Jesus, the son of Abraham
Matthew 1:1-18
Key Verse: “This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham.” (Matthew 1:1).
Introduction:
On a cold night in a stable in the town Bethlehem, Mary delivered a baby and named him Jesus. She wrapped him in clothes and put him in a manger. His birth was so humble that many neighbors and passersby did not notice anything significant about him. To us and many others who expected the Messiah’s coming, such a humble presentation into this world was somewhat puzzling, strange, and hard to understand.
Once, Jesus said to the religious leaders, “before Abraham was born I am” (John 8:58). John, one of Jesus’ three top disciples, said that Jesus was with God in the beginning (John 1:2). So, Jesus’ existence began far before his birth. Why did he come to be born at this time and in such humble conditions? His genealogy gives us a glimpse of understanding on why. Both Matthew and Luke record Jesus’ genealogy.
Matthew introduced Jesus as the son of David and the son of Abraham. He considered that Jesus was born with the blessings of what these two men achieved in their relationship with God. So we will look at Jesus as the son of Abraham this week and as the son of David the next week. Also it is important to note that, in the Bible, these two men’s personal histories are recorded extensively, like biographies, than any other figures, in regards to fulfilling God’s purpose. So it is apparent that what God did in Abraham’s life and what He did in King David’s life are filled with a plethora of God’s truth and purpose and are so important in understanding His will in Jesus’ coming as a baby in such humble conditions.
Luke’s account is much different from Matthew’s, in that Luke records Jesus’ genealogy in descending order, i.e. starting from Jesus to his ancestors, and his version of Jesus’ genealogy goes further than Abraham, reaching to Adam and then finally to God Himself. In this way, he not only noted the fact that Jesus was the son of Abraham and the son of David, but also he put more emphasis on the fact that Jesus was the son of Adam and the Son of God. So through these two genealogies, there are four identifications of Jesus: as Abraham’s son, David’s son, Adam’s son, and God’s Son. In these four identifications, God’s work and plan, leading to the point of Christ’s coming, is revealed.
Today, we will look at Jesus as the son of Abraham. In Luke 1, Zechariah sang a song of praise to the Lord, concerning the Messiah’s coming:
"Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us-- to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.” (Luke 1:68-74 NIV).
Luke notes that God sent Jesus to save His people, Israel, out of His mercy towards their ancestors, remembering His covenant promise made in an oath to Abraham (Genesis 22:16-18). So it is good to find out what Abraham did, and why God was happy with and even extended His mercy through him to many generations, even reaching to the time of Jesus’ birth.
A. God called Abraham in order to bless others
When God called Abraham, what was the situation of the world? Soon after the judgment brought by the Flood, God made a covenant with Noah.
“I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth." (Genesis 9:11 NIV).
In this covenant, God made a promise that He would not judge the world with a flood again. This means that He would not judge the world as a whole, as the Flood had. This statement also implies that God was still reserving His judgment and it would not be through a worldwide flood but would be selective. The Fall’s effects were still upon the people of the world. The core of their sin was to uphold their cause and their name (Genesis 11:4). Abram was no different. He was living in Mesopotamia, where people worshipped many idols. Simply, there was no one who sought God; the whole world was going about without God and living under His judgment. In this situation, God called Abraham; it was His first attempt at connecting with humanity since Noah. This was the implementation of the covenant promise made to Noah; by selecting those whom He was going to bless, God would deselect others for His judgment. His goal was to bring His blessing to the world so that the whole human race might not suffer His judgment, but rather be saved. As they were before His grace was revealed, they were worthy of His judgment, so He began to work to bring changes in them, from a lifestyle of judgment to one of blessing. Calling Abraham was the beginning of God’s efforts to bring His blessing to the people of the world. It was a new beginning in history, in the sense that His blessing had begun to take hold in sinful men’s lives and that He began to unveil His truth to them, on the condition of their lifestyle and faith for God’s blessing. We are to look at Abraham’s life and its implication on the fact that Jesus was the son of Abraham from this perspective. What God did to and for Abraham for the purpose of saving his life is a preview or mirror of what Jesus would do for the people of the world.
B. Abraham accepted God’s offer of blessing.
God called Abraham’s father, Terah, when he was in Mesopotamia, but Terah did not fully obey God’s call and stayed in Haran, where he died. God called Abraham as His son again, and he responded with faith. When God called, He called Abraham with a promise. That promise was a blessing of God, a blessing that was somewhat different from any blessings that we would think of today. God said this to Abraham:
"I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." (Genesis 12:2-3 NIV).
