Matthew 1:1-25: The Gestation and Generation of Jesus, God With Us

Introduction: An engagement on the edge

Engagements are hard times. If you do engagement Jesus’ way, you have all the stress of being married with few of the benefits. So for the months of your engagement, you quickly develop survival skills. Negotiation skills for example. They keep you from becoming an outlaw to the inlaws. Yes, the puce causage will be fine, OK, we’ll keep Uncle Rupert and Aunt Gladioli as far away from them as possible, hopefully they won’t make a scene again. Then a degree in event management and financial planning. For what else is a wedding, reception, honeymoon, and a new home. We’ll take on a crash course in marriage education. Meeting the minister, a relationship survey, good luck for the next 60 years. All the while fanning the flame of the fledgling relationship with your future spouse. It is a miracle anyone ever ends up married!

But can it survive an unexpected pregnancy? Well, it depends. It used to be that the unexpected pregnancy meant the engagement would be shorter. They had to make sure the child was born within wedlock. Shot gun weddings, they were called.

But that rarely happens now. Try before you buy is the norm now for marriage. Most people getting married are already in a de facto marriage. Many already have children. And often, the woman is behind the push to get married. She wants security.

But now the unexpected pregnancy now may actually delay the marriage. Let’s just get over having the baby. Then we’ll think about getting married. In the end, many people never get around to getting married.

This might be the modern Aussie way. It might be the Home and Away way. But it’s definitely not the Jesus’ way. It’s Aussie, but it’s not Christian.

Our society’s has a topsy turvy wrong way round way of getting married. But even in our society, can the engagement survive when the fiance’s not the father? Will the man marry her when all the evidence suggests couldn’t even be faithful till the wedding day? I don’t think so.

Well, these are the facts of the first Christmas. We have a young girl, Mary, newly engaged, and unexpectedly pregnant. And the fiancé, is not the father.

Jesus’ Genesis: Descended from Abraham and David

Our reading was the first 25 verses of Matthew’s gospel. And the first 17 verses of that was Jesus’ family tree. Now, to us it reads a bit like the telephone book. But it has a really important purpose.

We all know that family trees matter. For example, it’s a fair guess that you aren’t a billionaire. I’m not a billionaire. But James Packer is a billionaire. What’s the difference between you and I and James. Family tree. James is descended from Kerry Packer. So he inherits Kerry’s billions, and we don’t. In Lord of the Rings, Only the heir of Elendil can wield the sword that was reforged and claim the kingship of Gondor.

Jesus’ family tree also matters. Because God has made precious promises in the Old Testament. That’s why Matthew’s very first words are:

A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham. (Matthew 1:1 NIV)

The Son of David was the Messiah, the Christ. He would be the King who would rule the entire world (Psalm 2). The Son of Abraham would bring blessing and forgiveness to the whole world (Genesis 12:1-3, Gal 3:8, 16).

It’s fascinating that Aussies love it if they had a forefather on the first fleet. “My great great great great great grandfather was a petty thief”. He travelled out here for stealing a loaf of bread. And he survived, and now look. It appeals to our anti-authoritarian bias, and the myth of the Aussie Battler. They don’t mind being tarred with the same brush as their forebears.

Well, Jesus doesn’t mind being associated with immigrants of dubious character, either. It comes out particularly when we look at the ladies mentioned. There are only four ladies mentioned in the list. Because as is now, the Royal line is generally traced through the Sons. But each of these women, great grandma’s to Jesus, were a little unusual. First of all, each were originally gentiles. They weren’t Israelites to begin with, yet they become part of the saving line. Tamar was a Canaanite, Rahab was a Canaanite from Jericho, Ruth a Moabitess, Bathsheba probably a Hittite. This reminds us that Jesus came to save people from every nation. But we also know that each one was a little suspect, a little unorthodox, a little irregular in their way of life, the way they got their husbands, or the way they had children.

Tamar was the first (verse 3; Genesis 38). Judah wrongly deprived her of children, but she remedied it by dressing up as a prostitute and tricking Judah into getting her pregnant. Like Mary, she was pregnant out of wedlock – though it was different, as we shall see. Yet, here is Tamar, with her children, in Jesus family tree. For Jesus is not ashamed to be associated with sinners.

Rahab is the second lady mentioned (verse 5; Joshua 2,6; Hebrews 11:31; James 2:25). If it is the same Rahab as the one mentioned in Joshua, she was a prostitute who hid the Israelite spies. But she found mercy and joined God’s people. And again, Jesus was reckoned among the sinners.

