“Jesus- The Son of Abraham” Matt. 1.1–2 Advent 2 Dec. ‘23

 

 

1.      Please pray with me. May the words of my mouth and the meditation for our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock, and our Redeemer. Amen. The message from God’s Word for our 2^nd Advent Midweek Service as we focus on the genealogy of Jesus is taken from Matthew 1:1-2, which says, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.” The message is entitled, “Jesus: The Son of Abraham,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.      People who research their ancestry often hope to discover that they’re related to some great historical figure. Maybe some distant relative fought with George Washington at the Battle of Bull Run, or maybe your ancestor was a swashbuckling pirate. Genealogies are fueled by a curiosity to see what wild stories might be discovered and how far back one can go.

3.      Jesus’ family tree in Matthew’s Gospel goes back some 2000 years, all the way back to Abraham. Not only is Jesus a descendant of King David, but his line goes all the way back to Father Abraham. It’s the kind of genealogy that would thrill the most casual observer—2000 years! For us, that would take us back to the reign of Caesar Augustus, to the very birth of Christ! The tracing of Jesus’ lineage back to Abraham would certainly be a great source of pride for any Jew of Jesus’ day. It was that lineage by which they had long ago received the land in which they lived. But for those who came to understand, it wasn’t the land but Jesus himself who mattered. And Matthew tells us about this genealogy all the way back to Abraham in order that we would understand that, through the Son, God promised Abraham, and through His greater Son, Abraham and His descendants have inherited a better country.

4.      God’s plan to make Abraham the father of many nations seemed unbelievable. The Lord God called Abram from the land of Haran and told him to go to a new land where he would make him into a great nation, even though he was already well advanced in years. In fact, God goes so far as to tell Abram that all families of the earth would be blessed through him. Then, God promised Abram that Sarai would give birth to a son and that his descendants would be as many as the stars in the sky. Abram was old and Sarai was considered barren. All the evidence seemed that this would not be possible. But all things are possible with God. Abram believed God’s Word, and the Lord counted it to him as righteousness. From Abraham would come Isaac, then Esau and Jacob, and then his descendants would continue to grow in number all the way to the child born to Joseph and Mary, a fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham.

5.      Most people who spend time researching their ancestry are disappointed to find there’s no one particularly famous in their family tree at all. Their ancestors were all common, ordinary people. The same can be said for Jesus’ family tree. Abraham was actually nothing special. While his wife, Sarah, must have been quite attractive to catch the attention of two different kings, Abraham was so cowardly that he repeatedly would claim she was his sister rather than stand up to defend her honor. When Sarah directed Abraham to seek an heir through her maidservant Hagar, Abraham failed to honor Sarah and instead had a child outside of God’s plan, an unsurprisingly common discovery in family trees. The father of many nations also passed on to his descendants a legacy of lies and lust, deceit and adultery. Father Abraham was really no one special. He was just another sinner, like his ultimate father Adam, who would pass on to those who would come from his seed a heritage of hard hearts and sinful deeds.

6.      In Jesus’ day, there were definitely those who found security in the fact that they were descendants of Abraham and felt that was the source of special standing before God. Those who claimed to be the offspring of Abraham were certain that they would never be the slaves of anyone. The ridiculousness of such a statement notwithstanding, they failed to see how they had been enslaved by their own sin. Like Abraham before them, sin had also ensnared them, and unless they were brought to faith, the promise of God to Abraham would be cancel out. It was not that the promise of God would fail them, but that the descendants of Abraham had failed, rejecting both the promise of God and the Promised One of God.

 

7.      We are children of Abraham because we are also those who cannot be saved by our lineage, our obedience, or our good deeds. Like Abraham, we’ve failed again and again, fallen into the same sins repeatedly, and, like the Pharisees, we’ve trusted in our family or our status. The only difference between Abraham and the Pharisees was faith. They were all sinners, but Abraham was “fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised” (Rom 4:21).

8.      Abraham is a lesson in humility for all of us. We do not place our hope and trust in a birthright, but in the One who was born for us. God looked upon Abram and Sarai and their need, and, in love, he promised them a son. God looked upon the need of all his beloved children, and his solution of making things right was to promise a son. God most certainly kept his promise to Abram by sending a son, Isaac. But the ultimate way that God met the need of Abram and Sarai and all of his creation was by sending his own Son, Jesus. For Jesus was the son of Abraham, sacrificed in the place of Isaac, Abraham, and all of those who are Abraham’s descendants.

