Redeemed Day 15 The Face Of Redemption: Digging Deeper

1) What is important about the five women listed in the genealogy of Jesus?
Matthew 1:1-17 lists the lineage of Christ Jesus, the Messiah. Messiah is the Jewish title for the One who would come to save God’s people. He was promised to come from God from the very beginning of time in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve sinned. Author Subby Szterskzy explains, “In the ancient world, genealogies served a vital function, confirming the legal status of important persons.”  Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus, however, is not typical of the day. According to writer Bert Newton, “The normal pattern traces an exclusively male lineage, as was the custom in the highly patriarchal society of the first-century Mediterranean world.” Matthew, however, lists five different women who were part of Jesus’ family.  The first one, Tamar, procured the provision promised to her by her father in law, Judah, by tricking him into impregnating her.  When her pregnancy was discovered, Judah acknowledged she was more righteous than he. Author Nell Sunukjian asserts, “Matthew acknowledges Tamar’s rights by including her in the Messiah’s genealogy. The Lion of the tribe of Judah needed this determined woman to form his earthly genealogy.”  The second woman, the prostitute Rahab, was a woman full of faith in God.  Author Bert Newton suggests, “Matthew here prepares the reader for the kind of people Jesus will locate Himself among, sinners and outcasts, the people from whom the kingdom of God will emerge.” Ruth, a Moabite woman, is another woman in Christ’s lineage. Subby Szterskzy  writes that Ruth’s “place in the Lord’s ancestry speaks volumes about God’s kindness in redeeming outsiders, and the joy which that redemption brings.”  Bathsheba is another woman in Christ’s heritage, but she is referred to as “Uriah’s wife.”  Author Jennifer Stasak believes “We can learn from Bathsheba that faith is often a result of ordinary people obeying God in spite of their circumstances. Her story teaches us that our lives will not always go according to plan. Unexpected circumstances will arrive, but God is constantly and sovereignly working through those in order to bring about plans that are bigger than us.” Jesus’s mother, Mary, is listed a bit differently than the other women.  We read, “Jacob fathered Joseph the husband of Mary, who gave birth to Jesus who is called the Messiah.”  This time Joseph is not listed as the father of Jesus, but Mary is listed as the mother. It was an extraordinary way to end a genealogy of that time, resting on the shoulders of a woman, but it was the perfect way to herald the Son of God, born of woman but fully Divine. God used all five of these imperfect, broken, faithful women to bring forth His Son and reveal to everyone that He came to redeem people like his family member, all outcasts and sinners, all in need of a Savior.

2) Is there significance to the fact that there are 14 generations from Abraham to David, from David to the exile to Babylon, and from the exile to Jesus?
Matthew 1:17 states that the genealogy list in the preceding verses cover the 14 generations from Abraham to David, the 14 generations from David to the Babylonian exile, and the 14 generations from the exile to the Messiah. However, according to author R. C. Sproul, this covers “a span of about five hundred years versus the two thousand years that really intervened. It is common for biblical writers to omit names in ancestry lists. . .”   Sproul also notes that “David is spelled dwd in Hebrew consonants, which is equivalent to the number fourteen (four plus six plus four). Thus, Matthew’s focus on fourteen generations also emphasizes Jesus’ kingly role as the Son of David.” Another reason for the sets of 14s, according to author John Walvoord, was to provide “literary symmetry.”   Walvoord also points out “a further problem appears because the last section has actually only thirteen names. Complicated explanations are not wanting. Suggested answers include a textual omission of Jehoiakim or the possibility that Jesus is considered the fourteenth.”  Citing a simpler explanation, David Guzik reasons “Matthew made it clear that this genealogy is not complete. There were not actually 14 generations between the landmarks he indicates, but Matthew edited the list down to make it easy to remember and memorize.”  While Matthew’s history does not record every ancestor from Abraham to Jesus, it does cover the most important fathers (and some of the mothers, which is rare for a Jewish lineage.) However, his account does differ from the lineage of Jesus we find in the book of Luke. After the two lines get to David, they diverge.  Many scholars conclude, as John Kitto does, that “one of these genealogies is that of Joseph, and the other that of his wife Mary,—both lines being preserved to show definitely, that Jesus was, in the most full and perfect sense, a descendant of David; not only by law in the royal line of kings through his reputed father, but by direct personal descent through his mother.”  It is fascinating to see how God was planning for the redemption story of Jesus even back in the days of Abraham, setting in motion the generations that would produce the Son of David, Lion of Judah, King of all Kings!

3) Why is it important to notice the genealogy of the Messiah?
Matthew takes great care to describe for us the lineage of the Messiah in Matthew 1:1-17.  Luke does the same thing, tracing the line from King David’s son, Nathan, rather than from Solomon as Matthew does. Subby Szterskzy explains, “the genealogy of Jesus forms an integral part of His nativity story. It establishes His credentials as the heir of David, and therefore as the true king of Israel, and of the entire world.” Old Testament prophecies foretold how the Messiah would be the “seed of David.” It was imperative to be able to trace the line of anyone thought to be the Messiah back to the line of King David. Some scholars argue that Luke’s genealogy shows Mary’s relationship to the Davidic line. If this is true, then both New Testament genealogies show how Jesus is part of the Messianic line through each parent, though there is some belief that Joseph could not be a true heir to the throne because he was an heir of Jeconiah, and no descendant of his could sit on the throne of Israel.  This is perfectly fitting, according to author Arnold Fruchtenbaum, who notes that “Since he was to have no human father, his nationality and his tribal identity would come entirely from his mother. True, this is contrary to the norm, but so is a virgin birth. With the Messiah, things would be different.” Everything about the Messiah was unexpected, even though the prophecies foretold His virgin birth, His sacrificial death, and the proof to His claim to the throne. People were looking for a mighty King and a government in their midst who would save them from their circumstances, not a humble Savior who would save them from their sins.