1 “A Dubious Bloodline” Matthew 1:1-17 Dr. Randy Working Christ Presbyterian Church November 30, 2008 Have you ever started out to read through the whole Bible, and you do fine until you bog down in the genealogies? They can be pretty boring. But believe it or not, they’re important; that’s why there are so many of them. If you wanted to establish your Jewish identity, your right to the priesthood, or your royal lineage, you had to be a part of the right bloodline, and be able to show it. In the Jewish tradition, the family tree is traced through the male line, so you only see the names of men. The father’s line was the one that preserved identity in the tribe and nation. And ultimately, there’s only one family line in the Bible, from the beginning of the story to the end, and that’s the line of King David. Jesus had to come from this line. The Messiah is the Seed of the first woman, Eve; the Seed of Abraham; the Seed of Judah. He’s the Seed of David, so he’s from the family of David. Therefore, Jesus represents the family of David, the tribe of Judah, the nation of Israel, and humanity as a whole. The Book of “Genesis” The first phrase of Matthew’s book is Biblos geneseos, the “book of the Genesis of Jesus Messiah, Son of David, Son of Abraham.” It’s Matthew’s title, not just for the genealogy that follows, not just of the story of Jesus’ birth in chapters one and two, but of the whole story of Jesus’ earthly career. Of course, the word genesis rings a bell for us like it did for the Jewish Christian community that was Matthew’s first audience. We think of the book of Genesis, the story of creation and of God’s dealings with the human race. Genesis opened with the words, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). It’s like Matthew’s saying, “That story was big, but this one is bigger. That was creation, but this is redemption, the re-creation of the human race in the person of this Jesus.” The book of Matthew is about new beginnings, of Jesus’ ministry, of his church, and here, of Jesus’ life in the flesh. The most important story isn’t the birth of the world, but the birth of the world’s Savior. The Name of Jesus 2 Ancient Hebrew names were usually an abbreviated form of a sentence, often one that said something about God. “Jesus” is how we say the Greek name, Iesous, a translation of the Old Testament name “Joshua,” or Yehoshua, or Yeshua, or Yeshu, and that means “Yahweh is salvation.” It was saying, “God saves,” or “May God help!” From the Jewish historian Josephus we know the name was fairly common during the first century, and Matthew (1:21) and Luke (1:31) tell us God gave the name for Jesus. Matthew’s going to show through his whole book that Jesus is the Messiah, God come in the flesh. He’s God and he’s human in perfect unity of his own being. He’s certainly a human being, a man. He has a name that’s well-known in his time, like Jesus is common today in the Spanish-speaking world. He’s much more than simply a man, but he’s not less than a man. So, when we say the name Jesus, we’re saying “God saves!” We’re saying who Jesus is, and what he does. Jesus himself is God’s way of saving the world. The Role of Messiah “Messiah” comes from the Hebrew moshiach, “anointed one,” or Christos in Greek. In Deuteronomy, Moses talked about a deliverer God would send one day. He said, “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him” (Deuteronomy 18:15) What was it to be “like Moses”? When Israel was in the desert, the people were afraid of the awesomeness of God, and cried out that Moses would speak for them. He mediated between sinful Israel and the holy God. He identified with his people to the point he was willing to die to pay for his people’s sins. The book of Exodus tells us, The next day Moses said to the people, "You have committed a great sin. But now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin." So Moses went back to the LORD and said, "Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written." (Exodus 32: 30-32) That’s what Moses said would come. One day, God would send a true Mediator to pay for the people’s sins and make a way to God. In a way, every prophet and priest in Israel was an intercessor, a representative of God to the people. They were anointed to their special calling. The priests would bring the offerings and prayers of the people to God and stand in the Holy place of the temple. 3 The prophets, too, brought God’s word to the people, and called on the people to live up to the covenant. They kept telling about the perfect Mediator to come, the Messiah. Israel waited in sharp expectation of that deliverer. It wasn’t far from people’s minds in Jesus’ day. It’s why, when John wrote about the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, he said, The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. (John 1:41-42) Andrew and Simon shared the expectation that the Messiah was coming. After that, Philip wanted to spread the word. John went on: Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph" (John 1:44). Matthew’s saying Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, the one who fulfills the role and promise of Moses. He makes intercession for us before God. He leads us out of captivity, and sets us free from the power of sin. He’s our guide and shepherd, and feeds us on our journey to heaven. The Son of David One of the greatest promises of the Old Testament is the promise to David of a son who would be king forever. God tells David, 'I declare to you that the LORD will build a house for you: When your days are over and you go to be with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. (1 Chronicles 17:10b-12) When Matthew called Jesus the Son of David, he was saying he fulfills the hope of Israel, and would be the true king who reigned forever. Another of the great promises Of the Old Testament is to Abraham of a descendant who will bless the world. When God calls Abraham to leave his homeland and go to a place God will show him, he says: "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you… and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." (Genesis 12:2-3) When Matthew wrote that Jesus is the Son of Abraham, he was saying Jesus is the Savior of the world. He’s for everyone, and he’s forever. 4 Now I’d like to focus on some surprises in the genealogy, some names that might seem to make up a dubious or questionable bloodline. Remember I said the list would normally be filled with male names? Well, Matthew also puts in the names of five women, and all of them come as a big surprise. Those women are Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary. Tamar (verse 3): (Genesis 38:11-30) She was a widow, the daughter-in-law of Judah. Tamar’s husband was killed for doing evil, and she was left alone. In the Ancient Near East that meant she had no way of taking care of herself. When Judah failed to fulfill his duty to care for her and give her his surviving son as a husband, she took matters into her own hands. She covered her face with a veil so Judah won’t recognize her, pretends to be a prostitute, and seduces him. In some ways she’s a victim in the story, forced to connive in order to get Judah to fulfill his promise to provide a husband to care for her. But she doesn’t exactly sound like someone you’d want to lift up as a great name to establish Jesus’ credentials! Rahab (verse 5): (Joshua 2:1-21) She was a prostitute living in the city of Jericho during the conquest of Palestine. She hid the Hebrew spies, so she was spared when their army came back and attacked the city. In the New Testament, James said she was an example of good works (James 2:24-26), and the writer of Hebrews wrote, By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.