Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus. the founder and perfecter of our faith. The Bible's authors were very careful to document the lineage of Jesus, as this established his legal right to the throne of Israel. In our series on A King is Born, we're learning about the King's Family Tree. those who preceded Jesus as he was about to be born in Bethlehem.
Stay with us. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Wind with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, there are notable differences between the Matthew and Luke genealogies. But I understand there's a simple reason for the difference.
Yes, Dave, there is a simple reason for the difference. But before I answer that, I want to say this. I'm sure I speak for all of our listeners when I say that Christmas is one of my most favorite times of year. What a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the birth of Jesus, to be reminded of the fact that He came to redeem us. to give him glory.
but also we rejoice in his humanity. And that gets us to the genealogies. Because when you read Matthew, it is clear that it is the genealogy of Joseph when you come to Luke. It is the genealogy of Mary, But the point is this, that Jesus has a family tree. And when you look into that family tree, even as we examine it, we see that there are sinners, notable sinners.
And what a wonderful encouragement that is. To think that Jesus Christ came for people just like us.
Now, at the end of this broadcast, I'm going to have a very important announcement about a resource that we're making available, and I want you to have that resource. even as we anticipate the new year. But for now, let's go to the pulpit of Moody Church. Yeah. Um And there she is, Rahab.
She is listed as one of the members of Jesus Christ genealogy. She would show up at the gathering that Jesus and his family would have. And she's mentioned twice in the New Testament. The big chapter of the 11th chapter of Hebrews, where all of the Hebrews and the heroes of faith are listed, there's Rahab, along with Joshua and Samson and all of the other greats. And then she's also mentioned in the book of James, prostitute.
She'd be at the party that Jesus was throwing.
Well, we continue to move on, and now we have Ruth, and this happens to be in verse 5. You'll notice the story of Ruth, who is actually related to David, as we'll see in just a moment.
Now, we have to understand who the Moabites are. I know that this is somewhat What shall we say? These are terrible stories of immorality. impurity and incest. It's really what happened.
Lot was leaving Sodom and Gomorrah. His wife turned back. And she became a pillar of salt. I have a friend who says that his wife was driving the car and she turned back. and hit a light post.
But in the case Of Lot's wife, she turned back and turned into a pillar of salt. There's Lot now with his two daughters. They make him drunk over a period of time. They don't have any husbands. They don't see any possibility of continuing on with their family line.
And so Lot has a relationship with his own daughters. And one of the children that is born is known as Moab, and the other is Ammon. And that's why you have the Ammonites and you have the Moabites. They were a race that was really begun with an incestuous relationship. And you know what kind of a curse that can be on a clan or a community or families.
What happened is that there was a famine in Bethlehem, and Naome goes into the land of Moab, she and her husband and her two sons. Her husband dies. The two sons marry Moabite women. They're not supposed to. The law was very clear in Deuteronomy chapter 7 that you should not intermarry with the people of the land because you might end up worshiping their gods.
But they do it anyway. It's sort of a marriage that should never have taken place. And then later on the sons die and there are two daughter-in-laws that Naomi has and as they're on their way back to Bethlehem, Naomi tries to convince both of them to stay. Ruth will go with her and Ruth will believe in her God. Where thou goest, I will go.
Where thou diest, there will I die and be buried, and thy God shall be my God. What an amazing story of faith on the part of Ruth.
Well, Ruth comes back to Bethlehem. She, of course, marries Boaz, and she is the grandmother. of David. As a matter of fact, Ruth ends up with a baby by the name of Obed. Obed is the father of Jesse.
Jesse becomes the father of David.
So there's a Moabitis. in the family line of Jesus Christ. And then we come to another story, and that is Bathsheba.
Now, Bathsheba's name isn't mentioned. The thing about the Bible that is so amazing is that it does not gloss over any sin. You know, when you write a biography of somebody today, you really try to spin it to make it look a little better than it is. You hate to tell it exactly like it is, and so. Here you have an instance in which the biography is so accurate.
Matthew doesn't want us to forget the fact. that Bathsheba actually belonged to Uriah. And you know that whole horrid story there. It says, And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah. You have the story of Bathsheba and David.
