I. Genealogies can tell us a lot about our ancestors, sometimes about who we are and occasionally who our offspring will be
A. I remember growing up and being told of one of my great greats whose name was John Pidcock (this is my fraternal grandmother’s maiden name)
1. Every year the Pidcocks would get together with pride and recount their great family ancestor John Pidcock who was a Scottish immigrant.
a. In 1684 he homesteaded 505 acres off of William Penn’s family along the banks of the Delaware River.
b. He built a stone house and Grist Mill and traded with the Indians.
c. With great plume the Pidcocks would recollect that this house served as the headquarters for General George Washington just before he crossed the Delaware and defeated the British at Trenton.
2. In order to enrich this legacy, the Pidcocks paid an History Professor from the University of Pennsylvania to research more about this revered patriarch.
a. The professor found that John Pidcock did homestead this land, build this house and a grist mill
b. Evidently Mr Pidcock married a Delaware Indian Squaw and had 6 children,
3. How did the professor find this info John Pidcock in the early 1700s?
a. Through old court records
b. The court records also mention that John lost the land due to unpaid debts
c. The court records also tell us why he could not pay his debts for it seems he spent a lot of time in jail due to public intoxication i.e. he was a drunk.
4. Result - I haven’t heard much about the Pidcock reunions lately.
B. Each of us have unique genealogies of our own family but this genealogy recorded in Matthew is actually also our family tree if we have received Jesus as Lord and Savior.
1. This record tells much about Jesus and why He came.
2. It also tells us once again who we are in relationship to Him.
II. Verse 1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
A. The birth of Christ fulfilled God's promises to Abraham and David.
1. God made many promises that Abraham and David’s prodigy would rule.
2. God promised to Abraham that his family would out number the stars in heaven
a. God pledged to Abraham that his people would possess the promised land
b. And God assured the Patriarch of the Jews, that through Him all the people of the world would be blessed.
3. God also promised to David that his throne would never go away.
a. The Creator pledged that even when David’s sons disobeyed, God would discipline them and keep David’s throne.
b. The Lord God foretold that one of David’s prodigy would be a mighty King and the promised Messiah
4. Both the genealogies in Matthew and Luke clearly establish that Jesus was both a Son of Abraham and a Son of David.
a. Matthew’s record genealogy clearly affirms that Jesus was the Messiah or as it is translated in the Greek “The Christ.”
b. Though Jesus birth was very humble, His family record would satisfy those who had to know his royal pedigree.
B. But what is most interesting in the record of Jesus’ ancestry are the mention of these four women
1. Women did not need to be recorded in ancient genealogies,
a. However, Matthew does not include the famous Matriarchs of the Jewish faith such as Sarah, Rebekah or Leah
b. The ones record here in God’s Word, were not the ordinary brides any Jewish mother would love to have her son bring home to wed.
2. Their inclusion in Jesus’ ancestral record says something about Jesus and us.
III. Verse 3 “and to Judah were born Perez and Zerah by Tamar;”
A. In Genesis 38, we find Judah, the third born of Jacob, marrying his first born son off to a non-Jew, a Canaanite woman named Tamar
1. But Judah’s first son, Er, was evil in God’s sight and the Lord took his life.
a. Judah instructed his second son, Onan, to take Tamar as his wife so there would be a descendant for his deceased brother.
b. But Onan was also evil and refused to let Tamar to produce a child for which God took his life as well.
2. Now Judah was afraid of losing his youngest son Shelah and falsely promised Tamar would be his wife when he was older
a. Even after Judah’s wife dies, Shelah does not marry Tamar
b. As the years went by, Tamar realized that Judah had lied.
c. There would be no prodigy for her or Judah if she did not do something.
3. She knew Judah’s lustful habits so she disguised herself as a prostitute
a. She stationed herself along the route she knew Judah would be taking to a special feast.
b. Unknowingly Judah, hired her as a prostitute, and left some of prized his possessions as a guarantee of payment.
4. Later Judah was told that his daughter-in-law Tamar is pregnant.
a. He was indignant and insisted that she be put to death for her immorality.
b. Then Tamar produced Judah’s treasured possessions.
c. Judah confessed that Tamar was more righteous than he.
d. She bore twins to Judah, and Perez would be the one through whom the Messianic line would be continued.
5. Pretty interesting that Tamar would be a part of Jesus Royal Family Line.
B. Verse 5 “and to Salmon was born Boaz by Rahab; . . .”
1. According to the Book of Joshua, the first city the Israelites had to conquer when entering the Promised land was Jericho.
a. So Joshua sent out spies to check out the city.
b. The people of the city learn of the spies presence and began looking for them.
