The Son of Abraham

Jesus is the Son of Abraham, the heir of the promises, and the Messiah who implements the inheritance for his people.

The Gospel of Matthew declares that Jesus is “the son of David, the son of Abraham.” He is the descendant who inherits the promises made to the Patriarch, and this introduces the theme of fulfilment that characterizes Matthew – (“For thus it becomes us to fulfil all righteousness” – Matthew 3:15).

Through Jesus of Nazareth, the covenant promises have become concrete realities. The New Covenant inaugurated by Jesus is not God’s backup or alternative plan made necessary by Israel’s failure to keep the Abrahamic covenant, but the completion of what He always intended:

• “And he took a cup, and gave thanks, and gave to them, saying, Drink all of it, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for remission of sins” – (Matthew 26:27-28. Compare 1 Corinthians 11:25, Hebrews 13:20).

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 with the arrival of Christ - (Matthew 1:17).

[Source - Photo by Javier Sobrado Ortega (Pero) on Unsplash]

Jesus is the seed of Abraham, the Messiah who brings deliverance and redemption to humanity. He is the Lord who gives the gift of the Spirit to his people, which is part of the “blessing of Abraham” for the nations and the promise of the Father:

• “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us; for it is written, CURSED IS EVERYONE HANGED ON A TREE, that upon the nations might come the blessing of Abraham in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. <…> 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” - (Galatians 3:12-16. Compare Genesis 12:3, 13:15. Note the citation of Deuteronomy 21:23).

• “And behold, I send forth the promise of my Father upon you. But wait in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high” – (Luke 24:49. See also Acts 1:4 and Acts 2:36-39. [“I will put my Spirit upon your seed, and my blessings upon your children” – Isaiah 44:3]).

God promised to bless Abraham, his descendants, and the nations. The inclusion of the Gentiles was part of the covenant from the beginning, which was never limited to the nation of Israel, the territory of Palestine, or the physical descendants of the Patriarch:

• “And in your seed, all the nations of the earth will be blessed, because you obeyed my voice” - (Genesis 22:18. Compare Genesis 17:4-7).

• “And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the nations from faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, IN YOU, ALL THE NATIONS WILL 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. Compare Psalm 2:6-9, Daniel 7:14).

In her song celebrating what God had done, 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. Note the verbal allusion to Genesis 17:7).

God sent his Son as promised, and he rules over the nations of the Earth. As Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, confirmed:

• “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; For he has visited and accomplished 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. Note the allusions to 2 Samual 7:26, Psalm 18:2, Genesis 22:16).

NOT PHYSICAL DESCENT

A man’s biological connection to Abraham does not qualify him for membership in the holy covenant community or justify the man before God. 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 biological relationship with Abraham for confirmation of their covenant status:

• “But seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, John said to them, Broods of vipers! Who suggested to you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce 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 3:7-9).

Repentance and submission to the Messiah are mandatory to enter the Kingdom. In the declaration of the Baptist, the term “stones” is metaphorical and refers to the nations that will be brought into the covenant, just as God promised. Compare the following words of Jesus with those of God to Abraham, words that anticipate the inclusion of the Gentiles in God’s holy community:

• “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 my servant will be healed. <…> Now Jesus, hearing, was astonished. And he 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 the Lord 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 a defined territory as well as to the entire planet. And so, the Abrahamic covenant anticipated a territory larger than Palestine and a people more numerous and diverse than the physical descendants of the Patriarch - (Genesis 12:3, 13:14. Compare Romans 4:13 [“For not through the law was the promise to Abraham or to his seed that he should be heir of the world…”]).

The conclusion of the Gospel 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 final commandment echoes the promise of the Second Psalm. God would grant the Messiah, the heir of Abraham, “the nations as your inheritance, and as your possession, the ends of the earth,” and this is being fulfilled as the Church proclaims the Gospel to the nations under the guidance of the Holy Spirit – (Psalm 2:8).

• “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And YOU WILL BE MY WITNESSES both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea and Samaria, and UNTO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH”  – (Acts 1:8. Note the allusions to Isaiah 43:10 and 49:6).

Thus, the promise that all the nations will be blessed through Abraham resonates in the words of Christ as he commissions his Church to proclaim the Good News of his Kingdom throughout the inhabited earth.

The nations are blessed in Jesus, the seed of Abraham, and every man and woman who repents and is baptized in the name of the Lord will receive the gift of the Spirit, “the promise of the Father,” and become a member of the holy covenant community - the Church of Jesus Christ.

• “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ, put on Christ. There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither bond nor free, there can be no male and female; for you are all one man in Christ Jesus. And if you are of Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to promise” – (Galatians 3:26-29).

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[Citations of Old Testament passages in this article are based on the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint (see the links here and here). Text printed in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS represents quotations and verbal allusions from the Old Testament. The Septuagint is represented by the Roman numeral for ‘seventy’ or LXX based on the Latin name of the translation, ‘Interpretatio septuaginta virorum’]

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SEE ALSO:

• The Gospel Begins - (Redemption and God's Kingdom arrived in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, starting with his baptism by John – Mark 1:1-3)

• The Salvation of the Lord - ('Jesus’ means “Yahweh saves.” In the man of Nazareth, the salvation promised by the God of Abraham has arrived)

• The Forerunner - (John the Baptist prepared the way for the Messiah, the herald of the Kingdom of God, and the one who baptizes in the Spirit – Mark 1:4-8)

• In Spirit and Fire - (John baptized men and women in water, but the Messiah of Israel will baptize in the Holy Spirit and Fire - Matthew 3:11-12)