December 2
Backstory
Matthew 1:17
So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations.
We love to start the Christmas story at Matthew 1:18, “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.” But instead, we have this symmetrical carving from the family tree of Jesus as the place where we must start. The narrative about this special birth must take place in a context and for Matthew the writer, that context could be summarised in a genealogy. Matthew 1:1-17.
Matthew, we understand, was writing for a Jewish audience and, naturally, wrote with their religious and historical context in mind. Matthew’s point in his genealogy of Jesus was to establish the backstory, that the child that was born was from of the line of David and was the son of Abraham. David and Abraham being critical markers in the nation’s relationship with God, and the basis of their expectations of Him.
The first thing that Matthew does is to anchor the child in the Jewish understanding of the world, the Judeo-Christian worldview, Creation – Fall – Redemption. We believe that God created man for relationship with Him, man sinned with rebellion in the garden and that relationship was broken, theologians call this the Fall, God then set the redemption story in motion in the Garden of Eden saying, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” Genesis 3:15.
As redemption history gains momentum, God calls Abram (Abraham) in Genesis 12: and says, “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you.” Then God continues, “And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Genesis 12:3.
Matthew crammed thousands of years of human and redemption history into a carefully curated genealogy in the first seventeen verses of his Gospel account and the New Testament, Matthew 1:1-17. We say carefully curated because it is obvious that Matthew was selecting elements of the genealogy that fitted the story he was telling, and that contributed to the literary symmetry he was constructing, “So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations.” Matthew 1:17.
If Jesus, this baby, was going to be presented as the Lamb of God, the Saviour of the world, He first had to be seen as the seed of Abraham, destined to be the answer to the problem of sin and broken relationship with God, as established in Genesis 3:15. Jesus is the son of Abraham and we need to get that before we move forward at Christmas.
Think on these things:
- Have you taken the time to read through Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus and are you able to recognise the various persons mentioned in His backstory?
- Would you be able to condense your own family’s history, highlighting significant persons in the your backstory?
- Are there persons in your family who have contributed to bringing the light of Christ to you and others in the family over the years?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today for our own family line, giving thanks for those who have received God’s salvation in Jesus, and asking God to reach those who still need to surrender to him.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex