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December 6

Title: Jesus, the son of Abraham

Text: Matthew 1:1

Here in Matthew 1, Jesus is called the son of David and the son of Abraham. Again, Matthew has an agenda. He is speaking to a Jewish audience. Abraham was their father. There were many promises given to Abraham. Mainly, that through Abraham all the families of the earth would be blessed. 

Global blessings. That is quite a task. Abraham made an impact. But it was certainly not global. So whoever this “son” is—he will change everything. 

“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1) 

Like David, there are some interesting connections between the life of Abraham and the life of Jesus. For example, Abraham needed a miracle to have a son. Remember Sarah was old and barren. Jesus also needed a miracle to enter into this world—through the Virgin Birth. But maybe the most obvious connection is the substitution of the ram, a male sheep, for the life of Isaac. This story was crazy. God told Abraham to sacrifice his son, his only son. Which brings up a ton of moral questions. But as the story goes, as Abraham raised his knife ready to obey God—probably assuming that God will raise Isaac from the dead or provide him another son, the angel of the Lord told him to stop. 

Jesus is our substitute. He is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the entire world. The event of Isaac foreshadows this. But how does the work of Jesus bless all the families of the earth? Simple. He provided salvation for the world. Pretty big deal, right? Not only did Jesus’ substitutionary work on the cross provide salvation, but forgiveness of sins, earthly and eternal peace, reconciliation between God and man and between man to man. No government can accomplish that. No human laws. No peace treaty. No amount of education—can fix the bent nature of humanity. Only Jesus can. 

So, Jesus is the son of Abraham. His sonship assures us that He is the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant. His sonship in David assures us He is the true King, the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant. We are now a people of the New Covenant. He ratified this covenant by His blood. Jesus will never leave us or forsake us. But this covenant gave us a mission—inviting people into this covenant family. This spiritual family supersedes our biological family. This family will enjoy eternity forever. Don’t forget this is ultimately what this Christmas is about. 19 days till Christmas!