The Royal Line of Jesus

Amen, let's pray together. Our most gracious Heavenly Father, what a joy it is for us this great wonderful Christmas season to focus in once again on you and your birth. We thank you Lord that we have the opportunity to study the Word of the Lord and through studying the Word of God we are able to understand you and your plan. And now you provided for us salvation and we ask today that you would open our eyes that we might be able to behold wonderful things out of your law. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.

If you have your Bible I would invite you to turn with me to Luke chapter 3 as we study the most invigorating, the most exciting, the most stimulating passage in all of the gospel of Luke, the royal line of Jesus.

And what's going to happen this morning is that before you leave you will be quizzed on every name in the list to make sure you spell it correctly and have it in the proper order. If not, you will not be able to leave the building. So that will get you to pay attention to this morning's sermon. Luke chapter 3 verse number 23, and when he began his ministry Jesus himself was about 30 years of age being supposedly the son of Joseph, the son of Eli, the son of Methot, the son of Levi, the son of Nelke, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Hesli, the son of Naggai, the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Simeon, the son of Joseph, the son of Yoda.

No, this is not Star Wars. Verse 27, the son of Joannan, the son of Risa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, the son of Nelke, the son of Adi, the son of Chosim, the son of El-Madam, the son of Ur, the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Methot, the son of Levi, the son of Simeon, 27. the son of Judah 28. the son of Joseph 29. the son of Jonam 30. the son of Elichim 31. the son of Mele 31. the son of Mena 32. the son of Metathah 33. the son of Nathan 34.

the son of David 35. the son of Jesse 36. the son of Obed 37. the son of Boaz 38. the son of Salmon 39. the son of Nashon 40. the son of Aminadab 41. the son of Admin 42. the son of Ram 43. the son of Hezron Son, the Son of Perez, the Son of Judah, the Son of Jacob, the Son of Isaac, the Son of Abraham, the Son of Terah, the Son of Nahor, the Son of Sarug, the Son of Rehu, the Son of Peleg, the Son of Eber, the Son of Shelah, the Son of Canaan, the Son of Arphaxad, the Son of Shem, the Son of Noah, the Son of Lamech, the Son of Methuselah, the Son of Enoch, the Son of Jared, the Son of Mahalaleel, the Son of Canaan, the Son of Enosh, the Son of Seth, the Son of Adam, the Son of God.

And you are saying, I got out of bed for this? This is why I came to church? Can't we just get on to chapter four and the temptation of Christ? Can't we just move on? Do we have to study the genealogy? Well, if you were with us on our study of the book of Genesis, you know that it wasn't very long until Genesis chapter four, Genesis chapter five, Genesis chapter ten, and Genesis chapter eleven that we began to study in depth the genealogies. Why? Because they're in the scripture and we're committed to first Timothy chapter four, verse number thirteen, to the reading, to the exhortation, to the teaching of the scriptures.

We are committed to going through the scriptures verse by verse so that you get the whole picture. So never will we leave out the genealogies. It's my job to get you to understand how exciting, how invigorating, how stimulating the royal line of Jesus is. So my job this morning is to get you to understand, listen, seven aspects of the royal line of Jesus that will change your life forever. That will get you to say, I am so glad we study all the genealogies at Christ Community Church. I am so glad we don't skip over that aspect of scripture.

In fact, I wish that we could study every genealogy throughout every week of the year because they are so exciting and stimulating. That's my ambition this morning. That's my objective. That's where I want you to get you to be and I pray to God that's what happens because I can't do it myself. So in order to do that, the outline in your bulletin is null and void. It's no good. Okay? So that was the outline I did six months ago when I first prepared the royal line of Jesus.

Since then, that is since last night, everything has changed. Alright? I had to figure out a way to say, you know what, Lord, this isn't going to work. I got to think of another way to explain this to the people. I've got to think of a way that it will get them to understand how great this passage of scripture is. Alright? So that's my objective this morning. So last night, I came up with seven points. Seven points that will help you understand the royal line of Jesus. Now I don't know about you, but for the most part, I'm not sure there's anybody in this room who over this past week decided to sit down and to study their genealogy.

