We all come from somewhere. No one just arrives on this planet. Jesus is the God-incarnate, the divine wrapped in flesh but unlike sci-fi movies, He did not travel to this planet or even take over someone else’s body, He was born. The Bible says He became flesh and blood and moved into the neighbourhood (John 1:14 MSG). Imagine that! Jesus as your next-door neighbour!
We celebrate Jesus’ arrival over this time, and that is a good thing! As believers we understand the gravity and significance of our God coming to be with us, as we see His arrival through the lens of what He would eventually end up doing; conquering sin and death, setting us free, getting us into heaven and getting heaven into us. This blog, however, is about the line that Jesus was born into and its importance.
The two genealogies of Jesus are found in Matthew 1:1-17 and Luke 3:23-38. Besides the different orientations for the lists, the one moves forward and the other backward, there are other subtle differences that we will now explore. One follows Joseph’s line, and the other follows Mary’s; Matthew goes back to the forefather of faith Abraham, Luke traces the line back to the creation of Adam, and both lines flow through King David. The Gospel of Matthew is written with Jews in mind and the author makes sure to cement Jesus within the line of the great king, David. Luke was written for a broader audience, mostly gentiles, and makes sure that his readers start to see God’s plan from the beginning of creation.
Both genealogies make sure to include David, the celebrated King of Israel. Have you ever asked yourself why? Before we get there let’s have a quick look at what was happening around the time of Jesus’ birth. Israel was an occupied territory of the Roman Empire. And because of what the prophets had spoken, the Israelites were waiting for a king to be raised up and set them free from the oppression of the Romans. This was seen as a military thing, however, reading backwards as the writers of the New Testament did, one can quite easily see how the various prophecies point to Jesus.
Now back to David. King David had humble beginnings. Being the youngest of eight brothers, his role was to be out in the fields watching the sheep. He did this with diligence, taking his task to heart even when no one was watching. The shepherd boy protected the sheep and cared well for them. David eventually becomes king after serving Saul with integrity and taking every opportunity to honour him despite the threat of death. During his reign, Israel was united and through his hard-fought military victories, would experience a time of unprecedented peace, especially under David’s son Solomon. Throughout his life, David sought the Lord. When he was in the fields with the sheep or leading the armies of Israel against their foes, David spent time in the Lord’s presence, spent time studying the scriptures, and engaging with God for advice and guidance. He used his musicianship to write songs of praise and worship, both personally and for the nation. He truly was a man after God’s heart!
David wanted to build a house for God, a temple, as the tabernacle was still a tent from the time of Moses. The Lord denied his request, but that allowed him to start organising resources so that his son Solomon could build and complete the task. During this time God gave David a promise, found in 1 Chronicles 17:10-14, and 2 Samuel 7:11-16.
“‘I declare to you that the Lord will build a house for you: When your days are over and you go to be with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my love away from him, as I took it away from your predecessor. I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever.’” (1 Chronicles 17:10-14 NIV)
Because of David’s heart and his desire to serve the Lord with everything, God blessed him with a promise, one that would outlive him. That promise points directly to Jesus. “I will establish his throne forever” “I will set him over my house and kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever”, forever is not a mortal time, mortal time ends. We know that Jesus was born, lived, died and rose again, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father. We continue to work for and to see His kingdom established on earth, this work is continuing just as God promised to David.
What can we take from this as we go into the Christmas period? God has a plan and works out His purpose over His timing and from His perspective. We can trust that He will stick to His promises towards us, even when we don’t see any immediate fruit or fulfilment. Celebrating Jesus at Christmas time should fill us with hope, joy, and peace, especially as we think about how God conducted history and used faithful and faith-filled men to be part of the genealogy of His son.
– Michael Vincent