1 00:00:07,830 --> 00:00:09,790 Well, again, welcome and good to have you here tonight. 2 00:00:09,790 --> 00:00:12,990 Would you please open your Bible to the New Testament book of 3 00:00:12,990 --> 00:00:16,710 Matthew in Chapter 1? As you're turning there, let me 4 00:00:16,710 --> 00:00:19,350 remind you of some announcements from this morning, ladies, this 5 00:00:19,350 --> 00:00:23,710 Tuesday, 9:30, time for gathering and study together out 6 00:00:23,710 --> 00:00:26,950 of the book of Ruth. An invitation also to Wednesday 7 00:00:26,950 --> 00:00:29,790 when we gather to pray 7:00 here in the church. 8 00:00:32,439 --> 00:00:35,440 God is doing a great work in our midst, in our hearts and lives 9 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:38,360 as as we can just see families pressing into the Lord, 10 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:41,800 individuals desirous of of understanding God's word more 11 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:45,240 and being transformed by it and living for him and obeying him 12 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:49,160 in these last days. And part of that is recognising 13 00:00:49,160 --> 00:00:51,480 that we're stewards of that which God has given to us. 14 00:00:51,680 --> 00:00:53,920 And so we give of our tithes and offerings. 15 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:56,840 And I just want to pray now and ask the Lord the blessing upon 16 00:00:56,840 --> 00:00:58,800 that as we trust him with our resources. 17 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:01,760 Then we'll get stuck in to our study tonight of God's Word. 18 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:03,400 Let's bow our heads, let's close our eyes. 19 00:01:03,920 --> 00:01:07,280 Father in Heaven, thank you for the privilege of being called 20 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:12,720 your people, the generosity that you have displayed to us. 21 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:18,000 And as your family, as your children, we cannot help but be 22 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:21,680 generous. Help us to recognise that we're 23 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:27,280 to be stewards wisely using that which you have entrusted to us. 24 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:30,760 So we give back to you of our first fruits and our tithe and 25 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:33,240 offerings, and we do so with glad and cheerful hearts. 26 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:36,480 And I ask that you would use that which we give for your 27 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:39,240 glory and purposes here on earth as in heaven. 28 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:42,880 And thank you now again, as it has been prayed for your 29 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:46,880 wonderful word. But now we have the opportunity 30 00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:49,720 to open and in in the coming weeks studying through the book 31 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:52,440 of Matthew. It will be such a blessing to 32 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:53,960 us. And we ask that blessing be upon 33 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:59,080 us now in Jesus name, Amen. The title of tonight's message 34 00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:04,320 is the King above our mess. We're going to have a look at 35 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:06,760 Matthew chapter 1 verses one through to 17. 36 00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:09,360 And maybe you've read ahead and you've been looking at those 37 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:13,080 verses and you're going, surely we're not going to read the 38 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:15,840 genealogy. And most of us, when we read 39 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:18,840 these in our devotions, we might skip over them. 40 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:22,320 We're going to read it all. And we, we kind of did this as 41 00:02:22,320 --> 00:02:23,880 we studied through the book of Nehemiah. 42 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:27,320 We saw a list of names and we saw how important they were. 43 00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:30,480 And I think what we'll see tonight is I want to show you 44 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:32,920 why these are of great interest to us. 45 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:36,320 Matthew, chapter one, verse 1 to 17. 46 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:39,360 I'll read it now out of the new King James Version. 47 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:44,400 The book of the genealogy Matthew begins of Jesus Christ. 48 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:47,640 Now Christ is not Jesus last name, it is Jesus the Christ 49 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:51,880 meaning the Messiah, the promised 1 the anointed one, the 50 00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:54,800 son of David, the son of Abraham. 51 00:02:55,920 --> 00:03:01,120 Verse 2 Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, Jacob begot 52 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:06,120 Judah and his brothers Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar. 53 00:03:06,640 --> 00:03:12,440 Perez begot Hezron and Hezron begat Ram, Ram begot Aminadab. 54 00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:18,040 Verse 4 Aminadab begot Nation and nation begat Salmon Salmon. 55 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:24,120 Verse 5 begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed 56 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:28,040 begot Jesse and Jesse begot David the king. 57 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:32,440 David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of 58 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:34,560 Uriah. Verse 7. 59 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:39,920 Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot Abuja and Abuja begot ASA, 60 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:44,520 ASA begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and 61 00:03:44,520 --> 00:03:47,360 Joram begot Uzziah. Verse 9. 62 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:52,800 Uziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah, 63 00:03:53,720 --> 00:03:58,080 Hezekiah begot Manasa, Manasa begot Ammon, and Ammon begot 64 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:01,400 Josiah. Josiah begot Jeconiah and his 65 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:04,440 brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon. 66 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:08,440 Verse 11 And after they were brought to Babylon, Jack and 67 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:11,320 Niah begot Shield Teal and Shield Teal begot Zerubbabel, 68 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:16,560 Zerubbabel begot Abayud, Abayud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot 69 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:21,320 Azor. Verse 14 Azor begot Zadok, Zadok 70 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:26,560 begot Akim, and Akim begot Iliud, Iliud begot Iliasa, 71 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:31,120 Eliezar begot Matan, and Matan begot Jacob, and Jacob begot 72 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:34,400 Joseph. Notice the husband of Mary, of 73 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:37,120 whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. 74 00:04:37,840 --> 00:04:41,120 And so verse 17, all the generations from Abraham to 75 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:46,040 David are 14 generations, from David until the captivity in 76 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:50,720 Babylon are 14 generations, and from the captivity in Babylon 77 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:54,120 until the Christ are 14 generations. 