We all think of blessings in terms of a happy life on earth, not having any sicknesses, not having any sufferings from lack of food or attacks from other people, I and also the security of life. All of these are equated with a happy life. What God offered to Abraham was not much different from the blessings that any man would wish to have - having a child, material riches, overall wellbeing, and so on. One thing was different though, in that what God wanted to do was for His blessing to be for Abraham alone and to those who accepted and favored him. By doing so, God intended to make Abraham the sole channel of His blessing. In this regard, Abraham’s entire life is so important, not only what he was before, but also what he became after. So the history of Abraham’s life as a whole speaks of how God wants to convey His blessing to the people of the world.
The second important point seen in Abraham’s life is that God was looking to give out His blessing to the world through this one man. So the world must know and understand how God would use this man or how He would deliver His blessing to the world through him.
When Abraham was called by God, he was old and did not have even a single child. Practically speaking, he did not have any hope for meaning and purpose in his life. In this situation, God offered him His blessing to be a great nation and a source of blessing for many others. This was a great challenge for Abraham. If he wanted to receive this blessing, he was to leave all of the foundations of his former life, including his family, friends, and country. At the same time, the blessing that God offered was ‘a remarkable one’, considering Abraham’s hopeless situation. We must also note that God did not mention anything about Abraham’s past life. However, accepting God’s offer, Abraham moved from Haran to the Land of Promise, the land of Canaan. It was a journey of more than 500 miles to a totally unknown land, meaning that he was cutting off all his ties with his family, friends, and people. For this hope, Abraham went, even though he did not know where he was going, making the bold and radical decision to move to the Promised Land. Such a decision of faith was also demanded at the beginning of Luke’s Gospel. John the Baptist demanded such a decision in repentance (Luke 3:9). Jesus demanded a similar decision from his followers (Luke 9:57-62). Is it possible to have faith without such a decisive decision and faith-based action? Is it possible to make such an action in faith without having a clear hope in God’s promises? Though some may think that such things are possible, Abraham’s faith speaks against it. No one can have both worldly dreams and still hope in God’s promises. As much as the world cannot accommodate God’s righteous judgment, so also it is impossible for anyone to have the kind of faith that pleases God while still holding onto a worldly life. If there haven’t been any such changes, then this is the time to make that shift; leave behind your previous, worldly life in order to take hold of God’s promise. It may be a long and arduous journey to the unknown, but when we make the decision, we will surely be rewarded with God’s great blessings. Therefore, faith begins with a decisive move to obtain God’s blessing.
C. God involved Himself in Abraham’s life and earned his faith.
Soon after Abram’s arrival in the Promised Land, God appeared to him and confirmed that He would give that land to Abram and his descendants. From this point on, Abram faced many problems in his life. The first one was a most common and serious one, famine that threatened the very existence of his family. To escape from the famine, Abraham went to Egypt, where he told people that his wife was his sister. Like any other man, he worried about what to eat and the other basic needs of life. However, God took care of him by inflicting Pharaoh and his people with serious diseases. Egypt was not the land of God’s promise, but God did not leave Abram alone. Instead, He attended him in His power. Through this event, God made clear to Abraham that He was with him, even when he was not yet in the Promised Land and had made wrong decisions. In this way, Abram deeply felt God’s presence and His invisible hand of protection.
God attended to Abraham’s life when he went to war against the four Mesopotamian kings and gave him a victory. Though there were no indications of God’s direct involvement in this war, He made it clear to Abraham that He had delivered his enemies into his hands (Genesis 14:20).
