King Jesus and the Queen City

Today Pastor Alex started a new series on the book of Matthew that will take us to the end of 2014. This series comes out of our new vision statement that ends with, “It’s our dream that Charlotte will one day be known more as the City of King Jesus than simply as the Queen City.”

Matthew was written by a Jewish man to a Jewish audience. This book is full of Jewish phrases that speak towards Jesus. The book mentions “Kingdom” 55 times, and 60% of Matthew is direct quotation from Jesus Himself. The book begins with the genealogy of Jesus, which points to God’s perfect plan. It is also a perfect continuation from the Jewish Bible (the TaNaK), which ends in Chronicles. Chronicles is the book of history and records.

Matthew draws the genealogy back to Abraham, which fits perfectly since Abraham is the father of the Jewish people. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant found in Genesis 12 that the Messiah would come from Israel.

The genealogy of Jesus Christ is a notorious list. It is comforting to know that King Jesus, the Messiah, comes from a line of broken people and sinners.

Issac’s brother, Ishmael, was the father of Islam

Jacob’s brother, Esau, was an Edomite. King Herod is in this line

Judah – Gen 49:8 is called the lion in his father’s blessing – KING

Tamar – pretended to be a prostitute and tricked her father-in-law to have sex with her

Rahab – a prostitute

Boaz – was from Bethlehem…represents the faithfulness of God (Micah 5:2) KING

Ruth – the daughter of incest

David – Anointed King but was an adulterer and murderer. The Davidic Covenant – forever

Zerubbabel – brought the first group back from the exile. Haggai 2:16 – signet ring – KING

Joseph – “of whom” is feminine which speaks to the virgin birth. KING

God came for all of us, and He always keeps His promises!

Questions to discuss as a family today

1. Talk about your family genealogy. Where did you come from?

2. Why is it important to know Jesus’ heritage?

3. What do you want your great-great-grandchildren to say about you one day? You will leave a legacy…

Prayer

Thank God for His perfect plan. Praise Him for being a sovereign God who had a plan and worked through broken people to His Son, the Messiah. Praise God that Jesus is King and our Savior. Confess that you, as a sinner, will always fail. Ask God for forgiveness where you have failed and thank God for His forgiveness through Jesus. Commit that your life will speak to the generations of the faithfulness of God in your life.