78 00:04:54,120 --> 00:05:00,320 Stopping there. Well now be honest, reading 79 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:03,720 those verses, was that a little bit tedious? 80 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:09,000 And I'm not saying that we did not value that in reading 81 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:10,400 through it. And as you read through it, you 82 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:13,800 realise, OK, it's God's word, it's important, here's what sits 83 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:18,040 beneath that is we're not sure of it's application, right? 84 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:21,240 We don't really enjoy reading genealogies. 85 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:25,560 Generally speaking, we see this as the Jewish phone book list of 86 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:30,600 names and if we were writing a book, put yourself in Matthew 87 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:32,360 sandals. If you were beginning putting 88 00:05:32,360 --> 00:05:35,640 pen to paper writing, OK, I'm going to write the Gospel of 89 00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:38,000 Matthew. Would you begin like this? 90 00:05:39,320 --> 00:05:42,120 It's akin to could you imagine commencing reading a fictional 91 00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:45,080 book And the beginning chapter was now here's a list of all the 92 00:05:45,080 --> 00:05:49,120 characters in this book and just rattled off, you know, the 93 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:50,640 people that you can come across and that. 94 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:54,240 And so ends chapter 1. Oh, OK, This book's not really 95 00:05:54,240 --> 00:05:57,960 getting me because we understand in literature that the beginning 96 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:01,280 is what hooks us in, right. We talk about the hook in 97 00:06:01,280 --> 00:06:05,040 narrative writing and in in movies and in TV series. 98 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:08,320 The opening sequence before the credits is is to hook the viewer 99 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:12,000 in to capture their attention in readiness for the story that 100 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:14,480 lies ahead. We've been taught that you need 101 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:18,160 to grab the attention of the reader of the viewer of anybody 102 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:20,720 engaging. Now listen. 103 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:23,520 The authors of the Gospels knew this. 104 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:28,720 Think of the Gospel of Mark. Mark is all about colourful 105 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:31,200 characters. He commences with John the 106 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:34,680 Baptist. John the Baptist is clothed with 107 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:37,880 camel hair. He's eating locusts dipped in 108 00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:41,680 honey, is baptising people in the Jordan River, proclaiming 109 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:44,040 repentance for the Kingdom of God is at hand. 110 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:47,880 And then Jesus comes onto the scene and the sky opens up and a 111 00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:51,680 voice from heaven says, this is my beloved son in whom well 112 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:53,800 pleased. And then not long after that, 113 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:56,080 demons are convulsing and screaming cry. 114 00:06:56,240 --> 00:06:59,960 We know who you are, Jesus. That's the beginning to a book, 115 00:06:59,960 --> 00:07:03,040 right? That's how you start a book. 116 00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:10,240 Luke, the Gospel of Luke. Luke starts with a bold claim 117 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:14,680 about being a better book. He says, I know that you've read 118 00:07:14,680 --> 00:07:17,880 many other accounts before, but let me tell you, effectively 119 00:07:17,880 --> 00:07:21,960 this is the best. He writes as an historian, as an 120 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:25,720 eyewitness and those that he'd interviewed and investigated. 121 00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:30,120 And he says, I'm about to give you a fuller account of that 122 00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:33,520 which you've come across. That's going to work. 123 00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:40,600 That'll grab readers attentions. And John, oh, the Gospel of John 124 00:07:40,600 --> 00:07:45,920 starts with mystery, using this kind of ethereal language that, 125 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:48,160 you know, is kind of otherworldly. 126 00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:52,040 Jesus is the word. It's like a new genesis. 127 00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:57,360 You know, in the beginning was the word, he says, and was with 128 00:07:57,360 --> 00:08:01,960 God and became flesh. Oh, I'm curious about that. 129 00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:07,280 Matthew in the beginning kind of this nerdy voice, odd picture 130 00:08:07,840 --> 00:08:12,160 and Jesus was born by and he rattles off all of these list of 131 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:16,920 names. He throws out these 46 different 132 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:20,800 names repeating some. Some are hard to pronounce as we 133 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:23,840 read through it before we get to Jesus. 134 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:28,760 I don't think it's really a page Turner by modern standards. 135 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:31,600 And yet let me tell you something. 136 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:35,760 History indicates to us that in the first two centuries, you 137 00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:39,480 know, which gospel was by far the most widely read and 138 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:44,600 consumed if we use that language, Matthew, when the 139 00:08:44,640 --> 00:08:47,680 early church fathers came together to put the Canon of 140 00:08:47,680 --> 00:08:51,280 Scripture and thinking of the New Testament, you know, you 141 00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:53,600 picture them gathered around, they go, oh, oh, we, we should 142 00:08:53,600 --> 00:08:56,680 start with Matthew. That'll be a great thing to 143 00:08:56,680 --> 00:08:59,040 start the New Testament with. Let's put that at the beginning. 144 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:05,120 The intro is the best. So they knew, don't you think? 145 00:09:05,560 --> 00:09:08,040 You've got to do something to grab the the attention of the 146 00:09:08,040 --> 00:09:11,160 reader. So what are we as the modern 147 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:15,080 reader missing in this list of names? 148 00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:17,280 What is it that we're not getting out of this? 149 00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:21,600 Why are we tempted to skip the intro and pick up from verse 18 150 00:09:21,720 --> 00:09:24,440 out of Matthew chapter 1? Want to try and help us here? 151 00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:29,640 A little historical background on the book of Matthew and on 152 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:32,560 the man Matthew. There's a time gap between the 153 00:09:32,560 --> 00:09:34,720 last book and the Old Testament, Malachi. 