Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm20120328.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Matthew: Jesus As Israel's Messiah And His Kingdom
Part I: Jesus As Israel's Messianic King By His Lineage
(Matthew 1:1-17)
  1. Introduction
    1. Matthew's gospel was written to Jews to answer their questions about Jesus being their Messiah. Such questions include: "Was He in fact the Messiah predicted in the Old Testament? If He was, why did He fail to establish the promised kingdom? Will it ever be established? What is God's purpose in the meantime?" (Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, p. 1337)
    2. Thus, we view Matthew's gospel both to form an apologetic to unsaved Jews who ask us a reason for our faith in Christ (cf. 1 Peter 3:15) and to settle in our minds on the validity of Christ's messianic credentials.
    3. Matthew 1:1-17 reveals Jesus' unique credentials as Israel's Messianic King by way of His lineage:
  2. Jesus As Israel's Messianic King By His Lineage, Matthew 1:1-17.
    1. In the introductory sentence to his genealogy, unique to all four gospels, Matthew noted Jesus was the son of David, a messianic title, and that He was the son of Abraham, a Jewish title, Matthew 1:1. Thus, the theme of the Gospel, that Jesus is the Davidic Messiah of the Abrahamic Israel, is set by this sentence.
    2. The genealogy itself highlights Jesus' lineage in ways that show He has the right to David's throne:
      1. Matthew's lineage starts with Abraham (Matthew 1:2a), goes through David (Matthew 1:6), and calls only David "the king" though other men in the same lineage were kings, thus emphasizing Jesus as Israel's Messianic King as the divinely promised son of king David! (cf. 2 Samuel 7:4-17)
      2. The lineage is traced to Joseph, and Matthew is careful not to claim that Jesus was Joseph's "son," but that He was born of Mary, Joseph's wife, Matthew 1:16. Matthew's concern is to reveal that Jesus has the right to David's throne through Joseph who married the woman who bore Jesus, but that Jesus can not be Joseph's blood son lest He suffer a curse that was put on the line in relation to enthronement:
        1. Matthew's line traces the right to the Davidic throne through Solomon (Matthew 1:6), but that must include king Jechonias (Matthew 1:11) that the prophet Jeremiah put under a divine curse for sin, a curse against anyone of His descendants ruling on the throne of David, Jeremiah 22:30.
        2. However, Messiah must come through the seed of David, Psalm 110:1 with Matthew 22:41-46.
        3. The only way for Messiah then to rule on David's throne while also unaffected by this curse is for a descendant of Jechonias with the right to the throne to wed a woman of David's uncursed line, and for her to bear a son by means of a virgin birth.
        4. Since Mary's line is given in Luke 3:23-38 with Jesus there being "supposed" as Joseph's "son," and that line is traced through David's son named Nathan (Luke 3:31), one not of Jechoniah's later cursed line, and Jesus is born of the virgin birth (Matthew 1:18-25), Jesus is the only descendant of David's line who can sit on David's throne blessed as God's Messiah!
    3. Yet, anticipating the required GRACE of God needed for the Lord to institute the Kingdom to Israel for rejecting Christ, Matthew names four women in Jesus' line whose inclusion there required God's grace:
      1. Tamar (Matt. 1:3), a Canaanite, seduced father-in-law Judah to bear a son when Judah failed to give her another of his sons to bear seed and preserve the name of her deceased husband, Gen. 38:1-30.
      2. Rahab (Matt. 1:5a) was the harlot of Jericho who hid Israel's spies, and who was rewarded for her faith in being included in the fellowship of Israel and placed into Messiah's line, Joshua 2:1-23; 6:1-25.
      3. Ruth (Matt. 1:5b) was the Moabitess who was included in the Davidic line for choosing to stay committed to her mother-in-law Naomi and to her Lord, the God of Israel. (Ruth 1:1-4:22)
      4. Bathsheba (Matt. 1:6) had been the wife of Uriah the Hittite, but after David committed adultery with her and murdered Uriah, he was forgiven, and Bathsheba by David then bare Solomon, 2 Sam. 11-12.
    4. Tamar, Rahab and Ruth were Gentiles, so Gentiles are in Messiah's line, anticipating God's inclusion of Gentiles in Messiah's Kingdom, the new revealed direction of the Kingdom in the gospel, Matt. 28:19-20.
Lesson: Matthew's lineage of Jesus explains how Jesus alone qualifies to be God's promised, blessed Messiah, and hints at how His Kingdom will be realized by God's grace directed unto all men.

Application: May we value these focuses and use them to uphold Christ's identity as God's Messiah.