A Month of Sundays

Day 1 Transition The family tree of Jesus Christ, David’s son, Abraham’s son:Abraham had Isaac,Isaac had Jacob,Jacob had Judah and his brothers,Judah had Perez and Zerah (the mother was Tamar),Perez had Hezron,Hezron had Aram,Aram had Amminadab,Amminadab had Nahshon,Nahshon had Salmon,Salmon had Boaz (his mother was Rahab),Boaz had Obed (Ruth was the mother),Obed had Jesse,Jesse had David,and David became king.David had Solomon (Uriah’s wife was the mother),Solomon had Rehoboam,Rehoboam had Abijah,Abijah had Asa,Asa had Jehoshaphat,Jehoshaphat had Joram,Joram had Uzziah,Uzziah had Jotham,Jotham had Ahaz,Ahaz had Hezekiah,Hezekiah had Manasseh,Manasseh had Amon,Amon had Josiah,Josiah had Jehoiachin and his brothers,and then the people were taken into the Babylonian exile.When the Babylonian exile ended,Jeconiah had Shealtiel,Shealtiel had Zerubbabel,Zerubbabel had Abiud,Abiud had Eliakim,Eliakim had Azor,Azor had Zadok,Zadok had Achim,Achim had Eliud,Eliud had Eleazar,Eleazar had Matthan,Matthan had Jacob,Jacob had Joseph, Mary’s husband,the Mary who gave birth to Jesus,the Jesus who was called Christ.There were fourteen generations from Abraham to David,another fourteen from David to the Babylonian exile,and yet another fourteen from the Babylonian exile to Christ.Matthew 1:1–17 Matthew summarizes close to two thousand years of history, vividly and succinctly, in the opening verses of his gospel. His method is to simply call the roll of significant names. To a people familiar with the names, it was a highly effective method for reviewing a rich history. History, for the gospel writers, was not the scholarly pursuit of determining dates and listing events. It was a personal genealogy, a remembering of their ancestors, God’s people.Matthew arranges the names in three groups, outlining history in three parts.From Abraham to David (verses 2–6). This is a period of formation. God establishes the nation of Israel in Abraham and the fathers, delivers them from Egyptian bondage in Moses, leads them into a land of promise in Joshua and the Judges, and demonstrates his kingship sovereign rule over them in David.From David to the deportation to Babylon (verses 6–11). This represents a period of rebellion. God’s rule is disputed. The nation becomes divided, the kings fail to demonstrate God’s rule, and the people go after other gods. The prophets attempt to call the people back to their origins.From the deportation to Babylon to the Christ (verses 12–16). This reflects a period of waiting. The Hebrew people lose their political identity and become people in waiting. They understand themselves as God’s people more accurately, and their expectancy for the Messiah grows and matures. However, in many ways this is an obscure and dark time—still, we know enough about it to know that it was full of intense longing for God’s coming again.So, a question for you. If you could use a time machine to place yourself back into Hebrew history, which of the three periods would you choose to live in? Why?Amen.