154 00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:41,000 And here Matthew of some 400 years, the last book of the Old 155 00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:42,880 Testament, the first book of the New Testament. 156 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:45,240 Bible scholars call this the silent years. 157 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:49,000 That means that there were no prophetic words recorded that 158 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:51,480 were given to the people of God during this time. 159 00:09:51,920 --> 00:09:54,600 It begs the question, why? Why was God silent? 160 00:09:55,680 --> 00:09:59,400 400 years is a significant, significant, you know, period of 161 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:02,640 time. We try to help you and by 162 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:05,960 thinking of it this way, Imagine you have a significant 163 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:08,520 announcement to make and, and you're gathered with a group of 164 00:10:08,520 --> 00:10:11,640 people and there's noise in the room and you, you need to make 165 00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:13,480 that announcement. What do you typically do? 166 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:17,400 OK, everybody listen up. You try to get silence in the 167 00:10:17,400 --> 00:10:20,360 room, try to draw attention to I have an announcement to make 168 00:10:20,360 --> 00:10:23,280 everybody. And you wait for the silence to 169 00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:26,080 settle before making said announcement. 170 00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:29,400 That's what God was doing. The major announcement is listen 171 00:10:29,400 --> 00:10:30,400 up everybody. Listen. 172 00:10:31,680 --> 00:10:36,000 The Messiah is here, the promised one, the Christ. 173 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:40,920 In Hebrew, Matthew's name is Matthew Yahoo, which means gift 174 00:10:40,920 --> 00:10:43,240 of Yahweh. So if your name is Matthew here 175 00:10:43,240 --> 00:10:46,600 tonight, what a great name. If you go by Mat, I think you're 176 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:51,360 selling yourself short. Full it Matthew, gift of Yahweh. 177 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:55,680 Matthew was one of the 12 disciples chosen by Jesus. 178 00:10:55,680 --> 00:10:58,880 You'll know and remember from your prior knowledge that he was 179 00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:02,800 a tax collector also went by the name of Levi. 180 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:07,680 Being a tax collector that was the lowest of lows in Jewish 181 00:11:07,680 --> 00:11:09,240 society. You were a sell out. 182 00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:12,440 You were working in cohesion with the the Romans and you were 183 00:11:12,440 --> 00:11:15,840 taking advantage of your fellow Jews skimming off the top and 184 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:19,840 and they were hated by their fellow countrymen. 185 00:11:20,560 --> 00:11:21,920 He worked for the Roman government. 186 00:11:21,960 --> 00:11:26,280 And yet we read that when Christ calls him, he leaves everything 187 00:11:26,840 --> 00:11:29,400 and abandons that to follow Jesus, even throwing a great 188 00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:33,000 feast for him. Matthew probably wrote his 189 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:38,120 gospel around 50 AD and specifically targeting a Jewish 190 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:40,440 audience. So it's very Jewish in in 191 00:11:40,440 --> 00:11:42,120 language. And so it's very Jewish, 192 00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:45,560 particularly in these first few verses as to why he commences 193 00:11:45,560 --> 00:11:47,720 with the genealogy, which we'll get to in a moment. 194 00:11:49,360 --> 00:11:53,320 And he's all about bringing evidence that points to Jesus 195 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:57,320 being the fulfilment of the prophetic promises from the Old 196 00:11:57,320 --> 00:12:00,880 Testament of a Messiah of the anointed, one of the one who had 197 00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:05,160 delivered the people of Israel. And he says that Jesus is this 198 00:12:05,160 --> 00:12:08,840 Messiah king. There are more than 100 quotes 199 00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:12,000 from the Old Testament in the book of Matthew, more than any 200 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:17,640 other New Testament writer. And the word Kingdom appears 54 201 00:12:17,640 --> 00:12:22,760 times when the early church fathers gave each gospel a 202 00:12:22,760 --> 00:12:25,960 symbol that captured its theme. Maybe if you've done a tour of 203 00:12:25,960 --> 00:12:28,680 different churches and you've seen some of the gospels 204 00:12:28,680 --> 00:12:32,320 pictured with a symbol. The book of Matthew was given 205 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:37,680 the symbol of a lion to symbolise the kingly aspect of 206 00:12:37,680 --> 00:12:39,560 Jesus being the King of the Jews. 207 00:12:40,040 --> 00:12:44,080 And it so fits perfectly with the title Today, The King Above 208 00:12:44,240 --> 00:12:47,360 Our Mess. I want to establish what 209 00:12:47,360 --> 00:12:50,440 Matthew's purpose was in writing because it sits in our 210 00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:55,160 understanding of these verses. He is again presenting Jesus as 211 00:12:55,160 --> 00:12:59,480 the expected Messiah, as the King, the King of the Jews. 212 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:03,320 And any Jewish reader encountering the Gospel of 213 00:13:03,320 --> 00:13:08,280 Matthew would know that if Jesus were to be the Messiah King, he 214 00:13:08,280 --> 00:13:12,240 would have to fulfil 2 covenant conditions. 215 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:15,640 What's called the Abrahamic covenant and the Davidic 216 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:21,080 covenant to be the Messiah would depend on a lineage connection 217 00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:25,120 to both Abraham and both David. The Messiah would need to be a 218 00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:28,360 descendant of Abraham and a descendant of David. 219 00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:32,160 And that's why Matthew declares this first of all in verse one, 220 00:13:32,920 --> 00:13:37,240 Jesus the son of David, Jesus the son of Abraham. 221 00:13:37,240 --> 00:13:40,600 These are two ear perking claims for the Jewish mind to go. 222 00:13:40,600 --> 00:13:45,160 Hang on a minute, son of David, son of Abraham. 223 00:13:46,080 --> 00:13:49,880 And it grabs their attention because there are huge promises 224 00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:54,360 given by God to David, given by God to Abraham that have huge 225 00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:57,680 implication for Israel and the rest of the world. 226 00:13:59,880 --> 00:14:03,360 And the book of Luke presents a genealogical record of Jesus 227 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:07,040 through his mother Mary, while Matthew presents it through 228 00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:10,440 Joseph, Jesus legal adoptive father. 229 00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:14,520 Again, Jesus had no biological earthly father. 230 00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:18,480 That's why it says here that he was the husband of Mary. 231 00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:21,560 God supernaturally impregnated Mary. 232 00:14:21,560 --> 00:14:25,960 So Jesus was born of a virgin, as the prophetic word says. 233 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:30,360 But both lines, Mary's and Joseph's, track their ancestry 234 00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:34,120 back to King David. And this is absolutely vital 235 00:14:34,120 --> 00:14:36,920 because the Messiah had to be a descendant of David. 