Lesson 1 – A Royal Pedigree
Read Matthew 1 - www.bible.com/bible/59/mat.1.esv

Who is Jesus? Does it matter? To answer this last question, we will find in lesson 16 of this study how Jesus Himself asked this question of the men who had been following Him for almost 3 years. The entire Bible centers around this question – the Old Testament books concentrate on preparing people to meet Him in person, the first four books of the New Testament show us His life here on earth – each proving a different part of who He was. John proves to us that Jesus is God. Luke proves that He was truly a man while on earth. Mark proves that His purpose for coming was to be a servant to God for bringing salvation to mankind. And Matthew proves His position as the promised King with the authority to do everything He came to do.

To be a king, a man has to do one of two things – either be born to the right family, or conquer the current ruler. In this first chapter of Matthew, we are shown how Jesus was born of the right family, with all the earthly right to be the king. In 2 Samuel 7:12-16, God promised the greatest king of Israel, David, that his line of succession to the throne would last forever. No other earthly line of kings has ever been able to claim such a long line, though some have lasted for several hundred years.


But now look at Jeremiah 22:24-30 and see God’s judgment on an evil king in David’s line – God promised him that no man of his descendants would ever again sit on the throne of Israel. How could God keep both His promise to David and his judgment on Jeconiah? Why would God even include Jeconiah’s name in Matthew if this judgment was to be fulfilled? From the stories behind these names in the Old Testament you will find a great many stories of grace and mercy, but the story of Jeconiah is a promise to us that God’s judgment will be just as sure as are His promises. None of Jeconiah’s descendants ever ruled Israel as a king. And Jesus would have been disqualified from doing so also if He had been the blood-son of Joseph. However, Jesus was not the blood-son, but the adopted son of Joseph. Adoption gave Jesus every cultural right to the lineage, and His blood-line given in Luke 3:23-37, through Mary, prevented the judgment from being passed on to Him as well.

There are four women named in this lineage of Jesus. Look at each of the following passages and write what the Bible says about these women:

* Tamar – Genesis 38:6-24 – ____
* Rahab – Joshua 2 and 6:17-25 – ____
* Ruth – Ruth 1-4 – ____
 * Bathsheba – 2 Samuel 11:2-5 – ____