The third was Ruth the Moabite (verse 5; Ruth). Even though the Moabites were not allowed to join God’s people, Ruth’s faithfulness to her Jewish mother-in-law Naomi brought her under the protection of Israel’s God. The book of Ruth tells the story of how Naomi plays match maker. She goes down to the threshing floor and lies at Boaz feet. And though unorthodox, it was effective. Boaz does not take advantage of her, but does it properly and marries her. The mention of righteous Boaz prepares us for another righteous Israelite, Joseph.

The fourth is Bathsheba. She was married to Uriah, but was seduced by King David. But God forgave their sin, and from their marriage came Solomon. Here is God bringing good things out of evil. And again, Jesus identifies with the sinners he came to save.

But while Jesus identifies with sinners, he is not born as the result of sin. Matthew was very careful to say that Joseph was not Jesus’ father. Joseph is Jesus’ adopted father, or step father. Chapter 1 verse 16:

And Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. (NIV)

Joseph is said to be the husband of Mary, not the father of Jesus. He is not the natural father of Jesus.

And so this raises the question: Who’s the Father?

Who’s the father?

Now, even in our society, when the question ‘Who’s the Father?’ is asked, we know something has gone wrong. We can bet there is a young girl in trouble. We can bet there is an angry set of parents. And there should be a worried young man somewhere having a think about himself.

Here is a problem we often face in our society. But in this case, there are some important differences. This is an unexpected pregnancy. But in another sense it was expected long before. It was unexpected but not unwanted. This pregnancy was very much wanted.

For what we see here is a virgin birth. Joseph had nothing to do with it. Mary acquiesced to no man. Rather, God has been busy. Busy bringing the birth of an unusual child in an unusual way to fulfil his promises to humanity. Let me read verses 18-19 again:

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. (NIV)

Who’s the Father? Joseph knows at least one thing, ‘Well it’s not me!’ And Joseph doesn’t think the relationship can survive this. How can it? Mary, it seems, has betrayed him even before she walked down the aisle.

But Joseph is righteous. He doesn’t save it up, let Mary walk down the aisle, and then when he is asked for his consent, says “I will NOT, she is a two timing rat”. No, he doesn’t want to publish the sin, and humiliate the women he loves. He wants to deal with the matter, secretly, quietly, not exposing the wrong doer.

How do you go when you think you have been wronged? Do you deal with it quietly, like this righteous man. Or do you want to expose the one you think has wronged you to public disgrace. I’ll get him.

He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends (Proverbs 17:9 NIV)

That is Joseph. He wants to cover over the offence. But, in the days before paternity tests and DNA, there came confirmation that would settle all Joseph’s fears. Verse 20:

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “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. (NIV)

You’ve got a good woman here Joseph. Take her home as your wife. For there is no one else. The child in her is ‘from the Holy Spirit’. Here is a different child. Conceived not in the normal way, through sexual union. But miraculously, through the power of God.

Star Wars number 1 actually rips off the idea of a birth with no human father. Anakin Skywalker has no father, but is conceived by the Midicloreans. And all of this is saying ‘Watch this space!’ Here is the one who will bring balance to the force. We will watch your career with great interest. Do you know what it is? But there are also a couple of other questions that you expect when you are expecting. The first one is ‘Do you know what it is?’ Is it a boy or a girl? This question has only come in with the ultra sound. It used to be ‘What do you want?’ Now it’s ‘Do you know, or is it a surprise?’. Well, in the days before Ultra sounds, you only knew on the day what you got. Except for Joseph and Mary. Verse 21: She will give birth to a son… Mary knew should could go out and get blue jump suits.

What will you call him? The other question you expect when you are expecting is ‘What will you call him?’ Some parents keep the name of their unborn child secret. But not the name of the child of Mary and Joseph. His name needs to be known far and wide, by every human who has ever lived.

The angel gives the boy baby a name, and a title. Both tell us who this special child is and what he means for those who are expecting him. Verses 21 to 23 again:

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. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” – which means, “God with us”. (NIV)

His name is Jesus. It is the Greek form of the Hebrew name “Joshua”. But the name has one meaning: You see it in footnote ‘a’ in our church bibles… “Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua, which means the LORD Saves. The LORD saves. Yahweh saves. God saves.

