Son of Abraham

The introduction to the Gospel of Matthew declares that Jesus is the “Son of Abraham,” the descendant destined to fulfill the covenant promises made by God to the Great Patriarch. His identification as the Son of Abraham stresses the theme of fulfillment that dominates Matthew. Through Jesus of Nazareth, the promises become reality.

The Book of Genesis traces Abraham’s genealogy from Adam, a line that included many righteous men. Yet rather than Adam, the starting point in Matthew is Abraham, and his lineage culminates in the arrival of the Messiah of Israel - (Matthew 1:17).

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Not only was Abraham pivotal to the history of Israel and the covenant, but the appearance of his “Seed” in “Galilee of the nations” was its climax. Jesus is the Messiah who brings the promises of the God of Abraham to fulfillment:

• (Galatians 3:16) – “Now to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed. He says not, ‘and to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your seed,’ which is Christ.”

God promised to bless Abraham and his “Seed.” Nations and kings would come from him, and he would bless “all the tribes of the Earth.” The inclusion of the “nations” was envisioned from the start. The covenant was never limited to the small nation of Israel or the biological descendants of the Patriarch - (Genesis 12:1-3, 17:4-8).

In the Gospel of Luke, the angel Gabriel announced that God would fulfill His covenant promises - “You will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son and call his name JESUS. He shall be great and be called the Son of the Most High: and the Lord God will give him the throne of his Father David. And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom, there shall be no end” - (Luke 1:31-33).

In her song celebrating what God did, Mary invoked the Covenant of Abraham and linked it to the miraculous child in her womb:

• (Luke 1:47-55) – “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For he has looked upon the low estate of his handmaid… He has given help to Israel his servant, that he might remember mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, toward Abraham and his seed forever.”

Jesus fulfills the promises “to Abraham and his seed.” The reference of Mary to his “mercy being to generations and generations” echoes the covenant with Abraham - “Your seed after you throughout their generations.”

God sent his Messiah as promised. He now rules over the nations in fulfillment of that promise. As Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, confirmed in Luke’s account:

• (Luke 1:68-73) – “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; For he has visited and wrought redemption for his people and raised a horn of salvation for us In the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets that have been from of old… To show mercy towards our fathers and remember his holy covenant; the oath which he swore to Abraham our father.”

NOT BIOLOGICAL DESCENT

Physical descent from Abraham does not qualify anyone as an heir to the covenant. Jacob was accepted but God rejected Esau though he was of the Patriarch’s blood. Being a true “Son of Abraham” entails much more than any biological relationship.

Famously, John the Baptist warned the leaders of Israel not to appeal to their descent from Abraham to validate their covenant status, as Matthew informed us:

• (Matthew 3:9) – “And they were being baptized in the Jordan River by him, openly confessing their sins. But seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, Broods of vipers! Who suggested for you to flee from the coming wrath? Bring forth fruit worthy of repentance; and think not to say within yourselves, we have Abraham as our father. I say to you, God is able out of these stones to raise up children to Abraham.”

Repentance and submission to the Messiah are mandatory for entrance into the Kingdom. In John’s declaration, the term “stones” is metaphorical and refers to the Gentile nations who would be brought into the covenant as God promised Abraham. Compare the following words of Jesus with those of God to Abraham:

• (Matthew 8:8-12) – “But the (Roman) centurion said, Lord! I am of no consideration that under my roof you should enter, but only say with a word and healed will be my servant… Now Jesus, hearing, marveled and said to them that were following him: Truly, I say to you, with no one in Israel such faith as this have I found. But I say to you, many from east and west will come and recline with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens, but the sons of the kingdom will be cast into the darkness outside.”

• (Genesis 13:14-16) – “And Yahweh said to Abram: Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are; northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land which you are beholding, I will give to you, and to your seed to times everlasting. And I will make your seed as the dust of the Earth, so that if a man can number the dust of the Earth, your seed also may be numbered.”

The clause “east and west” echoes the command to Abraham to look “north and south, east and west” and see the extent of the Promised Land. In both Hebrew and Greek, the term translated as “land” can refer to the Earth, the physical planet. The covenant anticipated a territory larger than Palestine and a people more numerous than the biological descendants of Abraham - (Genesis 12:3, 13:14).

[Photo by Greg Rosenke on Unsplash]

The conclusion of Matthew recalls the covenant with Abraham - “Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to me in Heaven and on Earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations” - (Matthew 28:18-19).

His departing command also echoed the promise of the Second Psalm to grant him the “nations as your inheritance, and as your possession, the ends of the Earth.” The promise to “bless all the nations” through Abraham resounds in his parting words.

He now sends his disciples to announce his Good News to the nations. The time of fulfillment has arrived, and this message must be proclaimed to the nations. All this began in Scripture with the promises of God to the Great Patriarch, Abraham.

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