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Please turn with me in your Bibles 
to Matthew chapter 1. Matthew 1, I'll begin reading 
in verse 1. The book of the genealogy of 
Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham begot 
Isaac. Isaac begot Jacob and Jacob begot 
Judah and his brothers. Judah begot Perez and Zerah by 
Tamar. Perez begot Hezron and Hezron 
begot Ram. Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab 
begot Nashon, and Nashon begot Salmon. Salmon begot Boaz by 
Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot 
David the king. David the king begot Solomon 
by her, who had been the wife of Uriah. Solomon begot Rehoboam, 
Rehoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Esau. Asa begot Jehoshaphat, 
Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah. Uzziah begot 
Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah. Hezekiah 
begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot Amon, and Amon begot Josiah. Josiah begot Jeconiah and his 
brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon. 
And after they were brought to Babylon, Jachaniah begot Shealtiel, 
and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel begot Abiad, and Abiad 
begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor. Azor begot Zadok, Zadok 
begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliad. Eliad begot Eleazar, Eleazar 
begot Mathan, and Mathan begot Jacob. And Jacob begot Joseph, 
the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called 
Christ. So all the generations from Abraham 
to David are 14 generations from David until the captivity in 
Babylon are 14 generations and from the captivity in Babylon 
until the Christ are 14 generations. Now, the birth of Jesus Christ 
was as follows. After his mother, Mary, was betrothed 
to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the 
Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, being 
a just man and not wanting to make her a public example, was 
minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these 
things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, 
saying, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you 
Mary, your wife. for that which is conceived in 
her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a son, 
and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from 
their sins. So all this was done that it 
might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the 
prophet, saying, Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and 
bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which is translated, 
God with us. Then Joseph, being aroused from 
sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to 
him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth 
her firstborn son. And he called his name Jesus. Amen. Let us pray. Our Father, 
we come now to the Scripture and we pray for the ministry 
of your Holy Spirit. God, help us to see the Lord 
Jesus Christ so beautifully displayed in this passage. God, help us 
to love Him. Help us to delight in Him. Help 
us to praise Him in all that we do. And our Father, we just 
pray now that You would forgive us for all of our sin and all 
those things that would cast a darkening influence upon our 
mind. We pray the Spirit would illumine us. The Spirit would 
guide us and direct us and lead us into all truth. We pray, Father, 
that the things that we learn would be of benefit so that we 
may appreciate Your plan of salvation. that it would be of benefit so 
that we may indeed live lives consistent with your gospel. 
We just pray that you would be glorified in this time. We ask 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Yesterday, I was talking 
to a friend of mine named Richard Barcelos, and he mentioned that 
I was starting Matthew's Gospel. And he said, wow, that is a massive 
task, a massive undertaking. I suspect that he said that because 
I think he's a little bit scared to take any book longer than 
six chapters in the New Testament. But be that as it may, it caused 
me to consider my own heart, consider my own mind, why would 
we want to study the Gospel of Matthew? Well, several years 
ago, I think it was in America, when all the issues were going 
on politically, somebody said this statement. They said, it's 
the economy. Stupid, is what they actually 
said after that. In other words, all the issues 
affecting the life in America, all the issues affecting people 
in the places that they lived and moved and have their being, 
was rooted in the economy. Well, I say that simply to say 
this. It's about Jesus in the Christian life. We need to know 
Jesus. We need to understand His person. We need to understand His work. We need to understand that He 
comes in fulfillment of the promise of God Most High to save a people 
from their sins. And so it is very helpful for 
us to take up a gospel account. Several years ago, we looked 
through or went through the Gospel of John. Now we've come to one 
of the synoptics. Matthew, Mark, and Luke are called 
the synoptic. That literally means to view 
together. Each of these authors deals predominantly 
with the same subject material. But for various reasons, both 
theological and perhaps personal, they report those things in a 
bit of a different way, in a varying way. And so the reason why we 
want to study the Gospel according to Matthew is so that we can 
know, appreciate, love, admire, and worship our Lord Jesus Christ 
even more so. As well, as we study this particular 
book, we are with one who was saved by Christ, one who was 
called to be an apostle, one who functioned as a scribe and 
evangelist and a theologian, one who functioned as a preacher. And so it's good for us to get 
near this man so that we can learn this bird's eye view concerning 
the Lord Jesus Christ and to help us to know him. And then 
as well, I think if we're attentive along the way, if we pay attention 
as we travel with Matthew through this gospel, I suspect we'll 
learn a lot about the Old Testament scriptures as well. We'll learn 
a lot about what God is doing, not just in our lives personally, 
but what God is doing cosmically, what God is doing in terms of 
the big picture. So this morning, as we take up 
the gospel according to Matthew, we're going to do two things. 
The first are some introductory matters. In other words, when 
you start a book of the Bible, it's helpful to know things about 
the author, about the audience to whom he wrote, some of the 
themes and those sorts of things. That's what we mean by introductory 
matters. And then secondly, we're only 
going to look at verse one this morning. We're going to look 
at the focus of the Gospel of Matthew. Verse 1 is packed. In many ways, it serves as the 
theological and covenantal framework for all that follows in this 
wonderful book, according to Matthew. Now, primarily, of course, 
Matthew is a Gospel. If you go to your local library, 
you look at the various shelves, there's all kinds of books in 
there. You might like Westerns, or you might like drama, or you 
might like action. So you look at the appropriate 
shelf to find that type of book. Well, the Bible is no different. 
It's made up of various types of literature. There's poetry. 
There's wisdom literature. There's strict prose. There's 
narrative, there's history, there's apocalyptic, and there's what 
we call gospel. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. 
