The Crooked Lines of the Gospel!

Saints and Sinners—from Abraham to Jesse to JesusMatthew 1:1-17 An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, 4 and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, 6 and Jesse the father of King David. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, 7 and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, 8 and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, 9 and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 10 and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, 11 and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. 12 And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel, and Salathiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13 and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, 14 and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, 15 and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, 16 and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah. 17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.
The message of hope comes as a surprise! The Gospel is hidden in the crooked lines of a genealogy, which we so often avoid or slur over. If you have been like me, you may consider the reading of these long lists of genealogies as a completely boring experience. We don’t really understand or care about all the “begets” and “begottens.” Not only that, how many of us can correctly pronounce those Old Testament names? Perhaps that is why some translations are so popular in leaving out all the genealogical lists.
It just so happens, though, that the beginning of the story of Jesus Christ in the New Testament in the book of Matthew is a remarkable genealogy. The lineage is a lynch pin from the Old Testament to the New Testament, delineating, in three sections of fourteen generations, the crooked lines from Abraham to Jesus Christ.
God of Surprises
Now what does all this mean to us? Could it be that God is again being the amazing God of surprises? Did we ever realize that the lineage from the patriarchs to the kings to the birth of Jesus were so odd and crooked? How is it that God uses both saints and sinners for God’s own purposes? Does it show us that grace is, indeed, incomprehensible to human judgments?
It is the mystery of the Gospel of crooked lines. We must remember that the sequel to the story of the beginning of the Gospel story is the story that runs through us. Just how straight is that line?
For the Gospel writer of Matthew, the first line of the first page starts with Abraham begetting Isaac! It becomes the story of the Hebrew patriarchs, the kings of Judah, and other Israelites. It is the opening of the story of Jesus Christ and an important statement and transition from the Old to the New Testament. The Old Testament is affirmed as the story of God continues in the birth of Jesus.
It does not make any difference how the story goes or how crooked are the lines of genealogy, because it is a testimony to the sovereignty of God. This twisting journey of the people of God gives evidence of the searing words of the prophet Isaiah, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord.” (Isaiah 55:3)
The First Fourteen Generations
We glimpse the mystery of God’s ways in the first fourteen generations of the genealogy moving from Abraham to David the King. Consider the journey from Abraham to Isaac. The story of Jesus Christ begins there. Why is Isaac in this story? Isaac was not even the first child of Abraham! He was the second son. Remember the other son, Ishmael and his mother, Hagar. He and his mother were treated badly. Just why did God choose to use Isaac over Ishmael?
The story continues with Jacob. Now that is a strange story! The origin of Jesus continues with Isaac begetting Jacob; but Jacob was the second son also; and, even more disturbing, he was a scoundrel and a liar. Deceiving and tricking his brother, Esau, and his father, Isaac, was his way to get ahead in life. He lied and tricked his father to gain the family inheritance and blessing. Then, he skipped town, fearful of his brother’s wrath.
Consider Judah, who is one of the twelve sons of Jacob (or Israel, his name changed and life altered in a wrestling match with God). Why is Judah singled out over his better brother, Joseph? After all, it was Joseph, whom God had favored with wondrous dreams and interpretations of dreams. God gave him power and prestige and honor in Egypt when his brothers had sold him into slavery. But, remember that it was Judah who sold his brother Joseph and sought out prostitutes.
There it is—God’s ways. Isaac is chosen over Ishmael, Jacob over Esau and Judah over Joseph. This is the story of the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the mystery and surprise of grace, God not choosing the best or noble or even the saintly for God’s purposes to be fulfilled. It is “about a God who is not controlled by human merit but manifests his own unpredictable graciousness.” (Raymond E. Brown, A Coming Christ In Advent) Then, the next illogical step is salvation by grace.
Christ brings salvation to tax collectors and sinners. He proclaims that the sick need a physician, not those who are righteous, already religious and healthy.
The Second Fourteen Generations
This story of the beginning of Jesus Christ is written with the crooked lines of liars and the immoral, not just with the straight lines of faithfulness and obedience. Consider the second fourteen generations of the story of this beginning of Jesus Christ from Solomon to Jechoniah. If the first fourteen generations built up to the pinnacle of King David, then the second fourteen began a decline to the lowest point of history of the Israelites. Of these fourteen generations of this period, only two, Hezekiah and Josiah, could be could be considered faithful to God’s standards in the law code of Deuteronomy. “The rest were an assortment of murderers, idolaters, incompetents, power-seekers, and harem wastrels.” (Raymond E. Brown)
What could be more surprising than the root that springs from the stump of Jesse? (Isaiah 11:1) The youngest son, the one least regarded to be the champion against the mighty Goliath, David rises in the spirit of God’s power to become victor on the field of battle. He became a savior for his country and a king in waiting to lead Israel. Though faults and failures that attend to his reputation, he still is God’s chosen instrument. The Son of David will rise through him and be known as our long expected Messiah—Jesus the Christ!
The Final Four Generations
And, the final part, the last fourteen generations, is also part of the story of the beginning of Jesus Christ. Consider this—the names involved in this list are, for all practical purposes, virtual unknowns. They are not recognized for doing anything significant. Ironically powerful rulers brought God’s people to the lowest point in their history. Now, unknown persons, presumably saints and sinners, were God’s vehicles of the redemption of the human race.
The Remarkable Scandalous Women
But, there is yet another surprise in this remarkable genealogy that we so often pass over in our reading. This is the listing of five women in the forty-two generations of the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This story contains the names of Tamar, who was a Canaanite woman; an outsider left childless by the death of her husbands, Judah’s sons. Tamar tricked Judah into a relationship. Though he regarded her as disgraceful, Judah learned that he was the father of her child. He learned that she was really more faithful than he had been.
The list contains the name of Ruth, a Moabitess, who was faithful to her mother-in-law, Naomi. When Ruth threw herself at the feet of Boaz, she became the great grandmother of King David.
What about the prostitute, Rahab? She helped the Israelite spies escape capture in Jericho, making it possible for the conquest of Jericho.
Finally, remember that the story of the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ involved a teenage girl, untimely pregnant. She was an embarrassment to her husband, her family and her community. Her name was Mary. She was the mother of Jesus.
This is the story. This story has crooked lines that lead to the Good News. The story does not end. It continues. God uses us to accomplish the divine purposes of God. What hope there is for us, when we consider the crooked lines of this story? After the resurrection, God called Saul, a man known to be totally against the Christian Way. God called a fat monk, Martin Luther to bring about a much-needed reformation. God urged a man who was indicted in Georgia, never vindicated in court, and a fugitive from justice. His name was John Wesley.
God Uses You and Me, Imperfect as We Are!
You and I are not perfect either; but God calls and uses us in grace. This is our hope in the surprising unpredictable wisdom of God. This is the story of the crooked lines of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that leads to us!
Amen.