical value of “David” was? That’s right. It’s fourteen. So, it may well be that Matthew is indeed wanting the reader to see David’s name all over this genealogy. Why?
Well, it has to do with a promise that God made to David, a promise about a coming king. You see, before we even go back to look at that promise, it’s worth noting that David, in a genealogy full of kings, is the only one called “king.” Matthew says in verse 6, “And Jesse was the father of David the king.” I think this is Matthew’s way of cluing us into wanting us to remember the nature of the promise that God made to David years earlier.
In 2 Samuel 7:8-17, the Lord made a promise to David. David had decided that he wanted to build a house for the Lord, the temple. And at first Nathan the prophet told him that he should do it. But then that night the Lord spoke to Nathan to go tell David not to do it. It wasn’t, however, that the Lord was against David. Rather, he wanted to do something for David. Instead of David building a house for the Lord, the Lord told David that he would build a house (a dynasty) for him. We read the promise in 2 Samuel 7:12-17, “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’” In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.”
So, God promised David that he would continue his royal line and his kingdom forever. Now, this promise seems next to impossible to fulfill. One way the Lord could fulfill this promise is by allowing David’s line to always produce another son who could reign on the throne of his father, in his place, forever, world without end. Infertility alone, which is something we deal with on this side of the fall and is prevalent throughout the storyline of the Bible, is a threat to this. Then, even if David’s line was fertile, you’d have to continue to have at least one son in every generation and hope he could have a son who wouldn’t face infertility or die before he could procreate, and that would have to go on world without end.
That’s overwhelming and statistically I’d say quite low. In fact, the Tankersley family line had come to a screeching halt with me. If there were no Tankersley boys from me, that would be it. I mean, this line of prominent yet impoverished farmers (for the most part) would come to a screeching halt.
However, there is another way this promise from the Lord to David could be fulfilled. But it may sound even more hopeless. David could have one son in his line come along who would live forever. After all, if one lived forever, then there’d be no worries about his son replacing him on the throne at his death because, well, he’d simply live forever. So, that’s the promise the Lord had made to David. And crazy enough, Peter tells us on the day of Pentecost that David heard this promise from the Lord and concluded he’s have one of his offspring who indeed would live forever as king.
One other thing to note about God’s promise to David is that the Lord says that this promised coming king from David’s line would be a “son” to God himself. We see that in 2 Samuel 7:14. And the way David would have understood that is in terms of the coming king resembling and reflecting God. Generally speaking that’s what sons do. They resemble and reflect their fathers, perhaps in looks, in behavior, often in vocation, etc.
This is why every time one of David’s descendants would take the throne to begin his reign as king, they would read Psalm 2 in which the Lord says to the king, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you” (Psalm 2:7). But there also came to be a growing expectation that this coming king, who would reign forever, would not simply reign over Israel but would have kingly authority over the whole earth. So, Psalm 2 continues, “Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, the ends of the earth your possession” (Psalm 2:8). That is, there was a continual waiting for this king who would come from David’s line, who would live and reign forever, who would resemble and reflect God in his reign, and who would have authority over the whole world.
From that promise to David forward in the Old Testament, there is this eager expectation and longing for this king to come. And this longing only grew more intense as David’s sons kept dying, continually failed to resemble and reflect the Lord (actually rebelling against him and inviting his wrath continually), and reigned over a shrinking kingdom instead of an expanding one.
But through the prophets, especially Isaiah, which we just studied, the Lord kept reiterating this promised coming king, the son of David. You’ll hopefully remember that in the early part of Isaiah, when Judah had become utterly sinful and their kings leading them into consistent rebellion against the Lord, Isaiah prophesied in 9:6-7 of a coming one who would be called, “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” about whom Isaiah continued, “Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”
Therefore, Matthew’s announcement in this genealogy of Jesus, the “son of David” is that this promised king has come. He is the God-man, as the Old Testament predicted. He is the one who lived, died, and was raised to live forever. He is the one who perfectly reflects and resembles God as his son for he is himself God the Son. And, now I don’t want to ruin it for those of you who have never read the gospel of Matthew and don’t know exactly where this is going to end, but at the risk of giving a spoiler, I’ll go ahead and tell you that after Jesus is raised from the dead, as David’s son, now living forever, he says in Matthew 28:18, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me,” thus fulfilling the Lord’s promise to David’s son to give to him the ends of the earth as his possession.
So, this is the first thing, I believe, Matthew wants us to see, namely, that in Jesus, God has fulfilled his promise to David (to bring a king). But there is another promise God has fulfilled that Matthew, I believe, wants us to see in these verses.
Matthew notes in his first verse that Jesus is not only the son of David but also the son of Abraham. You see, God made a promise to Abraham as well that he would bless him with offspring through whom he would bless the nations. And this was a big deal because Sarah couldn’t bear children. But despite that, God promised that Abraham’s descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky and through one particular offspring of Abraham, God would bless the nations.
