Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done!

The Gospel of Matthew

The Genealogy

 

Let’s begin our sermon this morning by playing a game.  I love games.  Humor me… while we play a game.  I am going to read the first line of a famous novel and you are going to tell me the name of the novel. The rules are simple.  Are you ready?

- It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.  A Tale of Two Cities

-Call me Ishmael.  Moby-Dick

-Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four Privet Drive, were proud to say they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

-Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy.  The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe

-I am Sam.  Sam I Am. Green Eggs and Ham

-The night Max wore his wolf suit of one kind an another, his mother called him WILD THING and Max said, ‘I’LL EAT YOU UP!’ so he was sent to bed without eating anything.  Where the Wild Things Are

- In a hole in the ground there lived a… hobbit.  The Hobbit

 

Every book must start with a first line.  Authors carefully craft those opening words, so they can capture you.  Writers want to draw you into their book, so those first words of a story are crucial.  Professionals refer to this process as "narrative transport".  The first lines of a good story are supposed to grab us.

 

However, the first lines of the Gospel of Matthew don’t really do much "narrative transport".  The first words of the Gospel of Matthew… we usually just skip.  The opening lines of the Gospel of Matthew are…  I’m not sure I can say this in church… are boring.

 

Matthew 1:1-17  A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham: Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,  Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram,  Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife, Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram, Jehoram the father of Uzziah,  Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,  Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah,  and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.  After the exile to Babylon: Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,  Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor,  Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, Akim the father of Eliud,  Eliud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob,  and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.  Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ.

 

Why would anyone, who is telling the greatest story ever told, begin with this list of boring names?  It hardly captures our attention.  Are we narratively transported?  Maybe the better question is, “Why is Tim doing an entire sermon on this list?  He is going to have a hard time finishing Matthew in a year, even with a four week head start.  Why not just skip these words and get to love and the baby Jesus?  Certainly that would make a better opening sermon.”

 

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Slow down a bit, bud.  Let’s not be too quick to skip this “boring” beginning to Matthew.  There may be some very good reasons why Matthew opened his Gospel with these names.  There may be a very good reason why I am camping on these words this morning.  Matthew is introducing us into this adventure… ever so slowly and gently, so as not to startle us.  I want to advocate this morning that Matthew 1:1-17 is full of suspense.  I want to advocate this morning that Matthew 1:1-17 is not boring.  Matthew 1:1-17 sets the stage to answer the most important question you could ever ask.

 

This morning we do begin an adventure.  This morning we are getting a month jump on our theme for 2012.  We begin today to explore the Gospel of Matthew.  I am excited to get back to a textual study.  That is what I love.  Let’s dig into a New Testament book.  That is where I connect to God.  I am excited about the story of Matthew.  This year our theme is “Your kingdom come.  Your will be done.”  We are going to learn about the kingdom of God invading our world  Then, we are going to see how to do the King’s will.  When we allow the King’s will to be done in our lives, we advance the kingdom.  Wow, doesn’t that sound exciting.  By our lives, lived in obedience to the King, we turn our world into the kingdom of heaven. 

 

All of that begins in Matthew 1:1-17.  All of that begins when we answer the most important question we can ask… “Who is Jesus?”  Matthew 1:1-17 begins to unfold the answer to, “Who is Jesus?” 

 

In our culture when we ask who someone is, we frequently answer the question with an occupation.  “Tim, good to meet you.  What do you do for a living?  Where did you go to school?  Where do you work?”  We are secretly wanting to find out how much money they make.  Who a person is in our culture is largely defined by income and occupation.

 

But in Matthew’s Jewish world of the first century the answer to who a person is would be very different.  Who someone was, was answered by lineage and location.  Next week we are going to answer the location question, but in Matthew 1:1-17 the answer to who is Jesus is his lineage.   

 

With our first century Jewish world hat on, let’s go back and explore this lineage question.  It will be more exciting than you expect. 

 

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Matthew 1:1 A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:

 

Wait, wait, wait… There are three clues to who Jesus is right off the bat in the first verse.

 

-A record of the genealogy.  Guess what the root Greek word for genealogy is… genesis.  Slowly and gently, so as not to startle us Matthew slips in the word genesis.  Who is Jesus?  He is the one who was involved in genesis.  That’s cool; keep going…

 

-Jesus Christ the son of David.  The Jews were expecting a Messiah… a Christ.  They wanted, more than anything, another King David.  They wanted to return to the glory days of David ruling all of Palestine.  They wanted the Romans out and the Christ on a throne.  Who is Jesus?  Matthew whispers, “Jesus is Christ, the son of David.  I told you this was going to get exciting.  Jesus is the king of the” Your Kingdom Come”. 

 

Keeping this thought, jump down and read the last verse of our section.

 

Matthew 1:17 Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ.

 

If you go back and read the Old Testament you will find that Matthew actually leaves out some of the kings in order to get 14 generations.  That is okay.  There are no rules which say you can’t leave people out of you lineage.  I don’t talk about Uncle Curt. That was done, all the time, in ancient genealogies.  But it raises the question, “Why 14?”

