Matthew I
i. The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the son of Abraham.
2. Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;
3. And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar •/■’- and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;
4. And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon;
5. And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;
6. And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;
7. And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa;
8. And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias;
9. And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias;
:;: “It is to be noted that no holy woman is reckoned in the genealogy of Christ, but such as undergo some reproach in the Scripture, that He which came for sinners, being born of sinners, might do away the sins of all, without respect to the greatness thereof.” — Jerome.
“While Orpah wants bread in her own country, Ruth is grown a great lady in Bethlehem, and advanced to be great-grandmother to the kings of kings.” — Trapp.
10. And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Anion begat Josias;
11. And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon;
12. And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel;
13. And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor;
14. And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud;
15. And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob;
16. And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
17. So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.
I. Every human name more or less historic. 2. Some persons exercise a direct historic influence; others are but incidentally associated with the great facts of time. 3. To be even incidentally connected with Christ involves a great honour and a corresponding responsibility — all these persons were connected with the Promised One. 4. All generations travail in birth with one greater than all preceding, Christ alone excepted. 5. Those were illustrious lines along which the Man of Prophecy came; kings were in it and men of mighty arm, yet these lines converge upon a point which appears to lie far below their majestic range; “below,” however, is but a relative term, — “below” is really of more importance than “above;” the root, the foundation are both below, yet without them forests and temples are impossible. 6. Grace is not hereditary; bad people have been the sons and daughters of prophets and righteous kings. 7. The accident is mutable, the ptirpose changes not. Along the line, whether the links be gold or lead, the great Saving Man comes. 8. Christ’s having come through all sorts of characters may be typical of His all-inclusive mission.” This
Man receiveth sinners.” g. Christ did not come through the eldest sons in all cases; the Son of man came from various grades, that He might be the Son and Saviour of all. 10. Why did not Christ come earlier? Why was not His name first on the list? God moves gradually. Take the analogy of the universe so far as we know it. Christ came the first moment He could have been comprehended. From “the foundation of the world” He was ready, He waited; was it with the impatience of yearning love? We know not His feelings prior to His incarnation; what a period was that! What visions, struggles, forereachings!
[Subject for discourse: Christ’s Pre-incarnate life read in the light of History. In developing this theme take the New Testament over the birth-line, and under the shadow of the grief which Jesus Christ endured throughout His early ministry, read what could have been the life which, from all the ages of eternity, had such sorrow perpetually in anticipation.^
Taking the entire seventeen verses, a discourse might be constructed on The Christology of human development: I. Up to the time of Mary the race was preparing for Christ: (a) through good men, (b) through bad men, (c) through captivity. II. The race is still preparing for Christ, not now through the narrow line of a family, but throughout the whole range of its being. This Christ- element is the secret of all history. Even now it passes through bad men, bad churches, corrupt institutions, and captivities in Babylon; but it lives on, and shall live, until the full time.
Taking the seventeenth verse separately, it might be regarded as setting forth the Divine regulation of time. (a) God has set times for the accomplishment of His purposes; (b) these times are beyond human control; (c) the duty of impatient man is to wait: (d) every generation shortens the duration of the Satanic empire; (e) every peal of the great time-bell of the universe announces the advancing step of Christ; (/) good ideas have everything to hope from time, but bad ideas everything to fear.
Appeal on the ground that, though not one of us can be in the family line of Christ, yet all may be spiritually related to Him. We cannot have our names put down on this list, but they may be “written in heaven.” Appeal also on the ground that the tumultuous “generations” bring the peaceful Christ.
18. Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
19. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.
20. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife; for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
21. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS; for he shall save his people from their sins.
22. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying:
23. Behold a virgin [17 irapQevoQ = the virgin, or even a virgin] shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
24. Then Joseph being raised from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:
25. And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.
I. Here the great exceptional birth transpires. Up to this point we have run on in an easy line; everything has been ordinary and accountable. 2. The whole life of Christ, indeed, was the great Exception of Being. 3. Here is the direct contact of the human with the Divine; heretofore in all birth we have simply had the human and the human, but in the 18th verse we have the human and the Divine. This birth comes from the heavens and the earth; the child is at once Son of God and Son of man. 4. God has never ceased to take an interest in the human race, but only once has He inserted into it a New Man — a personal, redeeming, transforming life. 5. The race had no power in itself to give birth to a Saviour; it might continue a progeny of sinners, but no Saviour would ever appear apart from direct Divine interposition. 6. Joseph affords a marked illustration of the fact that men often misinterpret their circumstances. Joy has often been threading its way to us through the entangled lines of our perplexity. 7. The marriage of Joseph and Mary was useful in showing that Mary was not superhuman; that she was an ordinary member of the human family, and that so far Jesus Christ was bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh. 8. Christ was the only man born with a special mission in relation to “sins” (verse 21). Every other man since Adam was born in sin, but this Man descended as it were upon it to destroy its power. In addressing Himself, however, to this aspect of humanity He in reality addressed Himself to all aspects. Man is never found out of sin, hence the inclusiveness of the Redeemer’s mission. He came to the heart. Christ’s was not a mission to accidents and details, but to manhood, — not manhood in any time or place, or transient condition, but manhood in its reality and permanence. 9. This was all in fulfilment of prophecy, (a) Time, a great realising power, (b) The announcements of one age are the men of another, (c) All prophecy, good or bad, may safely be left to the determining power of time. (d) Great events may require preparation. God puts a word of hope into the world’s heart, and for ages that word sings or burns, keeping man in joy, or lighting him through the gloom, (e) Wonderful connection between the Prophets and the Facts; one man is permitted merely to speak a word, another is honoured with seeing that word become a life! “Herein is that saying true, One soweth and another reapeth.” Isaiah and Jeremiah sowed, and we stand amid landscapes clothed with golden harvests! 10. Joseph’s being asleep when the announcement was made to him is a suggestive circumstance, (a) Man’s life is not all comprised in the little bustle of his wakeful hours, (b) Some communications can be effectually made only when men are most dissociated from the external and material, (c) In sleep, man is as thoroughly alone as he possibly can be in this world, and (in a certain sense) is more entirely in the power of God than in any other condition. There is a theology of sleep; there is also a theology of dreams. All things, in fact, and specially all life and thought, are theological. Atheism itself is but theology in shadow!
GENERAL NOTE ON THE FIRST CHAPTER.
The opening chapter of the Old Testament and the opening chapter of the New Testament afford, when taken together, some striking points of analogy and contrast:
I. The former is mainly occupied with the building of a universe; the other with the birth of a Man.
II. The former concludes with the making of the first Adam; the latter with the birth of a second.
III. The former shows how out of chaos came the orderly creation; the latter how out of a fiercer tumult came the calm Redeemer.
IV. The former shows the progress through the inferior creation up to man; the latter reveals the progress of the Divine idea through sinful generations up to man’s Saviour.
V. The former shows how man, as a creature, is dependent on the Creator; the latter how man, as a sinner, is dependent on the Redeemer.
VI. The former says, Let us make man; the latter, Let us save man.