Now, the word gospel literally means good news. And of course, 
Matthew is reviewing that with reference to Jesus. But as a 
genre or as a type of literature, gospel refers to a theological 
biography of the life of Christ. Biography is just that. It is 
a written life. It is how we know about a person. And so these four gospel accounts 
gives us that view with reference to the Lord Jesus. Well, let's 
pick up some introductory matters. The first, the author. You say, 
well, that's easy because it says at the top of my Bible, 
the gospel according to Matthew. But if you notice in chapter 
one, he doesn't say, I, Matthew, an apostle of our Lord Jesus, 
am writing to you. Nowhere in the first gospel does 
he refer to himself as the author. So we need to do a little bit 
of work and understand just how this came to pass. that we identify 
Matthew as the writer of the first gospel. The first is simply 
a historical remark. It was the unanimous and consistent 
testimony of the early church that Matthew wrote the gospel 
that bears his name. That's good enough for me. That's 
good enough, I hope, for all of us. The church recognized 
this man contemporaneous or contemporary with Matthew. Men then, after 
the apostles died and went on to be with the Lord Jesus, there 
were things written and documents written and everybody ascribed 
that the gospel of Matthew was in fact written by this particular 
brother. Now, as we look in the gospel 
itself, we know that Matthew was a Jewish tax collector. Imagine 
this for a moment, that the Revenue Canada has come and confiscated 
everything you own. They've taken all your goods, 
they've taken all your property, they've taken all your material, 
and they threaten you that if you go and complain about this, 
we'll throw you in prison. Imagine if you then went next 
Sunday and you saw that particular man sitting in the church with 
you. You'd probably be a bit surprised. Well, tax collectors 
were looked at in that way in the first century. Matthew was 
not a man of sterling character. Matthew was a tax collector. That means he was a Jew sent 
by the Roman government to exact taxes from fellow Jews. So they looked at him with a 
great degree of disdain. They didn't like him. They didn't 
appreciate him. And I think what Jesus demonstrates 
throughout his life and ministry is what Paul tells us later in 
1 Corinthians 1. Not many wise, not many noble. God chooses the base things of 
the world to shame those things which are puffed up. And so Matthew 
was a Jewish tax collector turned for just a moment to chapter 
9, verse 9, who was saved by Jesus Christ. Matthew chapter 
9 verse 9. It says, as Jesus passed on from 
there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And 
he said to him, follow me. So he arose and followed him. 
Always appreciated that with reference to Matthew. He didn't 
say, wait, Lord, let me put my money away. He didn't neglect 
the Lord's call. He didn't say, Lord, I'll see 
you after I spend all this money. No, Jesus says, follow me. Matthew leaves his money and 
he gets up and he follows the lamb. I think there's a great 
lesson for any here that do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and 
Savior. You sit under gospel preaching, 
perhaps just on Sunday at the church or perhaps each and every 
day when your father reads the scripture to you or your mother 
and they plead with you to follow the lamb. Why won't you do that? Why don't you look at the example 
of Matthew here? Why don't you get up from your 
money or from whatever idol it is or whatever sin entices you 
and follow Jesus? That's the best place to possibly 
be. If you are not following Jesus, 
you are attached to some idol. You are attached to some false 
god, something that can never bring you satisfaction, something 
that can never bring you peace, happiness, forgiveness, acceptance 
with God. Just reading in the book of Genesis 
this morning, that scene where Jacob finally leaves Laban's 
house and Laban catches up with him and says, where are my household 
idols? Somebody has stolen them. You 
think Moses was cracking up as he was writing that? Think about 
the imagery. Your God can be stolen? Your 
God can be domesticated in such a way as to be put into a saddlebag? And then it says that the woman 
sat down on these idols. It's an amazing picture of the 
futility of idolatry. I dare suspect that some in here 
are more attached to their money. They're more attached to their 
household idols. They're more attached to their 
sex. They're more attached to their entertainments. And they 
don't get up and follow the lamb. Matthew serves a beautiful example 
of what we'll call immediate conversion. Jesus says, get up, 
follow me. So he arose and followed him. When you compare Mark's gospel, 
you'll see that Matthew is also referred to as Levi, not uncommon. Simon, Peter, John, Mark, two 
names were common in that particular day. So when you're reading in 
Mark's gospel and you see Levi, the son of Alphaeus, that's Matthew. That's this man. And then notice 
exactly what or notice precisely what he does after he is converted 
to Christ. He throws a feast, doesn't he? 
Is that a beautiful picture? He's been saved, like we were 
just exhorted by Pastor Cam. Put a smile on your face. You're 
no longer a worshipper of that money on your table. You're no 
longer a slave to your lusts. You're no longer a bond servant 
of the devil himself, but you've been saved. You've been liberated. You've been freed. So what does 
Matthew do? He throws a party. He has a banquet. He has a feast. And at this very 
feast, he underscores the great redemptive work of our Lord Jesus. I didn't come to call the righteous, 
he says, but sinners to repentance. Matthew being one of them, conquered 
by the sovereign grace of Almighty God. We proceed in the gospel 
account in Matthew 10, and we see that Matthew was chosen by 
Jesus to be one of the twelve, one of the intimate, one of the 
twelve, among whom Jesus would set that commission to propagate 
his gospel, to be a witness in the empire, and to testify that 
Jesus saves. The very book we are studying 
itself evidences that Matthew was faithful to that commission. 
