OceanSide church of Christ

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The Pedigree of Christ
by: Dalton Gilreath

I.              Introduction

A.   Why would the Holy Spirit begin the New Testament with the lineage of Christ?

                                          i.    If you were a Jewish man you wouldn’t ask that question

                                        ii.    They almost always began their story with their pedigree

B.   Ezra was concerned with lineage when it came to temple worship

                                          i.    He filtered out those who were not a descendant of Levi (Ezra 2:62)

                                        ii.    It was God who commanded to take lineage into account with those who would be the priests of God

C.   We can learn a lot from the genealogies of Christ

                                          i.    Consider the prophecy

                                        ii.    Consider the people

                                       iii.    Consider the peculiarity

II.            Prophecy

A.   Matthew 1:1 begins with Abraham

                                          i.    Why start the lineage with Abraham and not Adam?

                                        ii.    The prophecy of the promised seed began with Abraham (Gen 22:18)

1.    It continued through Isaac (26:4)

2.    It continued through Jacob (28:14)

3.    It continued through Judah (49:10)

B.   Matthew 1:1 also begins with David

                                          i.    Jesus was promised through the “stem” of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1)

                                        ii.    In the New Testament we find people identifying Christ as the “son of David” (Matt 12:23, 15:22, 20:30, 21:9)

1.    This is significant because of Isaiah 9:6-7

2.    They looked for this “son of David” to come and reign as prophecy foretold

III.           People

A.   It is very interesting to find 4 women (Ruth, Tamar, Rahab, and Bathsheba) in the lineage of Christ

                                          i.    This was very rare to find women in a man’s lineage

                                        ii.    This reveals the mindset of our Lord toward women

B.   Jesus elevated women to their proper place as humans and not subhuman

                                          i.    History tells us they were treated as property at this time

                                        ii.    The father owned her and then the husband

C.   Our Lord put a stop to this treatment of women

                                          i.    Mary was described as “highly favored” (Luke 1:28)

                                        ii.    The woman who brought an alabaster box was accepted of Jesus even when Simon had ill feelings toward her (Luke 7:37ff)

                                       iii.    The woman with an issue of blood was condoned in touching Jesus (Luke 8:48)

                                       iv.    Many women came to the cross which is symbolic of His love for them (John 19:25)

                                        v.    Jesus described a woman divorcing a man in Mark 10:12 instead of the usual man divorcing a woman

                                       vi.    Paul taught all could be saved even females (Gal 3:28)

D.   Also consider theses 4 women were Gentiles

                                          i.    Why not choose four Jewish women like Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah?

                                        ii.    Again, this showed the mindset of our Lord toward the Gentiles

1.    He preached another fold was coming to Him as well (John 10:16)

2.    A powerful example of Jesus love for a Gentile woman can also be seen in Matthew 15:22-28

E.   Thirdly, consider that three of these women were sinners (Tamar, Bathsheba, and Rahab)

                                          i.    This was also Jesus message to save sinners

                                        ii.    This is significant considering how much flack He caught on behalf of his “friendship” with sinners (Luke 15:2, cf. 7:34)

                                       iii.    We see a great example of Jesus love for sinners and women in John 8

1.    A woman is brought to Him caught in the act of adultery

2.    He does not condemn her as they do

IV.          Peculiarity

A.   Lastly, we learn of the inspiration of the Bible in the lineage of Christ

                                          i.    Consider the virgin birth in Matthew 1:16

1.    Mary did not “begat” Jesus

2.    Instead, it says of “whom” (feminine singular) was born Jesus

                                        ii.    Also, consider the description in Matthew 1:6

1.    No uninspired man would reference the sin involved in Solomon’s birth

2.    Yet, Matthew mentions Bathsheba and David’s sin

                                       iii.    Truly, the Bible is inspired by God