The sermon opens Matthew's gospel at chapter 1, verses 1 to 17, the genealogy that traces Jesus from Abraham through David to the exile and finally to Joseph and Mary. The preacher first frames how the gospels differ from modern biography: rather than exhaustively recording a life in chronological order, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John select and arrange material to serve a theological purpose — to call readers to believe in Jesus. Matthew's particular agenda, the sermon argues, is to convince the Jewish people, who had crucified Jesus, that he is nonetheless the Savior God had appointed. The Jews did not need persuading that a savior was coming; centuries of prophecy already promised one. The sermon walks through this chain of prophecy at length — a son of the woman who crushes the serpent's head (Genesis 3:15), a son of Abraham through whom all nations are blessed (Genesis 22:18), a prophet greater than Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15-19), an eternal son of David who reigns with justice and is called David's own Lord (Isaiah 9:7, Psalm 110), a rejected stone that becomes the cornerstone (Psalm 118), a virgin-born Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14) born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2) who heals the sick (Isaiah 35), bears the people's sin (Isaiah 53:5), dies and rises again (Isaiah 53:10), and yet is himself called Mighty God (Isaiah 9:6). The sermon insists these prophecies converge in one man, and that the gospel itself — salvation not by keeping the law but by grace — existed from the fall in Genesis 3, long before it was actualized in Christ's coming.

Given this weight of prophecy, the sermon asks why the Jews rejected Jesus. The official charge was blasphemy: Jesus spoke of destroying and rebuilding the temple, meaning himself, and before the high priest he affirmed he was the Christ, the Son of Man who would sit at God's right hand and come on the clouds of heaven — language the sermon ties to divine imagery in the Psalms and Daniel. But the sermon argues the real motive was different: the crowds first wanted Jesus as an earthly king to overthrow Roman rule and restore Davidic glory, and turned on him when his kingdom proved spiritual rather than political; and the religious leaders resented his condemnation of their hypocritical, works-based religion. Matthew's repeated demonstration that Jesus fulfills Old Testament prophecy is aimed precisely at exposing this: the nation had unknowingly killed its own Savior and now owes him worship.

The sermon then turns to the genealogy's structure, arguing it is theological rather than strictly historical — each of the three spans (Abraham to David, David to the exile, exile to Christ) covers wildly unequal stretches of real time, compressed into fourteen generations apiece, with names deliberately omitted. Fourteen is read as two sevens, so the whole genealogy forms six sevens culminating in Jesus as the opening of a seventh seven, a new creation, echoing the "book of the genealogy" language of Genesis 2 and the pattern of six days of creation followed by rest. Each starting point highlights a role Christ will fulfill: Abraham (blessing to the nations), David (the eternal king), and the exile (the restorer of a broken, displaced Israel).

Particular attention falls on the four women named in the genealogy — Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba — unusual inclusions in a patriarchal record. The sermon retells each woman's story and argues they are included not because of scandal but because, read through Old Testament eyes, each was faithful, wronged, or victimized rather than culpable, and each was a foreigner or associated with foreigners. Their presence anticipates that Gentiles will be grafted into God's family by faith rather than bloodline, foreshadowing the magi's worship of the infant Jesus and the Great Commission's call to "all nations."

The sermon closes by unpacking Jesus's three identities. As son of Abraham, he fulfills the pattern of Isaac's near-sacrifice — the substitute ram foreshadowing that God always intended a true substitute to be sacrificed for the world's blessing. As son of David, he inherits an eternal throne and a peace with both a personal dimension (individual healing and salvation) and a universal one (renewal of the whole world). Finally, the sermon explains that "Jesus" (meaning "God saves") is paired with "Christ," the Greek rendering of Messiah, "anointed one" — a title historically reserved for kings, priests, and prophets, offices Jesus alone holds simultaneously, making him God's definitive answer to Israel's entire story.

Bible Verses Used

• Matthew 1:1-17: The genealogy itself, structured in three sets of fourteen generations, is read as a theological argument that Jesus is the climactic fulfillment of Israel's story.

• Genesis 3:15: Cited as the first gospel promise, that a son of the woman will crush the serpent.

• Genesis 22:18: Used to show the promise that Abraham's offspring will bless all nations, fulfilled in Christ.

• Deuteronomy 18:15-19: Cited as the prophecy of a prophet greater than Moses whom Israel must heed.

• Isaiah 9:7: Used to establish the promise of an eternal, just reign for David's son.

• Psalm 110: Cited to show David's son will be exalted to God's right hand and called David's Lord.

• Psalm 118: Referenced as the prophecy that the rejected stone becomes the cornerstone, applied to Christ's death and vindication.

• Isaiah 7:14: Cited as the virgin-birth prophecy fulfilled in Jesus, called Immanuel.

• Micah 5:2: Used to show Bethlehem as the prophesied birthplace of the ruler of Israel.

• Isaiah 35: Cited as the prophecy that the Savior would heal the blind, deaf, and lame.

• Isaiah 53:5: Used to show the Savior bearing the people's sin and suffering for their peace and healing.

• Isaiah 53:10: Cited as the prophecy of the Savior's death as a guilt offering followed by prolonged life, i.e. resurrection.

• Isaiah 9:6: Used to show the Savior being called Mighty God and Everlasting Father.

• Matthew 26: Cited as Jesus's own confirmation before the high priest that he is the Christ, the Son of God who will sit at God's right hand.

• Genesis 12:3: Used to explain God's promise that all families of the earth will be blessed through Abraham's offspring.

• Genesis 17: Referenced for the covenant promise to Abraham that his son will be the channel of blessing to the nations.

• Deuteronomy 23: Alluded to as the source of the curse on Moab, background for Ruth's inclusion in the genealogy.

• Hebrews: Cited (regarding Abraham and Isaac) to explain that Abraham expected God to raise Isaac from death, foreshadowing substitutionary sacrifice.