To go back and invest in looking at your family tree. I've never done that. In fact, I have no interest at all in doing that. I have no interest at all in going back to the past. I'm just interested in getting on with the future. But there are a lot of people who spend their lives studying the genealogies. My uncle is one of those people. I received our Christmas letter from him just on Friday. And he informed me that he has traced the Spark's name all the way back to the 2nd century. Four thousand four hundred names.

And I thought to myself, what a bore. What a bore. You know, so many times we want to look back at our genealogy because we hope to find somebody of great significance, of great importance, because we have no importance and we are not significant. So maybe if we find someone in our past, in our genealogical records of some great importance, it might make us feel better today. I don't know. I don't ever really get into that. But I'm not Jewish. If I was Jewish though, everything would be different.

So if you're here today and you're Jewish, genealogy is extremely important. So that's going to lead us to point number one.

The very first reason we study the royal line of Jesus in Luke chapter 3 verses 23 and following is because it profiles the priority of Jewish ancestry.

It profiles the priority of Jewish ancestry. You will note that the Jews were fastidious about genealogical records. They were meticulous about their lineage for basically four reasons. Number one is because you had to understand that every genealogy was important because that ancestry determined one's claim on the land based on the original tribal allocations in the land of Israel.

So if I'm of the tribe of Benjamin or I'm of the tribe of Judah or I'm of the tribe of Naphtali, I've got to know which land or which parcel of land is mine. And the only way I'm going to know that is if I'm able to go back in history and determine which tribe I am from. Makes good sense, doesn't it? That's one reason they kept such meticulous records. That wasn't the most important reason, but that was one reason. That was the practical reason. There was another reason and that is because ancestry determined claims to the right of inheritance.

In other words, if a person claimed he had a right to property, to servants, to estate, to crops or other material possessions, the validity of such a claim was determined by the genealogies of those involved. So in order to understand that, I had to keep or they had to keep accurate records. Number three, ancestry in Israel established the basis of taxation.

And we read about that in Luke chapter two when Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem because they were of the house and lineage of David. And that's where the records were kept and that's where they had to go and deal with their tax assessment. You with me so far? While all those are very practical and very good, the main reason, listen very carefully, the main reason these records were kept as meticulously as they were is because in order to prove you were in the line of the priesthood, you had to be able to go back and show you were of the tribe of Levi or you could not be a priest.

But more importantly than that, if you were going to be the king of Israel, you would have to prove that you were of the lineage of David. You could come along and say, I'm the next king of Israel. Really? Well, let's look at the genealogical records and that will tell us whether or not you are in the line of David.

Because if you're not in the line of David, you can't be king of Israel. Now folks, do you understand how important that is? Because in 70 AD, the records, all the records, all the genealogical records were destroyed in Jerusalem and so there is absolutely no way on this earth you can prove that so and so is from the line of David or so and so is in the priesthood. You see, God had a marvelous plan. God was at work. When the Lord was here, He prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem. He didn't say when it was going to be.

He just prophesied that it would happen. And why was one of the reasons or what was one of the reasons God did that is because Christ is the fulfillment of the priesthood. That's why on the cross, the veil and the temple was torn from top to bottom because the priesthood now was done away with because now access to the Holy of Holies, access to heaven was through Jesus Christ, the ultimate priest. So therefore the priesthood was done away with. There would no longer be a need to trace the genealogy of the priesthood because the ultimate priest had come.

There also would be no need to trace the line of David because the last one to claim to be the king of Israel, Jesus Christ our Lord, was in that line. He was and is the king and therefore there are no records left to trace anybody else who claims to be the next king, even Antichrist. See God had a plan and He destroyed all those records because if I'm a Jew I want to know who the next king is. The only way you can prove Messiah to a Jew is that He had to be the king of Israel and the way you can prove that is by the genealogical records.

