Matthew 1:1

FOURTH DAY 

(May 12, 2024)

Matt 1:1 
This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:

Review of question from last week-
The First week  we talked about priorities. Then the next week we talked about voices; what voices are we listening to?
And then last week, at the end of our lesson, we presented our weekly question via
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

In Matthew 17:5, God the Father says about Jesus, ““This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”

And the ask the Questions:
What does this verse mean to you?
What does it say to you, personally? Specifically?
Do you think of it as a command?
If so, how seriously do you take it? 
How does this apply to your life? 

Do you see the connection between our questions? 

Priorities  – Voices – And now the verse Matt 17:15
So, let me ask you again, Which voice will you listen to?

Now we come to our first verse: 
The very beginning of Matthew. 
The very first verse in the NT. 

Would someone like to read it?

“This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:”(NIV 2011)

There are several things significant in this first verse.

1. The first two words in this verse are, in the Greek, Βίβλος γενέσεως, or “Book of Genesis.”
   1. There were some people who, especially in the first century, considered this the actual title of Matthew’s Gospel. 
   2. The title as we know it today, “The Gospel of Matthew” is “The Gospel According to Matthew” and is not part of the official inspired Word of God. It was added later (as non-inspired) to more clearly identify the Gospels. 
2. The word genealogy in Greek is the word Genesis. Very interesting way to start the NT, and brings our minds back to the first book of the OT; GENESIS. A person could wonder and speculate on the connections there for quite a while. This is the first of many references to the OT that would have immediately caught the attention of first century Jews.
3. The next word is Jesus, which was a common, the Hebrew equivalent being Joshua. More on this a couple of coming weeks when we get to Jesus birth.
4. Next is the the word Messiah, which means the Annointed One, or, the Christ. Right out of the gate, with no hesitation, no subtle attempt at persuasion, and no beating around the bush, Matthew boldly declares that Jesus IS, in fact, the Messiah. 
5. That Jesus is Son of David and the Son of Abraham is mentioned together clearly points to the two most important covenants in the OT.

This verse is a very bold and controversial assertion to a people who just recently crucified their Messiah. 

There are two reasons why this first verse in the NT is significant. 

1. The first reason is genealogies. Genealogies were really important to the Jewish people. Matthew opens the NT with Jesus’ genealogy, which points to Jesus as being the long awaited Messiah. (See Isaiah 11:1) 

We will talk more about this fascinating genealogy next week. 

2. The second reason this verse is so significant to Jews, besides the controversial claim that the “crucified” Jesus is actually the Messiah, is that it refers to two of the most important promises (unconditional covenants) given by God in the OT, by way of reference to David and Abraham.
   1. A covenant is similar to a contract, or a pact, or an agreement, and may be defined biblically as:
      1. an agreement between God and his people, in which God makes promises to his people. Usually, but not always, covenants require certain conduct from both parties in the covenant. These covenants are called conditional covenants, and are conditional upon the conduct required of both parties to the covenant. That is, conditional covenants are based upon both parties in the covenant keeping their end of the agreement. Alternately, some covenants are non-conditional. The Covenants God made with David and Abraham were non-conditional to both Abraham and David, and their descendants. This means that God made promises to Abraham and David, and their descendants, promises He intended to keep, even if the people of Israel (Abraham’s and David’s descendants), did not keep their end of it. 
      2. God is a covenant maker. And God is a covenant keeper, even when the people do not keep their end of it.
      3. Mark Jones, in the article on the Ligonier website entitled, “What is a Covenant?” says, “At its most basic level, a covenant is an oath-bound relationship between two or more parties.” Theologically, Divine covenants are between God and man.
   2. This first verse, then speaks heavily to God’s promises – or covenants – made to the Jews, because it immediately points directly to the two most important covenants in the whole OT.
      1. Like the steel skeletons of todays skyscrapers, God promises, and specifically His covenants promises, are the backbone, or the skeleton of the Bible, and the biblical story is built up around these promises from God. In the case of this first verse of Matthew’s Gospel, he was concerned with the huge covenantal promises God made to Israel in the OT. God made many promises in the Bible, but of highest importance are God’s Covenantal Promises. God made Covenants with Adam, Noah and Moses, but the two biggest, the two most important Covenants were with Abraham way back in in Genesis 12, and with King David in 2 Samuel 7. 

