Daniel Bentley, December 4, 2019, Matthew 1:1-21
Have you ever looked around at the motley crew of relatives seated around the table during a family gathering, and found yourself thinking, Am I really related to all of these
people? Or taken time to explore your family tree? Jesus’ family tree very compelling and interesting. His dad was a simple carpenter and his mother was seemingly no one special. They were poor. But the genealogies in Matthew and Luke’s gospels show that Joseph and Mary were both descended from royalty. There were also a few shady
characters and people with checkered pasts. From Abraham, to Ruth, Rahab, Bathsheba, David, King Ahaz (perhaps the worst king ever), and King Manasseh —and more. Jesus became like us in order to save us. Matthew wanted us to know at the very beginning of his story that Jesus came for the messed up and the broken, for the lost and lonely, for adulterers and cheaters, misfits and malcontents. He came for the unwanted and the outcast. He came for those who knew they were sick. He was the "friend of
sinners" and a lover of the lost. He welcomes all of us to His table, because of His amazing grace.