In these two events, God presented Himself to Abraham and revealed to him that He was God Almighty, Controller over all of earth’s kings. Virtually, none of the kings of the region were as powerful as God! When God told Abraham that his descendants would be like the stars in the sky, He demanded Abraham’s faith in Him as the One who would and could fulfill His promise. God made that demand immediately after Lot’s departure (Genesis 13:16). Soon after helping Abraham to defeat the four kings, God said again that He would make his descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. At this time, Abraham believed the Lord. In his belief, he gave God full honor as the Author and Creator of life. He believed in the Lord, His will, His ability, and His goodness. This was a clear contrast to the minds of the people of the world (Genesis 11:4). Faith in His word is what God wants from His people and we must note that He counted ‘believing in God’s word’ as far better than building an altar to Him. In this way, Abraham gave his heart to the Lord, and God was happy with this faith, crediting it to him as righteousness. Here, for the first time since Noah, the word ‘righteousness’ appears, particularly in regard to Abraham’s relationship with the Lord. God was happy and considered him righteous. God is mostly concerned with what is in our inner being in regards to our relationship with Him. It is the faith that gives full credit to the Lord and believes His word. This was the next step upward from Abraham’s initial decision to seek God’s blessing. He began to see the possibility of the dream’s fulfillment, not based on what he had and was able to do, but on what God could and would do for him. So this served as a turning point in Abraham’s way of thinking from the possibility of his own world to seeing the possibilities provided through God’s mighty power. At the same time, this was a turning point in the relationship between Abraham and God. On that day, God made a covenant with Abraham; this was a reward for Abraham’s belief in God’s promise to give him a son. The covenant had to do with the land that Abraham’s descendants would inherit. In this covenant ceremony, God personally assured Abraham that He would give the Promised Land to his descendants by passing between the two halves of sacrificed animals. Though this covenant and its ceremony were specifically connected to God’s promise of land, it also comprised indirectly of His promise to give Abraham a son since this covenant was a reward or reciprocation for his faith in both of God’s promises.
D. God demanded a life lived in faith.
Abraham believed the Lord, who sealed His promise through the covenant ceremony. In this way, both God and Abraham accepted each other and agreed in their commitment to the covenant promise. So this marks a new beginning in a newly established relationship in Abraham’s life. However, this relationship was marred by Abraham’s and Sarah’s misunderstanding of God’s promise, resulting in them getting a son, Ishmael, through Hagar. This event betrays their weakness in regards to their faith in God’s promises. It was a great blow to the relationship that was established through the covenant. Again, God intervened with a gentle rebuke and offered a ‘re-making’ of the covenant. This covenant was new in the sense that God explicitly reiterated ‘the content of the covenant’ and demanded ‘Abraham’s commitment’ in the flesh, even though the promise itself had not changed. In this new covenant, the key element was the defining ‘relationship’ between God and Abraham and his descendants. The relationship was this: God would be the God of Abraham and his descendants and Abraham would belong to God. This was to be an exclusive relationship; God’s favor was only to and through Abraham and He was the only God for Abraham and the nation of Israel. So God would be identified as the God of Abraham. In the context of this ‘binding relationship’, God’s promise would still be accomplished. This changed Abraham’s commitment from being to God’s promise to God Himself; God’s commitment also changed from being to His promise to being for Abraham and his descendants, which became evident when He said to Abraham, ‘walk before me and be blameless’ (Gen 17:1). God clearly delineated what He would do and what Abraham and his descendants should do. God would make Abram into Abraham; though he was just the good father of a family, God would make him the father of many nations. Likewise, Sarai was a good wife, but she would be made the mother of many nations. By changing their names, God let them know what He would do for them and they were to live in light of His purpose. In addition to this, God made Abraham perform circumcision as a sign of his commitment to this ‘relationship’ (this was for him to recognize the weaknesses of the ‘flesh’ and the necessity for him to overcome those weaknesses in order to maintain a proper relationship with God Almighty).
In the previous covenant ceremony, God showed His sole commitment to the promise, but in the covenant’s remaking, He demanded Abraham’s commitment through circumcision. This commitment was not ‘a part of the covenant’ but rather a sign or commitment leading to that covenant. It was represented by Abraham’s self-control in his flesh. God felt this was necessary, because He came to know the weaknesses of Abraham’s faith in keeping up with His righteousness. Abraham’s faith was weakened by the limitations of his flesh, saying ‘will a son be born to a man hundred years old?’(Genesis 17:18). So the main theme of the second part of Abraham’s life in faith was how God supported and enabled him to escape his weaknesses and live in a binding relationship with God Almighty. God gave Abraham a series of three tests to determine if he was living a godly life.
