A little girl asks her mother where she came from, and gets an answer completely different from the one her father will give her a few days later. That scene opens a reflection on the genealogy of Jesus in the first chapter of Matthew (Matthew 1), the list of names we usually skim past, which hides far more than it seems. The sermon shows why Matthew placed four women with uncomfortable stories in the King’s family tree, and why he deliberately counted the generations his own way. Listen and see whether this stranger’s list of names might turn out to be your own story after all.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- Matthew divides Jesus' genealogy into three sections of 14 generations and opens it with the words "the son of David, the son of Abraham." What was he trying to tell his Jewish readers about who Jesus is?
- Four women appear in the genealogy: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and the wife of Uriah. Why do you think Matthew included these women rather than, say, Sarah or Rebekah?
- The sermon said God often uses rejected and excluded people to carry out His plan. What does this truth say to you about your own story and how God can use you?
- The speaker compared reading the genealogy to looking for your own name on a long list of race finishers. How does this genealogy concern you personally, even though your name is not in it?
- The last section of the genealogy is mostly names we know little about, and Jesus comes after many generations of silence. How does this help you when God seems silent or you feel forgotten by others?
- John writes that to those who received Jesus, He gave the right to become children of God. How could knowing that your story begins with the birth of Jesus change the way you see yourself and your family this week?
