THE GENEALOGY OF JESUS CHRIST

“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham” (Matt. 1:1 NKJV).

The Gospel of Matthew opens with Christ’s family tree. Today, many folks consider such a list of names uninteresting and so they skip over them. However, here in Matthew, this list points out that Jesus Christ is indeed the divinely anointed Savior, the fulfilment of prophecy, the rightful heir to the throne of David, and the true seed of Abraham. He alone is Israel’s and mankind’s Hope.

Jesus – The name “Jesus” is the Hebrew equivalent of “Joshua” and means Jehovah is salvation. This reminds us of Matt. 1:21, “You shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.” Further, as Joshua was the leader appointed by God to take His people into the Promised Land; so now the Lord Jesus is the leader appointed by God to take sinful people into eternal life.

Christ – The word “Christ” is the Greek word, Christos (Χριστός), and the Hebrew Messiah. It means anointed. In Old Testament times, when kings and priests were set apart to their office, they were anointed with oil. Thus, those set apart are said to be the anointed of God. The Lord Jesus was anointed, set apart by God to be King, High Priest, and Prophet of His people. Together, the name Jesus Christ constitute one glorious name given to our Savior.

Son of David – Among the Jews, the word “son” had a great variety of significations. It means, literally, a son; then a grandson; a descendant; an adopted son; a disciple. Here it means a descendant of David. It was important to trace the genealogy of Jesus up to David, because the promise had been made that the Messiah should be of his family, and all the Jews expected it would be so. It would be impossible, therefore, to convince a Jew that Jesus was the Messiah, unless it could be shown that He was descended from David.

Son of Abraham - After telling us that Jesus is the Son of David, Matthew then tells us that He is the son of Abraham. The Jews expected that the Messiah would be descended from him. It was therefore important for us to trace Christ’s genealogy up to him. Through Abraham’s line God said He will send a King. He then worked out His promise to Abraham in Israel’s history and ultimately through His Son, Jesus Christ.

The King has indeed come! Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham, is the center of it all. You and I are not at the center of history. And if this Jesus is the King of all history, it follows then that He should be the King of our lives. When we realize His rule and submit to His reign, it changes everything about how we should live.

(Adapted from Baker New Testament Commentary)

Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be The Glory)

Quotation of the Week

“The Son of God became the Son of Man that He might change the sons of men into sons of God!”

Anonymous

Word Study

Genealogy

In Matt. 1:1 we read, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham!” (NKJV).

Genealogy is the Greek word genesis (γένεσις = ghen'-es-is). It means birth, origin, descent, lineage, nativity. In classical Greek, genesis also means origin, source, and beginning. In the Septuagint the word genesis is found for the first time in the title to the first book, Genesis. The word often refers to origins, generations or descendants of families. In the New Testament, genesis also means birth or origins. Matthew introduced his Gospel as the “book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ.” Genealogies were records of family history and were often memorized because ancient people did not have access to written records. The Bible contains numerous lineage lists. The Book of Genesis alone has nine different genealogies; 1 Chronicles has 17 chapters devoted to family trees; Ezra and Nehemiah record the names of people nine different times.

Genealogies were used to decide inheritance rights, to make land allotments, and to organize censuses. That’s why Luke 2:3 says that “all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.” Joseph traced his heritage from David and his family was from Bethlehem, the city of David. The only way to be sure of your ancestral hometown was to know your genealogy. Priests were also determined by genealogy. They had to be from the tribe of Levi and the house of Aaron (Neh. 7:64).

Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus

Old Testament Prophecy – Messiah would be Ruler in Israel (Micah 5:2).

New Testament Fulfillment – Luke 1:33

Did You Know…

In the Bible it states that the Lord Jesus came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets (Matt. 5:17).

Bible Quiz

What two rituals did the Lord Jesus undergo when He was eight days old?

**Answer to last week’s Bible Quiz: What was the name of Mary’s cousin who was also pregnant? Elisabeth (Luke 1:36).

Names For God Found in the Bible

“Yahweh Mekeddeshem”

"Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you” (Ex. 31:13).

1. Meaning – Yahweh Mekeddeshem means “The Lord our sanctifier.” To sanctify mean to make holy, to set apart, separate from the profane. The Lord therefore is the One who makes us holy.

2. Insights – In context, the Lord had redeemed Israel from bondage in Egypt and now He was setting them apart for service. One purpose of the Sabbath was to be a sign – a sign was a physical manifestation of something which points to a spiritual reality. God’s will for His people is their sanctification (1 Thess. 4:3). However, we cannot do this on our own. God makes us holy by His indwelling Holy Spirit. His power in our lives enables us to become more holy as He conforms us to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Stories of Favorite Christmas Carols

Go Tell it on the Mountain

This song about sharing the good news of Jesus’ incarnation on the first Christmas shows that you always have something to celebrate, even in the midst of difficult circumstances. Slaves in 19th century America sang it together while they were working – often in difficult conditions. Their lives in slavery were full of challenges. Yet despite their plight, they celebrated the fact that Jesus loved them and came to Earth to offer them salvation. Singing this Christmas carol can lift your spirits, too, by directing your focus toward Jesus’ great love that transcends any type of difficulty.

A Little Humor

One Christmas, a mother decided she was no longer going to remind her kids to send thank you notes. Consequently, the kids’ grandmother never received any thanks for the Christmas checks she sent to the kids. The very next Christmas, all the kids stopped by in person to thank their grandmother for their checks. When asked by a friend what caused this change in behavior, the grandmother replied, “Simple. This year I didn’t sign the checks.”

Thought Provoking Church Sign

“If Christ is the Way, we waste time traveling any other!”