

Carmelo Caparros
Aug 1, 2021
INTRODUCTION
When you are building a house, what is it that we want to see? We want to see the walls going up, the divisions of the house, the roofing, colors of the rooms and living room and kitchen. As exciting to see these things, they are not the most important in building the house. The most important thing in a house is its FOUNDATION.
It is the most boring thing in building the house, but it is the most important. You have probably heard the collapse of a twelve story condominium in Miami and this tells you how important the FOUNDATION is.
For many of us, a GENEALOGY might be a BORING WAY to begin a book. However, to the Jew of Matthew’s time, it was a matter of EXTREME IMPORTANCE because one of the primary questions a JEW would ask concerning anyone who CLAIMS the title of MESSIAH would be:
“Is He a son of ABRAHAM and is He of the HOUSE of DAVID?”. The answer to this question was ESSENTIAL in determining the AUTHENTICITY to the claim of MESSIAH.
Matthew’s purpose was to establish Jesus’ right to Israel’s kingship. If Jesus is really the ANOINTED KING of Israel, there must be proof that He comes from the ROYAL LINE of Israel through DAVID.
Similarly, in our case, whether we realize it or not, it is important for us to find out if Jesus is indeed the SAVIOR of the WORLD. One writer aptly said that this “GENEALOGY is a RESUME of SALVATION HISTORY.”
BODY SERMON
There are TWO GENEALOGIES that are given in the NEW TESTAMENT – Matthew and Luke.
Let us make a few OBSERVATIONS because they seem a little different.
a. Matthew’s genealogy – DESCENDING LINE – from Abraham through David, through Joseph to Jesus.
b. Matthew follows the ROYAL LINE through David and Solomon – this is the THRONE of SUCCESSION.
c. Luke’s genealogy – ASCENDING LINE – starting from Jesus, going back through David, Abraham and even Adam [ traced from MARY’S SIDE.
d. Luke’s interest is to TRACE Jesus’ actual ROYAL BLOOD ANCESTRY, through MARY, thereby establishing His RACIAL LINEAGE from David.
e. Luke follows the ROYAL LINE through NATHAN, another son of David.
THEREFORE:
Jesus was the BLOOD DESCENDANT of David through Mary and the LEGAL DESCENDANT to succeed in the throne of David through Joseph. The legal descendant was always traced through the Father.
Jesus was PERFECTLY QUALIFIED to take the THRONE of DAVID.
CONCLUSION
So now, having seen the reason for this genealogy, we just realize how important it is like the FOUNDATION of a house or building.
If we don’t study the genealogy, every other thing that we find in the New Testament crumbles down because we are not even sure if Jesus is the REAL MESSIAH, KING and SAVIOR. But with this genealogy our faith is STRONG and SURE.