And sure enough, when Abraham was 100 years old and his wife, Sarah, was ninety, they conceived and gave birth to a son whom they named Isaac. Against all odds, and after much waiting, God began to fulfill his promise. But then, in Genesis 22, God instructs Abraham to go and sacrifice (in death), his only son Isaac. And Abraham went to do it. After all, he believed what God had promised and reasoned that if God wanted him to kill Isaac, then God must be ready to perform a miracle and raise Isaac from the dead, since God had promised to give Abraham a multitude of descendants. Then, just as Abraham was ready to offer Isaac in sacrifice, the Lord stopped him, provided a ram to sacrifice instead, and then said in Genesis 22:16-18, “By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gates of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”
Therefore, like the promise to David, so the Scripture looks forward to the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham, this one who would come and in whom all the nations would be blessed. Matthew’s proclamation is that Jesus is this one. He’s not only the king, he’s the one in whom all the nations will be blessed. This blessing of the nations was already foreshadowed in Jesus’ line itself. I mean, look at the names in this genealogy. Sure you have kings from Abraham and David’s line. But you also have women mentioned, and they’re not the women you’d expect. Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah aren’t mentioned. But rather you have four women some of whom were of other nations and some of whom were known sinners
You have Tamar mentioned in verse 3, and the reason she’s in this line is because she disguised herself as a prostitute, hoping that’d appeal to her sinful father-in-law Judah, and indeed it did. So, together they have Perez and Zerah. The second woman mentioned is Rahab in verse 5, who is known throughout Scripture most consistently as “Rahab the prostitute” because before trusting in the Lord and, marrying Salmon, and having Boaz, she was a prostitute and was a Canaanite. The third lady who makes the list is Ruth, in verse 5 as well, who was a Moabite and married Boaz after she was widowed. And finally, the last woman mentioned is Bathsheba, who is mentioned in verse 6 but even then not by name. She is called the “wife of Uriah,” which is a pretty unpleasant way to speak of her if you’re David. I mean, when you’re doing your family tree and you have a couple listed and one of them is denoted as wife of another man, there’s an unpleasant story there. And indeed there is.
Bathsheba was the wife of a Hittite, so she was basically an outsider to Israel via marriage. But David wanted her, so he committed adultery with her when she was married to Uriah. That’s why she’s called the wife of Uriah. But then they did get married. But he was only able to marry her because he had Uriah killed. Like I said, “the wife of Uriah” is a pretty unpleasant way to speak of Bathsheba if you’re David and have any desire for people to remember you fondly.
So, why mention these ladies which only bring to our minds outsiders and sin? I think it’s because Matthew is reminding us who Jesus came to save. He has come to bless all the nations, and he has come to call sinners to repentance and faith. And why did God say to Abraham, “in your offspring” all nations would be blessed? It’s because the good news of the gospel is that because Jesus lived a perfect life, died for sinners, and then was raised from the dead on the third day, if anyone repents and places his or her faith in Christ, then we are united with Christ by faith so that the blessings that come to Christ come to us as well. That is, in Christ, Abraham’s promised offspring, people from every nation can become heirs of the blessing God promised to Abraham.
This, again, is why Jesus at the end of Matthew not only lets us know that he’s the promised king who reigns over all the world when he says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” but then adds, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:18-20). That is, in Jesus, God has fulfilled his promise to Abraham to bless the nations.
And, finally and briefly, one more note I think Matthew wants us to see.
It makes sense that Matthew would construct this genealogy of Jesus around Abraham and David. After all, Jesus is the fulfillment of the promises to Abraham and to David. But why mention the deportation of Babylon? I think it’s because Matthew wants to remind us that God fulfilled his promise in Jesus even when it looked like there was no hope.
I’ve already mentioned that Jesus’ genealogy is a line filled with infertility, sinful circumstances, outsiders coming in, and a bunch of people who did wicked, wicked things. But the greatest threat to the promise happened in 587 BC. When Babylon laid siege to Jerusalem, eventually destroyed the city and the temple, and deported the citizens of Jerusalem to Babylon, it looked like all hope was lost. After that point, there was no throne for any of David’s descendants from which to reign. As Isaiah said, it looked like the Davidic dynasty was a large family three that had been cut down to a stump to remain dead and hopeless forever. But Isaiah prophesied that there would be a shoot grow from that dead stump, the son of David and of Abraham would come.
And when Jesus was born, there was indeed no throne in Jerusalem from which he could reign. Rather, he was born to a people who were simply under the captivity of another nation in Rome. But make no mistake, God was fulfilling his promise. Despite how dark things get, then God makes a promise, he fulfills it, as he had done in his Son who now reigns from the throne of heaven over all of the earth and commands us to make disciples of all nations, bringing the blessing of salvation to all the nations.
That’s our task as a church. There are a number of good things we could be about as a church, and there are indeed a number of good things we’re about as individual Christians. But this alone is our mission. Our king has told us to bless the nations by going to them with the gospel, baptizing them, and disciple them by teaching them to obey all that he has commanded. And he’s told us in Revelation 5 and 7 that he will indeed save people from every single tribe on earth. That’s a promise. And though there will be times of darkness, days when it seems hopeless, let us remember that despite the darkness, our God always fulfills his promises. I think we know this is how Matthew ends his gospel. We may well have Matthew 28:18-20 memorized. But I think it’s how Matthew begins his gospel as well in this genealogy, reminding us that the promised king who has come to bless the nations will accomplish his purpose no matter how dark things get or how impossible the task seems. So, my prayer for us today is that we would not only delight in and trust in the Christ, the son of David and Abraham who has come, but that we would commit as a church to put no mission in front of the mission of the Son himself for his church. In fact, let us proclaim our commitment to that now as we come to the table. Amen.