This “Application” column goes with the Bible Lesson for Dec. 6, 2020: Fulfilled through Generations (Matthew 1:1-17)
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By David Faust
Imagine you’re reading the Bible through for the first time. The Old Testament comes to a close, and you sense silent centuries passing by while God prepares to turn the page to a new day and a new covenant. Eager to read the groundbreaking good news, you turn to Matthew 1, only to find the New Testament begins with “begats”—branches on a Hebrew family tree.
If you and I wrote the Bible, we probably wouldn’t have done it this way. Writers usually try to grab their readers’ attention with a strong lead paragraph, a thought-provoking question, or an interesting story, not by pointing out that “Ram was the father of Amminadab” (Matthew 1:4). For many of us, genealogical records sound about as interesting as the federal tax code. When I was a boy, my eyes fogged over with boredom whenever Dad droned on about my great-aunts or third cousins—relatives I barely knew.
Fortunately, the Holy Spirit didn’t ask my opinion when he inspired the biblical authors. Boring or not, the opening verses of Matthew’s Gospel are important because they root the good news of Jesus in the fertile soil of Hebrew history, they create a bridge connecting the Old and New Testaments, and they introduce Jesus’ qualifications as the Messiah who saves us from our sins.
What else does Jesus’ human ancestry reveal about God’s plan?
The Redemption Story Is About Real People
Christ’s incarnation isn’t a fairy tale. God reveals his will through the stories and struggles of real-life individuals and their families. History is “his story,” but it’s our story, too. Some of the names in Matthew 1 may look uninteresting to us, but every person listed there—in fact, everyone who’s ever lived—has a story that matters to God.
The Messiah Entered Our Mess
Christ himself was sinless, but multiple mess-ups tainted his human bloodline. Abraham lied. Rahab was a prostitute. David committed adultery. Solomon’s wives led him astray. Uzziah was prideful. King Manasseh and King Amon “did evil in the eyes of the Lord” (2 Chronicles 33:22). Yet, all of these individuals appear among the Messiah’s human ancestors. Jesus’ genealogy underscores his ability to identify with sinners, and it illustrates how the God of grace brings good out of messy circumstances.
Good Things Take Time
We tend to be impatient, but the eternal God follows his own timetable. Sin crushed humanity in Genesis 3. Many centuries and multiple generations passed before Christ came to crush sin once and for all.
In my teens I wanted to discover God’s will for my life, but I found it elusive. I prayed, but the answers weren’t always clear. I read the Bible, but no verses told me whom to marry or what college to attend. Someone recommended a booklet called Affirming the Will of God. The author, Paul E. Little, used a simple illustration. He said most often, God’s guidance isn’t a magic package that drops down from Heaven on a string. Usually it’s like a scroll that unrolls a bit more each day.
Over time, God unrolled the scroll and fulfilled his plan of redemption through Jesus Christ. His faithfulness over the long haul gives me hope. And it helps me realize that Matthew 1 can make interesting reading after all.
PERSONAL CHALLENGE: Is there a part of the Bible that seems boring to you? This week, select and study a section of Scripture you find difficult to understand and apply. Ask the Lord to help you see it with new understanding and appreciation.
Very good material from very good writers, but 20 posts at once is quite a load. Some of us are compelled to read and contemplate it all.
Matthew, I believe, was written especially to the Jews. They were very much into genealogies. This was their proof that Jesus was the one they were waiting for – this genealogy and a real history of the life of Jesus and his death and resurrections.