Now listen very carefully to what I'm going to say. If I'm a Jew, if I'm a Pharisee, if I'm a Sadducee and there's someone who comes into the temple claiming to be the king, the Messiah, the very first thing I'm going to do is check on his lineage.

That's the very first thing I'm going to do. If I'm coming in and listening to this guy preach who's a rabbi who claims to be the son of God, the son of David, the very first thing I'm going to do is check to see whether or not he is telling the truth.

Do you think the Pharisees, the scribes, the Sadducees went down to the temple or went down that seven mile journey to Bethlehem to figure out whether or not Jesus truly was of the line of David? You bet. Because you will never find in any place in Scripture where they were coming to him and saying you are not of the line of David because they couldn't prove that. Quite the opposite. He was of the lineage of David. So they couldn't come and bring that argument out. That's why you never read about it in the Gospels.

That's why they tried to defame his name. That's why they tried to destroy his name because they knew from the records of the lineage of David that Jesus was in the Messianic line. They knew that. So point number one, it's important to understand that the royal line of Jesus profiles the priority of Jewish ancestry.

Number two, the royal line of Jesus presents the humanity of Jesus Christ our Lord. The royal line of Jesus in Luke chapter three presents to us the humanity of Jesus Christ our Lord. You will note the second to the last name in the genealogy is son of Adam.

You will have to understand and realize that Jesus Christ was that ultimate high priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses because he was rejected, he was blasphemed, he was spoken evil of, he was despised by man. So he knows how to sympathize with our weaknesses because whatever it is we go through he's already been through. And we'll notice that even further next week when we get into Luke chapter four, the temptation of Christ.

But you need to understand that Luke wants us to understand the humanity of Jesus Christ our Lord. That's why he gives the family line to show you that Jesus Christ is human. He is the son of man. Why? Because he is the son of Adam. And as Adam himself would descend so would the son of man descend. Adam descended into sin. The son of man descended not into sin but he descended into this world in order to be among us that he might redeem us from our sin. And so the royal line of Jesus in Luke chapter three will present to us the humanity of Jesus Christ.

He is that ultimate high priest. He is that one who can sympathize with our weaknesses because he was born of the Virgin Mary. Remember it was the child that was born and it was the son that was given. So that leads us to point number three.

Not only does the royal line of Jesus profile the priority of Jewish ancestry and present to us the humanity of Jesus Christ but it also proves the deity of Jesus Christ. It proves that Jesus is God in the flesh. And let me show you how that happens.

The Bible says in verse number 23, And when he began his ministry, Jesus himself was about 30 years of age.

Now you've got to stop and ask yourself the question, why? Why 30? Why not 18? Why not 20? Why not 25? Why not 40? Why 30? That's important, right? If it's there, it must be of some importance. That's because age 30 was the recognizable age of one with authority. If you go back and read Ezekiel chapter one verse number one, Ezekiel became a prophet at the age of 30.

If you go back and you read in the Old Testament concerning Joseph, he became the prime minister of Egypt in Genesis 41 at the age of 30. If you go back and read 2 Samuel 5, you'll note that David ascended the throne to be king of Israel at age 30. You also go back and read Numbers chapter four and you realize that to enter into priestly service, you had to be 30. So it's no mistake that Jesus began his ministry at the age of 30, and that which launched that ministry was the baptism of Jesus, which we just spoke about last week.

All you've got to do is read Acts chapter one verse number 21 or 22, excuse me, and Acts 10 verse number 37 that tells you that the ministry of Christ began at his baptism. That's what launched his ministry. And so you've got to ask yourself the question, why is it Luke waits till chapter three to give us the royal line of Jesus when Matthew begins Matthew chapter one with the genealogy of Jesus? Matthew's concerned about chronology. Luke is concerned about credentials. Luke wants you to understand the credentials of the Messiah.

Luke's whole first three chapters is about the credentials of the Messiah. When you go to chapter four, it's about the credentials. In fact, the temptation of Christ is the last credential presented by Luke that Jesus Christ is truly the sinless Son of Man, the Messiah. And we'll talk about that in the weeks to come. But remember before this, there was that voice that came from heaven, thou art my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. There was that confirmation from his Father above. There was the confirmation of the Spirit of God that descended upon him.