First, God visited Abraham, disguised as a stranger. This was to test if Abraham was living a godly life in his relationships with others. Second, God revealed His plan for judging Sodom and Gomorrah. This was a test of how Abraham would handle those who faced God’s judgment, while also teaching him that God’s judgment shall come on those who live ungodly lives. Third, Abraham was tested in regards to his relationship with God Almighty. To whom did his life belong? Was he worthy to receive God’s glory? This test came by asking Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac. This called for him to accept that Isaac’s life, as well as Abraham’s own hope in and through his son, was of God and by God only. Abraham not only accepted that premise but also believed that God was worthy of his life, as well as the life of his son. He also believed God’s grace and mercy in giving Him his life, out of his hope for a son. So Abraham was ready to bring down his sword to slay his son, Isaac. This was the faith that God was so happy with and that He would use through Abraham as a source of blessing for the whole world. The essence of this faith is the belief that God is life for the ungodly and the provides that life by giving them a redeeming sacrifice. The author of Hebrews says precisely what this meant:
“By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.” (Matthew 1:17-19).
In this way, God provided the faith that sees Him as the Lord of life and who gives eternal life, through the provision of a sacrificial ram.
E. Jesus, the son of Abraham, was the pioneer and perfecter of Abraham’s faith
Jesus is the one that fulfilled God’s promise to Abraham. Just as Abraham displayed his faith, so Jesus displayed his faith in the Lord and that faith was so good that God will do much more than just sending His son; in and by this faith, God will bless the whole world. So when God promised Abraham that, through his offspring, all nations on earth would be blessed (Genesis 22:18), it implies two things; first, though his faith was one of the best among sinful men, it was not sufficient or perfect enough to earn God’s unfettered blessing for the world. Nevertheless, Abraham’s faith was sufficient enough to earn God’s blessing in order to have one of his descendants, a man of perfect faith, come and, through him, God would shower His blessing on the world. So even in his imperfection, Abraham looked up to the Lord who could fulfill the promise of redeeming grace. In addition, his offspring would do one thing more than what God did his life; that is, his work would bring about the same faith from all people of the world.
Jesus was to do the same works that God did in Abraham’s life. Just as God called Abraham, attended to him according to His promise, revealed His power in his life, and provided the ram for Abraham’s sin offering, so Jesus came to do the same thing; he calls people and attends to those whom he has called so as to justify and then glorify them and God. Such work as God did in Abraham’s life and that Jesus was to do for the people of the world is succinctly described in Romans 8:
“And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” (Romans 8:30).
This was what God did for Abraham and He sent Jesus to do the same thing for the people of the world. That is, just as God worked throughout Abraham’s whole life, Jesus has done the same thing for the people of the world.
Jesus himself sacrificed his own life to please God. Abraham believed God that He would raise his son Isaac from the dead. In this faith, he was about to kill Isaac. But God provided a lamb in Isaac’s place. By doing so, He showed that He was willing to accept a lamb in place of either Abraham’s or Isaac’s life for the time being. However, this was insufficient in bringing about salvation in the hearts of men. That was well proven in the nation Israel, which failed to keep up with God’s righteousness and faced His punishment, according to His holiness. The author of Hebrews noted this and said:
“It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, 'Here I am--it is written about me in the scroll-- I have come to do your will, my God." (Hebrews 10:4-7).
Abraham saw the redemption that was provided by God for him and his descendants through the lamb that was caught in the thicket. That provision was ultimately fulfilled in Jesus by his own suffering and death on the cross. This is what the author of Hebrews said about Jesus:
“And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” (Hebrews 12:1b-2a).
Abraham walked the way of faith. When he was called by God, he went by faith; when God revealed His mighty power to protect and bless him, Abraham dropped his way of understanding and accepted God’s way. Eventually, his faith grew to the point of honoring God by willingly sacrificing his son, Isaac. Jesus was the pioneer of the faith God wanted to see in man. Abraham was the father of this faith for he was the first one to come to the kind of faith that pleased God. But Jesus, from his birth, walked the way of faith until God’s plan was fully satisfied in him. So Jesus was the pioneer. He was also the perfecter of faith for all men since he procured God’s holiness on behalf of all men through his own blood.
Overall, what God did for Abraham is the same as what He later did through His Son, Jesus, for the sake of the whole world.
How did this begin? It began when God promised salvation to Abraham and it became a reality when Jesus was born and laid in a manger as a helpless, powerless baby, as anyone of us were. God began His work with a sinful, ungodly, idolatrous, old, and hopeless man, Abraham. Likewise, Jesus had to begin as a man born in the flesh, as a helpless and powerless baby. Yet, in this little baby, we are to see the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, the beginning of God’s call for us, the beginning of our hope for victory in life, and the beginning of God’s amazing grace for all sinners like us.
Jesus, the son of Abraham, is the pioneer and perfecter of our faith!
Merry Christmas!
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