SE SS ION SS ON and Jacob the father of Joseph the - PDF document

10 …and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, 
\n \n­\nATTHW 1:1–17An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, 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, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David.And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. Lesson 1 • Session 2 And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel, and Salathiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.he gospel’s opening passage links the coming of the Messiah with the ancient history of the people of Israel. Jesus is connected with the long list of names, going back to the earliest history of God’s covenant with his chosen people. As the culmination of this long history, Jesus is shown to be the achievement of Israel’s highest hopes, the one for whom that ancient tradition has prepared.Biblical genealogies are rarely concerned with mere biological descent. The writer carefully constructed this genealogy to show salvation history divided into three great epochs. The first period begins with Abraham and ascends to the high point of Israel’s ancient history, the kingship of David (verses 2–6). Within this period, Jesus is shown to be related to the great patriarchs of Israel, including not only Judah but “his brothers.” The twelve sons of Jacob connect Jesus to the whole of Israel, the twelve tribes that will be called to the kingdom by the twelve apostles of Jesus. Like the monarchy of David, which first joined the tribes together and confirmed their united destiny in the kingdom of Israel, the reign of Jesus will unite all of God’s people into the unity of God’s kingdom.The second period begins with King David and descends to the low point of Israel’s history, the exile in Babylon (verses 7–11). Here is a list of mostly corrupt Judean kings, described in the Hebrew Scriptures as murderers, idolaters, and adulterers. Only Hezekiah and Josiah are described as faithful to God’s covenant and offer hope for the future. By the time of the exile, the people’s expectation of a saving king seemed like a distant dream.The third period begins with the exile in Babylon and ascends again to the goal of Israel’s history, the coming of the Messiah (verses 12–16). Many Jews of Jesus’ day considered Israel still in exile, awaiting the restoration of David’s dynasty by the Messiah. This pattern of fourteen generations in each epoch emphasizes the two climactic points, the reign of David and the coming of Christ, the long-awaited ruler who would fulfill God’s promises to David (verse 17). The number fourteen relates to the numerical value of “David” in Hebrew (d-w-d = 4+6+4). It was common also for the Jews to divide time into periods of sevens. According to this configuration, Jesus was preceded by six periods of seven generations (three times fourteen), and the reign of the Messiah opened the seventh period of seven, the period of fullness and completion. This fixed pattern indicates that the coming of Christ marked the culmination of God’s careful plan.The inclusion of four women—Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and the wife of Uriah (Bathsheba)—is unusual, since women were not normally included in genealogies. Each of them seems an unlikely choice to be included in the messianic lineage. They were all in some sense outsiders—sinners, outcasts, or foreigners—whom God used to carry forward his saving purposes. Their inclusion, among all the many corrupt and scandalous men in the genealogy, prepared for the ministry of Jesus in which sinners, outcasts, and ultimately Gentiles, enter the kingdom. The universal gospel breaks down the barriers between Jew and Gentile, male and female, sinner and saint.This genealogy writes the fathers and mothers of Israel into the family tree of Christians. Lest we think of this genealogy as merely a monotonous list of unpronounceable names, we are reminded very specifically that our identity in Christ is rooted in the memory of our ancestors in the Hebrew Scriptures. The history of Jesus did not begin in Nazareth or Bethlehem, for it contains the stories of ancient patriarchs, prophets, kings, and generations of men and women leading up to “Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born” (verse 16).• What is the significance of dividing Israel’s history into three epochs of fourteen generations each? Lesson 1 • Session 2 • In what way does the inclusion of women in the genealogy prepare for the inclusive ministry of Jesus?• How does the end of the genealogy (verse 16) indicate the relationship of Joseph and Mary to the lineage of Jesus? How does the way Mary is included prepare for the account of Jesus’ birth?• What evidence is there in the genealogy and in my life that God works in unexpected ways?God of our ancestors, from Abraham, through David, to Joseph and Mary, you prepared the world for the coming of Christ. Help me to honor the spiritual legacy of my ancestors, and make my life a new witness in your saving plan for the world.