By the power of the Holy Spirit, he took pen to paper, and he 
recorded the life, the death, or the life, ministry, death, 
and resurrection of Jesus Christ the Lord. Now, to whom was he 
writing? Primarily to a Jewish audience, 
I suspect. How do we know that? Because 
he is so Old Testament-ish. He is so Old Testament-ish. There are ten fulfillment passages 
in the Gospel of Matthew. Ten times where Matthew says 
so that it was fulfilled what was written in the prophets as 
well. There's about fifty five direct 
quotations from the Old Testament in Matthew. Compare that to about 
sixty three or four in all the other three gospels combined. 
You see, what Matthew is doing is bringing a message to the 
Jewish Christians and the Jewish unbelievers that Jesus Christ 
is the one who fulfills the covenant plan of God in the saving of 
his people. So it is primarily a Jewish audience. Now, that doesn't mean we can't 
benefit. It doesn't mean that we aren't 
to study it. It just means that in the first 
century, the primary audience, it was given to the Jews. Milton 
Terry, in a book called Biblical Hermeneutics, written in the 
19th century, he says the great purpose of this gospel throughout 
is to exhibit Jesus as the Messiah of whom the prophets had spoken. Now, when did he write? I suspect 
he wrote in the mid-60s. We don't have time to develop 
this, but I think the entirety of the New Testament was completed 
prior to the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. Most of the good 
commentators put it in about the mid-60s. What about the structure? You ever heard that statement, 
how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Right? Matthew's a big book. We're going 
to eat it one bite at a time. In fact, one verse this morning 
will probably break it off along the way. But it has a structure 
that is beautiful and it's very detailed. But we're going to 
go for simplicity this morning. One thing we need to notice is 
that in the Gospel of Matthew, there are five discourses by 
our Lord. That means extensive teaching 
by Jesus Christ to his disciples and to the multitudes. The first 
is the Sermon on the Mount, chapters five to seven. The second deals 
with mission and martyrdom in chapter 10. The third is the 
parables of the kingdom that we find in Matthew chapter 13. Fourthly, relationships in the 
new community in chapter 18 and then judgment for Israel in chapters 
23 to 25. Those are five discourses. In 
fact, we could probably just drop into the book and take up 
those sections on their own. Then we miss a lot of the works 
and the miracles and the power that Jesus displayed in his earthly 
ministry. So we're going to approach the 
book, broadly speaking, in this way. First, an introduction to 
Jesus' ministry. Chapter 1, verse 1, to chapter 
4, verse 16. Secondly, the development of 
Jesus' ministry. Chapter 4, verse 17, to chapter 
16, verse 20. And then the climax of Jesus' 
ministry. The climax, the death, the resurrection, 
those events for which he primarily came is in chapter 16, verse 
21 through chapter 28 and verse 20. As well, we can notice the 
geography along the way, where Jesus is, specifically in his 
earthly ministry. We'll have cause to reflect upon 
that as we start moving through the narrative. And then what's 
the purpose? Why did Matthew write? I already 
said there are reasons why we should study, but why did Matthew 
write? Why did he feel the need to take 
pen to paper and set forth this statement concerning Christ? 
Well, the first was to instruct the church. It's a means of catechism, 
a means of instruction to the body of Christ so that they may 
indeed behold their King, so that they may learn of Christ, 
that they may understand who he is, that they may understand 
why he came to do what it is he did. Secondly, it is to serve 
as an evangelistic tract or message. Call sinners to believe on this 
Jesus. It's to present Jesus in his 
saving glory, to present Jesus in his saving power, and to call 
sinners to part with their money, to part with their idols, to 
part with whatever it is that holds them, and to come to Christ 
who alone can give salvation. And as well, it serves an apologetic 
role. That means defending the faith. 
You need to be schooled in understanding the Gospel of Matthew. You need 
to understand how the Old Testament relates to the New. How the Old 
was a time of anticipation and promise, and in the New we find 
fulfillment. We find realization in our Lord 
Jesus. We need to understand something 
of God's dealings with His people, and the Book of Matthew certainly 
helps us to do so. And then as well, it is primarily 
to set forth Jesus Christ, to set forth the one in whom the 
mercy of God is given. And that brings us, secondly, 
to consider the focus of the Gospel of Matthew. So I said, 
verse one is packed. I'm going to spend some time 
on verse one here, because it is so wonderful. Notice the first 
thing about verse one. It links us to the book of Genesis. What do we have in Matthew 1? 
We have a new beginning. We have a new beginning in the 
Lord Jesus. I remember reading J.C. Ryle 
on the baptism of Jesus in Matthew chapter 3. He says in Genesis 
chapter 1, the triune God, who is present, by the way, in Genesis 
chapter 1, the triune God says, let us make man. What do we find 
at the baptism of Jesus? We see Jesus go down into the 
water. We see the spirit descend upon 
him in the form of a dove. And we hear the voice of God 
himself say, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. 
Ryle says, Genesis 1, the triune God says, let us make man. He 
says in Matthew 3 at the baptism, the triune God says, let us redeem 
man. And at the very outset of Matthew's 
gospel, he links us to the book of Genesis. He says the book 
of the genealogy, literally the book of the Genesis, the beginning, 
the origin of. He uses the statement again in 
verse 18. Now, the birth or the Genesis 
of Jesus Christ was as follows. The book of origin occurs in 
the Septuagint, that is the Greek translation of the Old Testament, 
only at Genesis 2-4, the account of the origin of the heavens 
and the earth, and again at Genesis 5-1. It's not present elsewhere 
in the Greek translation of the Old Testament. There it is, the 
list of descendants of Adam. It is used here deliberately 
to echo the opening chapters of the Book of Genesis. We see a similar function in 
Mark 1, the beginning, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. We see the same thing in John 
1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and 
the Word was God. These gospel writers are telling 
us by way of this convention that the New Age has dawned. I'm not talking about the New 
Age where people wear crystals around their neck, or they engage 
in Eastern mysticism, or they do weird things because the stars 
are aligned in a particular way. The New Age was the era of Messiah. The New Age was the dawning of 
the Lord Jesus Christ when he would come to inaugurate the 
messianic kingdom. The New Testament gospel writers 
pick up on that in their use or in their prologues to show 
us the Lord Jesus Christ. Now notice, secondly, what Matthew 
says here. The book of the genealogy of 
Jesus Christ. He will indicate the significance 
of the name Jesus in verse 21. We've already read that. You 
shall call his name Jesus, for it is he, he alone, who will 
save his people from their sin. Jesus is the New Testament or 
the Greek equivalent of the Old Testament name, Joshua. And it 
simply means Yahweh saves. Yahweh is salvation. If you ask, how does Jesus roll? He saves. What defines Jesus 
Christ? He redeems. What is Jesus all 
about? Is it just a good example? Is 
it just a brand of morality? Is it just something that we 
should look at our wrists and say, what would Jesus do? If 
that is all Jesus is to us, we have missed Him completely. Jesus saves His people from their 
sins. But notice that Matthew says, 
the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Now, if we were 
a first century Jewish audience, that would probably be a lot 
more significant to us. Christ translates the words anointed 
or the word anointed, the anointed one. It is the great New Testament 
equivalent of the Old Testament Messiah. So what is he saying? Messiah has come. Messiah is 
here. Messiah has done what God has 
sent him to do. That is what he is telling us 
here. The opening of Matthew's gospel 
announces boldly Messiah has come. This was prophesied in 
the Old Testament. We're going to look at some passages 
this morning. One, to keep you awake. And two, 
so that you can get these things ingrained in your minds. Because 
if, as I said, Matthew 1.1 is the theological and covenantal 
framework for the rest of the Gospel account, it is good for 
us to understand that. It is good for us to see and 
appreciate that. You remember in Psalm 2, David 
says, why did the nations rage and the people plot a vain thing? 
The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together 
against the Lord and against His anointed, His Messiah, His 
Christ. They say, let us break their 
bonds in pieces and cast away their cords from us. The scene 
then shifts from the mutiny of man on earth to the calm dignity 
of God's throne room. It's how Walter Chantry describes 
it. The calm dignity of God's throne 
room. Notice in verse four, he who 
sits in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall hold them in derision. 
Then he shall speak to them in his wrath and distress them in 
his deepest pleasure. Yet I have set my king on my 
holy hill of Zion. That's the Messiah. It's the 
Christ. That's the anointed. That's the 
one to whom Matthew says, He's here. Matthew 1.1 is sort of like a 
spotlight. I don't think I've seen it here 
as much as growing up in Southern California. Maybe because it's 
always cloudy. Not always. It's a beautiful 
sunny day out there this morning, right? But something that was 
common, at least in Southern California, maybe it's done here. 
Maybe I'm just ignorant to this and I just drive idly by and 
never pay attention. But if there was a new business 
opening, they'd set up a spotlight. You would see these spotlights, 
these great big beams of light up in the sky going back and 
forth. What was that to do? It was to 
highlight the opening, usually of a new car sales place. These spotlights would be like 
this, shining or gathering attention for the spectacle down below. 
That's how Matthew 1-1 functions. The book of the genealogy of 
Jesus Christ. First spotlight. The Messiah 
has come. First spotlight. The promises 
of God are yea and amen in him. The first spotlight is God is 
faithful to his promise. And you cannot miss that in Matthew 
1.1. We see Messiah referenced in 
chapter 45 of the book of Psalms. I'm sorry, Psalm 45, verses 6 
and 7. It's applied to the Lord Jesus 
in the book of Hebrews. Your throne of God is forever 
and ever. A scepter of righteousness is 
the scepter of your kingdom. You see, the Old Testament scriptures 
themselves testified that Messiah would be divine, that he would 
be deity. The Jew who rejects that does 
not deal with his passages specifically. Your throne, O God, is forever 
and ever. A scepter of righteousness is 
the scepter of your kingdom. You love righteousness and hate 
wickedness. Therefore, God, your God, has 
anointed you. You are the Messiah with the 
oil of gladness more than your companions. Isaiah 66, verse 
1, a passage that comes up in the book of Matthew, in the Gospel 
accounts. Isaiah 66, thus says Yahweh. Heaven is my throne. I'm sorry, 
Isaiah 61, verse 1. Isaiah 61 and verse one, the 
spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed 
me to preach good tidings to the poor. He has sent me to heal 
the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the 
opening of the prison to those who are bound. You see, when 
Matthew says the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, you're 
supposed to think about Isaiah 61. You're supposed to think 
about Psalm 45. You're supposed to recall the 
redemptive facts of God, indicated in the Old Testament, and you're 
to see that spotlight pointing to the Lord Jesus as the fulfillment 
of this. And isn't this what Jesus says 
throughout His ministry? He defines it in the terms of 
Isaiah 61. He is Messiah. Daniel chapter 
9, verses 24 to 27, a prophecy concerning the coming Messiah. 
Daniel 24. Picking up and I'm sorry, Daniel 
nine, picking up in verse twenty five, no, therefore, and understand 
that from the going forth of the command to restore and build 
Jerusalem until Messiah, the prince, there should be seven 
weeks and sixty two weeks. The street shall be built again 
in the wall, even in troublesome times. And after the sixty two 
weeks, Messiah shall be cut off. What does that mean? To be crucified. To be sacrificed. It means that 
through his redemptive work at Calvary, through that atoning 
work, he'll do everything the prophet Daniel specifies in verse 
24. This is how Jesus finishes the 
transgression. This is how he makes an end of 
sin. This is how he makes reconciliation 
for iniquity. This is how he brings in everlasting 
righteousness. And he seals up vision and prophecy. And he anoints the most holy. 
