It begins, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the
Son of David, the Son of Abraham.” It struck me, as I read this sentence, that
it was Jesus who was the promised son of David (not Solomon), and the promised
son of Abraham (not Isaac). I remembered that Genesis 3:15 was the promise of
the coming “seed of the woman” who would totally defeat Satan who had misguided
Eve in the garden.
Then I reviewed Acts 2:30, “Therefore, (David) being a
prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit
of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his
throne…” It was Jesus, not Solomon, whom God promised would sit on David’s
throne.
Further, I returned to Galatians 3:16 to remind myself of
the promise to Abraham, “Now to Abraham and his Seed, were the promises made.
He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your Seed,’
who is Christ.” So truly, the Holy Spirit speaks through Matthew to inform the
whole world that Jesus, born of a virgin in Bethlehem, is the true Son of
David, the true Son of Abraham. And this truth begins the whole New Testament,
verse one of chapter one of Matthew.
The genealogies, beginning with verse two, are given for
many reasons; but one special reason stood out to me in view of the first verse
and the eighteenth verse. The coming of Jesus was quite different from the coming
of all other people into this world. All people’s lineages are made up of men
marrying women, men cohabiting with women – good women, bad women, good men,
bad men. But not so, the birth of Jesus. And the Greek language especially points
to this fact.
After having identified Jesus as the Promised Seed of
Genesis 3:15 (Matthew 1:1), the Son of David, the Son of Abraham, Matthew
finishes His genealogy with these words in Matthew 1:18. “Now the birth of
Jesus was on this wise.” Or to translate the Greek more literally, “On the
contrary, the birth of Jesus was like this.” The Holy Spirit specifically draws
attention to the stark difference in the conception/birth of others and the
conception/birth of Jesus. He was born of a virgin, before her marriage, and of
the Holy Spirit’s impregnation. So verse eighteen becomes the centerpiece of
the entire New Testament. Jesus was truly the only begotten Son of God!
People throughout the last 2,000 years have doubted and
disbelieved this fact. But the fact still stands true, unwavering, and
withstanding all contradiction. Jesus is the Son of God. And remember this truth;
the Word of God trumps all other theories, ideas or experiences. It has stood
the test of time.
So this Christmas, I pray for you, that you will see in a
deeper way the beauty of the coming of the long-awaited Messiah. Christmas is
more than the gift we give, it is all about – and only, ever, all about – the gift
of Jesus to the world. And His coming the first time assures us that He will
surely come again!
“This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance,
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). “You
shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins”
(Matthew 1:21).
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