9.      The promise that God made to Abraham is fulfilled each time a child is marked by the sign of the cross over forehead and heart and baptized into the name of the triune God. It’s also accomplished when the promises of God are proclaimed and people are brought to saving faith through the working of the Holy Spirit. God continues to raise up children for Abraham as you are made sons and daughters of Abraham through faith in Jesus. The promise God made to Abraham has been kept, for all the promises of God find their yes in Christ. God has called us like God called Abraham before us, and we have received his promises by faith.

10.   During World War II in England, the most threatening sound one could hear was the air raid siren. For a nine-month period between 1940 and 1941, the Germans attacked Britain’s airfields and then cities with nightly bombing raids. The sound would start softly but would continue until it reached a spine-tingling trumpet sound. The constant threat of the sirens over those months led to dread every evening as the sun would set. It was during this time that Rev. Eric Milner-White was serving as dean of the famed King’s College at Cambridge. Understanding the fear that gripped the people, he wrote a prayer befitting the people’s uncertainty: “Lord God, You have called Your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that Your hand is leading us and Your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen” (LSB, p 311).

11.   Such words describe the uncertain path that Abraham walked as he trudged toward a new, unseen land. But he walked by faith, not by sight. He walked forward, trusting that God was leading him and with his love supporting him. In our gray and latter days, we are troubled by so many and great temptations. Life in this fallen world means the threat of mental sirens blaring is always there. For us, they do not call for impending bombs but hearken the same fears as we worry about doctor’s appointments and car repairs. We live with anxiety over our uncertain future. But God forgives us for our fears and doubts for the sake of Jesus. The Holy Spirit sanctifies and keeps us in the true faith, even when all around us are things that would drive us to despair.

12.   Our confidence is that God has made us sons and daughters of Abraham by faith in Jesus. For we, too, are looking forward to a better country, the heavenly one. We face each day with good courage as we walk by faith not by sight and as we wait for the fulfillment of the promised land that lies ahead in the resurrection on the Last Day. So, we are bold to claim Abraham as our father, not because of something special about him, but like him, we believe the precious promises of God. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, until life everlasting. Amen.

“Jesus- The Son of David” Matt. 1.1, 6 Advent Mid 1 Nov. ‘23

 

 

1.      Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The message from God’s Word as we begin our Advent Midweek Series studying Jesus’ family tree is taken from Matthew 1:1 & 6 where Matthew writes, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. . . . Jesse [was] the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah.” (Mt 1:1, 6) The message is entitled, “Jesus: The Son of David,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.      King Edward VIII of England is not the heroic king who led the British against war and oppression. He was not the famed leader who put the needs of the people before the crown. He was not the inspiration for a Shakespearean play or for folk singers or movie producers. King Edward VIII was a disappointing king who resigned his throne just to marry a divorced woman. Names like Henry V and Richard the Lionheart and Elizabeth I and even Elizabeth II will be remembered through the ages, but not Edward. Edward is barely little more than a black mark on—the British monarchy.

3.      St. Matthew introduces Jesus to his readers by tracing the lineage of the promised Messiah through kings and patriarchs, heroes and disappointments. He begins his Gospel with the words, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Mt 1:1). The evangelist packs great meaning into that one sentence, it is here that he goes back to Jesus’ ancestors and the prophecies of the long-promised Savior. Jesus came to be greater than David and Abraham by ushering in a kingdom that shall have no end. God’s plan before the foundation of the world was that one of David and Abraham’s own descendants would be the One who would redeem God’s people.

4.      There is great interest in genealogies today. In the past, such interest was usually confined to one dutiful family member who would gather all the information together and begin reconstructing the family tree. But, genealogy websites have simplified such work so that even the most casual observers are able to explore their family histories and better understand their pasts. The scientific advances of DNA are also allowing people to explore more than just one or two branches of the family tree and also to understand how all the generations of the past have come together in each unique, individual family member.

5.      In these weeks of Advent, the sermons will help us unpack the significance of Jesus’ genealogy and how God was at work weaving his plan of salvation throughout the history of his chosen people—as he reveals in the Old Testament all the way through Joseph and Mary. Tonight, we’ll see how David’s son is David’s lord and rules on David’s throne forever.

6.      Unlike King Edward VIII of England, King David is considered the great hero of Judah and Israel. After those kingdoms fell on account of their sinfulness and unbelief, many waited in hope that one of David’s descendants would come to restore Israel to its former glory. They hoped for a warrior king who would crush their enemies and make them a nation that was again to be feared. Make Israel great again we can hear them say.

