From the Desk of Paul Chapman

The Genealogy Of Christ - Part 3
By PJ Chapman

In this series of studies concerning Christ's lineage, we are able to see how God has preserved the Seed of Christ through time. Last week we followed the lineage trail all the way to Obed, the grandfather of king David. Before we get to David, we must mention his father, Jesse. He is next on the trail.

It was prophesied by Isaiah that Jesse would be part of the Seed-line of Christ, "And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, who shall stand as a banner to the people; for the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious"(Isa. 11:10). The apostle Paul quotes this passage from Isaiah in his epistle to the Romans (Rom. 12:15). Once again, Paul was trying to convince Christian Jews that the Gentiles were to be accepted into the kingdom of God.

This idea of a root or branch of a family tree is also prophesied of David. The prophet, Jeremiah, said, "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; a King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth"(Jer. 23:5). Then, many years after the death of Christ, John puts to paper these words of Christ, "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star"(Rev. 22:16). Such prophecy, and its fulfillment, shows the awesome power of God and His faithfulness of preserving the Seed-line of the Savior.

This brings us to our next stop along the lineage trail - David, king of the Israelites. When David became king, it introduced royalty into the genealogy of Christ. God made a covenant with David that we read about in Second Samuel chapter 17. God instructed Nathan, His prophet, to have David build Him a house, a temple. If David did this, God promised him something in return. He said to David, "When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever"(2 Sam. 7:12-13). This covenant with David was a prophecy of Christ.

This prophecy was mentioned in the book of Luke when the angel Gabriel appeared before Mary. He announced to her that she was the "highly favored one," and that she was "blessed among women." Mary was to be the one who would give birth to the Savior. Gabriel said to her, "He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end"(Lk. 1:32-33).

David was considered a great king and he was still highly respected among the Jews of Christ's time. Jesus mentioned David in the book of Luke. He was rebuking the hypocritical Jewish leaders for rejecting Him. He explained that they could not exalt their hero David and reject Christ (Lk. 20:41-43). Jesus quoted to them from David's own writing, "The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool'"(Ps. 110:11).

David began plans and preparations for building the house of God as promised. Shortly before his death, however, David had to pass that job along to his son, Solomon.

This brings us to our next stop on the lineage trail, which is a particularly interesting one. Matthew gives the genealogy of Christ in his account of the gospel as well as Luke. In Matthew's account he gives Solomon as the generation carrying the Seed-line of Christ following David (Mt. 1:6). In Luke's account, however, he gives Nathan as the Seed carrier following David. Two of David's sons are in the genealogy of Christ. It is obvious that somewhere down the line the two families touched. An ancestor of Solomon married an ancestor of Nathan. Out of the two brothers, Solomon was the most celebrated one to say the least. We will pick up the trail next time with Solomon.

~ PJ Chapman