But this raises questions for us. God Saves. Who does he save? And why do they need saving? What do they need to be saved from. Can’t they save themselves? And what does Jesus have to do with all this?

The answer to these questions is found in verse 21 again. You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. This baby, named Joshua or Jesus, will save. God saves because Jesus saves. And he saves his people. Those whom God has known before the foundation of the world. Those who are waiting for God, those who trust in him and turn in repentance to him.

And he saves them from their sins. Those things we do and don’t do and think and say. Those things that are against God’s word and will. Those things we do that break God’s commands and his heart.

For his people have their sins. And when the Angel says we need to be saved from our sins, it is a way of saying we need to be saved from the punishment that our sins deserve. We need to be saved from an angry God who hates our sins. God has prepared the punishment of hell for sin. A horrible and eternal separation from God, described by Jesus as unquenchable fire. That’s ‘he will save his people from their sins’ means. We have sins. And we need someone to take the punishment for our sins.

Jesus will save his people from their sins. But he won’t do it from the manger. He will do it from the cross. It is by his bloody death and glorious resurrection that he will save his people from their sins.

Friends, it is not baby Jesus who saves. That’s why we must not continue to picture Jesus as a baby. No, it was 33 year old Jesus, full grown, powerful, commander of legions of angels, he is the saviour. For 33 year old Jesus chose naked helplessness once again. He exchanges the manger for the Cross. By dying, Jesus offers us free forgiveness when we trust in him and turn to him. By rising, Jesus defeated death and rose as ruler of the universe. Right now Jesus is with his real Father, God, in heaven. And one day, Jesus will return and bring his new Kingdom and new world.

But there is more to say about this Jesus. He is not just saviour. He is also LORD. He Yahweh, Jehovah. He is Immanuel. This title means, God with Us. Jesus is God in the flesh. God who pitched his tent amongst us for a short time. Jesus is God. That’s what the creed means when it calls Jesus, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, of one being with the Father, through him all things were made. That’s why we worship Jesus.

Jesus by name, Jesus by nature. Jesus is savior and God. This Christmas, don’t let Jesus just a religious name to you. Let him be what he actually came to be, your savior, who rescues you from sin and hell and God’s anger. Let him be your God, for whom you live and worship. And you can do this by praying a prayer with me. We’ll do this now.

Let’s pray.

Appendix: Genealogy

There are obvious and substantial differences between the two genealogies. They are identical between Abraham and David. Matthew’s appears to be the most stylized, with the 3x 14 structure, it’s less concise form, and it’s elaboration. The most important differences start where Matthew follows a line from Solomon son of David, while Luke follows a line from Nathan son of David. The lines re-unite with Shealtiel and Zerabubel, and then depart until they reunite at Joseph, the step-father of Jesus.

How do we account for the divergences in the genealogies?

Of the commentators, it seems that many would say that Matthew records the list of successors to the throne – also called his ‘legal ancestory’, not his physical descent or actual human ancestory, which Luke records (France, 1985: 74; Blomberg, 1992:53; Hagner, 8). Compare Eusebius, The Church History, 35ff, who however says that Matthew records the physical line and Luke the legal.

Another theory account is that Luke traces Mary’s line and Matthew Joseph’s. This was held by Luther and in modern times by Nolland and others. However, modern commentators tend to say that this is unlikely, as lineage was reckoned through the male line (eg Hagner, 8). J Masson opted for a combination of the two views with Mary AND Joseph sharing a common great-grandfather.

[1] (Jeconiah appears twice). Possible solutions are (1) count Mary and Joseph as separate generations; (2) Christ as 14^th name, a reference to his resurrection or return (eg Stendahl); (3) Jeconiah’s regnal name was Jehoiachin (2 Kgs 24:8) and thus is the same form as his father’s name (Iwakim). ‘If we accept Jehoiakim as the last name of the second group, then the Jechoniah of the beginning of the third group in Matthew’s genealogy is not a repeated name, as with the case of David at the beginning of the second group, but a new name which, when counted, gives us [14]’. Requires textual emendation (Hagner, 1993: 6).

[2] Eusebius cites a tradition of Levirite marriage here. Matthan and Melki both married the same woman (Estha). By Estha, Melki begot Heli, Mathan begot Jacob. While there are problems with the solution (Melki is not 3^rd from the end, but 5th), Eusebius evinces the view that there is no error, but that each genealogy is factually correct.