Tag: Sin

SHOULD WE PASS OVER THE GENEALOGY?

by Mike Benson

SEVENTEEN verses. Seventeen long verses of genealogy with hard-to-pronounce names like Zerah, Hezron, Amminadab, Nahshon, Rehoboam, Jehoshaphat, Uzziah, and Jeconiah—just to name a few.

From a modern vantage point, this might not have been the most effective way to start a New Testament book—much less the first book of the New Testament. I mean, let’s face it, genealogies can be, dare I say it, bland at best, and yet that’s exactly how the Holy Spirit in His infinite wisdom chose to initiate this particular gospel account. This tells us that Jesus’ genealogy is here for a reason—and as we incrementally read our way through these seventeen verses of Scripture, we begin to uncover the Divine method behind this literary madness.

Note first part of verse 1: “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David…” This esteemed personality would have immediately caught the eyes and hearts of every dedicated Jewish reader who was looking for the Messiah because “The Son of David” not only rooted Jesus Christ in David’s lineage, but it also demonstrated that God had kept His promise and “establish(ed) the throne of (his descendant’s) kingdom forever (cf. Ps. 89:29; 132:11; Lk. 1:32; Acts 2:30-36). It therefore it comes as no surprise then that Matthew often employs the phrase “Son of David” as a messianic title for Jesus, reminding His readers that Jesus was not some usurper to the throne, but that He was the legitimate heir and ruler of that eternal kingdom (9:27; 12:23; 15:22; 20:30-31; 21:9, 15; 22:42).

But notice also the latter part of verse 1: “The book of the genealogy of Jesus, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.” This description not only placed Jesus in the lineage of Israel going all of the way back to father Abraham, but it also vividly demonstrated that He was/is the fulfillment of God’s promises, not only through David, but through Abraham as well. Back in Genesis, God told Abraham, “And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 12:3b), “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed…” (22:18b). Paul later explains that Jesus was/is that “seed” of Abraham (Gal. 3:16).

But there is another fascinating detail about the Jesus’ genealogy that commands our attention. Matthew not only connects notable women as well. Ironically, Old Testament genealogies were concerned with male, as opposed to female, lineage—and yet, here they are in this inspired account: 1) Tamar (v. 3) who disguised herself as a prostitute and committed fornication with her father-in-law Judah (cf. Gen. 38), 2) Rahab (v. 5) the notorious Canaanite prostitute of Jericho (cf. Josh. 2), 3) Ruth (v. 5) the Moabite of whom God had said, a “Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the Lord” (cf. Ruth 1-4; cf. Deut. 23:3), and finally, 4) Bathsheba (v. 6) not mentioned by name, but is referred to as “her who had been the wife of Uriah,” who committed adultery with a king (cf. 2 Sam. 11).

All four of these women would have certainly been shunned by the elite Jewish society of Matthew’s day, and yet the Bible lets us know why they, like David and Abraham, were also included in Jesus’ lineage. You see, while Christ is the Son and Seed of the likes of as David and Abraham, He also is the descendant of broken, imperfect, weak, and sinful people, which is exactly why you and I cannot and must not pass over His genealogy. Jesus the Anointed One/Messiah, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham, and the offspring of sinners—is uniquely qualified to serve and save sinners Himself (Heb. 4:15; Lk. 19:10) because He Had sinners in His own family tree!

Good brethren, please don’t pass over this genealogy in Matthew. What might initially seem like a poor way of starting a book, is actually a storehouse of faith-building, soul-strengthening truth.

FOR DEEPER UNDERSTANDING:

1. Give some reasons as to why the Jews were so interested in genealogies.

2. How is Matthew’s genealogy of the Christ different from Luke’s?

3. How could Jews know to refer to Jesus as “Son of David?” Be specific

4. What is the relationship between Old Testament genealogies and the promises of God?

WHAT is the Most Deadly Virus?

The virus of relativism was blowing in the wind, along with a virulent secularism determined to propel any remnants of biblical Christianity out of the public square.

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When I originally wrote this book more than twenty-five years ago, the winds of the “me generation” were blowing a strong and deadly virus through the culture.

The cultural revolution that had taken root in the 1960s was beginning to reach full flower, as seen in the abandonment of traditional values and moral standards in almost every sector.

“Do your own thing” became the slogan that guided choices and behaviors, closely aligned with “I gotta be me!” and “I owe it to myself.”

The virus of relativism was blowing in the wind, along with a virulent secularism determined to propel any remnants of biblical Christianity out of the public square.

It was period of time marvelously captured in a biblical statement that serves as a description slogan for a period in Israel’s history known as the time of the judges: “Everyone did what was right in his (or her) own eyes.”

Even at my most pessimistic moments back then, I would not have imaged that things could or would unravel as quickly or as drastically as they have.

We have experienced a cultural “perfect storm,” due to the convergence of forces such as moral relativism, aggressive pluralism, determined secularism, “do it yourself” spirituality, and libertarian individualism, aided by the technological realities of the information age.

The implications for followers of Jesus Christ are obvious.

We cannot hermetically seal ourselves from the spirit of the age so that we live in splendid isolation from it.

In fact, we must not.

First, our sovereign Lord calls us to live in the world for His glory, and monasticism and isolationism are not biblical options.

Our mandate from the risen Christ prohibits retreat.

Besides, the attempt is futile. There is no place to hide. Virtually every segment of modern culture has become a carrier of values alien to those of the kingdom of Christ.

We confront the open expression of these anti-Christian values in academia, the media or the entertainment industry; commonly in the operations of our daily life that bring us into constant contact with lifestyles we are expected not merely to tolerate or accept, but to celebrate; and less directly in spheres of commerce and technology.

Sadly, the spirit of the age often takes its most deadly form when it is absorbed into the professing Christian community.

Much more than I want to admit, many Christians live, act, and choose as if God’s Word had never been written.

How do we live in a society without fixed standards, a society daily becoming more secular and pagan?

God’s call is clear: “Prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life” (Phil. 2:15-17 NASB).

These are important verses.

They remind us that we are not simply to survive the moral confusion and spiritual anarchy that surrounds us, somehow staying unpolluted by the world.

We are also to shine, reflecting the glory of the Lord Jesus to a world that desperately need to see Him.

In other words, we are not just to be good in the midst of evil.

We are not even just to be good for something, serving others.

We are to be agents of our King, pressing His kingdom and its values into our culture and forming communities that are outposts of his kingdom, demonstrating to the world another, and a better, way to live life.  (Gary Inrig, “Hearts of Iron, Feet of Clay,” 7-8)

“God loves you and I love you and that’s the way it’s gonna be!” – Mike