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1. Genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:1-17)

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MATTHEW 1:1
1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

The Jews honored their father Abraham, because with him and a group of men the history of their relationship with God began. God called Abraham from his residence in Haran and ordered him to get out of his culture and leave his friends and the protection of his kindred. He made him a traveling Bedouin without a home. Abraham abandoned himself to the right guidance of his Lord and became an example to believers. From the beginning, God promised his elect that he would multiply his seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore, and that in his seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed (Genesis 12:2, 7; 13:16; 15:5,18). Though he owned no land and had no son, Abraham believed the Lord’s promises and became the father of all the faithful.

Despite his true faith, he fell into temptation. He did not wait until God gave him a child but in haste he married Hagar, the Egyptian handmaid of his wife, and she bare Ishmael. His hastiness resulted in pain and distress to the nations for ages.

After having kept away from Abraham for thirteen years, God had mercy upon him when he was ninety-nine years old. The Most Holy made a covenant with him and granted him the symbol of circumcision, promising him again a chosen son in spite of he and Sarah's old age. Abraham believed in God; he also believed God's promise of a son, which was contrary to the law of nature. Although Sarah had been barren, the Creator granted the elderly couple a son, Isaac. Abraham’s relationship with God became close, even before he interceded for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, and he was called the friend of God. God tested Abraham, the father of the faithful, and commanded him to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac. The believer obeyed the voice of God and prepared to sacrifice his beloved son out of love for his Lord. Thus he became an example of God who sacrificed his Son out of his love for us and desire to save us. Because of Abraham’s faithfulness, at that moment God swore he would bless all the nations in his seed (Genesis 22:12, 16-17).

We know from Paul, the apostle, that the expression "Abraham’s seed" signifies one person, Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:16), in whom and through whom the nations are blessed. But at the time when Matthew called Jesus by the title, "the Son of Abraham", the majority of the Jews rejected this Son and crucified the bearer of the promise. The evangelist confirmed from the beginning of his Gospel that no blessing would come to the people of Abraham or to anyone else except through Jesus, the Bearer of the promise, through whom alone the complete blessing of God can be received.

PRAYER: I worship you, our Holy God, because you choose wicked people. You do not choose people because of their goodness and faith but because of your grace and mercy. Please help me to live in vivid faith, that I may live worthy of your calling, stand fast as a son of Abraham in spirit, and share in the fullness of the blessing given to me in your Son Jesus.

QUESTION:

7. How can Jesus be the Son of Abraham too?

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