If you go back and read all through Luke, Luke, excuse me, you look at Simeon, you look at Anna, you look at Mary and Joseph, you look at Zacharias and Elizabeth, you look at John the Baptist and his ministry, all that centers around focusing in on the credentials of the Messiah.

And Luke wants us to understand that the genealogical records present to us once again a credential that proves that Jesus Christ is Messiah, that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. So Luke says at the age of 30 he began his ministry and then he says, being supposedly the son of Joseph, being supposedly the son of Joseph. In other words, he wasn't really the son of Joseph, was he? Well of course not. He was never referred to by God as the son of Joseph. In fact, if you go over to the book of Matthew, the first chapter, it says this, over in verse number 13, now when they departed, behold the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream saying, arise and take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.

And he arose and took the child and his mother by night. Joseph knew that Jesus was not his son by birth. He understood that. If you go and read down to verse number 19, it says, arise and take the child and his mother and go into the land of Israel for those who sought the child's life are dead. And he arose and took the child and his mother into the land of Israel. So Jesus is never referred to as the son of Joseph except by the people in the land of Israel because they would ask the question, is not this the son of Joseph?

In Luke chapter 4, in the synagogue in Nazareth, that's the question they asked. In fact, they were always asking questions about who he is and where he was from. Always asking those questions. But the genealogical records prove to us who he is and where he's from. So Luke is very careful about what he says concerning Jesus Christ, the Messiah, supposedly the son of Joseph. One author says this, Luke says this to conform to the classic genealogical style of referring solely to male relatives. He wanted to maintain that format for his readers and yet by this implicit reference to Mary, he emphasized that this genealogy would follow the maternal line.

All of that counters any erroneous notion that Jesus' genealogy could only be paternal to be valid. But just as important by indicating that Jesus was not the physical son of Joseph, Luke is once again affirming the Savior's virgin conception and birth. Note this, you will note in there it says, being supposedly the son of Joseph. The word son is not in italics but the word the is. But all of that is reversed throughout the rest of the genealogy. Did you notice that when we read it?

The word son is in italics but the word the is not. So why does Luke do that? Why does Luke put the word son in italics throughout his whole genealogy? That means it's not in the original language, that's why it's in italics. But yet when he refers to Joseph being supposedly the father, okay, he talks about the son, he injects the word son not in italics. It's truly there. It's because he was separating Joseph from the genealogy. Because this is a record, listen carefully, Luke's genealogical record is a record about the genealogy of Jesus through his mother Mary and not through his supposed father Joseph.

If you read Matthew's account, Matthew's account takes us through the line of Joseph. In fact, if you read it, you understand that everything, listen, everything from Abraham to David, every name from Abraham to David is the same except when you get to David it branches off. Because Luke traces the genealogy of Jesus through the third son born to Bathsheba, Nathan.

And Matthew traces the genealogy through the first son born to Bathsheba, Solomon. You with me? So every name from Abraham to David is the same. But after that it's completely different. Why is that? Because Luke is tracing the genealogy of Jesus through Mary his mother, through Nathan the third born son of David and Bathsheba.

Where Matthew traces the genealogy through the first born son of David and Bathsheba, Solomon. You with me so far? Very important to proving the deity of Jesus Christ our Lord. You see, you must come to grips with the fact that Luke is interested in the bloodline. Matthew's interested in the legal line. In order for Jesus Christ to be the King, the Messiah, he had to have legal rights to the throne. So if I'm a Jew and I'm going to search out whether or not Jesus is the Messiah, I'm going to go down and figure out is he truly born son of David.

Oh by the way, that's why Matthew begins with Abraham. Abraham, he doesn't go all the way back to Adam, all the way back to God being the son of God. Why? Because Matthew, all he has to do is prove that Jesus is a Jew. That's all he's got to prove. But Luke wants to take you all the way back to the beginning. In fact, if you read Matthew's account, it goes from the past to the present. If you read Luke's account, it goes from the present all the way back to the very beginning, Jesus the son of God.

