King Of Grace
It is easy to skip the first 17 verses of Matthew. It’s a dry list of 42 generations of fathers and mothers begetting children who beget more children. Let’s just get to the baby Jesus already! But Matthew isn’t writing filler. He has a purpose for his list. In the names he chooses and how he chooses to mention them, Matthew is highlighting important realities of this long anticipated King. The Messiah has come, not because of the righteousness of His people, but in spite of their sinfulness. The Messiah has arrived not as King who rules by law, but who rules by grace. He is not a saviour of His own people only, but of every nation. All this and more Mathew underlines in the family lineage of Jesus.