236 00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:40,480 So let's look at that. David, as mentioned first in 237 00:14:40,480 --> 00:14:42,920 verse one, what is this Davidic covenant? 238 00:14:42,920 --> 00:14:45,280 What is this promise given to David? 239 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:49,880 It was promised by God to David that a future king would come, 240 00:14:49,880 --> 00:14:53,480 descended out of David, whose dominion, whose Kingdom would 241 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:57,920 last forever. And yet people knew, certainly 242 00:14:57,920 --> 00:15:03,200 the Jewish mind did, that son after son, grandson, great 243 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:06,800 grandson, and so on, descended of the line of David and died 244 00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:09,360 and died and died. And their dominion, their 245 00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:13,960 Kingdom, did not last forever. But there was one who would come 246 00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:17,480 along the scene, and it was promised that he would be that 247 00:15:17,720 --> 00:15:21,240 through which kingly rule out of David's line would be 248 00:15:21,240 --> 00:15:23,760 established across the earth forever. 249 00:15:25,400 --> 00:15:29,800 To Samuel 7, verse 13, God said to David, he shall build a house 250 00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:32,320 for my name, and I will establish the throne of his 251 00:15:32,320 --> 00:15:37,240 Kingdom forever. Verse 16 And your house, David, 252 00:15:37,600 --> 00:15:40,720 and your Kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. 253 00:15:40,880 --> 00:15:43,360 Your throne shall be established forever. 254 00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:48,040 And then in Jeremiah the prophet says in chapter 23, verse 5 to 255 00:15:48,040 --> 00:15:51,240 6, Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will 256 00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:55,280 raise up for David a righteous branch, and he shall reign as 257 00:15:55,280 --> 00:15:59,000 king. And then we know Isaiah Chapter 258 00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:02,000 9 verse six to seven. We bring that out at Christmas 259 00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:04,480 time, for unto us a child is born. 260 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:07,760 And on the verses go. And the government shall be upon 261 00:16:07,760 --> 00:16:11,680 his shoulder on what? The throne of David for 262 00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:14,680 evermore. So there is a promise, the 263 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:18,960 Davidic covenant, where God said to David, David, I know you want 264 00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:21,000 to build me a house, but you can't. 265 00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:22,800 Your son will Speaking of the temple. 266 00:16:23,040 --> 00:16:26,920 But let me tell you what, David, I'm going to establish your 267 00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:31,160 line, and out of your line will come a king whose dominion will 268 00:16:31,160 --> 00:16:34,400 be established forever, and he will rule and reign on the earth 269 00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:39,840 forever. That's the Davidic covenant, the 270 00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:42,280 Abrahamic covenant. He's mentioned also in verse 271 00:16:42,280 --> 00:16:46,080 one, the son of Abraham, God picked him, you'll remember in 272 00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:48,000 Genesis from heir of the Chaldeans. 273 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:53,000 He said, I'm going to make a great nation out of you, Abram 274 00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:58,160 Avram as you pronounce it, and change his name to Abraham. 275 00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:03,440 And out of this nation Abraham will come, one who would be a 276 00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:07,400 blessing to all the nations of the world. 277 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:12,760 Genesis 12 one to three. And in you all the families of 278 00:17:12,760 --> 00:17:16,680 the earth shall be blessed in Genesis 2218, and in your 279 00:17:16,680 --> 00:17:19,880 offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. 280 00:17:20,280 --> 00:17:22,880 And on these promises are confirmed again and again to 281 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:29,640 Abraham and to his children in Isaac and Jacob, and on through. 282 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:37,080 So everyone knew in reading Matthew that if this Messiah 283 00:17:37,080 --> 00:17:41,360 King was to come upon the scene that he would need to fulfil 284 00:17:41,360 --> 00:17:44,840 these two covenants, these two promises, the Davidic and the 285 00:17:44,840 --> 00:17:48,240 Abrahamic covenant, And God would rule through him this 286 00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:52,600 individual and love and bless and bring the Kingdom of God 287 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:56,640 upon Israel and the whole world. And so this is Matthews 288 00:17:56,640 --> 00:17:59,200 contention from the very beginning of this book. 289 00:17:59,560 --> 00:18:02,960 Let me tell you about the one who is the son of David, who is 290 00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:06,080 the son of Abraham. Jesus is his name, Jesus the 291 00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:10,080 Christ the Anointed. 1 And many had claims to this back in the 292 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:12,840 1st century AD. There were messiahs popping up 293 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:15,480 here, there and everywhere. There are all sorts of people 294 00:18:15,480 --> 00:18:18,040 laying claim to that. Even in Jesus Day when we read 295 00:18:18,040 --> 00:18:20,800 that there were people who had had brought up these 296 00:18:20,800 --> 00:18:23,920 insurrections against the Roman Empire and laid claim to being 297 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:26,640 the Messiah. But Matthew's claim is, I will 298 00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:31,040 tell you who the true, the real Messiah is, Jesus of Nazareth. 299 00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:34,440 He's the Christ, the Messiah, the promised king. 300 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:38,160 Now think of the audience, the people of Israel. 301 00:18:38,840 --> 00:18:41,800 They've been waiting thousands of years since this promise had 302 00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:44,920 been given to Abraham, since this promise had been given to 303 00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:50,240 David, 700 years since Isaiah I quoted from out has has been 304 00:18:50,240 --> 00:18:54,640 written 400 years since the last Old Testament book in Malachi. 305 00:18:55,640 --> 00:18:58,680 And this relative silence as they've been languishing, 306 00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:01,560 waiting, oppressed by the hands of multiple regimes. 307 00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:05,080 Consider their history and now the Roman Empire's ruling and 308 00:19:05,080 --> 00:19:07,440 has dominion in the land of Israel. 309 00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:10,360 And all the while, don't you think that the people of Israel 310 00:19:10,360 --> 00:19:12,920 are wondering about the fulfilment of these promises? 311 00:19:13,640 --> 00:19:15,680 When, when is this going to happen? 