◆God’s Love in the Genealogy of Jesus Matthew 1:1-16 December 15, 2024

In the first and second Sunday services of Advent, we listened to God’s Word through the First Epistle of Peter, which we have been reading. And since we finished the reading last week, I would like to share with you a message related to Christmas today and next week’s worship service. Today we read the first part of Matthew’s Gospel, the genealogy of Jesus.

Many people who are new to the Bible often start reading from the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. However, some of you may get sick of this genealogy as soon as you see it. It is hard to read unfamiliar names, and you may wonder why you have to read such a genealogy. But if you read carefully, you will find in this genealogy God’s faithfulness and His will to “bring the gospel to all people.

The Faithfulness of God’s Promises

First, let us look at the family in this genealogy. This family is by no means a shining, ideal family. Peretz and Zerah are children born of their father’s immorality, and David is a man who committed adultery with a married woman. Solomon built a harem, and some of his descendants continued to live apart from God.

Nevertheless, God did not break His promise to Adam and Eve to send a Savior, His promise to Abraham and David that a Savior would be born of their descendants, that He would send a Savior to all of us, and He sent Jesus Christ, the Savior.

The Persistence of God’s Love

Have you ever been betrayed by someone? Have you ever been let down by someone you trusted? How many times can you forgive? It is said, “Three times the face of Buddha.” You may be thinking, “Buddha’s face in a Christian message?” But this phrase means that even that merciful Buddha cannot forgive a fourth time. And we, on the other hand… So it is difficult.

However, God did not abandon people even though they betrayed Him again and again. God is persistent. This reminds me of the phrase “Unfailing love.” “Fail” means “to decline’ or “to cease to function.” Therefore, “Unfailing love” means “love that does not fade no matter what.” God’s love is just such love. It is love that continues to love whether the other person is faithful or not, whether he or she is sincere or not. With that love, He has kept His promise to send the Savior.

Zeal to Give the Savior

In Isaiah 9:5, we find the words of God’s promise to give us a Savior.

“A child is born to us. A son has been given to us. Authority is on his shoulders. His name shall be recited, ‘Wonderful Leader, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.’ On David’s throne and in his kingdom authority will increase, and peace will never cease. The kingdom shall be established and sustained by works of justice and grace, now and forever.”

The words that follow say, “The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.” The word “zeal” is translated “eagerness” in the colloquial and literary translations and “passion” in the Bible Society’s Joint Translation. God is zealous and passionate about reconciling us and forgiving our sins.

God’s Love in Imperfection in the Genealogy

This genealogy lists the names of several women. This was very unusual for the time. Normally, Jews did not list women in their family trees. However, four women are named here, in addition to Mary. Each name relates to an event in the family history that one would not want to be reminded of if possible.

For example, Judah, Tamar’s father-in-law, committed prostitution without knowing that she was Tamar, resulting in the birth of Peretz and Zerah. Rahab was a Gentile woman living in Jericho who had a not-so-good occupation. Salmon, who married her, gave birth to Boaz. And Lutz was a Moabite. The Moabites were hostile to Israel and tried to hire Balaam to curse them, so Deuteronomy 23:4 says, “Ammonites and Moabites shall not join the congregation of the Lord. Even in the tenth generation, they shall never join the congregation of the Lord.” This is a very strict statement. David, her great-grandson, called a married woman with the authority of a king and committed adultery with her, and intentionally killed her husband Uriah so that he would not be discovered.

Why did God put these names in the family tree through Matthew? It is to convey God’s zeal and eagerness to reconcile with people.

Realizing God’s love.

I have mentioned these four events as if they were outrageous stories, but in fact we must know that there is the same kind of cruelty and immorality within ourselves. It is only when we realize this that we realize the wonder and magnitude of God’s love and how wonderful it is that He sent us Jesus Christ, our Savior, because of that love. On the contrary, unless we realize this, we will never know the splendor of Jesus and we will never encounter Him.

This genealogy tells us that no matter what happens, no matter who you or I are, God will not give up, that His love is not lacking in the least, and that He has sent us the Savior as He promised.

The Best Gift of All

Christmas is the season of gifts. Parents give gifts to their children, couples and lovers give gifts to each other. Why is this? It is essentially to remember the gifts that God has given us.

The greatest gift that God has given us that cannot be replaced by anything else in the world is Jesus Christ. It is the reconciliation with God that comes through Jesus. Jesus was born so that your sins could be forgiven and you could be reconciled to God.

Those who are born will one day die, but no one is born to die. But Jesus was born to die. He was born for us. He was born to take the judgment of our sins on our behalf.

Let us rejoice in the birth of Jesus. And let us invite those who do not yet know or have not received this gift.

Sermon script modified based on proofreading with ChatGPT and translation with DeepL.