You follow me? Very important. This whole genealogy proves to us the deity of Jesus Christ as well as proclaims to us the royalty of Jesus Christ. How do you know that Jesus is the King? How do you know that Jesus is the King? You see, if Jesus is the son of Joseph, he cannot be the King. He cannot be. Although he's in the royal line, although he's in the legal line of being a son of David, son of Solomon, he cannot be the King of Israel. Why? Because that whole line was cursed by God. Go back with me, if you would, to the book of Jeremiah, the 22nd chapter, the 28th verse.

You'll realize that if you read Matthew chapter 1, there's a name in there, Jeconiah. Well Jeconiah was cursed by God. His whole line was cursed by God in Jeremiah 22 verse 28 to 30. It says this, Is this man, Jeconiah, a despised, shattered jar? Or is he an undesirable vessel? Why have he and his descendants been hurled out and cast into a land that they had not known? O land, land, land, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord, write this man down childless, a man who will not prosper in his days.

For no man of his descendants will prosper sitting on the throne of David or ruling again in Judah. What is the Lord doing? He is cursing the royal line. He is saying that no man will come from Jeconiah and sit on the throne. He cursed the line. And yet in chapter 23, it says in verse number 5, Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous branch, and he will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell securely.

And this is his name by which he will be called the Lord our righteousness. So now you have in chapter 22 the royal line being cursed. In chapter 23 the Lord says, guess what? There is going to be a branch that will stem from David. He will be the king. He will rule and he will reign. Well how is that going to be if the line is cursed? Jeremiah answers that one over in Jeremiah chapter 31 verse number 22. How long will you go here and there, O faithless daughter? For the Lord has created a new thing in the earth, a woman will encompass a man.

That verse right there tells you as every Jewish rabbi has interpreted since before the time of Christ that this is the case where there will be a Messiah that will not have, listen, an earthly father. Every Jewish rabbi up to the time of Jesus interpreted Jeremiah chapter 31 verse number 22 that way, that a woman will encompass a man. In other words a woman will surround a man or the woman will hold the man in her womb or hold the man in her arms. Now the word man is the same word used over in Jeremiah 32 verse 18 that's translated mighty one.

In other words it's the word Geber where we get the word El Gabor the mighty God. So a woman will encompass the mighty one. A woman is going to hold in her womb the mighty one. So every rabbi knew that the Messiah would not have an earthly father. They just didn't know how it was going to happen. Luke in his genealogy in Luke chapter 3 explains to us the royalty of Jesus Christ. Because you see people would say well Jesus can't be the king because the line of Jeconiah was cursed and that line was through Solomon therefore Jesus can't be the king.

Oh yes but he can. He can. Why? Because he has royal blood. And that's why Luke traces the genealogy through the third son born to David and Bathsheba Nathan because Jesus would still be a descendant of David.

Bypass the curse because Joseph wasn't the earthly father. He wasn't a physical father because the virgin birth the divine conception the whole plan of God had come about perfectly. Just as it had been planned from eternity past. And therefore it helps us understand that Jesus Christ is of royal blood. And see the Jews knew that. How did they know that? They knew the book of Jeremiah. Folks we can't sell the Jewish nation short. We just can't think they're just a bunch of imbeciles who don't know what's going on.

They knew Jeremiah chapter 21, 22, 23. They knew Jeremiah 31. They knew that the line of the Messiah had been cursed through Solomon. They knew that because of Jeconiah's sin. But they also knew that Messiah would not have an earthly father. So how was that going to be? Because they knew Isaiah chapter 7 verse number 14. They knew Micah chapter 5 verse number 2. They knew Micah chapter 4 verse number 8. They knew all those verses. And so when they went down to check out the genealogical records they knew that Jesus through the line of Mary through Nathan had royal blood.