312 00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:18,160 I I read it and I hear it and I hope for it. 313 00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:21,600 But when? When is this salvation spoken of 314 00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:24,920 going to come? When will Messiah be here? 315 00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:27,680 Where is this child who is promised? 316 00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:30,200 Where is this king? And where is his Kingdom, whose 317 00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:33,600 dominion lasts and stretches throughout all of the world? 318 00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:37,960 And as Israel hoped for this and long for this, they had to do so 319 00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:41,560 amidst brokenness and pain and heaviness and missteps and being 320 00:19:41,840 --> 00:19:43,920 trampled upon by other nations around them. 321 00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:47,280 And circumstances certainly look messy, especially at this time 322 00:19:47,280 --> 00:19:50,120 in which Matthew is writing. And it looks so unlikely the 323 00:19:50,120 --> 00:19:54,400 fulfilment of this promise in the 1st century AD. 324 00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:58,280 And think of the implications. Rule the world implies 325 00:19:58,280 --> 00:20:01,000 prosperity. It implies military might, 326 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:03,680 political prestige, success, prominence and victory. 327 00:20:03,880 --> 00:20:06,840 All of the things that Israel we're not experiencing. 328 00:20:08,600 --> 00:20:11,120 They'd been slaves in Egypt some 400 years. 329 00:20:11,120 --> 00:20:13,880 They'd wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. 330 00:20:13,880 --> 00:20:15,880 They'd gone through king after king. 331 00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:19,360 Descended from David, yes, but they were up and down and they 332 00:20:19,360 --> 00:20:21,600 were good king and bad king and so on. 333 00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:25,120 They'd had captivity in Babylon for 70 years, and the Grecian 334 00:20:25,120 --> 00:20:27,000 Empire ruled, and now the Romans. 335 00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:29,640 And, and none of this was what had been promised. 336 00:20:30,520 --> 00:20:32,800 Where is this peace? Where is this prosperity? 337 00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:35,520 And many longed and hoped for it, but man, they, they were 338 00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:39,960 barely clinging and hanging on. Where's this forever Kingdom? 339 00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:42,960 Where is this deliverer? When will these covenantal 340 00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:48,360 promises come true? Do you ever think like this 341 00:20:49,320 --> 00:20:53,880 about the promises of God? God, how can what I'm 342 00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:55,960 experiencing be your plan for me? 343 00:20:57,200 --> 00:21:00,600 How can how can what I'm going through be what I'm what I'm 344 00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:03,440 reading and what I'm hoping for? And how is this a blessing? 345 00:21:04,360 --> 00:21:08,040 We we feel like this like the audience that Matthew's writing 346 00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:10,880 to. Sometimes we look around like 347 00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:15,240 the people of Israel no doubt were and say this can't be, this 348 00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:19,520 is such a mess. God, when will your plans, when 349 00:21:19,520 --> 00:21:23,280 will your purposes be fulfilled? But Matthew's introduction would 350 00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:27,000 tell you and I tonight that God knows exactly what he is doing 351 00:21:29,040 --> 00:21:31,080 and exactly what he is doing in the mess. 352 00:21:33,280 --> 00:21:36,680 And then he is able to work out his sovereign plan perfectly. 353 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:40,320 Matthew wants you and I to understand this. 354 00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:43,280 He certainly wanted his original audience to understand it. 355 00:21:43,280 --> 00:21:45,680 And so he starts with the genealogy. 356 00:21:46,840 --> 00:21:49,640 It doesn't include everybody in the genealogy, but pick certain 357 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:52,320 ones that are helpful in telling the story. 358 00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:54,800 And there's symbolism and patterns here. 359 00:21:55,360 --> 00:21:57,760 Remember Matthew? He's a tax collector, so he's 360 00:21:57,760 --> 00:22:01,440 all about numbers. Notice that we read up 14 361 00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:05,880 generations from Abraham to David, from David to captivity, 362 00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:10,360 captivity to Jesus. There's something in certain 363 00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:14,040 languages that that numerical values are placed to the letters 364 00:22:14,040 --> 00:22:16,520 and so on. Something called gematria, the 365 00:22:16,520 --> 00:22:20,240 assigning of numerical value to letters and words for symbolic 366 00:22:20,240 --> 00:22:24,640 significance. David's name in Hebrew has three 367 00:22:24,640 --> 00:22:29,200 letters, Dilette, and the number 4 is allocated to it, Valve 368 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:32,760 number six allocated to it, and Dilette repeated 4. 369 00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:36,320 Do the math, That's 14. The numerical value of 14, 370 00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:38,560 David's name is even 14th in the list. 371 00:22:39,560 --> 00:22:43,200 So Matthew, he's, he's about numbers and he's trying to tell 372 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:46,000 a certain type of story and he picks a certain type of people 373 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:49,000 to focus in on. And this is now where I want to 374 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:52,360 draw our attention in this genealogy of the people that 375 00:22:52,640 --> 00:22:56,920 that seem even odd to the original Jewish audience, let 376 00:22:56,920 --> 00:23:01,280 alone you and I tonight. There's some certain names in 377 00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:05,160 here that the Jewish audience would have been offended about 378 00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:09,600 including. And, you know, if you and I were 379 00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:14,400 writing an ancestral record of our, you know, linear engine 380 00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:16,960 where we've come from, there'd perhaps be certain names that 381 00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:20,240 we'd gloss over or leave out of the story because of the 382 00:23:20,240 --> 00:23:22,000 embarrassment maybe that they are. 383 00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:26,200 You see, the Jewish mind understood that the nations 384 00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:27,560 would be blessed. Yes, yes, yes. 385 00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:29,440 But through US, through US first. 386 00:23:30,040 --> 00:23:32,840 Very Jewish focused. It's very much an insider 387 00:23:32,840 --> 00:23:35,200 movement. And so outsiders and Gentiles 388 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:38,040 weren't seen as important, just a byproduct. 389 00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:41,600 And so on purpose, Matthew eaves Gentiles into the story. 390 00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:46,560 And then there's some really messy stories included in this. 391 00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:50,000 And he mentions women in the genealogy. 392 00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:53,800 Matthew mentions Mary, obviously, but makes mention of 393 00:23:53,800 --> 00:23:57,560 four other women. And I highlight that because 394 00:23:57,560 --> 00:24:01,160 women ordinarily were not mentioned, not, not required. 