It is through his cutting on. It is through the death of Messiah. 
So Matthew 1, 1, brethren, is calling us to behold the Messiah. But notice this second spotlight, 
what it shines upon. Verse 1, Matthew 1, the book 
of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David. The genealogy 
that follows is central, centralized on David. There are some names 
missing. If you're looking for a strict 
census of Israel leading up to the Lord Jesus, you are going 
to look in vain in Matthew chapter one. What Matthew does in his 
genealogy is highlights the fact that Jesus is the Davidic king. He gives three sets of 14 generations. Some speculate, and I think they're 
probably right, that the 14 focuses on or has significance based 
on David's name. In Hebrew, the three letters 
of David add up to 14. What Matthew is telling us is 
that Jesus has come in the fulfillment of this statement, this promise 
given to David. So the second spotlight that 
Matthew has put forth says this. Behold your king. Behold the 
Messiah. Behold the king. Brethren, this 
was good news to the people to whom he's writing. What happened? After 2 Samuel 7, which is God's 
covenant to raise up from David's line a king who would sit upon 
the throne and would reign in righteousness and justice forever 
and ever. What happened after 2 Samuel 
7? Not just 2 Samuel 8. You smart alecks out there. What happened? In Judah there 
were a few good kings. But there were a lot of bad kings. 
A lot of bad kings. What happened in the 6th century 
BC? God had had enough. He brings 
Babylon to judge the people of Judah. The man called Jeconiah 
in this particular genealogy is the king Jehoiachin. It is 
the king who was ruling and reigning at the time of the fall of Judah 
in the 6th century BC. What do you think the people 
thought at that time? They thought 2 Samuel 7 was a 
crock. They thought it was a fake. They 
thought God couldn't see them through Babylon. Notice another 
theme that comes up very frequently in this genealogy. They go to 
Babylon. They come out of Babylon. What's 
the first century Jew supposed to do when he hears that Jesus 
is the son of David? He's supposed to say, God is 
faithful. God promised in 2 Samuel 7 that 
he would station a Davidic king on his throne of whose reign 
there would be no end. And Matthew, with that spotlight, 
shines it upon the Lord Jesus, and he says, behold your king. Behold the Davidic one. Behold 
the son of David. David's son, yet David's Lord. That's why we sang the Psalms 
that we did today. That's why we looked at Psalm 
72. Hail to the Lord's anointed. Great David's greater son. And throughout the Gospel of 
Matthew, Jesus is referred to as David's son or son of David. What does that mean to us? It 
means that we have a King. It means that He rules over us. 
And yes, it means that He dictates to us the way we are to live. He defines for us the law by 
which we are to follow. But a King doesn't just legislate. A King protects. Doesn't He? A King defends. Your enemy, the 
devil, roams about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 
Go to your king. If you lived in a monarchy and 
you were being threatened by invaders, you would go to the 
king. You would write letters to the king. You would beseech 
the king, excuse me, to help me and to protect me. Well, how 
many times do we, as the people of God, go to the Davidic king 
and say, protect me. Watch over me. Defend me, rule 
me, give me more of a zeal and more of a desire to follow you. It's interesting that in the 
genealogy, when he mentions Isaac, he begets Jacob and Jacob begot 
Judah and his brothers. Why Judah? Judah was the royal 
tribe. Judah was the tribe of kingship. He's not dissing the other brothers, 
but he is showing the royal lineage of our Lord Jesus Christ, that 
he is the rightful heir to the throne of David. Believer, behold 
your king. See your king enthroned at the 
right hand of God most high. There are several passages in 
the Old Testament which prophesy concerning this. I would suggest 
that you read through this altar, that you read attentively to 
the prophet Isaiah, that you look to the prophet Jeremiah, 
that you look to Ezekiel. They saw there was a king coming 
who would defend them, who would vindicate them, who would deal 
with their enemies once and for all. Now, many of the first century 
Jews missed that. They wanted a physical king to 
take the throne and put down Rome. They didn't see that the 
kingship of Jesus far exceeds that, far surpasses that. They didn't see that Jesus is 
now enthroned at the right hand of God Most High, where he did 
ultimately put down the Roman Empire, where he will in fact 
wield that scepter of iron and dash down nations who do not 
bow in submission. Jesus is the Davidic King. Brethren, that is intensely practical 
for you and I as Christians along the way, as pilgrims en route 
to our promised land. We have a king to defend us. 
We have a king to protect us. We have a king to reveal his 
mind in how we are to walk on that narrow way. Do not miss 
the crown of our Lord Jesus. Yes, he wears the prophet's mantle. He certainly is associated with 
the priesthood by way of the cross. But we must not diminish 
the fact that Jesus wears the crown as King of Kings and as 
Lord of Lords. So he's called him or he's highlighted 
attention to the fact with these spotlights that we are to behold 
the Messiah. We are to behold the son of David. 
What's that last spotlight telling us? Behold the son of Abraham. Again, if we were first century 
Jews, we'd be like jumping up in our seats right now. We'd 
be doing holy jigs. I don't know if that's what a 
holy jig looks like. You ever wonder what David looked like 
as he was dancing before the Ark of the Covenant and Michael 
despised him in her heart? He was rejoicing. He was celebrating. He was delighting. Why? God's 
faithful. When you think Abraham, you ought 
to think promise. When you think Abraham, you ought 
to think promise. That's what he is highlighting 
here. God made a promise to Abraham. Genesis chapter 12. He calls 
him out of Ur of the Chaldeans. He says, get out of your country 
from your family and from your father's house to a land that 
I will show you. I will make you a great nation. 