He was the king. And yet they would not admit that. They denied it vehemently. So we understand that the royal line of Jesus profiles the priority of Jewish ancestry, presents the humanity of Jesus Christ, proves the deity of Jesus Christ, proclaims the royalty of Jesus Christ, and protects the identity of Jesus Christ as Abraham's seed. It protects the identity of Jesus Christ as Abraham's seed. He is, as Luke tells us, the son of Abraham. Now remember Genesis chapter 3 verse number 15, the very first prophecy about the coming of the Messiah, remember?

Back in Genesis chapter 3 verse number 15 it says, And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed, plural, and her seed, singular. There's only been one time in the history of the world where a woman has had a seed because the seed comes through the man. But there's only been one time in the history of the world where a woman has had a seed and that is Mary. And therefore we understand that this is the very first prophecy about the coming of the Messiah and the very first prophecy concerning the virgin birth.

This is important. Why? Because then you've got to go to Genesis chapter 22. And you know what happens on Mount Moriah with the sacrifice of Isaac, right? Where God would provide Himself as Lamb. And there was that great rejoicing. And the Lord would refer to this way back in the Gospel of John, later in the Gospel of John and say that Abraham rejoiced to see my day. And what was that day? It was Genesis chapter 22. In verse 18 it says this, And in your seed, singular, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed because you have obeyed my voice.

Because of your seed or in your seed, Abraham, singular, not plural, all the nations shall be blessed because of a singular seed. Taking it back to Genesis chapter 3, verse number 15, that there was a singular seed, a seed of the woman. And then you go over to the book of Romans, the first chapter.

It says this, Paul says, Jesus called as an apostle, set apart for the Gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures concerning his son who was born a seed, singular, of David. Again, you have the singular seed of David. Notice the text says, who was born.

The phrase used there is ginomai, which means to make a transition from one location to another location. When it says that the seed was born, it doesn't say the seed came into existence because the phrase used is a Greek word that means to change places. It's like John chapter 1, and the word ginomai became flesh. The word all of a sudden didn't become something, it transitioned from heaven to earth. Same thing Paul says in Romans chapter 1, that the seed transitioned. It transitioned from heaven to earth.

It was the singular seed that would bless the nations of the world. And then you have over in Galatians chapter 3, verse number 16, which says, now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, and to seeds, plural, as referring to many, but rather to one, and to your seed, that is Christ. So now we know that the Messiah is the seed of Abraham. By going back to Genesis chapter 3, verse number 15, about a singular seed. Genesis chapter 22, verse number 18, about a singular seed.

Romans chapter 1, verse number 2, about a singular seed. All testified in Galatians chapter 3 about that one seed, not seeds, one individual, that is the Messiah, that is Christ. And what Luke does in his genealogy is protect that whole seed element by telling us that Jesus Christ is the seed, the son of Abraham. It protects, once again, the identity of the Messiah. I got two more points. So let me finish them rather quickly.

Number six, the royal line of Jesus prescribes our ministry for Jesus Christ, both now and forever. The royal line of Jesus prescribes our ministry for Jesus Christ, both now and forever. You can't leave today without understanding that this whole genealogy prescribes for you a particular ministry. And that ministry is to serve your God. Remember, when He came, He came not to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many. That's why Paul quoted in Acts 20, verse number 35, the words of our Lord Jesus, it's more blessed to give than it is to receive.

So you have a prescribed ministry based on the royal line of Jesus Christ, our Lord, because He is the King. And notice with me very carefully that in Matthew chapter 2, when the Magi came to the house, not to the grotto, not to the stable, the Magi came to the house where Joseph and Mary were staying.

So Jesus was older than just an infant. He now was a child. He now was a little boy, according to the Greek word in Matthew chapter 2. So now He's older than an infant. He's able mainly probably to walk now.

And the Magi come to His house and they present Him with three gifts, three gifts, gold emphasizing His royalty, which we discussed in Luke chapter 3, frankincense, which emphasized, emphasized His deity, which we discussed in Luke chapter 3, and myrrh, which emphasized His humanity, which we discussed again in the royal line of Jesus in Luke chapter 3. You see the Magi knew. The Magi knew. They would follow the star, which by the way was the glory of the Lord. It was not a real star. It truly was the light, the glory of the Lord that would lead them to where they were.

