Called to be Heir

December 6, 2020 Background Scripture: Matthew 1:1 – 17; Hebrews 1 Lesson Passage: Matthew 1:1 – 6, 16 – 17; Hebrews 1:1 – 5 For some families, genealogy is everything. When nobility is a part of the family, genealogy is indispensable because it is needed to show the clear line of secession from one generation to the next. Matthew and Luke both offer genealogies of Jesus. Luke’s genealogy is significant because it clearly delineates the humanity of Jesus by tracing his lineage back to Adam, the first human. Any question about Jesus’ humanity can be answered by referring to the genealogy provided by Luke. Matthew’s genealogy is interesting for several reasons. First, in a very unusual way, Matthew’s genealogy includes five women. Four of them could have been viewed as scandalous. Those four could have been viewed as contaminating the Jewish bloodline of the Messiah. Three of them involved matters of indiscretion. A second observation of Matthew’s genealogy is that it follows the royal lineage starting with King David. Most of those listed were either king of united Israel or king of Judah, after the kingdom was divided. The final one third of the genealogy takes place after the crown has been cast down in Babylon, but it still follows the lineage that was heir to the crown of Judah. It is this observation that brings us to the topic of this lesson, “Called to be Heir”. What does it mean to be heir of a crown that has been cast down? Nothing if the crown remains that way. The prophets of God made it clear that is not the final outcome. The kingdom will be restored. Upon restoration, the proper ruler will be enthroned. However, the prophecy goes well beyond the restoration of Judah as a sovereign nation. Judah will be restored as sovereign over the entire world. The throne of Judah will be reestablished as the sovereignty over this earthly kingdom. The heir of such a kingdom must be properly identified and recognized. Matthew’s genealogy resolves all of that. Is that the end of the story? Not hardly. Restored Judah will be much more than an earthly kingdom with human subjects. It will be an everlasting kingdom and the subjects will be human and angelic. All spirits and powers will become subject to this kingdom. This is where the writer of the Hebrew epistle helps us to grasp what is to come. Angels and other spirits and principalities are only subject to God. They are sent to be servants of God who sometimes intervene in human situations. For them to be subject to this throne, the one who rules from it must be God or an Heir of God. Jesus is the eternal Son of God. He was born into this world as a child and therefore was made lower than the angels. (This is where the old Baptist preachers would say "He came down through forty and two generations”.) Although Jesus had a human mother, God is his Father. After the Calvary event where he secured eternal salvation for mankind, God raised him from the dead and gave him a name that is above all names. At the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow and recognize that he is heir to the eternal throne. Jesus is a descendant of David and because of it will reign over mankind. Jesus is the son of God and because of it will reign over angels, principalities and every other kind of spirit. As son of David, Jesus is heir to the throne that is prophesied to rule over all the earth. As son of God, Jesus is heir to the eternal throne that rules over the entire creation and every living creature. In Jesus, both thrones become one, and he is the sole heir to it. Robert C. Hudson November 21, 2020