I will bless you and make your name great. And you shall be 
a blessing. I will bless those who bless 
you. And I will curse him who curses you. And in you, notice 
this, all the families of the earth. shall be blessed. Could 
it be that Matthew is telling his Jewish audience, the son 
of promise has arrived and his saving plan isn't focused solely 
upon the nation of Israel? That there's something greater 
than the nation of Israel, even the spiritual Israel or the true 
Israel? Could it be that Matthew by chapter 
1 or in chapter 1, verse 1 is giving something of a programmatic 
view of Messiah's work? I believe he is not only son 
of David, he's son of Abraham. As a Jew in the first century 
who had believed on the Lord Jesus, I believe that Matthew 
one verse one would have furnished fuel for meditation for a long 
time. What happens in Genesis 13? God, 
as it were, takes Abraham by the hand and he says, I want 
you to look, Abraham. I want you to look to the north. 
I want you to look to the south. I want you to look to the east. 
And I want you to look to the west. I'm giving you this. Now, Paul interprets that for 
us in Romans 4. Abraham was not simply seeing 
geographical Israel. Paul tells us that Abraham, Romans 
4, 13, is the heir of the world. And in Genesis 13, God says, 
I will make your descendants more numerous than the sand at 
the seashore. You know what I think this ought 
to do for the Christian church? Promote some zeal for evangelism 
and missions. We have this idea that we're 
it. This ragtag band, this motley 
crew is all that's going to be in heaven. I'm not saying we 
specifically, but we have this view. That's not what God's view is. 
When you think of Jesus as son of Abraham, think sand. That's 
kind of icky. No, think of it numerically. 
I mean, you pick up a handful of sand, it would be very difficult 
to count those grains, wouldn't it? What happens in Genesis 15 
when God comes to ratify this covenant in a ceremony that is 
beautiful? I know you've heard it before, 
but it bears saying again. God tells Abraham to look at 
the stars. You see those stars, Abraham? I dare say Abraham saw a lot 
more stars because there was no artificial light, right? You 
try to look at the stars in Chilliwack, you don't see as many. You get 
out to the country a little bit more, there's more. Not that 
there's more, it's that you see more. So Abraham looks at these 
stars, and what does God say to him? Your descendants are 
going to be more numerous than these. And then what's God do 
to ratify this covenant? He separates animals. He kills 
animals. He cuts them into two pieces. 
He sets some on one side and sets some on the other side. 
You see, in covenant ratification ceremonies, the two persons swearing 
fidelity to the covenant would walk between those animals. What's 
the significance? As they walk through those animals, 
the significance is simply this, that if they fail to carry out 
their agreement or their portion of this covenantal dealing, Their 
passing between these pieces of the animals is a malevolent 
curse. You all know what benevolent 
means. You all know what a benediction is. It's a good word. It's a 
good thing. Malevolent is just the opposite. 
Malediction is just the opposite. It is a bad thing. It is to call 
down God's curse upon you. So the participants in this covenantal 
ratification ceremony walked through these animals, and the 
symbolism is simply this, that if I fail to carry out my end 
of this agreement, then may what happened to these animals happen 
to me. Very powerful. Very rich. Very beautiful. And even more 
glorious as we continue reading in Genesis 15. What happens? God puts Abraham into a deep 
sleep. Abraham wakes up and what does 
he see? He sees a smoking torch passing 
between these animals. What's the rub? What's the significance? I believe that smoking torch 
represents Yahweh, Lord of the Covenant. He's not walking in 
agreement with Abraham. They're not throwing in a portion 
each to try and accomplish the redemption of the world. God 
the Lord walks through those pieces alone. God the Lord says 
that if I fail in promoting or producing, rather, these descendants, 
then may what happened to these animals happen to me. We get 
to Galatians chapter 3 and we see God meant business. You see, 
it wasn't God who failed in the covenant. It was man who failed 
in the covenant. So God takes up that as well. 
He tells us that Jesus became a curse. Jesus took the responsibility 
of our covenant breaking on Himself so that what happens to these 
animals actually does occur to Jesus at the cross. Christ became 
a curse for us. So when we get to Matthew 1.1, 
And when we see Matthew say, the book of the genealogy of 
Jesus Christ, then he says, behold the Messiah. And then he describes 
him as the son of David and says, behold your king. And then he 
says, the son of Abraham, he is saying, behold the promiser. Behold the surety. Behold the 
one who will carry out the obligations that God set forth in this covenantal 
arrangement. I suspect that believing Jews 
in the first century read this passage this way and worshipped. They read this passage this way 
and they fell on their faces to praise God. They read this 
passage this way and their hymn singing and their psalm singing 
took on a vibrancy that no man could measure. When they understood 
that, in fact, God had done what He promised to do in the person 
and the work of the Lord Jesus, This is why Paul, in the letter 
to the Corinthians, can say, in Jesus, all the promises of 
God are yea and amen. Behold your Messiah, behold your 
King, behold the Son of promise. One commentator says that Jesus 
is the Christ, identifies him as the Jewish Messiah, the longed 
for Savior of Israel. As a descendant of David, Jesus 
comes as an Israelite King. As a descendant of Abraham, he 
will bless all the nations of the earth. That's exciting. That's what the Gospel of Matthew 
is about. That's what he's doing here. D.A. Carson says, Jesus, 
the Messiah, came in fulfillment of the kingdom promises to David 
and of the Gentile blessings promised to Abraham. It's interesting. We don't even stumble into the 
genealogy without this hitting us in the face. As we'll have 
Costa remark next week, the genealogy is interesting about what it 
says, but as well who it contains. Especially the women folk. We've got Rahab the harlot and 
a non-Israelite. We have Ruth the Moabitess And 
we have the wife of Uriah the Hittite. Now, maybe she was an 
Israelite, but she married a Hittite. Some say Tamar may not have been 
an Israelite either. So already, what Matthew is saying 
is that the promise made to Abraham has come to fulfillment. We have glimpses of it in the 
Old Covenant. We have the foreshadowing in 
the Old Covenant. We have the conversion of Rahab. 