And Bathsheba becomes David's wife after adultery and murder. to cover it up. Is that a marriage that should have happened? Absolutely not. And yet, look at who they have: Solomon.
The Lord says, I'm going to love Solomon because of David's sake. I'm going to put my blessing upon Solomon's life. And Solomon, even though he ended up with a whole host of women, he built a great temple. And Solomon also became a wise man. And one of the books of our Bible, most of it was written by Solomon, and we call it today the book of Proverbs.
And we talk about the legend of Solomon and the wisdom of Solomon.
Solomon. You're not even supposed to be here. There was no way in the world that this was a good marriage that should have happened. But there you are, and what happens? God's grace comes along and says, Solomon, you're also going to be in the genealogy.
of Jesus. The great writer Jerome, the Bible translator, looked at these women and says, everyone, and here he means everyone in the whole genealogy. Everyone here is a sinner. This is a chapter about grace. They could not have saved themselves.
A more contemporary writer by the name of Hendrickson says, Through such a channel of iniquity the Saviour, according to his human nature, was willing to pass from the glories of heaven to the incarnation and the crucifixion. Jesus is related to all of these people. Legally, of course, he came through the line of Joseph. And because Jesus was virgin-born, it is in the book of Luke that we actually have Mary's genealogy. But Jesus Christ has all of these people as his relatives, all of them in the background of his existence.
Now, I find it very interesting that if Jesus were to have such a get-together as we've been talking about, Joseph, Mary, and Jesus. You say, well, at least there would be one non-dysfunctional family in the crowd.
Well, yes, but even that family wasn't perfect. You know, in the seventh chapter of the book of John, the Bible says that Jesus was on his way to a feast. And his own brothers said to him, why don't you go there and do some miracles so that your own disciples see and hear you do those things publicly? And it says, and neither did his brothers believe on him. Can you imagine that?
Growing up with Jesus and you don't believe that He's the Messiah? You say, well, that really sounds strange.
Well, maybe not too strange. Let me ask you a question: Would you believe that your oldest brother was the Messiah he claimed to be? I know for sure I wouldn't have believed my older brother that he was the Messiah if he claimed to be that. You say, well, Jesus was different. Of course, he was different.
We can always imagine what it was like in that home. Judah, did you steal the cookie? No. James, did you do it? No, I think Jesus did it.
No, no, not Jesus, right? You say, well, did they eventually believe? They eventually believed. Acts chapter 1. It says that in the day of Pentecost, when they were there in the upper room, the 120, it says Mary was there with the brothers of Jesus.
They eventually believed. And James, of course, a brother of Jesus, ended up writing a book in the New Testament. But it took a while. My point is simply this: that it's in the midst of such brokenness that God's will and God's purpose. is completed.
My point is simply this: that it's in the midst of such brokenness that God's will and God's purpose. is completed. I think that there are three walls that Jesus Christ broke. You know, there is a story about a Catholic priest in the land of Europe. And there were some American soldiers who had a comrade who had been killed, and they were looking for a place to bury him.
And they went to a cemetery, and the Catholic priest said, No, it is only Catholics that can be buried here. If your comrade was a Protestant, he can't be buried within the cemetery.
So they buried him just outside the cemetery fence. And there he was. A couple days later, they come along and they want to put some flowers there and remember him and can't find the grave. They keep going up and down, and they're confident they're in the right place. They spoke to the priest.
The priest said, You know, I couldn't sleep. After what I told you.
So, what I did is, he said, I had the fence moved over to include your comrade in the midst of the cemetery precincts. What I see happening in this chapter is that Jesus is moving the fence, and Matthew wants us to understand that. And there are really three walls that have been broken down. Three different fences that have been moved, if you want to put it that way, and let me give them to you. There's a commentary by the name of Barkley, and he lists these, and I want to expound on them.
First of all, the barrier between Jew and Gentile is broken down, isn't it? You have all of these Gentiles that are in the lineage of Jesus, reminding us of the truth that will become clear in the New Testament. In Jesus Christ, there is no Jew or Greek, but we are one in Christ. And so, all those distinctions that were so important in Old Testament times no longer apply because we are one in Christ. And I think that Matthew wanted us to understand that right from the beginning, and that's why he included these others into the genealogy of Jesus: that we would remember that the grace of God does not confine itself to any nationality, any race.
