Context
We looked last time at Ruth in Matthew’s genealogy. The book of Ruth ends with a genealogy of its own, not of Christ, but of King David. Matthew’s genealogy shows that David is the great-grandson of Ruth. 1 Samuel introduces us to David being anointed by God as king of Israel. He was called a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14) and was Israel’s most faithful king. He would be the measuring stick of success for all other kings who came behind him in Israel. God also made a covenant with David in 2 Sam. 7 promising David that, “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” (2 Sam. 7:12-13). David was chosen by God to be Israel’s king, and God promised him that his offspring would be on the throne forever. That promise would not be fulfilled in any of David’s immediate sons, but in Jesus Christ who would come directly from his royal line several generations later. “So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.” (Matthew 1:17)
Commentary
Even though God chose David and David had great success leading God’s people, David still had flaws and failures. 2 Samuel 11 tells us that David was on his roof one afternoon while kings were to be at war and he saw a woman, Bathsheba the wife of Uriah, bathing. And David lusted after this woman, so he “…sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her… Then she returned to her house. And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, ‘I am pregnant’” (2 Sam. 11:4-5). David was now in quite a bind because another man’s wife was pregnant with his child. God’s chosen king had failed morally and now there was no way out. So David devises a plan to get Uriah to sleep with his wife, Bathsheba, to cover up his mistake. But Uriah, a man of honor and integrity, did not want to sleep with his wife while his countrymen were at war, so he never slept with Bathsheba. David goes even further down the spiral of destruction and sends Uriah back to war, informing those with him to abandon him on the battlefield to be left to die (2 Sam. 11:15). David had now not only failed morally by falling into sexual sin, but now he was guilty of murder. David is confronted by the prophet Nathan. Nathan rebuked David for his actions and cursed David’s child conceived between him and Bathsheba. “Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die” (2 Sam. 12:14). The child that Bathsheba bore to David became sick and died (2 Sam. 12:15-19). What’s more is that God promises that David will always have strife within his family. “Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.” (2 Sam. 12:10-11) This family dysfunction and conflict is seen as David’s narrative unfolds. David’s oldest son, Amnon, rapes his stepsister Tamar (2 Samuel 13:1-18). Another of David’s sons, Absalom, takes justice for his sister into his own hands, and kills his brother Amnon, breaking their father’s heart (2 Samuel 13:28-29). David has to exile his son, Absalom, for a few years until he reluctantly brings him through the urging of Joab the commander of his army. Though David brought his son back to Jerusalem, he fails to restore their strained relationship fully (2 Samuel 14:21-24). Absalom leads a revolt against his father convincing several in Israel to attempt an overthrow of the king. War breaks out between Absalom’s followers and David’s soldiers, resulting in Absalom’s death.
In all of this, though, God had still chosen David to be king of Israel, and while David had some moral failures, God was faithful to his covenant with him. Matthew’s gospel introduces us to Jesus as the “Son of David,” (Matt. 1:1) Jesus Christ is the rightful heir to the Davidic promises and ushers in Israel’s long-awaited Messiah. God would use a dysfunctional family to bring the chosen Son who is the gatekeeper for all people to belong to God’s family (John 1:12). Through his death, burial, and resurrection, Jesus can redeem every dysfunctional and broken member of every family on earth. His spirit gives us the power to reconcile hurts and restore relationships for the glory of God.
Key Points
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• David in the genealogy (Matthew 1:1, 5, 17)
- • David’s sin with Bathsheba, and family dysfunction (Broken) (2 Sam. 11:1-27; 12:15-23; 13:1-33)
- • God’s promise to David fulfilled (Redeemed) (2 Samuel 7:12-17, Isaiah 9:6-7, Matthew 2:1-2)
Discussion/ Application Questions
Matthew 1:1, 5, 17
1. David is called in scripture “a man after God’s own heart.” What habits, desires, and patterns would be in the life of someone after God’s own heart? Are these evident and growing in your life?
2. Though he personally had moral failure/sin, God still used David for great things in kingdom. How does this motivate you to worship the Lord?
3. How does God’s using David despite his failure motive you to continue to be obedient in making disciples and serving in the church when you have failed?
2 Samuel 11:1-27; 12:15-23; 13:1-33 (Broken)
4. Are you a part of a broken or dysfunctional family? If so, how can God be the sovereign author of your situation using it for his purposes?
5. Are their specific triggers to conflict in your family that you could avoid for the sake of peace and reconciliation?
6. During this season how can you show love to members of your family who have hurt you?
7. Similarly, how could you show love to members of your family who are hurting?
8. If you were to share the gospel from Jesus’ genealogy or 1 Samuel, how would you do so? Can someone do that for our group right now?
2 Samuel 7:12-17, Isaiah 9:6-7, Matthew 2:1-2 (Redeemed)
9. Do you have family members that you need to be reconciled to? How will you seek to reconcile yourselves to them during this season as God in Christ has reconciled us to himself?
10. Do you see that Jesus has redeemed you from the moral failures of your past? What are evidences of this?
11. Can anyone share a story of how God has repaired a family relationship for the glory of his name?
12. In this Christmas season, who is in our lives that we can reach out to that might feel like they’re “too far from God” to be able to share the good news of God’s plan to redeem broken people?
13. What steps can your Community Group collectively take to be among broken people to invite them into community alongside of you?
14. How do we love those around us who have moral failures or dysfunctional family?
15. What does it look like to live with Jesus as your king?
16. What are the areas you need to surrender to his kingship?
17. If you are hanging on to sins of your past, how do you actively fight Satan’s accusations that you are too broken and too dysfunctional?
Prayer Guide
Pray for our church that we would invite seemingly broken people in to love them as God loves them. Pray for those who are experiencing conflict and strife in their families during this time. Pray that God would heal family relationships in our church and that church members would be a light of gospel hope to their families.
Pray for our city that dysfunctional families throughout our city would find no hope in anything except for Jesus Christ. Pray that God would use gospel-centered marriages and families to draw lost people into the family of God.
Pray for our world that the message of the gospel would go forth in the Christmas season to all nations and that we would long for Christ’s second coming.