395 00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:04,560 So it's already outside of the norm the way that Matthew is 396 00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:07,280 structuring and recording this genealogy. 397 00:24:09,560 --> 00:24:13,520 So let's look at this, these messy stories of some of these 398 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:17,080 individuals in here and want to highlight them because I think 399 00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:21,120 we'll find our story because if we were to be honest, we would 400 00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:25,080 declare, you know what? My life is just as messy. 401 00:24:28,240 --> 00:24:31,600 The things that I've done, the things that I've experienced, 402 00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:34,160 the things that have been committed against me. 403 00:24:35,200 --> 00:24:39,000 It is tragic, it is a mess, and boy, it's embarrassing and I 404 00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:40,760 hate for people to find out about it. 405 00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:45,960 But Matthew records in all of the messy detail, the names, 406 00:24:47,040 --> 00:24:48,640 some very interesting individuals. 407 00:24:48,680 --> 00:24:51,440 Matthew 1 verses two to three. We have the story of Tamer. 408 00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:55,280 You can find that account back in Genesis 38. 409 00:24:56,800 --> 00:25:21,880 She was the daughter in And there was a custom back then 410 00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:25,760 that culturally, without a descendant, then the 411 00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:29,360 responsibility fell to the next son in line to marry the 412 00:25:29,360 --> 00:25:33,840 deceased, you know, brother's wife to continue his line. 413 00:25:34,720 --> 00:25:37,960 And so Onan was married. And I should have prefaced 414 00:25:38,360 --> 00:25:42,400 tonight saying it's a little PG with some of these stories here, 415 00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:45,320 because Onan, he conducted himself wickedly. 416 00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:49,800 And when he went in unto Tamar, instead of conceiving, he did 417 00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:52,680 everything that he could to ensure that he would not 418 00:25:52,680 --> 00:25:55,840 conceive. You can read the story and all 419 00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:58,280 of its graphic detail in Genesis 38. 420 00:25:58,920 --> 00:26:04,600 So God killed Onan and Judas thinking, I've got a third son 421 00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:08,360 who's not yet of age, and the responsibility is that she's to 422 00:26:08,360 --> 00:26:11,200 marry him. But there's a common denominator 423 00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:13,840 here. So he he delays. 424 00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:16,680 So why don't you go back to your home and just wait till my third 425 00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:19,800 son sort of, you know, comes of age and then we'll make it 426 00:26:19,800 --> 00:26:21,880 happen. And you know, he can marry you 427 00:26:21,920 --> 00:26:23,040 and so on. But he doesn't. 428 00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:27,200 Now Tamar takes matters into her own hands and she knows what 429 00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:29,800 kind of a man Judah is. And so she poses as a a 430 00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:33,240 prostitute on the way of him visiting into a town. 431 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:36,680 And prostitutes back then were attached to worship of other 432 00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:39,480 gods. So a temple prostitute no less. 433 00:26:40,280 --> 00:26:43,720 And he propositions her and he goes in under her. 434 00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:46,400 And when it comes to making payment at the end, he's, you 435 00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:48,800 know, I haven't got my wallet. And she's that's OK. 436 00:26:48,800 --> 00:26:51,680 Give me your signet ring and your staff and then, you know, 437 00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:53,040 come back and bring me the sheep. 438 00:26:54,800 --> 00:26:58,080 And then he goes to send off one of his mates to go and make 439 00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:00,360 payment. And he's inquiring where's the, 440 00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:02,000 the prostitute? The temple prostitute. 441 00:27:02,080 --> 00:27:06,120 There's no temple prostitute. They say he's realising I've 442 00:27:06,120 --> 00:27:08,240 been done and quickly just forget about it. 443 00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:11,560 Don't worry about it. And then word three months later 444 00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:14,200 eventually gets to Judah. Judah, guess what? 445 00:27:14,680 --> 00:27:17,640 Tamar is pregnant. Bring her out. 446 00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:22,000 He's filled with indignant rage and and just wants to bring her 447 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:23,560 out and have her stoned to death. 448 00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:28,680 Who did this? Judah cries out to Tamar. 449 00:27:29,360 --> 00:27:33,040 Tamar pulls out his identification. 450 00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:37,520 Is this your licence, Judah? Is this yours, Judah? 451 00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:46,400 That's a messy story. Twins were born, but that's in 452 00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:51,560 the genealogical record of Jesus, Perez and Zerah born by 453 00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:55,960 Tamer of Judah. Matthew one, verse five, Storey 454 00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:59,320 of Rahab. Remember, Rahab and the 455 00:27:59,320 --> 00:28:03,040 Israelites are coming in to make their conquest of Canaan land 456 00:28:03,120 --> 00:28:07,040 and Jericho, the book of Joshua. The spies are sent out and 457 00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:09,160 they're spying out the city of Jericho. 458 00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:13,000 And where do they reside? In the House of the prostitute 459 00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:21,400 Rahab in Jericho. She hid the spies, you know the 460 00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:25,240 story how it goes that she, because she hid the spies was 461 00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:28,600 told by the spies that if you'll dangle down the scarlet thread, 462 00:28:28,880 --> 00:28:32,120 we, we make promises that when Jericho is attacked, you and 463 00:28:32,120 --> 00:28:35,040 your household and anybody that you can gather in will be saved. 464 00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:37,360 And she does exactly that. And some members of her 465 00:28:37,360 --> 00:28:41,440 household and Rahab, an outsider and a prostitute at that, ends 466 00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:46,280 up becoming a part of people of Israel being absorbed in that's 467 00:28:46,280 --> 00:28:48,840 a messy story, but that's a part of Jesus story. 468 00:28:51,360 --> 00:28:56,400 And also in Matthew 1 verses 5 and 6, we read of Ruth and the 469 00:28:56,400 --> 00:28:58,400 ladies are studying about Ruth on Tuesday. 