Any kind of distinctions that we might be very quick to make here on earth.
So the first barrier that was removed was that between Jews and Gentiles. There's a second barrier obviously that's removed and that is between male and female. Male and female. You have Judah, most assuredly, but there's Tamar, too. You have Jesse, but you also have Ruth.
You have Boaz, but you also have Rahab listed. You have David, but you also have Bathsheba. And what God is going to make very clear in the New Testament is that in Jesus Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek. Nor male nor female.
Now, it's true that in the New Testament you still have different roles regarding the functions of men and women within the church and so forth, but in terms of the rights, honors, and privileges that belong to Jesus Christ and to those who are in Him, there is no distinction. Our sisters Have full responsibility, yes, but full access to God, full access to all the blessings. That we could ever possibly have, because there is no distinction between male and female so far as their relationship with God is concerned. And where would we even be as a church? If we didn't have women who were so committed and so devoted and so focused for their love for Jesus Christ.
And all of the ministries oftentimes within a church that are motivated, that are, what shall we say, the volunteers of women, let us always recognize men that our sisters in Jesus Christ. Have full worth, full privilege, and full honor in the presence of Jesus Christ. There is no distinction. Between male and female. And then there's another barrier that I think was broken down, and that is the distinction, of course, between saint and sinner, saint and sinner.
Now I have to be very careful here. I don't want to give the impression that everybody who's listed here in the genealogy ended up being a saved person. As a matter of fact, Jesus made it very clear to the Jews of his day. He said, You think that you have Abraham to your father. They were depending upon their genealogy.
And Jesus said, that will not help you. In fact, God is even able of the stones, he says, to raise up children unto Abraham.
So, don't ever think that because you have the right pedigree, somehow, you have some kind of a corner or access to God. Not at all. But as you look here, you discover that there are some people who undoubtedly were saints whom As far as their lifestyle was concerned, they were sinners, at least before they believed. I'm thinking, for example, about Rahab. She wouldn't be mentioned twice in the New Testament if she wasn't a redeemed person.
I'm thinking of Ruth, for example, clearly believing in the God of the Old Testament. and the New Testament. You remember in Old Testament times, how much did Ruth or Rahab understand about the coming of Jesus? They didn't understand a great deal at all. But in Old Testament times, Your responsibility was based on whether or not you believed in the Jehovah, the God of the Jews, and it would be credited to you for righteousness.
People in Old Testament times were saved on credit. Just like you might go to a store and you might use your credit card and you say, well, I'm going to take this item home and I'm going to pay for it later. The very same way, the Old Testament saints were saved as well. They were saved because of Christ's death. Their responsibility was to believe in Jehovah and that belief was credited to them for righteousness.
And later, Jesus would die and take their sins, as the book of Romans makes very clear.
So in the midst of this, you have certainly a prostitute who's a believer. You have a Moabitess with all that that entails as a believer. Almost certainly, I'm sure, Bathsheba was a believer. And so in the midst of this brokenness, You see grace. Grace, grace for the pains and the sins of life.
I think also that There's something else that Jesus emphasized. He said, I did not come to call the righteous, but I call sinners to repentance. And what Jesus is really saying there is, if you're here today and you think that you don't need his forgiveness and you don't need his grace, Then you really don't receive that grace because grace does not come through closed doors. If you want to receive God's grace, you must open your heart to that grace. You cannot close your mind and heart.
If you're sitting there today with your arms folded, so to speak, and saying, well, what he's saying may be interested, but it doesn't apply to me, or I don't need God's grace. The grace of God, the kind that we are talking about, is not available to you. It is available, but you must receive that grace. And when you do, you who struggle with a great deal of dysfunction within your families and your relationships, you must recognize now that you become a part of another family, a wonderful family. There's a passage of scripture I've often contemplated, and I want to read it to you because I want you to understand that this is in God's Word.