Almost any Jew, or Jewish Christian of the first century would have immediately seen this as being very significant. 

The Significance of the Abrahamic Covenant 

God makes promises to Abraham Gen. 12:2-3, saying, “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” God further continued to explain the covenant thru to the end of Genesis. All told, God promised Abraham and his descendants, through him – his seeds – three things:

1. a people, 
2. a place (Gen. 13:14-16)
3. and blessings 

The promises of God to Abraham are scattered from Gen 12 to the end of Genesis. See 12:1-3; 13:15-16; 15:5, 18; 17:6-8; 22:17-18; 25:11; 26:2-4; 27:27-29; 49:28. 

This covenant was slowly fulfilled little by little in Exodus. In Egypt, Abrahams descendants, the Israelites, became numerous. Then in Joshua, they were given the land that God promised to Abraham and his seed. Under David, they received many blessings (but ultimately these “many blessing were pointing to Jesus, in whom all the promises were fulfilled). But all this happened very slowly because the Israelites, were disobedient and rebellious and stiff-necked. They needed much correction and discipline over the many centuries of the OT. 

The Significance of the Davidic Covenant  

Starting in the 2 Samuel 7:12, God promises David 3 things:

1. A throne forever
2. A house forever (a Royal dynasty) 
3. A kingdom forever

The Significance is:

1. Jesus is called the “Son of David” 17 times in the NT
2. The covenant is in 2 Sam 7:12-16: See also Psalm 89:3-4, 20-37 and Ps 132:11-12
3. See also: Acts 2:29-36, Luke 1:31-33, Jer 23:5, Isa 9:7, etc.)

For two thousand years, up until the coming of Christ, the Jews looked forward to, and held dearly these promises. 

To illustrate how important promises were – AND STILL ARE TODAY two thousand years after Christ – to the Jewish people, I would like to show you a video from modern day headlines. 

1. Watch Video (https://youtu.be/kd-4clk0M-E?si=rnoZA49edpkbb9X1)
2. Show screen capture of the last verse in the song – the “promise.”
3. Israel’s hope is in a promise that – to them – has not yet been realized; a deliverer that has not yet delivered; a Savior who has not yet saved; a redeemer who has not yet redeemed. Their hope in a Messiah yet to come will NEVER be realized because he has already come and they did not believe in Him. So, sadly, their hope is empty. They are not yet saved from their enemies.
4. Christians, on the other hand, have a real hope. A hope that is based in truth and on facts. Our Hope has been fulfilled. Our deliverer has delivered us from our enemies; and our Savior has already come. We are already saved from our enemies, and we know who our true enemies are. Our true enemies are not flesh and blood, but, rather, Ephesians 6:12 says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” The difference  between our hope and Israel’s hope, is that their are still hoping for a material, physical deliverance. They were hoping from deliverance from Rome, and now they are hoping from deliverance from Hamas, or however their current enemies may be. Israel’s hope is material and temporal. Our hope is spiritual and eternal. Their hope is is in a Savior, a Messiah, that will never come – because He already came and they did not believe in Him. Our hope is in the real, living Jesus who sits at the right hand of the Father, who is, even now, interceding for us. Our hope is in the one who has already won the victory for us, who has guaranteed our inheritance in the heavenly realms, eternal salvation forever in the kingdom of heaven. We have fulfilled for us the promises of both Abraham and David thru Jesus Christ our Lord. 
5. Read Matt 14:27-31 (Peter walking on the water) Compare and contrast material with spiritual; waves vs Jesus
6. Who is Israel looking at?
7. Who are we looking at?
8. Read Romans 8:1-9a
9. Jesus did not come to save us – or Israel – from Rome or Hamas. Jesus came to save us from a worse fate than that of raging waves on the sea. In Matt 1:20-21 an angel of the Lord says to Joseph, “ (NIV 1984) 21 (NIV 1984)  “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

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SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

Question: 
Who or what are we really trusting in?