And it settled over this house and there they came. They bowed before Him in worship and they gave Him gold because they knew He was the King. They knew He was of royal blood. It was the most precious gift that they could give. It was the most valued gift that they could give. And you should not let the Christmas season go by without giving the best of what you have to Jesus Christ, our Lord. You might want to give it to your wife. You might want to give it to your husband, but you need to give it to the Lord.

I'm not saying you shouldn't give your best to your wife or husband. You should, but not at the expense of not giving your best to the Lord. And they would bow before Him and they would give Him gold because it symbolized that He was of royal blood. It symbolized His royalty. They gave Him frankincense because frankincense was a very costly perfume and it was only offered to God and God alone. So they knew this was deity. They knew this was God in the flesh. That's why they gave Him frankincense.

It wasn't because they couldn't think of anything else. It wasn't because they went to Walmart late on December the 24th and couldn't find any more gifts to give and saw the frankincense on the shelf there and said, well, let's give Him frankincense. What else can we give Him? It was a fragrance given to God and God alone. It emphasized His deity. They give gold because He's of royal blood. He's royalty. They give Him frankincense because He's God in the flesh. He's deity. And they give Him myrrh because it emphasized His humanity.

That He was God in the flesh and that He would ultimately die for the sins of man because myrrh when mixed with aloes became the embalming fluid they would use on dead bodies. You see, the royal line of Jesus prescribes for us our ministry to Jesus Christ both now and forever because God is looking for true worshipers, right? Those who worship Him in spirit and in truth. And those who worship Him understand who He is. He's King. He's God. He's man. See that? I love what Charles Spurgeon said about that.

He said, those who look for Jesus will see Him. Those who truly see Him will worship Him. And those who worship Him will consecrate their substance to Him. That is worship. That's what the Magi did. And that's the ministry prescribed to you and me based on the royal line of Jesus. He's God. He's man. He's son of God. He's son of Adam. But He's also son of David. He's King because He possessed royal blood. And number seven, the reason the royal line of Jesus is so important is because it promotes our joy in Jesus Christ alone.

It promotes our joy in Jesus Christ alone. When I read this story or this genealogy over and over and over again for one reason so I could get all the names right when I read it, that was important, okay. But when I read it over and over again, know what it did? It would promote joy in my own life. It would promote joy because Jesus is exactly who He said He was. And the genealogical records prove it precisely. No questions. And Luke had access to them. Matthew had access to them. And it promotes joy, great joy.

Great joy because only Christ can give us that joy. Only good news of great joy the angel said. That for you on this day in the city of David has been born a Savior who is Christ the Lord. That's the good news. That's the great joy. Is it not true that during this time of year we look for joy in every place but in Jesus Christ alone? We get the right gift, there's joy. We get the wrong gift, there's no joy. We get no gift, no joy. See our joy is centered on the human things, not divine things. But the kingdom of God is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

And the Spirit of God is that which produces joy in the hearts and minds of men. Galatians chapter 5. And true joy comes in Jesus Christ our Lord. And that's why the angel said I got good news. That good news is not just joy, it is mega joy. It is ultimate joy. It is really truly the only joy because every gift you receive, every relationship you have is only temporary. It's not going to last. But what truly lasts is Jesus Christ our Lord. And that's why who Jesus Christ is promotes in us the ultimate joy in Jesus Christ alone.

Which would cause all of us to say thanks be unto God for His unspeakable, indescribable, unfathomable gift. Let's pray. Our most gracious heavenly Father we do praise you and thank you for today and all that you have done. You truly are all that you said. And truly you are more than all of that. Because you are infinite and we are finite. And we thank you Lord for this day and all that you have done. And pray that through the royal line of Jesus we would truly understand your royalty, your humanity, your divinity.

The truth that only Jesus Christ can bring joy to the heart of man. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.