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God is at WORK! | Matthew 1:1-17

God is at WORK! | Matthew 1:1-17

Even if you don't realize it

Caleb Lee
January 01, 2024

Happy New Year!

Here’s to the start of another wonderful year full of blessings from our Lord Jesus Christ.

This devotional journey begins where many “Bible in 1 year” plans begin - Matthew 1.

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, 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 Ram, ⁴ and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab 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 David the king.

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 Shealtiel, and Shealtiel 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 Christ.

¹⁷ So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.

Matthew 1:1-17

It’s a passage we’re all familiar with, likely from many attempts to read the Bible in a year. But it’s one of those passages that displays God’s faithfulness clearly through the generations.

If you study each of the names on the list, it’s clear that Jesus isn’t coming from a lineage of perfection. It’s quite the opposite. Jesus is coming from a lineage of immense imperfection.

“Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar” - Tamar is Judah’s daughter-in-law
“Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab” - Rahab was the prostitute who hid the Israelite spies on her roof in Jericho. In other words, a Gentile.
“Boaz the father of Jesse by Ruth” - Ruth was a Moabite, who was a sworn enemy of the Jews.

Just a few examples. There’s a ton of brokenness in Jesus’ genealogy.

And yet, from that brokenness comes the Savior of the world.

Not only does that show that Jesus is the Savior of ALL people, Jew or Gentile, but also that God was at work. Throughout history starting from Abraham, God was preparing this bloodline so that Jesus could be born as a “Son of David.”

Sure, humans tried their darndest to mess it up. But God redeemed all of it.

And God is at work in your life. No matter what happened in ‘23 or the years prior, God can and will redeem it.

So take heart my friends!

He will make all things work out for our good.

Have a great January 1st.

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