We have the conversion of Ruth. We have some heathen coming in 
under the auspices of Israel's God. We have that, but we haven't 
seen nothing yet. And what happens as we start 
proceeding through the book of Matthew and the Jews are proud 
and arrogant, what does Jesus say? God is able to raise up 
from these stones sons to Abraham. What does Jesus say to ethnic 
Israel in Matthew chapter 8? You're going to learn something 
about exclusion from your kingdom. The kingdom you have. The kingdom 
you rejected. The kingdom that you did not 
want. He says, many will come from 
east and west, and they will sit with Abraham, Isaac, and 
Jacob. He's talking about Gentiles included 
in the very promise of God. And how does the Gospel of Matthew 
end? Go therefore and make disciples 
of what? All nations. Why? Because what God promised to 
Abraham, what God promised to David, is fulfilled in the person 
and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew 1.1 is a call 
for us to behold our Messiah, to behold our King, and to behold 
the Son of Promise. Well, in conclusion, we learn 
three things and then we're done. The first, we've already mentioned 
it several times, but it bears saying again, God is faithful. 
When did God make this promise to Abraham? About 2,000 years 
prior to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. A little bit more, 
actually. What happened after God made 
this promise? They go into Egypt. They're in 
bondage. They are a slave people. Now 
God sends Moses, brings them out. It's a blessing. They go 
to the land. What happens there? They end 
up a slave people again. The northern tribes fall to Assyria. The southern tribes ultimately 
fall to Judah. I've got to suspect somewhere 
along the line, somebody scratched their head and said, what's going 
on here? Do you ever pray for something 
and God doesn't answer like that? Do you ever pray for something 
and you wonder how long can I bear up under this trial? Do you ever 
ask God to bless you in a particular area and it doesn't come according 
to your time frame and you begin to doubt? You begin to call into 
question God's faithfulness, God's fidelity? Learn from this, 
that though God Most High makes a promise to Abraham in about 
2000 B.C., he is faithful. He is faithful. Matthew 1.1 highlights, 
underscores, boldfaces, puts in italics, for every saint of 
Christ to see, your God is faithful. So instead of whining that God 
hasn't answered your prayer, Instead of complaining that God 
hasn't answered your prayer, instead of stopping prayer because 
God hasn't answered your prayer, come to Matthew 1.1. Relish in 
this fact that our God is faithful. He sent the Messiah. He sent 
the Davidic king. He sent the son of promise according 
to his plan. Love the way Paul says it in 
Galatians 4. In the fullness of the times, 
God sent forth his son. born of a woman, born under the 
law, to redeem those under the law. I suspect those faithful 
ones in Isaiah's day were saying, God, you can send them anytime. 
Those faithful ones in exile in Babylon were probably saying, 
God, you can send them in anytime. God doesn't react. God is proactive. God operates according to His 
perfect decree. And, Saint, I believe that we 
need to get a hold of this, just real practically, because we 
can complain a lot. We can threaten God a lot. We 
can grumble a lot at what we perceive as a lack of faithfulness 
on God's part. Now, brethren, if you hold up 
God and you hold up us, who do you think is the unfaithful one 
in that equation? It ain't God. I love what God 
says to the prophet or through the prophet to the people of 
Israel. And Ezekiel, your people say the way of the Lord is not 
fair. As if we have become the arbiters 
of what is fair. As if we, creatures that we are, 
sinners that we are, can actually call God into account. It's heinous. It's wicked. There's a movement 
today that says you ought to just challenge God. You get angry 
with God. No. You humble yourself under 
the mighty hand of God. That's the biblical remedy. That's 
the biblical prescription. But you see, God doesn't finish 
with the prophet there. He knew what the people were 
saying. They were in captivity. They said, this isn't fair. We 
are here because of the sins of our fathers. This isn't right. We don't appreciate God's arrangement. 
We don't like the way he governs the earth. We don't like the 
way he deals with his covenant community. We're special ones. 
