The Son of Abraham

Jesus is the Son of Abraham, the heir of the promises, and the Messiah who implements and completes the inheritance of his people. The introduction to the Gospel of Matthew declares that Jesus is “the Son of Abraham,” the descendant destined to fulfill the covenant promises made to the Patriarch. This identification stresses the theme of fulfilment found throughout Matthew. Through Jesus, the covenant promises have become concrete realities.

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

[The Source - Photo by sgcdesignco (Phoenix) on Unsplash]

Not only is Abraham important to the history of Israel, but the appearance of Jesus, the Seed of Abraham, was and remains the climax of the covenant. He is the Messiah who brings the promises of the God of Abraham to their intended goals:

• “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 you seed,’ which is Christ” - (Galatians 3:16).

God promised to bless Abraham and his descendants. Nations and kings came from him, and in him, all the tribes of the Earth are blessed. The inclusion of the Gentiles or “nations” was envisioned from the start. The covenant was never limited to the small nation of Israel, the territory of Palestine, or the biological descendants of the Patriarch:

• “As for me, behold, my covenant is with you, and you will be the father of a multitude of nations. <…> And kings will come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your seed after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God for you and to your seed after you” - (Genesis 17:4-7).

• “And in your seed will all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you obeyed my voice” - (Genesis 22:18).

• “And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles from faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, In you will all the nations be blessed. So then, they who are of faith are blessed with the faithful Abraham” - (Galatians 3:8-9).

In the Gospel of Luke, the angel Gabriel announced that God was about to fulfill His covenant promises:

• “You will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son and call his name Jesus. He will 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 will be no end” - (Luke 1:31-33).

Jesus is also the Son of David. He is the king who will reign forever on the Messianic Throne, not only over Israel, but also over the nations and kings - (Psalm 2:7-9, Revelation 1:4-6).

• “I will tell of the decree: Yahweh said to me, You are my son! This day, I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession” - (Psalm 2:7-8).

• “And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth” - (Revelation 1:5).

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

• “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 <…> And his mercy is unto generations and generations <…> He has given help to Israel, his servant, that he might remember mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his seed forever” - (Luke 1:47-55).

• “And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your seed after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you and to your seed after you” - (Genesis 17:7).

God sent his Son as promised, and therefore, he now rules over the nations of the Earth. As Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, confirms in Luke’s account:

• “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 said by the mouth of his holy prophets that have been from of old <…> To show mercy to our fathers and remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to Abraham our father” - (Luke 1:68-73).

NOT BIOLOGICAL DESCENT

Physical descent from Abraham does not qualify anyone for membership in the covenant community. Jacob was accepted, but God rejected his brother, Esau, though he was also of the Patriarch’s blood.

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

• “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 to 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” - (Matthew 3:9).

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

• “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 those who 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” - (Matthew 8:8-12).

• “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” - (Genesis 13:14-16).

In both Hebrew and Greek, the term translated as “land” can refer to the entire Earth. Thus, the covenant anticipated a territory larger than Palestine and a people more numerous than the immediate descendants of the Patriarch - (Genesis 12:3, 13:14).

The conclusion of Matthew recalls the covenant with Abraham and the messianic promises to the House of David:

• “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).

Christ’s departing command echoes the promise of the Second Psalm, that God will grant the Anointed Son the “nations as your inheritance, and as your possession, the ends of the Earth.” The promise to bless all the nations through Abraham resonates in Christ’s words. Indeed, the nations are blessed in Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

And so, Jesus sends his disciples as ambassadors to announce his Good News and sovereignty to every nation. This glorious message is heralded to the nations whenever his Gospel is proclaimed by his disciples. All this began with the promises of God to the Great Patriarch, Abraham.

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SEE ALSO:

• The Son of David - (Jesus is the Son of David and heir to the Messianic Throne, the beloved Son of God, and the Suffering Servant of the LORD)

• Call His Name Jesus! - (The name ‘Jesus’ means “Yahweh saves.” In the man of Nazareth, the salvation promised by the God of Abraham has arrived)

• Salvation for All Men - (The Good News announced by Jesus of Nazareth offers salvation and life to the men and women of every nation)

• Le Fils d'Abraham - (Jésus est le Fils d'Abraham, l'héritier des promesses, et le Messie qui met en œuvre et complète l'héritage de son peuple)