 

Here is what I think Matthew is doing.  Ever so slowly and gently, so as not to startle us, Matthew is playing with numbers.  Numbers in Matthew are more than numbers; they are clues.  The number 14 is the number for… David.  The Hebrew “D” is the 4^th letter and the V is the 6^th letter. Matthew didn’t count vowels.  Adding 4 + 6 + 4 = 14.  That is kind of slick.  Who is Jesus?  14 says he is King David!

 

Matthew 1:1 A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:

 

In this first verse Jesus is genesis; Jesus is David.  But he is also the Son of Abraham. 

 

When God promised Abraham thousands of years ago, that through is offspring the world would be blessed.  He was talking about Jesus.  Through Jesus all the nations would be blessed.  Matthew is slowly and gently, so as not to startle us, giving us a peak into the idea that Jesus is the one who blesses the whole world!  Who is Jesus?  He is the Blessing Bringer.  Jesus is the fulfillment of Abrahamic promise.

 

All that in the first verse.  Who said it was boring?  Let’s keep going. 

 

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Matthew 1:2-6  Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram,  Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon,  Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife.

 

Stop, there are four women in this list of Jesus’ ancestors.  I don’t have anything against women.  I personally like women.

 

Most ancient genealogies didn't include women at all.  If there were some women they were  "great women," like Sarah.  But Matthew’s genealogy doesn't mention any of these "great women"; instead, Matthew intentionally includes four "irregular" women:

-Tamar, who acted as a prostitute by tricking her father-in-law so as to continue the line of her husband.

-Rahab, a prostitute and a foreigner who also displayed courageous faith by protecting the Hebrew spies.

-Ruth, another outsider from Moab, who displayed a Godlike covenant loyalty to her mother-in-law.

-Uriah's wife, Bathsheba, the woman involved in David's scandalous affair and cover-up became the mother of Solomon.

Here is another clue.  The coming kingdom of heaven is about more than Jewish men.  It is about women and about all people!

 

Who is Jesus?  He is the king who is taking the kingdom everywhere.  Matthew is foreshadowing the very end of his Gospel…  “Go and make disciples of all nations”.  The kingdom is coming but it is not what you are expecting.  All people, women, gentiles, all nations are to be invaded.

 

“Hey Tim, this is exciting.  What else is in this boring genealogy?

 

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Matthew 1:7-11  Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram, Jehoram the father of Uzziah, Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,  Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.

 

Along with David and Solomon and Hezekiah there is Rehoboam, Jeconiah and Manasseh.  Do you remember Manasseh? 

 

2 Chronicles 33:6 He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, practiced sorcery, divination and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the LORD, provoking him to anger.

 

If you are going to skip some kings, anyway, why leave in Manasseh?  If anyone gets left out it would be Manasseh.  I don’t know for sure.  There is a mystery here.  But, Jesus was a real human with a real history.  Jesus enters the story with both good and bad ancestors.  Jesus is real.  Jesus is coming to save those who are lost.  Matthew is setting us up to expect… the unexpected.  Who is Jesus?  He brings his kingdom to the unexpected, in unexpected ways.  As we study Matthew we can expect to be surprised at who Jesus really is.  Your unexpected kingdom come.  Your surprising will be done!

 

Why stop now let’s read the end of it.

 

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Matthew 1:12-16   After the exile to Babylon: Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,  Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor,  Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, Akim the father of Eliud,  Eliud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

 

This leads me to one more observation about, the no longer boring, Matthew 1:1-17.  There is something old in this and something new.  Yes, Jesus is very much Jewish.  Jesus is the descendant of a line of Jewish people, all the way back to Abraham.  Jesus came to save Jewish people.  But as we are going to see the birth of Jesus is something unique in all history.  As we will see over the next couple weeks, Joseph wasn’t Jesus’ father at all.  There is something new here.  Here is the last fascinating point; Jesus is old.  Jesus is new. 

 

There is a verse in chapter 13 which I love.  I almost made it the theme for the year.  Let’s call it a sub-theme.

 

Matthew 13:52 He said to them, "Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old."

 

Perhaps, Matthew is talking about himself as he writes this Gospel.  We are going to see new treasures as well as old treasures!

 

Jesus is both the fulfillment of two millennia of God’s promises and something quite different.  God still works like that today: keeping his promises, acting in character, and yet always ready with surprises for us.

 

Your Kingdom Come; the Old and the New.  Your will be done; old and completely new.  This will be the tension all through the book; old stuff and new discoveries.  Jesus is old fulfillments.  Jesus is new prophecies.  Jesus is the expectation of the Messiah.  Jesus is the surprising Christ.  Jesus is the comfort of the faithful and the discomfort of his disciples.  Jesus is the expected king with a surprising new kingdom.

 

This tension between old and new is not boring.  I can hardly wait.

 

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"In a hole in the ground there lived a… hobbit."  Yes, a great fiction tale.  Now hear a better story: one day in a hole in the Milky Way called planet Earth, among an odd group of people, Jesus the Messiah came to his people.  It's a true story that reads like fiction.  What adventures, dangers and delights will Jesus encounter?  And if we follow him, what adventures shall befall us?  Where will this Gospel of mercy lead us?  Hold on, we're in for the tale-and the adventure-of our life.  - Matt Woodley -

 

Ever so slowly and gently, so as not to startle us…  We are about to find… who Jesus is.

 

Tim Stidham

December 4, 2011

Los Alamos Church of Christ