were beautiful ones were the chosen one. We should have nothing 
but good things. We should just walk with great 
joy to the celestial city zipping along. God says the people the 
sons of your people say the way of the Lord is not fair. And 
he says when it is their way that is not fair. They send themselves into exile. They broke the covenant. They 
were unfaithful. They went out searching other 
gods. They were idolaters. They engaged 
in gross sexual sin. They engaged in all manner of 
evil. So who are they to question the 
fairness of God? Do you realize, brethren, we 
don't want God to be fair? A Christian who understands his 
Bible and sin ought to want mercy. You know what fair is? The wages of sin and death. That's 
what's fair. You and I need mercy. Lots of 
it. We need grace. Lots of it. So you need to learn that God 
is faithful. I love the language in Isaiah 
11, verse 1. Some of our Bibles translate 
it that Jesus came from the root of Jesse. Stump is better. Stump. You know what the picture 
is? Israel had been reduced to a 
stump. This once massive tree that was 
supposed to bear fruit, that was supposed to shine as a light 
among the nations through the chastening hand of God was reduced 
to a stump. It was almost gone. It was almost 
obliterated. But Matthew says, the book, of 
the genealogy of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham. He arises from the stump when 
everything looks like it's over, when everything looks like it's 
dead, when it looks as if the Davidic kingly line is gone. Here comes Jesus. Here comes 
God's answer. Secondly, we need to understand 
that God works covenantally, covenantally. I know that sometimes 
bothers people. They hear covenant a lot in reform 
theology. But you know what? Covenant is 
beautiful. If you can't, with your mind's 
eye, picture that transaction in Genesis 15, try harder. Study 
more. If you can't, with your mind's 
eye, see that Genesis 15 is as rich is as rewarding, is as comforting 
as Paul's declaration in Romans chapter 8. You need to read your 
Bible more. You ought to be thinking in terms 
of that smoking torch going through those pieces of animals, calling 
upon himself the very curse of the covenant if he does not save 
his people from their sins. God deals covenantally. He made 
a promise to Abraham. He made a promise to David. He 
made a promise to save His people by Jesus Christ. He has inaugurated 
the new covenant in the blood of Jesus. Covenant is beautiful. Get your minds wrapped around 
it. Approach the Scriptures in this way, and you will be able 
to behold God in a glorious manner. When you think sand, think God's 
redemptive plan. Sand can be a bit irritating. 
You go to the beach, you come home, you can't get rid of sand. 
Stop for a moment and think about Abraham. Look at the sand on 
the seashore. Next time you look up in the 
stars, don't just say, wow, that is an astronomical beauty. That 
is just a glorious thing. Look at how wonderful all those 
stars are. Think conversion. Think missions. Think evangelism. 
Think about your neighbors. Think about your friends. Think 
about unconverted loved ones. See those stars and start naming 
people before God who you want to see converted. Because God 
promised that he gave to Abraham all the families of the earth. 
All the nations would be blessed in him. Jesus says, go therefore 
and make disciples of all the nations. If you bounce from Genesis 
chapter 15 to Psalm 2 to Matthew 28, you see that line run right 
through it. All the nations will be blessed 
of you. Psalm 2, ask of me and I will give you the nations for 
your inheritance, the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession. 
We get to Matthew 28 when Jesus says, go and make disciples of 
all the nations. Why? God's given it to him. Our problem is we need to go. 
And then thirdly and finally, God sent Jesus to save his people. If verse 1 provides the theological 
and covenantal framework for the book, verse 21 provides the 
specific detail. Notice in verse 21, And she will 
bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will 
save his people from their sins. And we saw that already in Matthew 
9, this conversion of the authors, conversion of Matthew. And then 
when the Pharisees and the people complained, why does your teacher 
eat with tax collectors and sinners? When Jesus heard that, he said 
to them, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those 
who are sick. But go and learn what this means. 
This beautiful, go and learn what this means. Who's he telling 
this to? He's telling this to the professors. 
He's telling this to the PhDs. He's telling this to people who 
had read this passage over and over and over again, which just 
indicates you can read a passage over and over and over again 
and not understand it. Go read this, go learn what it 
means. I desire mercy, not sacrifice. You Pharisees missed it. Much 
of Israel missed it. Many people today miss it. Mercy. That's when he says this. I did 
not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. So if you are here this morning, 
you know who you are. I don't. God knows you. God knows if you've not come 
to Christ. God knows if you've not believed the gospel. God 
knows if you have not read this, believed it and began to follow 
the lamb. God knows that. I don't know 
that your parents don't know that. The children don't know 
that. The person sitting next to you doesn't know that. It's 
not as if all God's people have a big E on their back for election, 
or a big C on their forehead for Christian. It's not as if 
God's people have a card that they can produce and say, there 
it is right there. Proud member of the Communist 
Party. No, not. But you know in your heart of 
hearts, You know if you have believed on the Lord Jesus. Listen 
to what he says here. I didn't come to call the righteous. 
I came to call sinners. Those women that we mentioned, 
or I mentioned earlier, we'll look at it a bit more in detail 
next week. Each one of them, or at least three of them, had 
a sexual background that was not good. There's sometimes people 
saying, I've been such a sexual pervert or sinner, I can't come 
to Christ. No, you must come to Christ. We see a man listed 
in this particular genealogy who was a king for 55 years and 
drove an entire nation into apostasy. The chronicler shows that at 
the end of his life, Manasseh repented. God delights in mercy. If you are here this morning 
with a sinful past, or you're here this morning as a child 
that grew up in a Christian home that didn't do really anything 
that bad. No, you've done enough bad to merit damnation for eternity. Realize this fact that Jesus 
is about mercy. He will save His people from 
their sins. So believe on him and you will 
have everlasting life. Well, let us pray. Father, how 
we thank you for what Matthew does in verse one, shining the 
spotlight upon the Lord Jesus. We thank you that he is our Messiah, 
that he is the Davidic king, that he is the son of promise, 
Abraham's seed. Father, how we pray that you 
would just help us to think in terms of these bigger pictures, 
that we would see that the Bible is a unified whole about God 
Most High saving His people through Jesus Christ. I pray that as 
well we would reflect on the kingly office of our Lord, that 
we would seek his defending, we would seek his protection, 
we would seek his aid when we encounter various trials. And 
our Father, I pray for any and all who do not know the Lord 
Jesus, I pray that they would believe the gospel, that they 
would be saved, that they would know the joy of having everlasting 
life. Go with us now, we pray, in Jesus' 
name. Amen.