“The
book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.”
– Matt. 1:1
He
is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last. He is the beginning of all things, and the
end of all things. How appropriate that
the first verse of the New Testament declares Him. How fitting it was that John ended the
Revelation with “Even so come Lord Jesus” (Rev. 22:20). But who is He really?
If
we are going to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world, then our hearts should
know the answer to that question – for Jesus is the only hope this world
has. There is a great day coming, a day
of reckoning when the world will be judged by God. At that point it will be too late to get them
the gospel. We must do it now! Now is the accepted time – today is the day
of salvation.! Remember, our delay is
their loss.
The
Old Testament closes with a promise of the coming Messiah, while the New
Testament opens with the fulfillment of that promise. Matthew declares Him to be Jesus Christ, the
son of David, the son of Abraham. What
would move a Jewish tax collector to write such a statement? The question is not “what?” but “who?” It was the Holy Spirit that directed Matthew
to write those words. Since all scripture
is divinely inspired, we know that men wrote as they were moved upon by the
Holy Spirit. Therefore, it is the
glorious Spirit of God who makes this declaration. He is still proclaiming it today, and He is
moving upon us to declare it as Matthew did.
The question for our generation is… will we obey?
In
order for us to understand the magnitude of this statement, we need to look
back at the beliefs of the people who lived during the first century. What did the Jewish generation of Matthew’s
day believe about the Messiah? In Deuteronomy
18:15, the Lord told Moses that he would raise up “a Prophet” from their
midst. The Lord said He would put His
words in that prophet’s mouth and He (the prophet) would speak all that the
Lord would command Him (v. 18). Therefore,
they believed He would be a prophet. They
also read from Isaiah that He would be born of a virgin, and that His name would
be called “Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The
Prince of Peace” (Is. 9:6). Being born
of a virgin meant that His birth would be of supernatural origin and man would
have nothing to do with it. God would
become flesh and live among them. Then what?
Jewish
citizens of the first century looked to other scriptures which said that when
Messiah came He would sit on the throne of David and His kingdom would last
forever. Let us remember that the nation
of Israel had not had autonomy since the Babylonian army came in and conquered
them centuries earlier. Following the
Babylonians, they would be ruled by the Medes, the Persians, the Greeks, and
finally the Romans. Therefore, when the
Messiah arrived on the scene, He would restore Israel to its place of prominence
among nations. In order for that to
happen, they reasoned that the Messiah would have to throw off the chains of
Roman rule. From His throne in
Jerusalem, He would rule the nations with a “rod of iron” and establish
everlasting peace. Their expectation was
certainly understandable. If you and I had
been living in the first century, no doubt we would have shared their
preconceived notions that the Messiah would deliver them from their political
captivity. I know this because we blame
government today for the ills of our society.
Either it isn’t doing enough or it is doing too much. We have it as wrong as they did. Breaking away from Rome would never free them
from their true captor – sin!
That’s
why Messiah had to come, and that’s why the Holy Ghost moved on Matthew to pen
this declaration we read as his book opens.
The people of the first century needed to know His real purpose, and so
do the people of the twenty-first century.
We haven’t figured it out either.
This
first verse tells us three things:
(1)Jesus is the Messiah; (2)He is
the son of David; and (3) He is the son of Abraham. Let us take a quick look at Abraham and the
promises given to him.
In
Genesis 12:3, God promised Abraham (then called Abram) that in him should “all
families of the earth be blessed.” And
so they have – every kindred, tongue, and nation – all the families of the
earth have been blessed because of Jesus.
Matthew 1:2-16 traces the genealogy of Jesus back to Abraham. The Jewish people of the 1st
century would only accept the Messiah if his lineage could be traced to
Abraham. The Holy Spirit confirmed
through Matthew that Jesus was truly the Messiah.
However,
there would be more to the story. Jeremiah
23:5 tells us that he Messiah would be a descendant of David. Isaiah prophesied that of His government and
His peace there would be no end (Is. 9:7).
No wonder that people reacted as they did when they understood that
Jesus fulfilled every promise given concerning the Messiah. At one time they even tried to take Him and
force Him to be king (John 6:15). Even
the disciples were expecting Jesus to sit on David’s throne in their day. After His resurrection and just before His ascension,
they asked Him “wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?”
(Acts 1:6). They reasoned that after everything which had
transpired, now was surely the time that all things would be fulfilled. But their work was just beginning. Jesus told them to wait in Jerusalem until
they had received power from on high, and that they would be witnesses of him unto
the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8).
Remember that it was prophesied that the gentiles would trust in
Him. For that to happen, the gospel
would have to go out all over the world, which is the great commission given to
the Church. It is our one and only
mission.
Last,
but not least – in fact, FIRST – is the truth that Jesus is the Messiah. "Christ" is not His last name, it's His title - He is the anointed one, the Messiah! He demonstrated that through His power – He healed
the sick, gave sight to the blind, even raised the dead. He is God, which is why Isaiah proclaimed
that He would be “the Mighty God.” John
began his gospel by calling Him the “Word of God”, and the “Word became flesh
and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory…” (John 1:14). Nicodemus proclaimed Him by saying “no man
can do these miracles…except God be with Him” (John 3: 2). But
there is even more. John the Baptist
called Him the “Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world.” In order to be Messiah, He would be the
ultimate sacrifice, one that the Father would accept as an atonement for all
sin. ALL – mine, yours,’ everyone who
has lived or will live.
That’s
why we must get this gospel out to the whole world. What could be better news than our sins can
be forgiven. The price has already been
paid, for Jesus paid it on the cross.
This is the one true doctrine, not just a theory, or a method, but a life-changing proclamation that when
grasped can change the world.
Onward
Christian Soldiers! Onward – while there is still time! Let us work while it is day, for the night is
coming when no man can work.
Onward!
Part
two coming soon!
The Evangelist
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