THE LINEAGE OF THE KING
The Grace of Christmas
Matthew 1:1-17
*Sermon Outlines
I. The Portraits in the Gospels
A. The Presentation of the Savior
B. The Preeminence of the Savior
II. The Particulars in this Gospel
A. The Readers of this Gospel
1. Matthew’s Intention
2. Jewish Interest
B. The Revelation in this Genealogy
1. Declaration of KINGSHIP
2. Disclosure of KINSHIP
III. The Precepts in this Genealogy
A. The Periods in this Precept
1. Period of Greatness
2. Period of Grief
3. Period of Glory
B. The Pictures in this Precept
1. The Faithfulness of God
2. The Favor of God
(I) THE PORTRAITS IN THE GOSPELS
When you open your Bible to the New Testament the first four books are know as the
Gospels…THE GOOD NEWS! These four books are called the GOSPELS or the
GOOD NEWS because they record for us…
(A) The PRESENTATION OF THE SAVIOR
 The MANIFESTO of His birth
 The MAJESTY of His life
 The MARVEL of His death
 The MIRALCE of His resurrection
 The MANDATE of His ascension (Luke 24:49-53)
(B) THE PREEMINENCE OF THE SAVIOR
 Matthew…King of the Jesus
 Mark…Servant
 Luke…Son of Man
 John…Son of God
(II) THE PARTICULIARS IN THIS GOSPEL
When you open your Bible to the first gospel, the first chapter in the first seventeen
verses, we have recorded the genealogy of the Lord Jesus. In my 27 years of pastoring I
have never preached from this text.
Why did Matthew open his gospel with the
genealogy of Jesus?
(A) THE READERS OF THIS GOSPEL
1. Matthew’s Intention…King of the Jews
Matthew’s gospel was written primarily to a Jewish audience. Matthew wanted to prove
to the Jews that Jesus Christ of Nazareth was the promised Messiah. Throughout the
pages of Matthew’s gospel you will find many references to Old Testament passages and
you find many occasions that tell us how Jesus fulfilled those prophecies.
2. Jewish Interest
One of the rules of writing is that if you want to catch the interest of your audience you
come out with a catchy story. When we read the beginning of Matthew’s gospel we
would question his literary skills. But if you were trying to catch the attention of a
Jewish audience this is exactly the way to do it. Family and family lineage was very
significant to the Jews. The Jews set the greatest possible store on the purity of lineage.
If there was the slightest mixture of foreign blood, a man lost his right to be called a Jew.
A priest was required to produce an unbroken record of his pedigree stretching back to
Aaron. If he married, the woman he married must produce a pedigree for a least five
generations.
They kept very strict genealogies, which were deposited in the temple for safe keeping.
(B) THE REVELATION IN THIS GENEALOGY
***Matthew 1:1
The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
In the very first verse of this gospel Matthew reveals that the lineage of the Lord Jesus
can be traced back to David and Abraham.
1. Declaration of His KINGSHIP
When Matthew states that Jesus is in the lineage of David it means all the promises
regarding the promised Messiah sitting upon the throne of David are going to be fulfilled
in Jesus Christ. ONE DAY JESUS IS COMING AGAIN…NOT AS A BABE IN A
MANGER…BUT AS THE SOVEREGIN KING! He will rule and reign on the
throne of David!
2. Disclosure of KINSHIP
Matthew also states that He is the son of Abraham. To the Jews, Abraham was the
greatest; he was the father of their faith. He was the one to whom God first revealed that
the race of Abraham would be the one through whom the Savior of the world would
come. Matthew traces the lineage of the Lord Jesus back to Abraham.
*Because the Messiah would be the son of David, He would be the son of Abraham.
(III) THE PRECEPTS IN THIS GENEALOGY
(A)THE PERIODS IN THIS PRECEPT
***Matthew 1:17
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.
 Three sections
 Three stages (Jewish History)
1. Period of Greatness
The first period takes the history down to David. David was the man who welded Israel
into a great nation and made the Jews a power in the world.
<>Application
Man was born for greatness. He was created in the image of God and in His likeness.
Man was designed for family ship…friendship…fellowship with God.
2. Period of Grief
The second section takes the story down to the exile to Babylon. It is the section that
tells about the nation’s shame, tragedy, and disaster.