7.      But why does Matthew call Jesus the Son of David when he was the descendant of other kings as well? Jesus was also a descendant of Manasseh, the king who led Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the Amorites and the nations before them. Why did Matthew not want to focus on, let’s just say, Manasseh, the king who sacrificed his own sons to false gods and filled Jerusalem with blood from one side of the city to the other? No one wants to remember King Manasseh because he was a failure, a part of history that most would prefer to forget. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, like so many before him, and like still others who would follow him. He was like King Edward: an embarrassment, a shameful excuse for a king.

8.      But Matthew includes the genealogy because he wants to remind us that Jesus came to save and redeem all, the greatest heroes and the worst failures. We could just as easily call Jesus the Son of Manasseh because it would remind us that Jesus’ purpose in coming to this earth was not to return Judah and Israel to their former glory but to establish an eternal kingdom that is founded not on account of power and might, but mercy and grace. He came to rescue all of those whose hearts were stained by sin.

9.      David, the man after God’s own heart, also did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. The boy who slew the giant Goliath would need someone to rescue him. King David would be reminded by the prophet Nathan of his own sin and his own need for a Savior. Confronted by his own sin, David acknowledges that he was sinful from the time that he was conceived (Ps 51:5). The great and mighty King David would bow before God in repentance, begging God not to banish him from the Lord’s presence nor take the Holy Spirit from him (Ps 51:11).

10.   David, the shepherd who struck down both lion and bear, was easy prey for the prowling lion Satan, and so, David needed a greater Shepherd to strike down the devil. The conquering King David who triumphed over all his foes could not master sin or death, and so he would need one to triumph over these foes for him. The man who had everything he could imagine and to whom God would have even given more was not content with that which he had received. Instead, he took Bathsheba as his own wife, even though that meant murdering her husband. He did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord. But, God was merciful and restored him by forgiving him of all his sins for the sake of his descendant who was to come.

11.   During one of the confrontations between Jesus and the Pharisees, Jesus asked them, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They answered, “The son of David” (Mt 22:42). But then Jesus responded by quoting Psalm 110 and asking them how David could call his own descendant his Lord. The Pharisees never would understand. But the mighty King David believed that his own descendant would be infinitely greater than he, would indeed come to be his Lord.

12.   Peter also quoted this psalm in his Pentecost sermon about the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Peter noted that David’s own descendants would reign on his throne. But this descendant and king would be different from his father David who died and is buried to this day. David’s Son was raised from the dead and ascended to the heavenly Father’s right hand.

13.   Isaiah prophesied the Messiah reigning on David’s throne forever: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore” (Is 9:6–7).

14.   While Jesus is the Son of David and the Son of Manasseh, he is an altogether different kind of king. He is the only righteous King, whose kingdom will have no end. He is the One who comes to save the high and mighty who fall from their thrones and the meek and lowly who have no strength of their own. There is no one righteous before God, not even the great King David. Therefore, God would send one who would become our righteousness. As the prophet Jeremiah foretold, “In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness’ ” (Jer 23:6).

15.   Jesus is also a King with a crown of thorns adorning his head. He was covered not in beautiful robes but in sin and shame. He was the Son sacrificed for the sins of his father’s Manasseh and David. The Lion of Judah became the Lamb who was slain. The King who put the needs of the people before the crown. In fact, he gave up his crown and abdicated the throne, not for his own selfish desires, but that he might save the nation. Jesus Christ is the King who put the needs of the people before the crown because it was better that one man should die for the nation than that the entire nation would perish, even if it meant it was the King who died. So, the King took on the form of a servant and became obedient unto death, even death upon a cross. On that day, the inscription over his head was the only thing that would mark Jesus as a king. But there the Son of David died. He died for David and Manasseh, kings and queens, peasants and paupers, rich and poor, strong and weak, young and old, for sinners from every family.

16.   You are also sons and daughters of David, for you have inherited from David his sin and shame. But Jesus, the Son of David, came to save all who share in David’s weakness, in his frailty, in his sin—not just the father, but all of his sinful children. So, Matthew begins his Gospel, which focuses on the kingdom of God coming near to us, by calling Jesus the Son of David. For Jesus ushers in the kingdom of heaven that is proclaimed in his Word and given to us by grace and received by faith. Therefore, we can join with King David and sing, “Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations” (Ps 145:13). Thanks be to God that Christ’s kingdom has come among us also! Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus until life everlasting. Amen.