470 00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:02,400 And it's a wonderful story of redemption and and Ruth is a 471 00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:08,160 wonderful example of a woman of God, but she was an outsider of 472 00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:11,120 the people of Moab. And if you know anything about 473 00:29:11,120 --> 00:29:14,560 Moab in the book of Genesis, it's it's a dubious family tree. 474 00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:19,600 To put it bluntly, the Moabites were from a line conceived by 475 00:29:19,600 --> 00:29:24,640 incest, the story of Lot and his daughters in Genesis 19. 476 00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:31,960 And as outsiders, Moabites weren't accepted into the people 477 00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:34,840 of Israel. They were looked down upon. 478 00:29:35,680 --> 00:29:39,400 And now her rough, downtrodden experience becomes part of the 479 00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:44,440 family tree of Jesus. And and what we see of Ruth is 480 00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:48,840 that she ends up marrying into a a royal line because out of her 481 00:29:48,840 --> 00:29:52,640 comes King David. What a story. 482 00:29:53,640 --> 00:29:57,760 Speaking of David, Matthew, chapter one, verse 6, Bathsheba, 483 00:29:57,760 --> 00:30:01,440 her name's not mentioned, but we know who she is, says that she 484 00:30:01,440 --> 00:30:06,320 was the wife of Uriah. It's a messy story. 485 00:30:07,800 --> 00:30:11,160 David, at the time when kings go to war, it says, is up on his 486 00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:13,480 rooftop and he looks out and he spots Bathsheba. 487 00:30:13,480 --> 00:30:18,800 He enquires about her and word comes back as to who she is. 488 00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:24,880 She's the daughter of and she is the husband of and the two 489 00:30:24,880 --> 00:30:27,600 individuals that she was a daughter of and a husband of 490 00:30:27,600 --> 00:30:31,240 were part of the mighty men of David, people that fought 491 00:30:31,240 --> 00:30:34,120 alongside David. And yet David commits adultery 492 00:30:34,120 --> 00:30:40,720 with Bathsheba and to cover it up commits murder of Uriah the 493 00:30:40,720 --> 00:30:44,720 husband, thinking that he's gotten away with things he 494 00:30:44,720 --> 00:30:48,280 hasn't until Nathan the prophet instructed by God, comes onto 495 00:30:48,280 --> 00:30:51,440 the scene. What a messy story of Bathsheba 496 00:30:51,440 --> 00:30:55,200 and David. It's not just the women. 497 00:30:55,200 --> 00:30:57,560 As we read through some of the names mentioned, the men in the 498 00:30:57,560 --> 00:30:59,480 line weren't exactly role models either. 499 00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:04,000 You talk about an ancestry that wow, let's keep that quiet. 500 00:31:04,960 --> 00:31:08,520 Abraham verse 2, yes, he's the father of faith that's mentioned 501 00:31:08,520 --> 00:31:15,560 there, but Abraham was a liar. He lied twice, claiming twice 502 00:31:15,560 --> 00:31:18,400 that his wife was his sister, protecting himself in the 503 00:31:18,400 --> 00:31:21,280 process. Very cowardly actions. 504 00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:25,040 Abraham is mentioned Jacob verse 2. 505 00:31:25,040 --> 00:31:29,280 You know his name literally means deceiver, heel catcher. 506 00:31:31,240 --> 00:31:34,653 He stole his brother's birthright, tricked his father 507 00:31:34,653 --> 00:31:39,000 in law out of the best sheep, he messed with his father and 508 00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:42,760 Isaac, put on the whole hairy arms and you know, in cahoots 509 00:31:42,760 --> 00:31:45,800 with his mum in the neck and put on the clothes of his brother 510 00:31:45,800 --> 00:31:50,360 Esau to steal the blessing. His life was a mess until God 511 00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:55,520 changed his name to Israel. And that's my name, Prince of 512 00:31:55,520 --> 00:32:00,040 God, governed by God. I'm so glad I'm not Jacob. 513 00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:03,960 Judah. We read of him verse three. 514 00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:08,680 He was a philanderer, paid a prostitute, turned out to be his 515 00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:34,560 own daughter in 700 wives and 300 concubines and 516 00:32:34,560 --> 00:32:39,000 idolatry reached its height in his reign. 517 00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:43,920 Rhea Baum is mentioned in verse 7 was divisive. 518 00:32:43,920 --> 00:32:47,560 His actions split the Kingdom and civil war ensued. 519 00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:53,480 Joram in verse 8 was a murderer. He killed six of his brothers to 520 00:32:53,480 --> 00:32:58,520 secure his throne. And Manasseh verse 10 was pure 521 00:32:58,760 --> 00:33:02,440 evil. He even sacrificed his own son 522 00:33:02,680 --> 00:33:11,160 in the fire to a false God. That's some messy stories. 523 00:33:13,280 --> 00:33:19,000 Matthew, putting pen to paper, guided by the Holy Spirit, is 524 00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:24,000 very careful to include these characters in this story. 525 00:33:25,920 --> 00:33:31,160 Why does this teach us? Why include these? 526 00:33:31,680 --> 00:33:34,120 Why does the Holy Spirit guide Matthew in these ways? 527 00:33:34,120 --> 00:33:39,800 I mean, why not Sarah? Why not Rebecca? 528 00:33:40,920 --> 00:33:44,720 Why not Rachel? These are nice Jewish girls. 529 00:33:45,560 --> 00:33:48,360 You could have included them in your genealogy, Matthew. 530 00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:51,840 But why these individuals that are mentioned here? 531 00:33:52,800 --> 00:33:56,680 Because the purpose of the gospel is to preach the good 532 00:33:56,680 --> 00:34:00,560 news of Jesus Christ. And he begins to preach from the 533 00:34:00,560 --> 00:34:03,720 very first line. Does Matthew the son of David? 534 00:34:03,720 --> 00:34:07,480 Oh, what a mess was David the son of Abraham? 535 00:34:07,480 --> 00:34:11,920 Oh, what a mess was Abraham. And these guys aren't worthy and 536 00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:15,280 these guys aren't deserving. But that's who the Messiah came 537 00:34:15,280 --> 00:34:18,000 for. That's who the Messiah is meant 538 00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:19,920 for. For listen to this. 539 00:34:20,040 --> 00:34:26,000 Those who do not deserve him. Story is meant for the Sinner. 540 00:34:27,960 --> 00:34:34,400 Story of Jesus is meant for the ashamed, for the guilty, those 541 00:34:34,400 --> 00:34:37,239 who are the outsider, the outcast, the unwanted, the 542 00:34:37,239 --> 00:34:41,320 sinful, the broken. Listen to what Jesus himself 543 00:34:41,320 --> 00:34:44,480 said in Luke chapter 5. He said, I have come to call the 544 00:34:44,480 --> 00:34:47,960 sinful to repentance. And you know what? 545 00:34:47,960 --> 00:34:54,360 The sinful are messy stories. You know who the sinful are you, 546 00:34:55,000 --> 00:35:03,520 Me, the reader, the listener. They recognise even in this 547 00:35:03,520 --> 00:35:06,120 genealogy, just as we are to tonight. 548 00:35:06,600 --> 00:35:09,080 That's me. I'm in this. 549 00:35:10,040 --> 00:35:11,760 Our stories include the same as this. 550 00:35:11,760 --> 00:35:14,120 We're the outsiders. We're we're full of sin. 551 00:35:14,120 --> 00:35:17,440 There's brokenness in our lines. There's pain, there's there's 552 00:35:17,440 --> 00:35:18,800 hurt. There's tragedy, there's 553 00:35:18,800 --> 00:35:21,720 deception. There's mess after mess after 554 00:35:21,720 --> 00:35:24,480 mess. But you know what? 555 00:35:24,480 --> 00:35:29,680 It doesn't end there. It ends in redemption, not ruin. 556 00:35:30,440 --> 00:35:35,640 It ends in Jesus. In 16, Jacob begat Joseph, the 557 00:35:35,640 --> 00:35:38,640 husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called 558 00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:44,520 Messiah, Christ the Anointed. 1 And when Jesus arrived on the 559 00:35:44,520 --> 00:35:48,760 scene, he said in Luke chapter 4 verse 18 to 19, quoting out of 560 00:35:48,760 --> 00:35:54,080 Isaiah 61, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has 561 00:35:54,080 --> 00:35:56,160 anointed me to preach the gospel. 