This is in Mark chapter 3. Listen. Jesus is speaking, and it says, His mother and his brothers came standing outside. They sent to him and called him. And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, Your mother and your brothers are outside seeking you.
And he answered them, Who are my mother and my brothers? And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, Here is my mother. and my brothers. Whoever does the will of God, he is my brother, sister. And mother.
Wow, you do the will of God. You join his family. And I might say that's why here at the Moody Church we have TMC communities, we have small groups, we have many, many different opportunities for people to connect. First of all, because it's biblical. Second, because some of you who come from very difficult families, what you are beginning to discover, and it's wonderful to hear testimonies along this line, what you are discovering is that this becomes your family.
The people of God become your family. Because who is it that belongs to Jesus except those who do his will and they join the heavenly family? And then there's a passage of scripture in the book of Hebrews. that is very difficult for us to get our mind around. The Bible says that we are Christ's brothers and he is not ashamed to call us his brother.
And I can imagine that if we showed up at Jesus Christ's event, He would go around and he would not be ashamed that I'm his brother, that you're his brother, that you are his sister, that you are his mother, so to speak. He invites all of us into the family of God and assures us of the fact that we are fully welcome.
Now, the question is: this: even though Jesus is not ashamed of us, might it be that we are ashamed of him? What a tragedy. What a tragedy if you go to work tomorrow and you're ashamed of Jesus when, in point of fact, the Bible says he is not ashamed of you. In the brokenness of the world. There is grace to all who accept it.
Where sin abounds, grace abounds much more. Many of you may remember the story of Ethel Waters. Ethel Waters was a gospel singer known particularly because she sang at the Billy Graham Crusades frequently, especially in the 50s and 60s. And she used to love to sing that song, His Eye is On the Sparrow. Ethel Waters, her story is that a 14-year-old girl was raped.
And Ethel was conceived and born. I remember hearing her say, you know, every child needs a lap to sit on, but she said, I didn't have a lap to sit on. What a tragedy to have a child. who really doesn't have a lap to sit on. What a tragedy to grow up in a family where nobody ever takes delight in you, where you are a continual burden.
and a bother. That was her experience. But because of the grace of God in Jesus Christ, She used to sing, you remember, I sing because I'm happy, I sing because I'm free. And his eye is on the sparrow, and I know he watches me. And God's eye was on that sparrow, on her life.
And God's eye is on us if we're willing to embrace grace. If we close our hearts to it, will not receive it. But there is grace. for every need. There's more grace in God's heart.
than sin. in your past. Let's pray together. Father, we want to thank you today that in this story, In this genealogy, we find that Jesus was willing to identify with the past, with ancestors. That in many respects were so dysfunctional, so hopeless.
And we thank you today, Father, that this is in your word that we might know that there is hope for us. And for that family going through times of difficulty, for those unwanted children, help them to know that they'll be received and loved and welcomed in the family of God. if they open their hearts. to grace. We adore Christ today.
We gladly come and adore him because he is our Savior. He is our God. and he is our king. In His name we pray. Amen.
Well, this is Pastor Lutz, and I have to say that no other message in the world is as encouraging as the message of the gospel and the message of grace.
Well, all of us know that the new year is just around the corner. And we here at Running to Win have a new devotional. It's entitled Running to Win, and it contains 365 devotions, one for every single day of the year. Each daily reading contains a scripture followed by a commentary written by D.L. Moody.
and myself. I think that this is going to be a great opportunity for you to be able to begin every single day. In the scriptures with a verse of scripture in mind, and you'll also get an opportunity to read something written by Dwight L. Moody. and you'll be able to get into his heart.
Now here's what you do, and I certainly hope that you have a pen or pencil handy. In order to receive your copy, Go to rtwoffer.com. That's rtwoffer.com or pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-218-9337.
Now because the time is short, The New Year's just around the corner. I'm giving you that contact info again. Go to rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218. 9337 and let me thank you in advance for helping us get the gospel around the world. You can write to us at Running2Win 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614.
Bethlehem is a small town a few miles south of Jerusalem. It was prophesied that the Messiah would be born here, and so he was.
Next time on Running to Win, join us to hear about the king's birthplace. This is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.
