A Savior is Born

Matthew begins his gospel with these words, "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." These often overlooked words and passages of Scripture are rich with importance. Matthew writing to a uniquely Jewish audience is attempting to point out the legal claim of Jesus to the throne of his father David, which he accomplishes. What is so different about this particular genealogy, and its counterpart in Luke 3.23, is that it begins with Jesus. This is a departure from the Old Testament genealogies in which the oldest and most important person is mentioned first, as in Genesis five where Adam is mentioned first, and in Genesis ten with the sons of Noah. The New Testament begins not with Adam, Abraham or David, but with Jesus Christ, establishing him of preeminent importance. The first readers of these gospels would have immediately picked up on this point.

Some have attempted to point out an apparent inconsistency as to the claim of the gospel writers as to Jesus' identity as the son of David. If Jesus was born of a virgin as the gospels claim (Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38), then technically is Jesus the son of David? The short answer is yes. The scriptures continually point to the legal claim of Jesus as the son of David. For example, when Jesus preached in his home town of Nazareth he was recognized after his sermon in Luke 4:22 "And all spoke well of him and marveled at his gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, 'Is this not Joseph's son?'" It is clear that people recognized Jesus as the son of Joseph who is the son of David, this passage was recorded by Luke who also recorded that Jesus was born of a virgin. So in a legal sense Jesus was both the son of David and born of virgin. Only in this way could he fulfill both the legal and prophetic requirements of what it meant to be the Messiah.

Beyond this, the scriptures testify that the identity of Jesus as both the "the root and the descendant of David"(Revelation 22:16). The point is clear if the legal line established by the genealogies of Matthew and Luke are not enough to convince you of the identity of Jesus as the prophesied savior, His claim that He was God and further demonstration of that fact through miracles, signs and wonders culminating in His own resurrection from the dead should once and for all trump any and all pedigrees, if any discrepancy existed, but none do.

This is most evident in the gospel of John, perhaps an overlooked genealogy is contained in the opening passage, "In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God..." Then in John 1:14 "The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us...", speaking of course of the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ. This is clearly what Jesus was pointing out when he quoted the Messianic prophecy found in Psalm 110:1, in Luke 20:41-43 "But he said to them, 'How can they say that Christ is David's son? For David himself says in the Book of Psalms, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool. David thus calls him Lord, so how is he his son?'" Here Jesus was pointing out his identity as both God and Man, fully God and fully Man, both Messiah and Yahweh.

As Paul points out in 1 Timothy 2:5 "For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." Indeed Jesus is uniquely qualified by word and deed to be the one and only savior of the world, this is the good news of Christmas. As Matthew declares by echoing the words of the prophet, "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which means God with us", and the angels declare to the shepherds in Luke 2:11 "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." We can rejoice along with all of history and creation, Jesus Christ, the son of David, the Son of God, is the Savior of the world!