562 00:35:57,000 --> 00:36:00,160 To whom? To the poor he has sent me to 563 00:36:00,160 --> 00:36:03,440 heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the 564 00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:09,040 captives, recovery of sight to the blind to set liberty those 565 00:36:09,040 --> 00:36:13,920 who are oppressed to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. 566 00:36:15,560 --> 00:36:17,640 You know, this whole passage out of Matthew that we've covered 567 00:36:17,640 --> 00:36:23,480 tonight should tell us the one who is writing the story is 568 00:36:23,480 --> 00:36:27,600 bigger than any and all of our mistakes. 569 00:36:30,160 --> 00:36:33,040 But no one is beyond the reach of His grace. 570 00:36:34,560 --> 00:36:39,520 That our lives like Judah and Tamar, like Rahab the 571 00:36:39,520 --> 00:36:44,600 prostitute, like Ruth of Moab, like David and Bathsheba. 572 00:36:46,160 --> 00:36:50,480 Bathsheba can be redeemed in Jesus. 573 00:36:52,160 --> 00:36:56,120 God's ending is dependent upon God and His faithfulness, not 574 00:36:56,120 --> 00:37:01,120 man and his efforts. So here's the good news. 575 00:37:02,480 --> 00:37:05,680 Your identity is not in your ancestors. 576 00:37:05,680 --> 00:37:10,480 It's not in who your father was, in who your mother was. 577 00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:12,880 It's not in your past. It's not in your failures. 578 00:37:12,880 --> 00:37:18,960 It's not in your faults. In Christ, you are a brand new 579 00:37:18,960 --> 00:37:22,160 creation. You've been given a new heart 580 00:37:23,200 --> 00:37:29,080 and a new start, and what comes with that is a new purpose, a 581 00:37:29,080 --> 00:37:33,280 new mission, a new legacy that can be left. 582 00:37:34,200 --> 00:37:37,360 And you are not destined to repeat the sins of your family, 583 00:37:37,840 --> 00:37:39,240 of those who have gone before you. 584 00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:45,000 Being a Christian means that you are a new person. 2 Corinthians 585 00:37:45,000 --> 00:37:48,640 517 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he has a new creation. 586 00:37:48,920 --> 00:37:52,040 Old things have passed away and behold, all things have become 587 00:37:52,040 --> 00:37:55,600 new. And that's why Paul was glad to 588 00:37:55,600 --> 00:37:57,440 declare. When you think of Paul and his 589 00:37:57,440 --> 00:38:01,400 past in Philippians 3 verse 13 to 14, he said, Brethren, I do 590 00:38:01,400 --> 00:38:05,160 not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do 591 00:38:06,400 --> 00:38:11,200 forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward, 592 00:38:11,320 --> 00:38:17,920 straining forward to those things which are ahead Jesus. 593 00:38:18,320 --> 00:38:22,040 And if there's anyone whose lineage whose ancestry could 594 00:38:22,040 --> 00:38:24,560 have been looked back and go, well, I'm just like those that 595 00:38:24,560 --> 00:38:27,520 have gone before me. Think of those that went before 596 00:38:27,600 --> 00:38:30,680 Jesus. But Jesus lived his life for 597 00:38:30,800 --> 00:38:32,920 what? The glory of his Heavenly Father 598 00:38:34,120 --> 00:38:39,640 without letting his family tree deter or detract or define him. 599 00:38:40,520 --> 00:38:44,760 Jesus identity and purpose and mission was defined by what the 600 00:38:44,760 --> 00:38:49,640 Heavenly Father said was for him and God used some pretty messed 601 00:38:49,640 --> 00:38:51,720 up people to accomplish his purposes. 602 00:38:53,840 --> 00:38:59,640 The heritage that you and I have received from our ancestors, 603 00:38:59,640 --> 00:39:03,480 from those that have gone before us, is not nearly as important 604 00:39:03,480 --> 00:39:06,720 as the legacy that you can leave because of Jesus Christ. 605 00:39:08,120 --> 00:39:13,960 Because the heritage that you have received in him is one that 606 00:39:13,960 --> 00:39:20,480 glorifies God, is one that makes old things pass away and all 607 00:39:20,480 --> 00:39:25,880 things become new. And I want you to see out of 608 00:39:25,880 --> 00:39:32,480 this, these verses, these names, this Jewish phone book, the mess 609 00:39:32,960 --> 00:39:35,320 of humanity. And there are times where we can 610 00:39:35,320 --> 00:39:38,640 sit here and we can be thinking, man, I don't deserve this. 611 00:39:38,640 --> 00:39:41,880 And who am I kidding? And I look around, I see people 612 00:39:41,880 --> 00:39:44,400 worshipping and praising God and I don't feel like it. 613 00:39:44,400 --> 00:39:48,440 And our thoughts and all that we've done, all that we've said, 614 00:39:48,440 --> 00:39:51,600 all that's been done to us, all that's been said to us, can, can 615 00:39:51,600 --> 00:39:54,200 really do a number on our mind, can it not? 616 00:39:56,560 --> 00:40:00,920 And we can let that detract or deter or define us in many 617 00:40:00,920 --> 00:40:05,000 respects. But in Jesus Christ we need to 618 00:40:05,000 --> 00:40:08,760 see that he is the King above all our mess. 619 00:40:10,200 --> 00:40:15,080 And here's the King who redeems all our mess, and his name is 620 00:40:15,120 --> 00:40:20,600 Jesus, who is called the Christ. The next week we get into the 621 00:40:20,600 --> 00:40:23,000 nuts and bolts of the narrative of Matthew. 622 00:40:24,080 --> 00:40:26,560 And I'm really looking forward to our study through Matthew 623 00:40:26,560 --> 00:40:29,280 because not only do we have the life and the events of Jesus, 624 00:40:29,280 --> 00:40:32,120 but we have the teachings of Jesus and the parables of Jesus, 625 00:40:32,120 --> 00:40:34,200 the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes. 626 00:40:35,040 --> 00:40:37,880 We have prophetic words that will come that speak to 627 00:40:38,160 --> 00:40:41,720 relevance in our day and age. We certainly have the the death 628 00:40:41,720 --> 00:40:45,240 and the the resurrection of Jesus Christ so much that we 629 00:40:45,240 --> 00:40:47,280 have to look forward to in Matthew. 630 00:40:47,280 --> 00:40:51,200 But tonight I wanted to remind you that Jesus is the Messiah, 631 00:40:52,080 --> 00:40:57,280 but Jesus is the anointed one. Jesus is the Christ, and he is 632 00:40:57,280 --> 00:41:02,360 the King above all. No matter what mess you're going 633 00:41:02,360 --> 00:41:05,920 through, no matter what mess you've made, no matter what mess 634 00:41:05,920 --> 00:41:10,240 has been made against you, will you trust in Jesus as the King 635 00:41:10,560 --> 00:41:12,160 tonight? Let's pray. 636 00:41:12,160 --> 00:41:15,840 Lord, we thank you for your wonderful word for this book 637 00:41:15,840 --> 00:41:19,160 that we're about to embark in a study of an end. 638 00:41:20,560 --> 00:41:23,320 Will you bless it and continue to guide us and teach us through 639 00:41:23,320 --> 00:41:26,560 it? For each person here tonight, 640 00:41:27,440 --> 00:41:32,320 you know their story. You know the events, the 641 00:41:32,320 --> 00:41:36,360 circumstances, the situations. You know all that is going on. 642 00:41:36,960 --> 00:41:40,560 You know all that they're thinking and feeling, all that 643 00:41:40,560 --> 00:41:42,800 they have done, all that has been done against them. 644 00:41:44,360 --> 00:41:48,720 Just as we were reminded of the names and the individuals in the 645 00:41:48,720 --> 00:41:54,080 genealogy of you, we see that out of the mess of humanity, 646 00:41:54,080 --> 00:41:58,120 still God, you are able to work and transform and bring about 647 00:41:58,320 --> 00:42:00,120 the greatest blessing to humanity. 648 00:42:01,360 --> 00:42:06,240 It's all in you, Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, the 649 00:42:06,240 --> 00:42:11,400 anointed. 1 So we love you, and we thank you and we praise you 650 00:42:12,440 --> 00:42:16,120 for the work that you have done in our lives, for the work that 651 00:42:16,120 --> 00:42:19,480 you were doing in our lives, and for the work that you are to 652 00:42:19,480 --> 00:42:22,840 fulfil not only in our lives but in this world. 653 00:42:25,640 --> 00:42:27,920 It's in your name. Now we pray Jesus and God's 654 00:42:27,920 --> 00:42:32,880 people said Amen, Amen. And God bless you and may He 655 00:42:32,880 --> 00:42:35,000 guide you and lead you through this coming week.