2. The spies sought hiding in Rahab’s house.
a. Do you know what the name Rahab means? It means “harlot” or “prostitute”.
b. The spies of God’s chosen people, sought refuge in a brothel
3. Rahab concealed the spies, lied to protect them, and sent the Jericho soldiers on a wild goose chase.
a. She risked her life and the lives of her family, why?
4. Because the reprobate of society believed God and His promises to Israel.
a. Because of her faith, the spies gave her promises of deliverance.
b. They promised if she brought her whole family into her house and hung a scarlet cord in the window, when God delivered Jericho into the hands of the Israelites, she and her household would be spared.
c. Because of Rahab’s faith in God, her family was spared, she became a mother within the line of David and Jesus and she is listed in the Book of Hebrew’s Hall of Faith.
5. So far we have found a woman that slept with her father-in-law and a prostitute in the lineage of Jesus.
C. “. . . to Boaz was born Obed by Ruth. . .”
1. The Book of Ruth begins with a famine in the land of Israel.
a. Because of the famine, Elimelech takes his two sons and his wife Naomi to Moab
b. The Moabites were the race that resulted from the union of Lot and his oldest daughter.
c. His two sons marry Moabite women
d. Elimelech dies and then his two sons die without having any offspring.
2. Since the famine in Israel is over, Naomi decides to return home.
a. She tells her two daughters in law. Ruth and Orpah to return to their fathers’ homes.
b. Ruth loves Naomi and is determine to go with her to this strange land.
3. In Israel, Ruth immediately sets out to provide for Naomi’s needs.
a. She goes right away to collect grain from the edges of the harvest fields
b. Her faithfulness to Naomi and her hard work catches the eye of a wealthy single man by the name of Boaz
4. It turns out that Boaz was a relative of Ruth’s husband
a. Naomi coaches Ruth into to getting closer to Boaz and the plan worked.
b. Boaz wants to marry Ruth if the closest man in the family refused.
c. As it turned out Boaz marries Ruth and becomes the Kinsman redeemer for Naomi and Ruth.
d. And through Ruth and Boaz, the Redeemer King Jesus would be born.
5. So far we have a conniving woman, a prostitute, and a foreigner in the genealogy of Jesus
D. Verse 6 “And to David was born Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah;”
1. You notice, the verse does not even mention her name - Bathsheba
2. Most of us remember that David was “A man after God’s own heart.”
a. He remained faithful to God and even to King Saul who tried to kill him.
b. God gave David the united kingdom of Israel and helped him expand the borders.
3. But one evening while slacking off and he let his sinful nature have control
a. He went out onto his roof and gazed upon Bathsheba taking a bath on her roof top.
b. Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah the Hittite, one of David’s valiant soldiers who was deployed defending Israel.
c. David has Bathsheba brought to him and he sleeps with her.
4. After that night Bathsheba becomes pregnant.
a. As if the sin of adultery is not bad enough, through a message to his general, he has Uriah murdered.
b. Bathsheba then becomes David’s wife.
c. Though God did not take the throne away from David, the Almighty did take Bathsheba’s first born and places derision in David’s family.
5. But David and Bathsheba’s second son Solomon would become a very wise king and through him would come the King of Kings, Jesus the Word of God made flesh.
IV. As we have seen this morning Jesus came from the line of people who needed grace
A. The line goes through a woman who slept with her father-in-law while pretending to be a prostitute,
1. a woman who was a prostitute,
2. a woman who was a foreigner and whose people served other gods
3. And lastly and a woman who was adulterer and duplicitous in the murder of her husband.
B. What a strange way to save the world! So what do we gather from this?
1. The Savior of the world came from people that we would not even have anything to do with.
2. The Savior of the world came from people that we would ridicule.
3. The Savior of the world had to come to this earth because of people like his relatives.
C. This genealogy teaches us that Jesus was born a King of Grace
1. He would not be a King of law and of iron force, but a King of grace.
2. His royal credentials testify of royal grace.
3. And the people He chose to be His ancestors reveal the wonder of grace, and give hope to all sinners.
D. You see, Jesus came to bestow that same grace to us - who need it just as badly.
1. Whoever receives Jesus as Savior and Lord becomes a part of His family lineage
2. I John 3:1 See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and {such} we are. (NAS)
3. We are adopted through Christ and have the specially privileges of God’s family.
4. Romans 8:15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" (NAS)
E. The genealogy of Jesus tells us:
1. We came from a people who needed GRACE
2. We are saved by the King of GRACE
3. We are called to live and share His GRACE.
F. The Story of Christmas is about Grace given, received, and shared
1. John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only beg