<>Application
Man lost his greatness. Instead of being the servant of God, man became the slave of
sin. He used his free will to defy and disobey God. Man frustrated the plan and design
of God in his creation purposes.
3. Period of Glory
The third section takes the story down to Jesus. Jesus was the one who was sent to
liberate men from their slavery, who rescues them from their disaster, and in whom
tragedy is turned to triumph. GLORY!
<>Application
Into this world God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, so that He might rescue man from the
condemnation of sin and liberate man from the chains of sin that had bound him.
(B) THE PICTURES IN THIS PRECEPT
1. The Faithfulness of God
God told Abraham in Genesis 12 / 22 that through his seed all the nations of the world
would be blessed.
***Genesis 12:2-3
And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great;
and thou shalt be a blessing: [3] And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that
curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
***Genesis 22:17-18
That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars
of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the
gate of his enemies; [18] And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
because thou hast obeyed my voice.
JESUS IS THE FULFILLMENT OF THAT PROMISE!
<>Dear friend, you can trust the promises of God!
Lay hold of them this
morning…for GOD KEEPS HIS WORD!
WHAT GOD HAS PROMISED SHALL COME TO PASS!
2. The Favor of God
Today we live in a world that is full of barriers. Class barriers, social barriers, political
barriers, economic barriers are apart of our society. But in Jesus Christ all the barriers
are pulled down. Because only in Jesus Christ can anyone find peace, joy, and
fulfillment. All men and women stand equal at the foot of the cross. WE NOTE IN
THE GENEALOGY OF JESUS THAT BARRIERS ARE BROUGHT DOWN.
(a) The Gender Barrier
It is not normal to find the names of women in Jewish pedigrees at all. The woman had
no legal rights; she was regarded not as a person but as a thing. She was merely the
possession of her father or husband and at his disposal to do with as he liked. In the
regular form of Morning Prayer the Jew thanked God that he had not made him a Gentile,
a slave, or a woman. In the pedigree of the Lord Jesus you find the names of women!
(b) The Race Barrier
The barrier between Jew and Gentile is down. Rahab, the woman of Jericho and Ruth,
the woman of Moab find their place in within the pedigree of Jesus. The Gospel of the
Lord Jesus is a whosoever will gospel! God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son.
(c) The Sin Barrier
I wonder this morning if one of our children came home from school and said…I have
been given an assignment to research our family tree. I believe possibly some of us
might not want to shake that tree for fear of what might fall to the ground. We might not
want to dig up some of those old bones for fear of what we might discover. When you
read the family tree of Jesus you find 46 names that span 42 generations. There are
some of these names that teach us a great truth…
These names teach us that no one is beyond the grace of God no matter how sinful
they are…no matter what their past has been!
 Tamar…Genesis 38
She seduced her father in law. She got pregnant out of wedlock. Then she
blackmailed the father of the child. She was a deliberate seducer and adulteress.
 Rahab…Joshua 2
She was a harlot and a prostitute. She was living in a city that was under the
judgment of God. HER LIFE WAS CHANGED BY THE GOOD GRACE OF
GOD! Her house was on the wall of Jericho. But, when the walls came
tumbling down her house stood firm. Firm with a scarlet cord in the window

saying…WHAT CAN WASH AWAY MY SINS…NOTHING BUT THE
BLOOD OF JESUS!
Bathsheba…II Samuel 11
*CLOSING
...This list of names tells us that…
 GRACE IS AMAZING
 JESUS LOVES SINNERS
 GOD WILL SAVE YOU TODAY!
…You don’t get saved because of how good you are, you get saved because you
realize that you are sinner and call upon the name of the Lord Jesus and grace
changes your life.
…Dear friend God sees where you have been, what you have done, and where you
are right now! BUT YOU DO NOT HAVE TO ALLOW YOUR PAST TO BE A
PRISON!
DON’T SPEND YOUR LIFE LOOKING IN THE REAR VIEW
MIRROR! STOP USING YOUR PAST TO LIVE IN A MISERABLE PRESENT!
Jesus Christ can give you a new start…old things pass away and behold all things
become new! He can give you a…
 New Start
 New Song
 New Spirit
…Dear friend, God sees what you can be if you will come to His Son and let Him
change your life with His grace.
…Dear Friend, that is the GRACE OF CHRISTMAS!