- Sermon Notes
- Scripture
- Spanish Translation
God Redeems the Broken
Matthew 1:1-25
December 21-22, 2024
- Looking back on your family tree is interesting. There are companies today where you can have your DNA tested and they’ll give a complete report of your ancestry for you.
- Most people would like to gloss over the unsavory parts of their family history. When I was growing up, I was embarrassed and didn’t want people to know my family history.
- If you’ve ever looked at your genealogy, if you’re like most people, you like to focus on those in your ancestry who have accomplished much and rose to a degree of acclaim.
- “I’m the descendant of George Washington,” or, “My ancestor sailed on the Mayflower.”
- But isn’t that the pride of man? And the truth is — we all have it. Want an example? If took a photo of the entire church family, and hung it in the lobby, who would you look for first?
- Do you delete all the pictures on your phone that make you look goofy? I know I do. If my wife takes a bunch of pictures and I’m in any of them, I will go through her phone, too, and delete, delete, delete. I only save the pictures that make me look good.
- The genealogy in Matthew 1 is not your typical family tree. It seems that God was specifically making a point to include people that we would not want to include in our genealogy.
- Truthfully now, if you had a prostitute in your family tree, you wouldn’t highlight it. Yet God specifically makes a point of it. We know this is true, because women were typically not even included in a genealogy, let alone a prostitute.
- The first woman mentioned is Tamar. Her story isn’t exactly a celebration of human achievement.
- The second woman listed in the genealogy did not pretend to be a prostitute, she was one. Her name was Rahab.
- When Israel was about to enter the promised land, Joshua sent two spies into Jericho. Rahab had heard of the great God of Israel. And when the two spies entered the city, she welcomed them to her house and gave them protection. Later, when Israel attacked Jericho, her family was saved because of the help she gave to Israel.
- The next woman mentioned in the genealogy is Ruth. She was a faithful and gracious woman, but she was a Moabite and Moabites were to be excluded from the commonwealth of Israel because they refused to provide Israel with food and water when they were on their way out of Egypt and because they hired Balaam to curse them.
- But Ruth was married to Mahlon, a Hebrew whose name means ‘sickly.’ He died and Ruth went back to Israel with Naomi, her Jewish mother-in-law. Later, Ruth was taken in by Boaz who married her. It’s a wonderful story of the grace of both Boaz and Ruth. She became great grandmother to David, but she was a Moabite – an outcast of Israel.
- Finally, reference is made to Bathsheba, although she is not mentioned by name. Instead, it says in verse 6, “To David was born Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.” Now there’s a scandal if there ever was one. Can you imagine mentioning that scandal in your family tree?
- Why would these names be included in the genealogy of Jesus? Why? Because God wants every sinner to know that they can be included in the family and that it doesn’t matter how messed up your life has become, God is reaching out to you.
- Paul wrote to the church at Corinth that neither fornicators, adulterers, thieves, drunkards, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God…
- You know how some churches are filled with people that have everything together and never have any issues? Yeah, well, we’re not that church. If you’re looking for a church filled with perfect people, this isn’t it.
- When you study through the genealogy of Christ, there is a record of those that were bad, those that were not quite so bad, and those that were good.
- But what stands out, is that it’s also a record of God showing mercy as a response to those who turned around.
- Jesus isn’t afraid to touch lives that are messed up, but He’s also going to do something about it. When you turn from our old ways, you see the outpouring of God’s mercy. He turns shame into glory.
- One of the classic examples of that is David, who sinned terribly before the Lord. God brought mercy to David by confronting him through the prophet Nathan; and David responded with a broken heart.
- There are other examples as well. Manasseh was perhaps the most evil king that reigned over Judah, yet at the end of his life, he repented and softened before the Lord.
- Matthew himself knows something about the mercy of God because he was a tax collector who was given the opportunity to become a follower of Jesus Christ.
- This is why sinners are included in the genealogy…
- The word repentance becomes an important part of the genealogy, because it also reveals that those who stubbornly held on to their hard heart found their lives in ruins.
- That also becomes an interesting part of the genealogy. Jesus had a legal claim to the throne of David because he was the legal son of Joseph, but Joseph was the son of Jeconiah, whose bloodline had been cut off.
- But Jesus also was of the house of David through Mary, and we have her genealogy in the book of Luke to verify that as well.
- If we can identify with the sinners in the genealogy of Jesus, what is our hope?
- Our hope is Jesus. The message in the genealogy of Jesus is that there is hope for sinners. He turns shame into glory. He’s the only One who can.
- Joseph was told by the angel that the child shall be named Jesus, “For it is He who will save His people from their sins.”
- His name means, “Jehovah is salvation;” the purpose and reason God sent His Son into this world was to save sinners from their sins. But the name of the Messiah includes even much more.
- We need to be saved from the eternal consequences of sin, but we also need to be saved from the wounds, the hurts, and the bitterness that sin creates even now.
- We also need to be healed from the hurts and wounds of the sins of those who have hurt us.
- Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies where God promised that He would be with us.
- It is the great theme that runs through the entire Word of God, that the Lord desires to be Emmanuel, God with us.
- This is our healing. This is our hope. This is our confidence and our response to everything life throws at us.
Matthew 1:1-25 NASB
1 1The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham:
2 Abraham fathered Isaac, Isaac fathered Jacob, and Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers. 3 Judah fathered Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez fathered Hezron, and Hezron fathered Ram. 4 Ram fathered Amminadab, Amminadab fathered Nahshon, and Nahshon fathered Salmon. 5 Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab, Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth, and Obed fathered Jesse. 6 Jesse fathered David the king.
David fathered Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah. 7 Solomon fathered Rehoboam, Rehoboam fathered Abijah, and Abijah fathered Asa. 8 Asa fathered Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat fathered Joram, and Joram fathered Uzziah. 9 Uzziah fathered Jotham, Jotham fathered Ahaz, and Ahaz fathered Hezekiah. 10 Hezekiah fathered Manasseh, Manasseh fathered Amon, and Amon fathered Josiah. 11 Josiah fathered Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.
12 After the deportation to Babylon: Jeconiah fathered Shealtiel, and Shealtiel fathered Zerubbabel. 13 Zerubbabel fathered Abihud, Abihud fathered Eliakim, and Eliakim fathered Azor. 14 Azor fathered Zadok, Zadok fathered Achim, and Achim fathered Eliud. 15 Eliud fathered Eleazar, Eleazar fathered Matthan, and Matthan fathered Jacob. 16 Jacob fathered Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.
17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.
18 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, since he was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. 20 But when he had thought this over, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a Son; and you shall name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” 22 Now all this took place so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled: 23 “Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and they shall name Him Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.” 24 And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, 25 but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he named Him Jesus.
Mateo 1:1-25
21 y 22 de diciembre de 2024
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